IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) w> z:^, /q C^' V.x 1.0 I.I 1.25 121 11121 IM liii^ 2.0 U III 1.6 p% <^ /a / 'c^l ? Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y )4S80 (716) 872-4503 V iV ^^ \ \ 4''^. ^9) V i> % ' signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbols V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds d des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est film6 A partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droits, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nicessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. rrata to pelure, n d □ 32X 1 2 3 : 1 4 CK < DEPARTMENT / i > 0- \N COLONIZATION AND MINES GOLD IN Till': PROVINCE OF QUEBEC CANADA . • . • ' . •, *. • • . : • • • I • .• . • . . .• , J. OBALSKI r.(>\i:KXMi:NT MiMXC, Kxr.INKKK JUNE 1898 GOLD. IXTkODrCTlON. The information we i){>sses.s ix-jranlinj,'^ our j^okl-hL'arinjr districts is scattered thronjrhout nnnieroiis rei^rts and documents, and, in order to be able to reply to api lications for information on the subject, it has been deemed advisal)le to publish in abridj^red form the interestinj^r facts which they con- tain and those which our personal experience has supplied. A niaj) on a scale of a mile to the inch is added to this work and shcnvs the territories still belon^r. in*-^ to the Province. LIST OF DOCUMKXTS CONSrLTKD: Reports of the (ieoloc,Mcal vSr.rvey 1847-48-52. Report on the Chaudiere «:old mines, b\- F. T. Judah, 26th September, Transactions of the Literary .'i"d Historical vSociety of Ouebec, Re\. James Douj^las, 18th November, 1863. Reports of the C.eoloj^ical Sm-vey 1863 to 1866. The (iold-dijrgcr's Guide, by J. Hailey, 1864. The Gold Mines of Lower Canada, or iMiner's Guide 1864. (Les mines (I'or du Bas-Cariada on j»;uide du minenr, 1864.) Report on the gold bearinjj lands of Canada, 1865. Printed by order of the Legislative Assembly, 28 Vict., Appendix No. ;! 4 Report of A. Michel cScvSteiry Hunt, Kchrnary, 1866. Extract from tlie report of the Conimissioiier of Crown Lands, 1S66, hy R. Pope, In.si)ector of Mines. Report of tlie (k-oloj^rical Survey, 187071. I The N'alk-y of the Chaudierc, by Dr. \V. J. .Anderson, 1H72. Rei)ortsof tlie Commissioner of Crown Lands, 1867 to 1886, iuchisively. (lold in Canada (from the columns of the Ouebec Moniiin; CInonivlc. i88(i.) ** \' Mines d'or de la Bcauce ((lold Mines ot Ikauce), by W. Chapman, iSRi. Special report to the (lovernment, !)>■ \V. P. Lock wood, with docu. ments (not printed). Return No. 1 28 to an address of the Le^nslative .\s.semblv, dated the 25th February, 1889. (W. I'. Lock wood's claim). Reports of the C.eological Survey, Summary Reports 1S95 and i8(/,. l)y R. Chalmers. The Cold (k'l^osits of the ICastern Townships, by Dr. R. \V. Klls, Journal of the Canadian .Mining lustitute, January nieetinj^r, 1896. _^- 'J^'i*^' r,old-bearin- of the de Lery patent. LKGISLATIOX In the Province of Quebec, the ownership of mines of j>;ol(l and silver is vested in the Crown in all lands where such ownershij) has not been trans- ferred by a special provision in the jiatent, that is to say, that the Crown still owns the mines of jijold or silver thronj^hout nearly the whole territory of the Trovince, includinjj^ the seijj^niories, whatever may be the date of the issue of the patents. The seij^niorial court set aside the reservation of mininj^ rij^hts made by the seij^niiors in concedinj^ lands to their triisilnircs. We j^five below a list of all the lands sold for these ])urp()ses up to the 24th July, iSiSo. From that date when mines were sold for superior metals, j^'old and silver were also included in that denoniiualion. I shall j^ive, however, some explanatory details as to the lej^islalion uj) to that date. .\ rejfulaliou for the sale of j^old mines, dated the 22nd April, 1S64, decreed that the lands reserved for «;()ld in the Chaudiere and St. I'rancis divisions should be sold at $2.00 cash per acre without settlement conditions, and that no royalties should be levied (see the Crown Lands report 1S64. ) That re<;ulation was sus])ended in the month of May of the same year, and replaced on the 30th June by the act of 1S64 and by the amendment of 1S65 which rejj^ulated the manner in which ;uish, as far as possible, between bona Jhic purchasers for farniiu};- purposes and those who purchase for miniujj;^ or speculative pur- poses, b\- sellinjj to the former at the present prices and conditions (subject to the increa.se specified in the order-in-council of the 8th Aujj^ust, 1S64, wiien worked for ^old) and to the others at the price of a dollar an acre cash. On the nth May, 1874, another order-in-council rej^ulatinj^ the sale of mininjj lots fixed the price at $1.00 per acre. In 1878 the royalty was re- placed by a tax of $1.00 for each miner, \alid for 3 months. Thf Mfiuicc iiiims sctiii to havr ht-fii worked chitfly nndtr tlu- art nf 1S64, until after the validity of the de Iatn- Patent had been contested and maintained l)\ the conrts, when the ;;eneral niininj^ act of tlic 24th July, iHHo, became the law in force; it re])rodnced the ])rincipal clauses of tlu' act of 1S64, hnt anthori/ed the sale of lots at the price of 52.(k) per acre. An order-in-conncil of the loth I)ecend)er, 1SS5, raised the price of these lots to S5.00 per acre. The act of iNSo was repealed and replaced i)y the mininj^ act of the T,n\.\\ Decembei, iS(>(), which maintained the i)riceof the lots, bnt imposed a ro\alty of .'J'i°/o "H the jfross-weifciuifn ( 1447) and hy the price (jf the lot ('444)- '1'1><-" piiteiit or final title isMies only when an anioinit of j^^oo.cx) has been expended within the space of two years (1451). I'lxploration licenses or. Crown lands are ^'ranted with the ri^ht ta pnrchase tlu' mine for S.s-o" per one luindred acres in snr\e\ed lands or bv scpiare mile in nnsurve\ed lands (1452 to 1457). The ('io\irninenl also leases mininj^ lands by means of mininj^ licenses on pa\nient of a fee of $5.00 and an annual rental of jn-r acre and such licenses are renewable lir jiirr. The law fixes a maximum of ^00 acres per jjcrson, but no minimum (ip)i). When the land has been sold or in sei;;niories whatever may be the dates of the patents, except of eonrse in the S"ij,niiory of Kij^and N'andrenil, the actual owners or the a iisihi/ii's (tenants) have the first rij^ht to pnrchase or lease such mines, but they nia\- be expropriated if they refuse to avail themselves of their rii^^hls and the Mininj^ Uaw (klines the i)rocedure to lie followecl in such cases (.1465 to i.