274 TlMEHRI. 
summits, and the wooded line of communication betwixt 
them sinks so gradually that it forms a crescent; and 
there the ridges of others resemble the waves of an 
agitated sea. Beyond these appear others, and others 
past them ; and others still further on, till they can 
scarcely be distinguished from the clouds." 
It is to be remarked that there is a degree of resem- 
blance between the geological formations of British Guiana 
and those of the auriferous districts in Nova Scotia, and 
it has been suggested that much of the auriferous drift of 
that country has been swept by recent denuding a6lion 
into the sea and now forms the submarine banks off the 
coast. There are the strongest grounds for believing 
that the tertiary formations which exist on so extensive 
a scale in the valleys of the Berbice and Corentyne, 
and in the region of the Grand Savanna will be found 
to include vast repositories of alluvial gold. No exami- 
nation has yet been made of those deposits, with the 
exception of some spasmodic attempts at prospecting on 
the Berbice, but at points comparatively low down on 
that river, I have observed great beds of drift of im- 
mense thickness, which apparently contain gold suffi- 
cient to warrant their being compared with the great 
hydraulic placers of California. I have already quoted 
SCHOMBURGK'S opinion of the former existence of an 
inland sea in that part of the country now occupied by the 
great savanna, and speaking of the Berbice he remarks: 
" this ridge of hills which is connected with the Twasinki 
and Pacaraima mountains, I am disposed to consider 
as the old boundary of the Atlantic. Further north 
commence the hillocks of sand which may be presumed 
as the consequence of a retiring sea, the ridges as well as 
