CHAPTER XIV 



EXPLORATION OF WEST VALLEY A VOLCANIC 



ERUPTION 



Now commenced the first extensive journey we had 

 made on foot, and considerable care was necessary in 

 choosing the most portable form of food. The food 

 difficulty was to some extent lessened by the fact that 

 wild sheep were to be found in considerable numbers 

 amongst the hills. These animals, though shy, were 

 not very active, and we usually found little difficulty in 

 bringing one down when we required a supply of fresh 

 meat. 



We carried our sleeping-bags, but dispensed with 

 the tent, as the weather was fine and warm. 



The gravels of Three Forks were found to occur at 

 intervals over the first forty miles of West Valley, and 

 in several instances yielded small quantities of gold. 



As we had no time for excavation, we were unable 

 to ascertain if the gravels from which the nuggets were 

 obtained occurred in this valley also, but this seemed 

 unlikely, as there were few, if any, of the white quartz 

 pebbles, such as we had seen in Centre Valley Stream. 

 The country consisted of gneiss, traversed by numerous 

 dykes of several different kinds of igneous rock. 



During the first four days we could still hear the 



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