|(/i). The discoverer of a mine on Crown lands has tlie rij^ht to mark such mine by pickets placed at the corners, but must at once j^ive notice to the Inspector by makinj^ an ;ipplication to purchase or for a licenselr p)i to I4<>,^l. There are no municipal taxes on mines up to the \eai 1900 ( 1579). In Heauce, there are a certain number of lots that were f'irmerK worked under the license s\steni, I)Ul the mines haw not been alienated by that fact and the so-called reser\ations made by ]K'rsons who have sold their lots are worthless as regards tiie Crown. I'or instance : A occupied a lot that he sold to I), who resold it toC. If theminiuL; rights when the ori'^inal patent was jrranted belonj^ed to the Crown, '.lie reservation of the .L;old and siKer made b\' A. or bv H. is of no \alur aii\ uioii' than the pretended ri>^dits that the com])anies may haw had w iiieli mined on those lots and at j)re.sent the Crown alone owns the rights over j^old and silver and C. alone has the first rij^ht to purchase unless he has dis]K)ssessed himself of thai rij^ht in favor of X. for instance, and even in such case if C. sold to I) the Crown would have only to consider D as having the right of preemption and not X iinlfss tlif latter l)e tlu- holdi-r of a iniiiitij^ licfusi' ohtaiiii'd previous to stjcli sale or that lu- have rej^islered his title coiifoniiaMy to the provisions of the law eoiiceniiiivf the rej^'istratioii of real riijhts and of article 1442 of the Miniiij^ Kaw. This is laid down in the f»)llowin}; extract from a le^al opinion of the Attonie\ (ieneral on the snhjecl : " The siirface proprietor of a niininj^' lot may alienate his ri^ht of pre-emption and nnist, in such case, j>;ive notice pursuant to the recpiirenients of article r442 of the Revised Statutes of the province. Ili' niusl, in addition, register the ik-vA of sale of snch ri^ht of pre-emption eonformahly to the rej^istration laws." insTouv. (iold was iLpoiU'd in iS^^toexist in the Chandiere \'alley 1)\ Lieutenant Haddeley,(»f the Koyal l\n^ineers, ( Si 1 1 inian's Journal ) when Clandine,dau*> liter of one (lilhert, and now Madame ( )livier Morin, found in 1S34 a nuj^j^et as larj^e as a pij^a-on's v^^ weij^diiny^ 106O j^rains 63 in the (iilherl ri\er, near till' Chandiere, hut its efTective discovery dates oid\ from the year 1H46. After that diseu\er\, which waspnreh accidental, the de Lery family ohtained from the Canadian (lovernnient by letters ])alent. dated llie iSlli Sejitember, 1S46, the exclnsivi' rijj^ht to mine for j^old in the seij,Miiory < '" Mij^aud \'an- dreuil, Heance. Mr Charles de lAr\ and Dr James Douglas of Ouebec the. bes^an some surface washiuj^s on lot 75 of the ist ranj^e Xorlh iCast of the Chandiere and established the ]>reseuce of .i;()ld in notable ciuantities and e\eu foinid snuie larj^e nnj^'^'jets. The rij^lu to mine for j^old in that seij^niiory was leased in iS47, in con- sideration of the payment of 25 per cent, to the Chandiere Miniujr Co. which worked on the ('iill)ert river and also in the bed of the Ri\iere des Tlantes and obtained small (luantities of j,m)1(1. In iS.s'-.S- tli»-' Canada Mininj^^ Co rej^ularly worked the <,n;>vel on the Riviere du Loup at .St. (leor<^re and obtained j^jood results. These comjianie'^ abandoned their works and {U)\\ti to iSO^, parties of miners washed with pans or other (piite jjrimitive a])i)liances, in the beds of the rivers. Several of the.se miners obtained extra(n-dinar\- results. I'roui that date the jjold mining industry received a new impulse ; numbers of miners arrived in Heauce and worked chiefly on the (Gilbert river on lots i^ to 21 of the de Lery concession, wdiere they .secured very ji^ood results by comparatively jirimitive mean.s. Durinj; that interval Dr. James Douj^las, one of the leadinjj shareholders of the Chandiere Mininjj^ Co., who snbsefpiently became the sole owner of till- iiiiniiij,' rijrlits in tin." s(.-i)^ninry of Kij^aiulA'aiidu'iiil, Iraiisfurtd iluin in tlu' suninitT of iHr)^to Mr. Ilans. Ila^jiMis and ollars of Oiuhic who assi^Mii-d them to Mr. Trnnian Conian, of N'lw York. The hitlir, aftir ihi- ist Sip- tc-nibtT, iHf)4, the (hilc of the i-Npiration of the Ifa.se, ohtainid a tu-w oiu' for 15 years from thi' «>lli Si-ptcmhi-r, iSf)j. Hr thfti ort^anizfd a ronipanx under the name of the " de I,er> (ntld Mining Coinpau) " whieh was imorpur- aled on the ist JnK, iH6i^, and obtained from the sei).;niors an extension of the lease for 30 \ears valid up to the yth September, iS(j.|, and rene\val)le for the .same term. This company, which proposed to work the (piart/, bnill near the DcN-il's kapitl on the Chaudiere a (piart/ mill with 10 stam])s, .1 portion oi' which is still in - i ;tence. that worked onl\ a short time and does not .seem, to have ])rodnce(l am j^ood results. It also >ubdi\ ided a portion of its territory into small claims which it sub-let to miners. Then be^.-in the lej.jal dinicnllies between the ' '..ipanies, tlu miners and the surf ice owners, as the latter re- fused to aiknowled^f- d tiie validit\ of the de Lerx patent. Dnrinj,^ this ])e''iod l'\w-suils and materi-il obstacles of al! kinds retarded the de\elopment of the industry. It was al.