1897.] KEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 175 



111 the foothills gold is found in all the streams and in the reg- 

 ular gravel and sandy deposits which are mingled with alluvium, 

 but the dense vegetation makes it improbable that hydraulicking 

 could be established on a paying basis, I got some very pretty 

 samples, however, and at another time hope to make a more 

 careful examination of this district. 



To go up among the mountains from Dibulla is considered a 

 very difficult trip, and I was told that the paths were so danger- 

 ous that trained oxen would have to be used as pack animals, 

 and it was proposed that I should ride a young bull, but I 

 thought it would be more comfortable and just as safe to walk 

 and so declined the offer. Fortunately some animals came down 

 with merchandise that day, and it was possible to start the next 

 morning. Our route lay along the beach, and then across the 

 flat country to the foothills where we camped for the night. 



On entering the mountains next day it was evident that we 

 were on a very old land surface. There were residual clays, deep 

 gravel deposits and immense ridges of what appeared to be 

 arenaceous clays of decomposition. Such rocks as could be 

 seen appeared to be of basic eruptive types, possibly pre-Cam- 

 brian. In the foothills there were perhaps some limestones, and 

 at one or two points I thought I detected old lava beds much 

 covered with vegetation and most uncertainly defined. We 

 crossed over the first ranges and on to the next, finding the trail 

 very good. Traces of ancient pavements, with a single and, in 

 some places, a double line of boulders, had evidently been laid 

 out by the aborigines. 



As we proceeded inland the mountains became steeper, out- 

 croppings were more plentiful, showing gi'anites, granulites, feld- 

 spathic rocks and other crystalline types. Before reaching the 

 heart of the mountains we crossed a high ridge that was cov- 

 ered with red and white clays which made rather difficult climbing. 

 The path wound up seemingly without end, but at last Ave came 

 to a ridge that took us on to another mountain, and from there 

 the trail led us down to a deep valley, where a water course com- 

 ing from the mountains opened a path to the main range just 

 outside the principal upheavals. 



The mountains now appeared like a bit of New England or 

 northern New York in early summer. Granitic rocks were 

 everywhere predominant. At Pueblo Viejo the cofl'ee planters 

 gave us a hearty welcome and preparations were at once begun 

 for sending us on to the higher mountains which I could see 

 far above us, the snowy ridges standing in bold outlines against 

 the blue sk3'. On every side there were massive peaks, each one 

 rising in succession above the others up to the sublime heights 



