CHAPTER XV 

 CENTRE VALLEY HOT SPRINGS 



BACK at Three Forks, we once more attacked the 

 problem of the auriferous gravels. Up to the present 

 we had only explored Centre Valley for a distance of 

 about fifteen miles from the camp. Up to the farthest 

 point we had yet reached the gravels were present, but 

 whether or no they were gold-bearing throughout the 

 entire distance we were as yet unable to say. 



We decided to proceed leisurely, as an important find, 

 such as this, required very careful investigation. Wher- 

 ever the stream had produced natural sections of the 

 gravels we halted and set to work with our pans. 

 Occasionally we drew blank, but usually we obtained 

 indications. No nuggets were found, but there was 

 every reason to believe that the deposits as a whole 

 would pay if worked by hydraulic mining. 



Twenty-five miles above Three Forks the valley 

 was about four miles in width and was crossed by great 

 ridges of gravel made up of pebbles of gneiss, schist, 

 and granite, the last of a type we had not previously 

 seen. 



These gravels were arranged in several parallel 

 ridges, each bearing mounds upon its surface, and the 

 whole tumultuous mass stretched across the valley in 



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