->o in iSf)^ that siarches wire made for j^old in the neij^li- borhood of Slierbrookv and that the (iolconda ( lold Miniuj.; Co., was ori4;ani /.ed in Ascot. In i«Sf)5 the Reciimicitx Minin;^ Co leasid from the de Ler\ Comjxnn the rijfht to mine on a part of the (lilberl but met with little success in spite of rather extensive works. Nevertheless, like the de Ler\ Com])auy, it rented claims to >;roU])s of miners who did surface workfrom a few feet to about twent\ in de])th and who, thouj.,di workiuj^ without an\- method and .separa- tely, obtained relatively considerable (quantities of goUl. It was about iSr)6 that the tlrst work was dune in hitlou b\ lion. J. H. Pope. In 1S67, Mr. W. V. Lock wood actjuired a claim of about half an acre in superficies on the (Gilbert and from that date bej^an a sx.stematic exami- nation of the nature of the aiiriferons dei)osits. j^radually increasing' the e.xtent of hi.soperatitm.s byobtaininj^ additional territory in such manner that in 1S73 his rijfhts extended oven t Xo. 12. .At that time lawsuits and contests went on for the pos.session of lots that were rich in _i;()ld and occupied without the authorization of the- owners of the miuini; rights, that is to say, the de Lery Comi)any, represented, in the portion worked upon, by the Canada (iold Company, hi iSSo, the I'mxincial (iovernment passed the Mining;- Act, and in iSSi, it contested the \alidity of the de Lery p.'itent before the courts and asked thai it be declared ille.^al and be si't aside- On tlu' 22nd June, 1SS3, the vSuperior Court at (Juebec dismissed the action and recoi^iiized tlie \alidity of the patent. That iudj.ni.eul was confirmed in appeal in 1SS4. This period of the history of Heauce e.xtendiii!:;- from 1S7.S to 1SS5 was the most flourishing and dnriuiL;- it the work was carried on in the uio>t II practical manner, the quantity of j^old taken out beinj^ also very j^reat. There were then as many as 500 men employed alonjr the Oilhert by the followinj:; companies amonjj others : \'ictoria Comj)any on i.S ; vSand and Spauldin he du.i^ a canal 11'.. miles luii^- with a head of water of 15" feit. That couipanv was unsuccessful for .several reasons loo leii^Uu to enumerate JK-re and bad to abandon it< works after liavin^ only succeeded in washing a portion nf the ;^ra\el. Some work was done b\- the vSt. Oiv^l- Hrothi-rs on Slate Creek de IWrdoise near vSt. (ieor}.>;e where a shaft 165 feet ileep was siuik. vSulisi- 12 quently Mr Humphrey worked in partnership with them and about the same lime they did some work on the Pozer river in the Seigniory of Aubert- (iallion. Important prospects were also made by small companies represented by Mr H. Sewell on the Riviere des Plantes ; by Captain Richard, on the Cum- berland river ; by the St. Onj^e Brothers, on the Famine, and by Messrs Coupal and McArthur on the Ruissean des Meules. About 1886, we find the w<-rks in Hcauce almost completely stopped. The lejjal (juestion was settled and there was no longer any opening for small parties of miners in the seigniory. The Canada (xold Company and McArthur Hrothers obtained from the de Lery Company most of the rich territories and worked but \ery little themselves except on the Ruis.seau des Meules. In 1891, Messrs Cluis. Rodrigue and Louis Mathieu began to pros- jK'ct on the Hall lirook in Dudswell and on the K.ingse\- Brook, where they formed the Rodrigue (iold Mining Company. Their example was followed by other miners from Beauce who prospected with more or less success on the Row and Big Hollow Brooks and even in 1S94, gold was found in a small vein of ciuartz, on lot \'I, 13, of Westbury, the i)roperty of Mr. Harri- son. In 1892, we find some work beginning again at the mouth of the Riviere du Loup when Mr. \\. B. Haycock tried to work the bed of that river and put up a small three stamp mill to test the quartz veins of that region. The work was continued l)y Messrs Blue and P^ustis, but stopped in 1896. In the fall of 1895, Mr. J. Hardmau began to drive a tunnel in the village of St. Cieorge itself to join the old works of the vSt. Onge Company on Slate creek. .According to Mr. Chalmer this work was suspended at the end of 1S97 and the tunnel was run for a length of 900 feet partly through boulder clay and quick.sand. The lease of the seigniory of RigaudA'audreuil having expired at the end of 1894, Messrs McArthur Brothers obtained a grant of .sections 3, 4, 7 and 9, covering the Gilbert and the Ruisseau des Meules. In 1895, those gentlemen organized the American Company whicii did only a little work on the Gilbert. In 1897 the Quebec Central Gold Field Company .sank .several .shafts on the Riviere du Loup about three miles from its mouth, but obtained no results. t the bert- nited essrs The irties "thur ? and pros- they )\ved 5.S on in a 'arri- ^'lere and The 1 the ;e of Slate d of ilder !end !, 4, hose k on s on d no / 13 Finally, at the present moment, that is in 1898, we have the Gilbert Beauce Mininj^ Company successfnlly operatinj^ in the old Gilbert works on lots 15, 16, 17 of de Ler\-. On the Rnisseau des Menles, Mr Conpal continues to work with a few men and finds j^old in payinj^ quantities. In vShenley, at the j^reat falls of the Chaudiere, Mr Currie is prospectinj^ on the outcroppinjr irravel beds. lu Duds- well work is beiujj;^ done on the Kin^sey Brook and Bi was cnt up into small claims and worked by the I'onlin brothers, Rodrij^ne and others. The Rodrij^ne claim was 150 feet lon.^- and 50 feet wiile and was sub-divided into smaller claims. On lot 20, washinj^^ was done with a sluice, but on tlie others with rockers and pans, the excavations barely exceeding; S or 10 ft-fl in (le])th and the '^nU\ beinj^ chieflN- found in the crevices of the bed rock. About that time the surface of l;.ts 20 and 21 was purchased by Dr. James Reed, who did barely any work, but sub-let to other miners. Messrs. Mans Ilaj^rens and Coni])an\-, who worked for some time, claimed to have washed with the sluice an avera}.,fe of Sjo.oo worth a day with 5 men. In the various reports we find the followinj^ : .\ nu<^<.jct worth Si 10.00 was found. .