Guiana Gold. 113 
Awa and Tapanhony with the Surinam, Saramaca and 
Copenaam have been worked — the district between the 
Awa and Tapanhony which was for some years in dispute 
having proved incredibly rich. 
In British Guiana every river of importance has been 
found to be auriferous, with the exception of the Berbice 
and the Corentyne, the latter being One of the greatest 
of our rivers.* 
That these rivers — lying as they do between the richest 
portions of the auriferous zone — should not be productive, 
is not to be believed, and one would not be surprised to 
hear of important discoveries on either. 
With regard to the geological features of the gold 
diggings in the Guianas, we find that in French Guiana 
the deposits at present known are confined to the deepest 
beds of ravines and creeks. The geological character 
of the country is metamorphic. Silurian rocks abound, 
with trap and more recent eruptive formations. The 
system employed for extracting the gold from the auri- 
ferous earth by the natives consists in an extremely rude 
process of washing; no machinery is necessary, and 
plenty of timber abounds for .constructing the sluices. 
The bed of auriferous earth rests mostly upon a 
stratum of clay and is of varying thickness, from 2 or 3 
inches to 2 or 3 feet, the average thickness being 13 
inches. 
The over-burthen or superincumbent chist consists of 
* It is to be noted that, although gold has not as yet been found in 
paying quantities on the Berbice,,the district is certainly auriferous, small 
quantities of the precious metal having been obtained in the Upper 
Berbice, and notably at Eureka creek above the Umbrella rapids, where 
to my certain knowledge, a location was made by a prospector during 
the latter part of 1890, while I was travelling on the river.— Ed. 
P 
