1869.] ULEICH " IfTJGGETTY EEEF." 327 



granite boundary. That the granite could scarcely have exerted 

 any upheaving action upon the Silurian formation is well shown by 

 the fact that both the strike and dip of the beds are against the 

 granite, and show no material alteration in these particulars for 

 miles away from the latter. 



Close around the foot of Mount Tarrangower, within the north- 

 eastern quadrangle, lies the thriving little mining town of Maldon, 

 enclosing within its boundary some of the richest auriferous quartz- 

 reefs of the district, and forming, as it were, the nucleus from which, 

 towards the north, east, and south, auriferous Postpliocene gullies 

 and chains of hilly patches of Upper Pliocene gold-drift diverge. 



Both gullies and drift-hills (once highly auriferous) are now nearly 

 worked out. Washing on a large scale might still perhaps prove 

 a profitable undertaking, if a great scarcity of water did not put 

 this beyond the power of the enterprising miner. The chief re- 

 source at present of the mining community of Maldon, and what 

 has made this gold-field celebrated, are its numerous auriferous reefs ; 

 and amongst these the one named at the head of this article (" the 

 Nuggetty Eeef ") is no doubt the most remarkable, both on account 

 of the great quantity of gold obtained from it, and because it exhi- 

 bits some interesting geological features that throw a clear light 

 upon its age relatively to that of the granite. The reef was dis- 

 covered in 1856, receiving its name from the coarse, nuggetty gold 

 found in its outcrop, and it has yielded up to the present time very 

 little short of 300,000 ounces of gold; some portions are said to 

 have paid from 300-500 ounces of gold per ton. It lies about 

 two miles and a half N.N.W. of Maldon, appearing first on the 

 surface several chains north of the top of the high east and west 

 range that commences from near this point to form the watershed 

 between the Muckleford and Bradlbrd Creeks, and it terminates 

 against the granite at the foot of the range, diminishing gra- 

 dually and dividing into thin veins, which do not penetrate that 

 rock. It strikes IST. 12° W., and dips easterly at angles varying 

 from 70° to nearly vertical. It cannot in reality be regarded as 

 one well-defined lode, as it consists of separate veins, and shows 

 irregularities and difi'erent aspects in difi'erent portions of its ex- 

 tent. At the north end, for instance, which is principally worked 

 by the Alliance Company, it consists of two strong veins, divided by 

 a somewhat irregularly shaped and bedded mass of bluish-grey 

 hard, metamorphic sandstone — a so-called " horse," which is more 

 or less abundantly traversed by quartz-strings. At the surface the 

 two veins adjoin each other very closely, and have perhaps once been 

 united in the original crown of the reef, since removed by denuda- 

 tion. Owing, however, to the " horse " gradually expanding to a 

 certain point, then contracting and again increasing in width, the 

 veins diverge, converge, and diverge accordingly. 



The eastern vein is distinguished by a fine smooth eastern wall that 

 extends without any change as far as the line of the reef has been 

 opened and examined; the western vein, on the contrary, is devoid 

 of a defined wall, and shows no casings, and the quartz presents 