\ part\- of six men say that they found 6 'j ounces in 2 days ; another also of 6 men found 15 ounces in 3 days. Rodrit^ue and the I'onlin brothers found 10 pounds of j^old in 11 days in the bed of the river ; then after leasing*- the claim abovementioned they continr.ed to find j^old, one nujj;-get beinj; worth $200.00, the work of the whole sunnuer yieldin,i; pro- bably 24 jiounds which, accordiuj^to I)r Douj^-las, represented $16.00 per man per diem for a period of 80 days. Later on, the same parties declared that they obtained with pans, with 4 men, 72 ounces of jj^old in a sinj^le day. Jean Mathieu, on lot 20, at a depth of 3 or 4 feet found $500 in 4 da\s and afterwards on a ueij^hborinjr claim, obtained $400.00 in a few days. That claim was then worked b\- the Hertrand Brothers, and vSteele ^ Company who obtained con- siderable (luantities of j^'old, especialK' 46 ounces from the 14th June to the 2nd JuK'. Maranda and others found 32 ounces in 3 weeks ; Robert and others a nu,<;<4et worth S220.00 ; another worth SSd.ocj wa^-. found on a claim in the viciuitw In 1864 when the precediuj^^ lease for 14 years expired, Mr Trunuin Coman, who had obtained the unexpired portion oi the lease from the first lessees, a<;:iin rented the mining- rights over the whole seis^uiory, dating from the 9th vSeptend)er, 1864, 'i'i<^^ orj);ani/.ed the I)e Lery Oold Mining Company which was incorporated on the isl July, 1865, and to which he transferred all his rights by a lease for 30 years and which was renewable. 17 cs (lid not iiijr rij^lits ;oiith half hrotlicrs, (1 50 feet was (lone :)ns barely 1(1 in the id 21 was t to otlier jnie time, rtli a (lav I SiK^.oo n 2 days ; lie Ponlin ver ; then <»-()l(l, one Llin<^ pro- 1 per man that they Mathien, lards on a was then uned Con- ine to the iiul others ini ill the Truman 1 the first lin<^ from Company 'aiisferred Tliis company performed sonic work in the rej^ion above mentioned and built, near the Devil's Rapids, a (jnartz mill with 10 stamps that was finished in March, 1867. Various veins were opened and a small (luantity of (jnartz was ]iut throuj^h the mill, I)ut no result was obtained from this. The company sub-divided the east jxirt of lots 14 and i ,s itito small lots known as miners' claims and afterwards j^rrauted the rii^ht to mine to small parties of miners- In 1S65, it sublet to the Re'^i])rocit\- Miuiii}^- Company, orj^ani/ed in the United States by Colonel Rankin, the rioht to mine on lots if) to zy) of de Lcry until the expiration of the lease. That company sank a shaft on lot 16 of de Lery on the rijj^ht bank of the (lilbert and sublet certain portions of its territory especially on lot iS to small comjxinies. Mr. Michel, who visited the (I'lbert in 1SO3 and 1865, reports as follows : In 1S63, on lots iS to 20, there were from 100 to 120 miners divided into parties who v/orked small claims 1)\- means of open excavations at depths varyiui^ from 10 to 15 fei't. They left bL'twcen them spaces that were not mined and the iini)erfect washinj^' caused the loss of much }^'<)1(1. It is therefore i)robable that in order to utilize the whole of the land the Recipro- city Company undertook to drain the bed of the river and in the spriii,!.,^ ,,f 1S65 it buill a fhiine iSoo feet lon.^;, 4 feet wide and 3 feet dee]). This work, which was still unfinished, was partly deslroNcd in Jul\- by an overfiow of the river. After costly repairs, the bed of the river was worked from lot iC) to ot iS, but it is said that only ,<2,5aiii/e(l in small companies, mined on lot icS on the left bank of the (iilbert by means of uii(ler<4rouiid workinLjs. In the spriui^- of 1S65 there were about fifteen shafts of a depth of from 2(J to 25 feet and situated at a distance of from 50 to 100 feet from the ri\er. The miners pumped out the water from their workinj^s b\- hand with small Chinese pumps and ran it off into a common canal. This canal had been buill by the Reciprocity Company from lot 19 to the I'rauch, lot 16 and the\' collected a toll of ,^2.00 at first, then of Si. 00 per diem and per claim from the claim lessees who used it. These workintjs seem to have yielded a ^ood (|uaiitil\- of j^rold chieny found in the bed rock that was then broken up i)rett\- deeply. The washing was done with rockers .y;-enerally in the bottom of the shafts. Two shafts from 4(j to 45 feet deep were sunk on a claim on lot 15 by one Midland who seems to have obtained > !l l8 a )^«H>(1 (k'al of j4i)l|)t.c-tor, r(.'i>orlf(l tliat al)oul 3" hh'Ii workid on lots 16 to H) on claims k-ascd 1)\ iIk' kc'ciiirocilN' Company and fotind .i^old. Ik' tstimatid tlif \ iidd at S^"" p<-'i' man prr da\ . 'i'lir tronhk- al\\a\s was tin.' wattr. Messrs Power, Causk-x and CoMiKA, (hit; a canal thronj^li lots is, i'' and 17 of dc Lcry. This drain was i"i nisi led in January, 1.S67 ; it was Khki feet lon>4 and 3 wide; it was solidK timl)ere undertook to pay Si. 1 »> per t'laiui ]ier da\ until tlie\ aliaudoiud tlu'ir claim>. 'i'lieri' \^ ere lluMi 30 claims leased 1>\ the Keeii)rocitN- Couipaiu and tuiplo\in^ as many as loo men. At this time it was deemed neces>ar\- to ha\e at the mines a ;)ermaueul police force cousistin.i; of a sergeant and 12 coiistahles, all mounted. It was at this period that there were found on lot iC>of de Lery near tlie conthuuce of the I'.rauch, the nu.nj4ets known a> the " Kil.L;(>ur-\u!L;,L;et " wei.nliiuu; 31 ounces iS dwls, (> grains, worth. .S92S.35 and the " McDonald Xus'L'et" wei<'hiuL; i^ ounces, ij dwls and worth ,$821. s')- A ^reat main- shafts about 2n feel deei) were then sunk in th.al region and j^okl was found in most of them. The workings were drained li\- the Reciprocit\- drain and 1)\ that of Powt'r. 'Places of ihe old shafts can still he seen ; lhe\ were known as the Morrissou. Mi.nard, I'lauchel, I'ouliu and McDonald shafts on lot id on iIil left hank ; the Xed Sand, lA'clerc, .St. ( )u;4e shafts on lot 17 on the lefl liank and Kil^our and vSl. ( )nm.' on the same lot on ihe rij^lit hank. The work ou some of these claims was slopped throu.nh want of sufficient means to coiileiid a,!.;ainsi the water and it is probable that i>ieces of rich i;round still remain especially on lot i() on the left l)ank above the Itranch. .