THE TECHNOLOGIST. [Sept. 1, 18C5. 
66 NATURAL CAPABILITIES OF 
For reasons which will presently appear, no extensive system of " pro- 
specting " the whole region has as yet been attempted. But, judging 
from analogy, there is every reason to conjecture that the slaty gold- 
Learing rocks will be found to be distributed over a far greater area than 
lias hitherto been examined, and that an extended system of exploration 
cannot fail to result in the discovery of fresh groups of streams, issuing 
from the slopes of neighbouring bald hills, and containing their rich 
hoards of alluvial gold. It would certainly be difficult to believe that 
the half-dozen water channels which have yielded nearly all the gold 
hitherto exported from Cariboo can be the only rich spots in the region, 
or that William's Creek can have no associates of its own calibre ; and, 
hence, it may fairly be inferred that the alluvial diggings of Cariboo 
promise, of themselves, to afford lucrative employment to a large mining 
population for many years to come. 
Apart, however, from the question of alluvian wealth, it may be 
assumed with almost absolute certainty, that the auriferous veins which 
permeate the parent ranges — and are believed to have supplied by their 
partial disintegration the gold found in the river-beds — are not yet 
wholly exhausted of their treasures ; and that, eventually, the more 
costly and elaborate operations of quartz-mining will, under an improved 
condition of civilisation and commerce, engage the attention of capi- 
talists. If this assumption be correct — and there is little room for doubt 
as to its accuracy — Cariboo, even as it stands at present, and without 
reference to the other unexamined localities in the immediate neighbour- 
hood, must be regarded as one of the richest and most inexhaustible 
known gold fields in the world. 
William's, Lightening, Antler, and Lowhee Creeks, are the most 
remarkable in the district. On each of these, the gold, though all of the 
description termed " coarse," Nevertheless differs materially both in 
appearance and intrinsic value. On William's Creek, for instance, the 
particles are smooth and water-worn, and contain a large amount of 
alloy ; whereas, on Lowhee Creek, not five miles off, they are more 
crystalline in structure and exceedingly pure ; the latter, when assayed, 
being found to yield nearly 8s. per ounce troy more than the former. 
And on no two creeks do the particles bear an exact resemblance in 
character to one another. A no less remarkable feature of the auriferous 
districts is the unevenness with which the alluvial deposits are scattered 
over the bed rocks. The larger particles are generally found to be 
accumulated in detached heaps, in rich " pockets,'' in crevices and angles 
of the rocks, and the " leads," or strata of highly auriferous gravel, are 
marked by a constant succession of wide intervals and abrupt changes 
in level and direction which baffle the most experienced miners. From 
this peculiar inequality of distribution it arises that, whereas those who 
are lucky enough to alight upon rich "leads" or "pockets," rapidly 
amass considerable sums of gold ; the less fortunate miners, who happen 
to possess " claims," or allotments of mining ground, in neighbouring, 
