4i6 NATURAL SCIENCE. June, 1894. 



The Sutherland Gold-fields. 



It seems likely that the Sutherland gold-diggings will be 

 re-opened in a few months after having been abandoned for twenty- 

 five years. 



The facts known about the mode of occurrence and source of this 

 gold appear to be few and elementary. All the gold obtained was 

 alluvial, and the diggings were along three streams — the Kildonan, 

 Suisgill, and Kinbrace burns. These are tributaries, on the eastern 

 side, of the Helmsdale River, which drains a considerable area in 

 N.E. Sutherland. Gold was also found in small rills on the western 

 side, and, as might be expected, in the main river. 



The diggings were in terraces of coarse, sandy gravel which 

 skirt the streams, and in the present detritus of their beds, the rock- 

 pockets being the richest. Whether gold was ever found in the parent 

 rock seems uncertain. It may exist finely disseminated in it, and 

 does not appear to be derived from vein-quartz. The country drained 

 by the three burns consists of quartz- and mica-schists traversed by 

 granites, and belonging to that Eastern Highland series over the age 

 and origin of which so much mystery still hangs. 



It is not likely that speculation concerning the source of the 

 gold will be very fruitful until many more localities have been 

 searched, and until much more is known of the distribution of the 

 rock-groups in East Sutherland. This we may look for before very 

 long, as the Geological Survey is now at work there. Then, perhaps, 

 some connection between the occurrence of the gold and the nature 

 of the rocks may be found, and light may be thrown on a subject 

 which, though not very important (at least at present) from an 

 economic point of view, has always a certain scientific interest. 



We are pleased to note that the Government of Western 

 Australia has decided to reserve a large tract of public land in the 

 colony as a " National Park " for the preservation of the native fauna 

 and flora. At the suggestion of Mr. Bernard H. Woodward, curator of 

 the Government Museum, an area of 160,000 acres has been selected 

 on the Darling Range, between the Albany and Bunburj' roads, mid- 

 way between Bannister and Pinjarrah, and within a reasonable 

 distance of Perth. It is one of the most picturesque parts of the 

 range, having many serrated mountain peaks, and being exceedingly 

 wild and rugged. It is said to be exactly the site required for the 

 preservation of the kangaroo, with other marsupials, and the emu, of 

 which there are still a certain number left upon it. 