\boul XoNcmbcr 1866, pendiuL; the completion of the I'ower drain, a steam pump of (> horse-power capable of puiupiiio- from 300 to 41)0 (gallons a iniuule was put id b\' Messrs I'roulx and Dion, of Oucbec. I ineution this fact becau.se it is the nrsL steam enj^ine that uuule its appearance in that district. Mr. Pope estimates that in 1.S66 '^o\(\ to the auiount of ,S8, 700.00 wis llK- >li:itts ■navd, N\(l and (111 am, a oils a 1 lliis 1 that Mc DON A LI) xrcciirr N'ujTKit fimiid in iSf>6(jn tin- Cilbirt rivir, 1(jI i') uf tlif ih- I.cry Coiuts^ioti ; wfi^flil 45 outicfs 12 ilwls ; v;ilm- S>5i 2»> , tiatiir;il size ; pliiit iiioiiths of tlu' year, with u probable avcra^a- of fifty imii. Ill ISA;, iIk- work coiitimu'd with the saiiK' success, cspccialK on lot i^ where a claim of 75 Minare feet, occupied by Mr John McKac yielded from Jiil\ to ( )ctober a total aiiioiiiit of 334 ounces of ^rold. That claim was also worked in iSi^S and it is estimated that it vielded in all Si ^.ooo.ik) ; others say ,S.S(),()(M).(K). The Miiiin.-- Inspector estimates thai .S^i.ix )().()<) worth was taken out in 1S67. In iSf)S about 1,50 nun were eni])loycd at the mines and the vield for that Near is j^iveii b\ the Miniujr Insjjector as I)ein<; 1393 ounces, .13 ;. , I. Mr Lockwood has been closely connected with the history of the an. ,s f„„„d „„ the banks, a, a few fcet f,„„, ,1,0 surface. With t vl v „f follow,,,;: Ihat co„,-se, shafts were s„„k on ;„ts ,4 .,,,1 ,- „f ', r ^™^^^ . of St. Char,es, stean. n.aehiner, hei^te^f^ ^ J^ :;:; At that lin.e the eon,pa„>. had 15,, ,„en at work. Tl,e bed roek wns reached nt several points. „„e of these shafts (I-oekwood's, wL "^Ll ear of the ll.ncV ckain.s at a thon.sand feet fro,,, the river near t 'i, " between 14 and ij „„ clain, Xo ,6. TLe sh.aft was -- t,.M ,1 f was fo,„,d in it in pa.vin, <„,a„tities, the b.,tt,',:'he,',^/ " r'blt"; present bed of the t^ilbcrt. .. drift was ca,ried in ,r„:.r.h I ' r v ,• eet,on, towards chain, ,, for a di.s.ancc of 90 feet where tl,e wo,-ki„,;, „„ he I>o„h„ .shafts were stn.ek an.l the abundance of water prevented beino; earned fin-tlicr. H'-^t-iucu us I .i^ive here a description of the shafts sunk on the Miners' ehiin.s bv stnall companies that sub-let from ,Mr. Lockwood. ' to bt e^lbi^don^d'' ''"''' ''''^'' '^^ ^"'' '^"^'^ ^'""^ ' the water eon.pelled work the ^uue" "' ' ''"'' "' '' '^'^ ^ ^'" ''"'^ ""^ I-in^ reached on account of ^^^^^^ Clain.s 33 and 2.|, a shaft from 56 to 60 feet ; bed rock reached but no Gain. 18 61 feet, Venerean shaft ; reaching- ^raxel which was worked i!s far as the I'oulin workino-s. Claim 52, 9 feet, quicksand met with atul work had to l,e al,andoned. itory of the report sent 'llowino- the itinued in a ^im Xo 20 the view of e Lery and >istin^- and ;1 rock was as sunk in :ir the line ), and yold below the ?sterly di- )rk inters on vented its claims by i-'h \ ielded 'lied work cconnt of ■d but no worked 21 From this region, the Miners' Claims, 620 ounces of gold were taken out down to July 1869. Another series of works was next undertaken on lots 7 to 13 of St, Charles, with the following results : Shaft No. I, on lot 7, 44 feet deep through blue clay. No. 2, lot 8, 54 feet of clay. No. 3, lot 8, 38 feet of clay. In these three shafts situated on the right bank, water invaded the works on striking the gravel which seemed to ri.se towards the North-Iiast- No. 4, lot 8, depth unknown, all in gravel. No. 5, lot 7, 35 feet, 3 feet of surface, 32 feet of blue clay, water on striking the gravel. No. X, lot 7, 64 feet of blue clay. No. 6, lot 7, 35 feet, 20 feet of blue clay, 18 inches of sand, 8 inches of angular gravel, 13 feet of blue clay ; filled with water on striking the gravel. The four preceding shafts are on lot 7 on the left bank of the river. No. 7, lot lo/^f, 70 feet of blue clay ; the rock was struck without meeting gravel ; a drift run in the direction of the river failed to strike gold, but established the fact that the rock rose in that direction ; little water. The following shafts were sunk on lot 12, No 8 being on the right bank and the others on the left bank. They all went down to the bed rock and met relativeK- little water. They form a very important group owing to the fact that they led to the discovery of the old channel in shaft Xo 12. No 8, 60 feet of blue cla\- : 100 feet of drift on each side without meeting gold. No 9, 9 feet of gravel, bedrock. dued No 10, 25 feet of blue clay, bedrock. 32. No 1 1, 60 feet, 15 feet of surface, 37 feet of blue clay, 8 feet of saud and jrravel, bed rock, a drift towards No 12 showed small quantities of gold. No. 12, 64 feet, 18 feet of surface, 40 feet of blue clay, sand and gravel, bed rock ; gold was found in this shaft in important quantities, yielding, in fact, at the beginning, 2 ounces per da\-. No. 13, 40 feet of bhie cla\\ rock. No. 14, lot iT,(r, blue clay, r()-:k. All these works were executed by the Compan\-, which, according to the reports of the time, obtained to the end of July 1869, a quantity of gold equivalent to $13,540.00. These results seeming satisfactory, it was proposed to extend the operations on a larger scale ; experts were sent out from ICng- land, among others, Mr. H. Robinson, who reported in favor of the import- ance of the region and made suggestions for its working b\- acquiring a still larger territory. Accordingl\-, in June, 1870, the Company obtained sections 3, 4 and 7 of the Seignior\- of Rigaud-\'audreuil, representing i8,coo acres of land, 1 ;ss the lands of the Reciprocit\- and the following lots of INIessrs (ilover & P'ry : Chaussegros concession, 16, 17,31, 32,33, 34; vSt. Gustave concession, 17, 18. During this year, there was no work done by individual miners. The Company sank .several trial shafts on lot 8, St. Charles, but only a little gold was found in the .surface workings ; two .shafts were sunk on lot 7, towards the mouth of Caron brook ; water was encountered in abundance and it was only by the use of more powerful pumps that the bot- tom was reached in Februar\- 18/I, at a depth of 100 feet, i ',< ounce of fine gold was taken from the bottom of this shaft ; but the drifting showed that they were only on the rim ; moreover, the water came in .so abundant- !