(JULD-JiKAJJING lîOCKS oF NEW iiliUNSWK'K. 25 



that gold has been here obtained by his men, though nothing has been done to tost the 

 extent or richness of the veins. The localities reported are in connection with black 

 slates and mica schists, also referred to the Cambro-Silurian system, though without the 

 evidence of fossils. 



A third region in which there is some reason to believe that gold has been found is 

 that of the belt of hard slates and sandstones which in portions of York, Carleton and 

 Victoria counties skirt the central granite axis of the province. These rocks are similar 

 in character to those on the south side of the same axis, referred to in the last paragraph, 

 and are believed to be of similar age. They include the areas about the head waters and 

 some of the tributaries of the Tobique, where the drift gold exhibited by Prof Hind was 

 stated to have been found. 



To these localities may be added that of Frye's Island, in Charlotte county, where 

 beds of cjuartzite, associated with crystalline limestones, were found by Dr. A. A. Hayes 

 of Boston to carry gold to the extent of $10 to the ton. 



It will now be well to consider more particularly the character and relations of the 

 rocks in the first two of the localities referred to. 



As described in the Geological Survey report for 1870-71, the succession, as seen east 

 and north of the tow^n of St. Stephen, is as follows, the order being ascending : 



I. Grrey, rusty-weathering cjuartzose gneisses and pyritous mica-schists. These 

 rocks are at various points associated with and invaded by masses of 

 coarsely crystalline syenite and granite, evidently intrusive, and in 

 the vicinity of the latter are themselves more crystalline, becoming 

 garnetiferous and staurolitic, with occasional crystals of andalusite and 

 tourmaline. 

 II. Grey, somewhat micaceous quartzites, also often pyritous and rusty-weather- 

 ing, and associated with grey slates. 



III. Black and rusty-weathering carbonaceous shales, with quartz A'^eins. 



IV. Grey and dark-grey argillites. 



The resemblance of these rocks, both in character and succession, as well as in their 

 relations to the granite, to the gold-bearing coast-belt of Nova Scotia wall be at once appar- 

 ent, a resemblance made more strking by actual familiarity with both. 



Desirous of testing their supposed auriferous character, a visit was made by the 

 writer in 1872, in company with Dr. T. S. Hunt, to a large vein of quartz occurring on 

 the farm of Mr. Bolton of St. Stephen, a few miles north of that town, and one of the 

 localities referred to by Prof. Hitchcock as containing the metal. Samples were taken at 

 random and were assayed by Dr. Hunt, but failed to give any return. The vein examined 

 was, however, a very large one, fully ten feet wide, and the experience of Nova Scotia is 

 that the smaller A'eins are generally much more productive than those of larger dimen- 

 sions. In this connection the experience of the Chaudière district may also be recalled, 

 where, as already pointed out, the quartz veins were found to vary greatly in their yield 

 of gold even in localities but little removed from each other. Further, these veins have 

 not been studied with any reference to the attitude or relations of the associated strata, and 

 the existence of anticlinals, found to be so generally important in connection with Nova 



Sec. lY, 1891. 4. 



