18 On the Geological Distribution of Gold. 



tracted from the seams presented exteriorly exactly the same 

 appearances as that disseminated in the mass, and the quality 

 proved also to be the same. 



This conglomerate was found auriferous for several hundred 

 feet in length, but at the depth of about 80 feet the 

 mass became too hard for the pick or the crow-bar, and the 

 productiveness also declined. That a composition such as 

 here described produces gold throughout the mass, is cer- 

 tainly a novelty, considering its geological position. Though 

 no fossils whatever have been discovered, it appears 

 that this mass had formed long before the tertiary era or the 

 Eocene epoch. It is, however, a curious exception to find 

 gold so distributed, as it appears here spread among the 

 binding ingredients; and, further, that the quality and ap- 

 pearance of the gold from this rock do not correspond with 

 the fluvial gold, as seen in this part of the world, a circum- 

 stance which speaks in support of what has been suggested, 

 viz., that this auriferous deposit is of anterior date to the 

 fluvial depositions containing gold. 



We have next to consider a most singular feature, which 

 is never observed among fluvial drifts, i.e., the superficial 

 seams filled with partly drusy quartz where free gold is seen, 

 and in the concavities of which quartz crystals are spread, 

 some crystals of sulphuret of lead, small clusters of crystals 

 of yellow pyrites, rich in gold, some silicious per -oxide of iron 

 and, clay, and hydrous oxide of iron, both auriferous. The 

 walls of these small veins presented on both sides a coating 

 of hardened ferruginous clay with silica a quarter of an inch 

 thick, and the surfaces perfectly polished. This coating was 

 also auriferous, as mentioned already. The gold from these 

 seams was in all points identical with that from the mass 

 traversed by them. The residuum produced by the process 

 of washing the mass or rock * and that of the pulverised 

 vein-stone were also identical, being both auriferous. — As 

 already observed, these seams, of a wedge-like form, extended 

 only towards the superior portion of the conglomerate, oc- 

 cupying a short distance in length and depth, but without 

 reaching to the surface of the mass within three or four feet, 

 i.e., enclosed in all directions, constituting what may be 

 termed isolated receptacles of auriferous materials. This 

 as yet unique example of metalliferous veins f though repre- 



* The conglomerate is disintegrated easily by agitation in water. 

 + These petty seams enclosed five metals — gold, silver, iron, lead, and 

 aluminium ! 



