13 
C.— 13. 
flows over an alluvial flat to its junction with the lower Moonlight. Healy’s Gully owes its 
mo em auriferous deposits probably to the action of the Meg before the stream assumed its present 
course to join the Moonlight. 
, V- 1 e Moonfyht Valley the auriferous gravels are mainly derived from the destruction of the 
surrounding Maitai slates and sandstones. To a small extent gold may have been derived from a 
evelopment of breccia-conglomerate at the base of the coal-bearing series that, from the north- 
east, reaches into the bed of the creek opposite the township. The valley of this stream, including 
also the valleys of some lesser creeks, has been famous for the coarse and nuggety character of the 
gold found in the alluvial deposits. But in the mode of its occurrence the gold is very patchy 
and for long periods the miners work without any return or sufficient reward for their labour. On 
le wiole, however, they are well satisfied with the results, and most of the miners have worked in 
the near vicinity of where they now are since the first of the rush, or since their arrival at Moon- 
light. 
In Garden Gully a great collection of small nuggets and coarse pieces of gold was found at the 
junction of a small creek coming from the west and joining the main stream near its source. This 
tributary creek scoured out its upper course and projected the detritus over a precipice, where, 
over a coal-seam, a waterfall was formed; and, at the foot of the cliff, a shingle-fan, or talus, accu- 
mulated. In this modern deposit — a mixture of gravel, tree-roots, and vegetable mud — a very large 
quantity of gold was found. This happened some years ago. More recently, a systematic working 
of the same area has been undertaken, but, up to the present time, without any satisfactory result 
Gold-workings are carried on m the valley of Moonlight Creek to and below B.A. Creek ; but further 
, ow n > though there are considerable areas of comparatively promising river-flats, that so far seem to 
have been very lit tie prospected. Next to Moonlight, following the Grey Valley upwards, is 
Barker s and Caledonian Creeks. In the first of these the recent alluvial auriferous deposits are 
derived mainly from high-level terraces and from a development of “ Old-man bottom,” which from 
Blackball Creek extends along this side of the Grey Valley as far as the eastern side of Caledonian 
T le rT'i -T . gold-workings in Barker’s Creek are not at the present time of great importance, 
n Caledonian Creek and its tributary, Shellback Creek, a large area of recent alluvium has been 
turned over, and there is still a considerable population, chiefly Chinamen, engaged in gold- 
mitnng within the watershed. The gold in the modern wash is partly derived from “ Old-man 
bottom forming hills in the middle part of the valley, partly from Maitai slates crossing Shellback 
Creek near its source, and partly from the breccia-conglomerate at the base of the coal-bearing 
series, which, having a great development farther to the eastward, roaches west, as has been said 
into the Moonlight Creek at the township. 
In Slaty Creek the recent alluvial gold obtained from the bed of the stream has mainly been 
development 1 ■ cou § lomerates under the coal > which within this watershed has a very great 
In Black-sand Creek, a tributary branch of Big River, the recent alluvia are confined to a 
narrow- and deep valley among mountains of breccia-conglomerate ; and, as the creek does not reach 
through or beyond these breccia-conglomerates, it is evident that the gold in the modern creek- 
wash has its source in these. 
Beyond the watershed of Slaty or Big River the recent alluvial deposits of the Grey Valley 
and the valley of the Little Grey are not auriferous, or not sufficiently so as to have induced the 
working of them. Ihe surface-shingle of this part is mainly derived from granite and gneiss 
ormmg the greater part of the adjoining Paparoa Range ; and it is owing, apparently, to the 
non -auriferous character of these rocks that on this side of the valley no gold-workings extend 
beyond the valley of Slaty Creek or Big River. 8 
q, 0r * south-east side of the Grey Valley the recent gold-bearing deposits in the valley of 
Stillwater Creek and Maori Gully are partly derived from “Old-man bottom” or from glacier 
deposits, of which ample evidence is furnished by the large erratic boulders found iu the gold- 
workings. 8 
Over the Arnold Flat, from Lake Brunner to the Grey River, there is a broad extent of modern 
river-shmgle, but gold-working over this is confined to a limited distance along the banks of the 
Arnold. The northern side of the Arnold Flat, towards the No Town Hills, is supposed to be gold- 
bearing m the deep ground, and the several creeks draining from the hills on to the flat, by the 
denudation of the gravels oi the “ Old-man bottom ” must have carried forward auriferous material 
now lodged m the beds and lower valleys of those streams, or it carried forward to the north-eastern 
margin of the Arnold Fiat. From the southern slopes of the No Town Hills to the Bffi Grey the 
recent alluvial deposits of every stream, large or small, are gold-bearing, and for the most part 
have been worked, yielding a rich return to the miner. By far the greater amount of such gold has 
been derived from the gravels of Pliocene date, which are here spoken of as “ Old-man bottom.” A 
portion of the gold found on the banks of the Ahaura River may, indeed, have been brought from 
the back-country beyond the area covered by the “Old-man bottom,” or washed out of old high-level 
liver-gravels, or directly from auriferous reefs in the schists or unaltered rocks of that part of the 
district. The amount so earned forward from the back-country can, however, be but small 
as the gold-workings along the Ahaura almost cease on passing the south-east boundary of 
the deposits of * Old-man gravels. The many creeks which owe their gold to deposits of auriferous 
this report 16 1 J0Cene ~ graVel formatlon Wl11 be mentioned and described in detail in another part of 
In the Valley of the Big Grey the gravels of the river-bed and the lower river-flats are at the present 
time bemg worked for gold, and would be to a greater extent than they are were it not that there 
are difficulties in bringing water on to the ground where the richer deposits are known to be This 
is due to objections raised by owners of freehold sections to the passing of water-races through 
their lands. Higher up the river valley— that is, above the junction of the Alexander River, and 