>• that it filled the .shaft, which had to be abandoned. This shaft was sunk through' about 40 feet of quicksand compo.sed of fine C|uart/C which contained gold throughout its whole depth and rested on the gravel. In the month of May, 1871, the Canadian North West Land and Mining Compan\- went into voluntary liquidation, owing to the accidental death of one of its principal shareholders. Mr. Lockwood, however, decided to continue the works and Mr. Kgerton, an English engineer, having investigated the .situation, he succeeded in 1873 in organizing the Gilbert and Chaudierc Gold Fields and ^Mining Company of 23 Canada, wliicli the next year became the Chaudiere (Jold Fields ConipanN of Canada. The works were continued at different points and machinery was installed to prosecute them regularly. About 1876, the chief workin,trs were on lots 7 and 8 of St. Charles, near Caron brook, where were also located the houses, offices, stores, i)nnips and machinery, the wliole representing^ a lary;c sum of moiiev. vSeveral test shafts were sunk as well as a central working shaft. On the 2th Jannar\. 1877, a fire destroyed the j^reater part of the ])lant, the losses bein<,- estima- ted at $35,000. In the absence of pumps the works had necessarih- to l)e abandoned, wliereupon Mr. Lockwood went to lot 12 upon which 5 shafts had been sunk, about 120 men beiujr employed. About the same time he (^ranted the rioht to work on lot 11 of vSt. Charles to different small compa- nies, amony^ others to the brothers St. Oujj^e known under the name of the St. Onge Company, which then worked with - Inspector the miners working without title and the Government was again called upon to interfere to obviate other complications. The works were continued on lots 12 and 13 of St. Charles down to 1883. At the .same time other companies were working in the neighlwrhood. Six main .shafts were sunk on the left bank of the Gilbert and were then known as follows : Gordon, 58 feet, Engine shaft, 63 feet ; Gld Shaft, 68 feet ; Moodie's, 63 feet; No i, 78 feet ; Prideaux, 80 feet, all of which struck the bed vock and the pay gravel. According to the information at hand, all the gold bearing section was then worked in a systematic and thorough fashion over a breadth of 600 feet and for a length of i2cxi to 1500 feet These shafts were supplied with steam machinery for hoisting and pumping and the gravel was conveyed by .small tramwa\s to three jniddling machines, whence it was washed in sluices according to the usual methods. These works seem to have yielded a good quantit\- of gold, and in one of Mr. Lockwooci's rejiorts, we see it mentioned that $65,855 worth was taken out of lot 12. In 1882, these mines and the adjacent ones were flooded and abandoned, nearly all the profitable ground having been worked, and the company 24 washed the remainder of its tailinji;-s in 1SS3. On lot H of St. Charles, a shaft had also been be<;nn which, at 76 feet before reachinj,^ the bed rock, filled in with quicksand, bnryinj^^ alive a workman named Ronuiin Holdnc, on the 23rd October, iS,S2. Three other shafts had also been snnk in the S W. part of lot H, but failed to reach bed rock for the same reason. Mr Oordon, havin}^'- abandoned the works, left for hhioland and returned no more. The validity of the De Ler\- patent havinjj^ been maintained by the courts, the works on the (iilbert were abandoned by the companies that had no ri,i,dit and it was onlv towards 1.S91-92 that Mr. Lock wood aj^ain beja^an workin.n on lot 13 de Ler\-, sinking; a shaft, utilisinj;- the old Ainsworth shaft and takinj^; out j^njld ; but, as the expiration of the term of the ])atent approached, he could undertake no work of any consequence and appears to ha\-e transferred his rij^f-hls to others and to ha\e abandoned the re<,non. I append some details on the operations of the jtriucipal companies who ha\-e worked the (lill)ert down to the present time. ST OXOK COMPANY Mr. Xoel I'oissouuault alias Jack St ( )n}^e, had worked on lot 12, when gold was discovered there in iHGc) and was conse(pientl>' acquainted with the re77 ii(iii. WiiulU, .}2 \)>inces , viihlf. 575'>.(«i ; natural ^i/t- ; plintugraplud frotii Ihc (iri(;iiial. foil Nil the for vSt. tliei aba find bou Coil the pris will woo rans SOlll Ler; not the was ■ H The company continued their works, hut as the\- encroached on lot i 2, j,^reat difficulties arose with the owners of the latter. It was on lot 12 that they found in 1H77 the 42 oinices nuj^jret, worth $756, known as the " vSt. ()nj>;e ^ "RRct ". 125 men were then employed. In the newspa])ers of the time i Oiii'fnc Chronicle) we find some figures indicating this company's clean-uj). October, 16, 1S77.. . . 25 men . . . () 00 August, I, 1.S7S,. • • 5" " ■ . . 6 . . . . 1,400 00 (( 12, ,i ..6i) " - u • • / . . 2,012 50 (1 20. u . . . . (9S ounces) . . • • 1,75" o*J (i 30, u . . 75 men . . . . 8 days' work . . . . 2,178 00 October, 14 . . 3,600 00 i( . . •15 . . 3,000 (X) u ••55 " • . . 12 " •• 3-153 «o (( . . A nugget of 38 ounces . . 