Prospecting for Gold and Minerals. 273 



to the Boulder Clay Drift, Glacial, and Post-Glacial 

 Epochs. These cover the entire surface of the province and 

 neighbouring regions, either in the shape of loose soil, inter- 

 mixed with angular fragments of rocks, or beds of gravel on 

 which granitic and other boulders are superimposed. The river 

 valley gravels form large flats, vulgarly named "intervals," 

 or islands, composed of pebbles and sand, many of which 

 become covered during the periodical inundations in spring, 

 and, after receiving sedimentary deposits, produce valuable 

 crops of hay. The soils formed by the glacial drift, when 

 cleared of boulders, and the river valley deposits, unless 

 gravelly tracts, are very productive, being made up of the 

 debris of various rocks. In some river valleys of the northern 

 districts, the drift contains traces of gold, whilst on the 

 Tobique the precious metal is said to be met with in Silurian 

 beds, but, as elsewhere, uncertainty is associated with deception, 

 and more than one enthusiastic gold finder has been grievously 

 imposed on by designing persons. 



I was often entertained, whilst accompanying Mr. Charles 

 Robb on a few of his geological reconnaissances in connection 

 with the geological survey of the province, by observing how 

 intensely excited many of the settlers became when his 

 presence was made known on their lands. To examine rocks, 

 merely for the purpose of knowing the one from the other, 

 was utterly beyond their powers of belief, and the more 

 Mr. Robb tried to convince them, the more they seemed 

 impressed with a belief that he was searching for precious 

 metals, and had taken this mode of explanation in order to 

 deceive them. The gold-digging mania had its day in New 

 Brunswick, as well as elsewhere on the continent, and chiefly 

 from some " finds " in the neighbouring province of Nova 

 Scotia. So strong was the furor, that not a few residents 

 in the wilderness districts forwarded large packages of rock 

 to the United States for analysis, and also inundated the 



laboratory of the professor of chemistry at Fredericton with 



T 



