42 Mr. Mills's miner alogical Account of 
others contain chlorite, pyrites, mica, and ferruginous earth ; 
and the arsenical cubical pyrites frequently occurs, imbedded 
in the blue shistus. In this mass of matter, before the work- 
ings began, the brook had formed its channel down to the 
surface of the rock, and between six and seven feet wide, but 
in times of floods extended itself entirely over the valley. 
Researches have been made for the gold, amidst the sand 
and gravel along the run of the brook, for near half a mile in 
length ; but it is only about one hundred and fifty yards above, 
and about two hundred yards below the ford, that the trials 
have been attended with much success : within that space, the 
valley is tolerably level, and the banks of the brook have not 
more than five feet of sand and gravel above the rock ; added 
to this, it takes a small turn to the southward, and, conse- 
quently, the rude surfaces of the shi’stus rock in some degree 
cross its course, and form natural impediments to the par- 
ticles of gold being carried further down the stream, which 
still lower has a more rapid descent ; besides, the rude manner 
in which the 'country people worked, seldom enabled them to 
penetrate to the rock, in those places where the sand and gra- 
vel were of any material depth. Their method was, to turn 
the course of the water wherever they deemed necessary, and 
then, with any instruments they could procure, to dig holes 
down to the rock, and by washing, in bowls and sieves, the 
sand and gravel they threw out, to separate the particles of 
gold which it contained ; and from the slovenly and hasty way 
in which their operations were performed, much gold most 
probably escaped their search ; and that indeed actually ap- 
pears to have been the 'case, for since the late rains washed the 
clay and gravel which had been thrown up, gold has been 
