THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK. 



search for the precious metal gold may be selected as an 

 exemplification of the method. In searching the sands 

 washed down by rivers, it is well to bear in mind that if the 

 bed of a river flowing through an open country yields fine 

 gold dust, it will probably yield larger dust or grains nearer 

 the mountains from which the stream runs, and grains of 

 gold far along the stream may suggest nuggets nearer the 

 source ; because the water which has washed the gold-bear- 

 ing matter from the lodes in the mountains has washed it, 

 so to speak, down an inclined plane, leaving in its course 

 the heavy particles and transporting the lighter farther away. 

 The richest deposits are often those where the current has 

 been broken by a change of descent or direction, and where 

 a turning is abrupt, so that on one side of the stream is a 

 cliff and on the other a gentle slope ; the latter may be 

 very rich in heavy metals. Sometimes there are several of 

 these bends with slopes opposite cliffs, and in these slopes 

 there is more chance of discovering gold than in places 

 where the course of the stream is a straight one. The ter- 

 mination of a mountain chain, too, offers a likely site for 

 alluvial diggings. Very commonly in a canon or gulch, 

 where gold grains are found deposited in the lowest parts 

 along which the river or creek runs, an accumulation of 

 boulders or gravel may be noticed higher up the sides of 

 the range, and more or less parallel to the bed of the creek. 

 Portions of such deposits should be carefully examined by 

 the eye (and by the magnifying glass), and -by washing in a 

 basin at the nearest water (as hereafter explained GOLD, 

 Chapter V.), as the gold-bearing matter, whether carried 

 there in a past age by running water or glacier, may con- 

 tain rich gold layers close to the " bed-rock " on which the 

 debris rests. Should there be several distinct deposits, the 

 deepest layer of each period is generally the most lucrative. 

 When alluvial ground is made up of rather loose gravel 

 mixed with boulders or lumps of rock, the gold along with 

 other heavy substances will be found underneath the bulk 

 of the coarse deposits, and either remains near to or on 

 the <l bed-rock," or mixed with clay ; so that the earthy 

 matter just over the " bed-rock " ought to claim much more 

 attention than that elsewhere. 



