THE PROSPECTORS HANDBOOK. 



less angular and smoother the farther away they lie f rcm the 

 lode or other likely matrix rocks up the hill or mountain 

 side to some outcropping rock (often forming a distinct 

 ridge) from which it has been hurled down, or to where the 

 detached pieces cease to be noticed, the prospector may dig 

 a trench at right angles, if possible, to the lode, in order to 

 examine its character, the nature of the vein and the 

 gangue, and to find the bounding walls, viz. the upper or 

 hanging wall, and the lower or foot-wall, as well as to note 

 the direction or "strike" of the lode; he must notwith- 

 standing, for the sake of ? r t racy, "sink" a "prospecting 

 shaft " a few feet deeper \ the bottom of the trench, as 

 the inclination of the lodt .ear the surface is most mislead- 

 ing, on account of the body of ore having been distorted 

 from its original shape. When once the probable direction 

 of the lode is ascertained, the positions where it is desirable 

 that other pits, lower down or higher up the hill or on the 

 other side of a valley, should be sunk so as to test the 

 continuity of the vein, are settled. Should the prospect of 

 the vein being a continuous one seem favourable, and the 

 surface " assays " turn out well, development of the claim 

 may be attended to. 



At the same time, no person should be led away by such 

 a hope as that " the deeper the vein the more payable the 

 ore ;: ; for, as a fact, though certain lead and copper veins 

 do improve by depth, and also very many gold-bearing lodes 

 for instance, those in Grass Valley, Calif ornia, which seem 

 to be as rich at 1,000 feet deep as at the surface very many 

 do deteriorate in value; nor is it prudent to attach too much 

 affection on any particular lode, until the surrounding 

 country has in some measure been examined. Besides, it 

 is now a recognised fact that veins vary in quality and 

 nature according to the strata they pass through. 



Even if the prospects look bright, a person who goes in 

 for mining ought not to be too sanguine of success, for 

 mineral veins are most apt to disappoint ; frequently do 

 they " pinch out" between hard rocks, or end in a " pocket," 

 or become changed in character and value when least 

 expected. To err on the safe side, it is just as well for a 

 happy possessor to make sure that at least the surface rock 