680 00 MKSvSRS. McARTHUR BROS. vSubsequently, towards the close of 1880, the vSt. Onge Company sold their claim to Messrs McArthur Bros, of Toronto who worked it them.selves fo'- about six months and secured only a small quantity of gold. In 18S2, these works, as well as the adjoining mines on lots 11 and 12 of St. Charles, having been invaded by water, the impossibilit\- of emptying tliem out by means of pumps was recognized and this territory had to be abandoned. Other shafts were then sunk, particularly on lot 10, but without finding gold. For these reasons and owing to prolonged litigation respecting boundaries with a neighboring compan\-, the Oilbert River (rold Mining Company, the works were suspended for a long while. About the same time, the Messrs McArthur had purchased the mining rights on section IX, com- prising the Ruisseau des Meules where Mr Coupal had done some work which will be detailed further on. Al)out 18S6-87, they purcha.scd from Mr Lock- wood the y^ .section IV, covering a portion of the de Lery and vSt. Charles ranges. In 1892, they organized the " American Gold Company" which did some work under tlie direction of Mr F. Wadsworth on lots 14 and 18 de Lery. On lot 14, a .shaft was sunk and sui)i)lied with machiner\- l)ut was not pushed to bed rock. On lot 18 a small dam and a flume were built and the bed of the river, which at this point is little above the bed rock, was wa.shed. The water retained by the dam was u.sed to remove the earth over 26 the jxiy reat impediment beinfj the water, the company dujj^ a drain ,of 1000 feet lonj^, followed by a tunnel of 200 feet, which tapped the old McRae shaft, 22 feet deep, and thus drained this .section. The drain traversed lots 14 and 15 in a northerly direction on the rij^lit bank of the Gilbert. The river was also diverted and flumed at the point where it passes over the tunnel. On the occasion of ni\- visit in October, 1S97, the drain was ahont finished and they were ])reparinir lo conlinne it l)y a drift. There were ahont 25 men eniph)\ed, j)arll\- oUl lieanee miners, wlio were very hoi)efid of success and wlio were also members of the comjxmy, leavinj^ haU" of their waj^a-s to he devoted to the i)a\nienl of their shares. The works, hej^nin in Jnl\-, 1H97, were continued (hirin- the inade(|nac\ ofthethnm- of the river, which caused the water to break into the works. This accident was remedied and a fhime of iSo feet (5 \ 6 feet) was built. I ajji^ain visited the works on the 15th ^hlrch iSqS. The bedrock had been washed with the rocker and 40 ounces, 32 dwts, 50 strains, .^751.^11), had been .secured ; the j^old was ^encralK- coarse, the l)i<4]L,a'St i)iece beini; worth $12 and others worth $8 to $10. Work was proceedin.!.,^ then by a drift running north east in irros- ])ects. Poulin .S: Bernard, at the Dexil's Rapids. Aboat 1878-80, Captain Thomas Richard worked with success for a company on the rij^ht bank of the (iilbert on lots 20 and 21 and found a ^ood deal of ^old. A dam and a ditch of looo feet were made. In this section, the bedrock ()Utcroi)])s in the river and all the workiuj^- was on the surface. In 1863, the Hertrand brothers, of Levis, had alread\' worked for 7 or 8 nu)nths below Xo. 20 and seem to have found considerable i^<^\(\. < 'tlier small prospects were made there and are still beiujj^ made ever\- summer, the ^■•old bein^ '.id and eonveyed to the 1 iver hy a tramway 200 feet on lenj^th. In the fall of I07S, Mr Lonis (lendreau hccanie a partner in this Company and in 1S79 the sole owner of the mine. He acquired other lauds in the neij.^'hhorhood, put in a puddling; machine and sank hetweeu lots 18 and 19 another .shaft of 34 feet, at the hottom of which he states that he found a $19 tni<^<,fet and continued to work, takiuj^ out that year, it is claimed, $1500 worth of o^old- He then, that .same year, sold his rij^hts to Messrs A.sher &. Co, who tried to connect the two shafts already mentioned by a drift; but their work does not appear to have been profitable, for they abandoned it. 3» NORTH STAR Co.Ml'ANV Tliis conipatn', orj^Miiizi'd hy Captain Richard and otlu'is, sank in iH-f, on lot r.s dc l,vv\ a shaft of (S5 feet, which sccnis to haw offered ditlicultics owinj^ to (|nicksand. Thc\ snccccdcd however in reachinj^ hednick, steam l)nni])s heinj,^ used. The works were continued nntil the close of tlie litij^ation and an important anionnl of ^' -itied the j^rant of this lot, as well as of 14 and 15 from the De LerN compai About i.SO;, he sank a shaft of 60 feet near the line of lot 14 and seem very lar<.je (piantit\- of j^old estimated at .;<'4{j.cj()(). Later, Mr. Lockwood sank another of 55 feet a short distance awa\' and found j^old. .Vbout 1S7H, I'ayne and Chapman sank a shaft of 511 to do feel which tlie\' sup])lied with a water wheel for i)unipim; purposes. 'I'hev worked for 2 to 3 \ears and took out a i^ooil (piantit\- of .i^^old. Messrs St < 'ni^e, lirisset- te (S: Co also worked on this lot and sank a shaft of (>^ feet. They then trans- ferred their rij^hts to Messrs Herube, J. .\. Cameron and others. A couple of shafts were sunk but owinj^; to k^i^^al diOiculties, Mr Cameron does not appear to have continued the work. The Cameron shal't was con»^inned 1)\- Mr Cluis Lionnais, who subsequently sold out to the Clarence (lold Mi- ning Co. (^old. About iHSc), this company unilertook a regular system of workiuj^- under the direction of Mr. S. J. Ainsworth, who sank on the hill side, a shaft of 90 feet, i)Ut in steam machiner\-, ])um])s, tramways, ])ui,„ck tile l^lrnck at j" iVrt, li„di„K a little ^..1(1. ST. 1-RAXCIS {;()I,li Mixixc COMI'AXV OF CAXADA Tl,i.. c„„i,,a„v w„rk,,l al,„„t th, spri„u- „f ,s«„ „„ n,, |,„|,|„^. ,„.^,^„„ - 09". .Ik- .rst ran,,. X. I-:. .Mr CI,.. I.i„„ai.. stv.t.s .„ hav. I..,,.,,,, : i xutl ll„s ,„„l..rtak,„,. A shaft wa., ..„„k striki,,, th. 1„.,1 r„.k ,,t ,- f„ Work ,va.s c„„t,„„„l f„r tl,r.. wock.s vioklini; S,2.,., Tl„. w„rk; wn '. ■"-"I- .Vl.-l..K-^«„.l a,„l a„otl,cr shaft was ^ttttk .„ the .sa „ . . ,, al.so v,d,l„l ,,.1, : it „.as likewise filled ,„, l,v the ,„ieksa„.i. Tel CO, , ,a„y worked l,el„w the falls „f the r.ill.ert a„d also .sa„k seven,! si on the Ruisscaii dfs .\kiilL-,s. Lot 76 ()l- irst RAX(;]-: NORTH KAST. P.clow Hk- .Mill fai: on about 1SS2 bv .Messrs I' s on lot 76 .)!' the irst raiis-e X. V. work nnniediate viemitv. The l)e-.s are still to 1 sarc .still visible, anion< re was an abu n- )e seen, es )tl pee ialb on le river, made by I)r Don.s^'-las i others a channel to )ri iS6 -.., uv a,.d at a short .lista„ee f,-,„„ the hi^hw^v U,!. , , ^X, ' ^ """" -'^ ^' ■■'■™" -"■ "-' "''"Ve w,,rks a fair ,„,a„ti.v „f , Xu^^ (old M„„„e Co„,,,a„v see„,s t„ have ,l„„e so,„e w,..,-k i„ this ,-et,n„„ a„d i„ .M>.