86 TIMEHRI. 
water-worn masses of it many tons in weight. In one 
instance an aggregation of these blocks looks from a 
little way off like a flock of sheep lying on the ground. 
Much of the quartz appears to be barren, but where itis — . 
gold-bearing the metal is plainly visible in isolated 
specks and granules. In many places both on hillside 
and in valley, where a tree had fallen and lay uprooted, 
I found masses of angular quartz fragments attached to 
the roots; and sometimes some of the pieces were 
rounded and water-worn. 
In one case where the side of a hill showed itself 
partly in seétion, there appeared to be a thin layer of 
quartz gravel spread all over it. From amongst this 
gravel I washed several battels of dirt, and from some of 
them obtained small crystals of gold along with other 
little pieces and specks of the same metal. Hematite is 
abundant in the locality and occasionally one finds 
lumps of bog-iron ore. On the heaps of tailings at the 
placers, pieces of quartz containing schorl or black 
tourmaline are common. Its appearance is somewhat 
peculiar and reminds one forcibly of the thorns of the 
species of Bactris sticking in the flesh, as it occurs in 
long needle shaped prisms with a bright pa 
lustre, and often runs deeply into the quartz. 
One of the most noticeable features of the claims is 
the absence from their lower portions of any fragments 
of rock except quartz. At the heads of the creeks shale and 
slate occur but these seem to have entirely weathered 
away as the course of the creek is followed, and in 
consequence the creek beds or the valleys in which the 
streams flow are wide and flat; owing to which they 
swamp easily during the heavy rainy weather. The 
