119 
been worked. At Jamieson and Abrahams’ claim the gutter of this lead 
is being worked, but southward from this claim it does not appear to have 
been worked. Browning’s claim appears to have been on a branch where 
worked, and his tunnel has not been driven in far enough west to cut the 
main gutter, which should be met with about 200 feet further west. Tn 
Briggs and Anderson’s claim the tail-race would have to be continued 
northward for a considerable distance to tap this lead. Southward from 
Browning’s claim the lead might be followed for some distance, but it 
appears to have been cut into and denuded by Poverty Gully. At the 
township a portion appears to have been worked, and again at the May 
Queen Extended claim, and at the Engine Shaft. It is not certain how far 
south of the Engine Shaft the ground has been worked. It is desirable 
to determine whether a western feeder joins the main lead or not, and a 
few bores could also be put down where Neild’s Gully runs into the flat in 
Allotment 87. As all the shallow alluvial gullies have long since been 
worked out, these points appear to be the only ones worth trying. 
In working the alluvial gullies amethysts of small size and poor quality 
were found commonly in Neild’s Gully and in Mason’s Gully, and also in a 
small gully running into jimmy’s Creek from the east near its head. 
Small pieces of chalcedony were also common in Neild’s Gully. 
Obsidianites (Australites). 
These remarkable bodies were met with in moderate abundance when 
working the recent gullies. From inquiries made it appears that they were 
always found in the washdirt, resting on the bed rock and not in the beds 
of sand and drift that covered the washdirt, nor in the surface soil, so 
that although they were deposited during the Recent period they have 
evidently not been deposited in the most recent period which reaches 
down to the present time. As to their occurrence in the tertiary beds the 
evidence is not quite so satisfactory; in only one instance could it be ascer¬ 
tained that obsidianites were found in beds of unmistakable tertiary age. 
In the one instance a spot was shown in the May Queen Extended claim 
where a specimen was picked out of the gravel. Some of these “ obsidian 
buttons ” were obtained in Mason’s Gully and its branches, but they were 
far more abundant in Neild’s Gully and in Jimmy’s Creek branches. 
Source of the Gold. 
The principal source of the gold on this field is undoubtedly the grano¬ 
diorite which underlies the whole held, and extends quite 3 miles further 
west than is shown on Mr. Herman’s sketch map of the held. Over a 
great deal of the area the granodiorite is much, decomposed, but hard bosses 
occur that are quite unaltered even at the surface. The more decomposed 
portions appear to be most productive of gold. Quartz veins up to 12 
inches thick, and carrying sulphides of iron, &c., and gold intersect the 
granodiorite, and these must have contributed their share of gold to the 
alluvial deposits; but far more numerous are thin veins that ramify as a 
network in places through the bed rock. The breaking down and weather¬ 
ing away of these has fed the alluvial gullies. In Briggs and Anderson’s 
claim, Emmett’s Gully, gold is being won directly from the original rock 
matrix. The veins have been worked for a depth of 50 feet into the soft 
bed-rock; the general trend of the veins is about N. 20 deg. W., 
but they ramify in all directions. If this tail-race is continued further 
northward it will cut into the washdirt of the old lead. Wade and Kelly’s 
reef is on the south side of Emmett’s Gully. Shafts to depths of 60 feet 