-o..peet„s ,t savs that wl.ea the ,„i„es „e,-e filst w,„-ke.l , ,„e, days took ,„„ 5,.s.„ w-,„-tl,. a,,,,,,,., whieh „-,,s a „„t;,et w,„th .4,oo 111 this same rei-ion it pen hi<,»^l feet deep, tl o(ls aiK iwa\- U tl appears that other le be^innin--, about 186^, s<.nie shaft- works were d( 'lie at \-arions one ainou! others, near lot 7 were sunk towards tl le ela\- restiiu 3 or ; } b\- Archie .McDonald. on the bed rock. was le 75 Mr ir. I. T. I)„ch )f tl esna\-. llic M inin le comnani es workini .^- Inspector, -ives the followinu- list or i)rospectin- „„ the Cilbert in October 18.S2 Canada Ool McArthur 1 Co., Limited j ot S St. Charl es )lOS <^i'>-ii-i2, St. Charles 34 McDoiKild .S: Co Lot 1 1 St. Clmrles J. A. Canicroii (foriueiiy I'^rissctte Co) " '3 flc I^cr\- American Chandicre Co., (I)ui)ui.s c\: liiiscjuc). " i6 and 17 dc Lery (irciiville .Miiiinj^- Co. of Ontario, I'cnton iX: Dinwoodie " 1 2 de Lery The Santa AnnafCadot, Bernard ^: Co.) " 1 1 St. Charles H. S. I'orter c\: Co " I)evil\s Rapid I'.ast r.ranch Co " 16 dc Lery Beauce ;\Iinin<>; and Millin_n- Co. (Walter J. Smart, Manaj^er) " 14 de Lery Clontier 6c Co " 16 de Lery G. Therrien .\: Co " 1 2 St. Charles Sands 6c Si)anldin,i,r "17 and iS de Lery John McRae 6c Co " LS <1^' hCry (lilbert River Cold Minin.L,^ Co. (Ca])t. Thos Richard 'M5 St. Charles H. Mc( linnis " Li ''^t- Charles. To this list we may add the foUowino- companies which worked in No- vember, iSSi, accordiii!^- to the same anthorit\ : St. iM-ancisCrold Alinin;.;- Co. — lots 59, irst range X. K. (I]oldnc Creek and 7O of the same range. Clarence C.old Mining Co., (S. J- Ainsworth, JNhmager) lot 13 de Lery. North Star ( Capt. Richard, ^hul.) lot 15 de Lery. As well as the com])anies working in iMSo: The .\lmonte Co ('I'omlinson and others) w]"'''h afterwards I)ecanie the Gilbert River Gold Mining Co., 1 i St Charles. Lawrxsson .S: Co., 21 de Lery. Ashcr 6: Co., (formerly the \'ictoria Co.,) 18 and H) de lA-r\-. In 1.S.S2 the Workings of thi.- Canada Gold Co and AIcArthn.r Ih-os. were flooded and the mines had to be al)ando',ied. Mr. I'orter who also worked at the De\irs rapid, .sank that vear a shaft S7 feet deep on lot 11 of St Charles, on the right bank of the Gilbert, but found onlv blue clav on tlie be 1 ruck. 35 INIessrs Benibd and Chs. Conpal worked in 1SS2 and iSSjoiilot i6of de Lery, on the Brancli ; they bnilt a dam, sank a sluift and also made a drain. Findin.^; notliinj^- in the first shaft, they sank a second where lhe\- fonnd j^old in ])ayin,!L;- qnantities. In 1.SS4 a small eomixiny took np these w()rkini»-s, sank another shaft and ran a drift So feet lony towards the X.-IC. finding gold, bnt in small cpuintities. THE GILBERT RIVER (ioij) MIXIX(; COMl'AXV About 187S-.S0, Messrs A. ]\IcI)onald, Power and Tondinson sank a shaft of 35 feet on lot 11 of St. Charles on a small strip of land on the left bank of the river ; they worked a short time under the name of the Almonte Co., and apjxirently with some success ; then they transferred their rights to a groups of residents of Sherbrooke who formed the (lilbert Ri\er Gold Min- ing CV)., under the management of Capl. Thos. Richard. The gold-bearing lead seems to cross the river on the land of this company- which worked with considerable success on both sides and in the ri\er bed. Three or four shafts were sunk on the right 1)ank to de])ths of from 40 to 50 feet and the mine was fitted out with steam engines and pum])s. It was stated, jirior to 1S.S3, that gold to the amount of Si25,(kk)(H) had been taken out of these \vorkin In 1SS3, the C.reuvillc Co. of Ontario ( I'l'uton, Man.^r.) worked on lot 12 of dc Lery and dnrino- tlie snnnncr it washed tlie stnff taken onL in the jire- vious winter. This Conii^any's sliaft was S5 feet deep. It is said that a con- siderable (jnantitN- of laroe nnon-ets were taken out. In the same year Messrs M.v^innis >S: Co washed for some months in the l)e:l of the (xilbert on lot 13 of St Charles, with -ood results. Other small parties of miners also washed during- the line season ; aniun.L,^ others, Power, McDonald ^\: Co, J. Lefaivre, \V. I'otxiu ^: Co, O. Dion, Cloutier, etc. In 1884 some i^roups of miners still washed and on some daxs were suc- cessful, amont,^ others: McRac & Co, (;. Dion, C. Coupal, H. Tower >.\: Co. Mr. K. Kenton worked in the bed of the river in the nei',diborhood of the old mines and washed the old tailin.^s. Messrs H. vSewell, W. Moodie and W. Prideaux on lot 16, below the, Branch, sank 2 shafts about twenty feet deep which thev supplied with jiower- ful pumps and worked towards the old Power channel. 'lMie>- ,i;ot out "old to the amount of S2, 500.00. It was their old workin.i;s that the Oilbert Beauce Oold Minino- Co came upon in 1S98. In 18S6 the question of titles in the seij^uiorx' was fniadly settled. The Conipaiiv to whom the j;-raut was t^iveu was the De Lery Oold Mining- Co which had sul)let the o-reater portion of the rich territory to the Canada Oold Co and the Messrs McArthur Bros. These Coi'.ipanies reserved to them.selves the rioht to work and no lonj^er authorized small ]iarties of miners to do so. Consequently at that date minin<; was almost entirely interrui)ted on the Crilbert. There was onlv Mr. Kenton who worked in the bed of the river, but many individuals washed tlie old tailin.^-s with pans and earned a livelihood. The work was suspended for some \ears on that river ; then we find Mr Lockwood doinir a little work on lot 13. in 1S92 and Messrs McArthur ISros., also under the name of the American Co., ( whose operations will be detailed below after those of the vSt. Onj^e Co.,) and fnially th.e Cilberl Heauce Min. iuir Co. If we resume the histor\- of the works on the Oilberl ri\er. we find three verv distinct periods : first, the discovery of workable surlVice deposits on f)t 12 cou- lis ni Dion, .■re siic- ^: Co. the old >\v the, I power- lit t;-oUl (nlhert inv. .(la , He Co Cold ■mselves •s to do (1 oil the liver, but •elilioo( Inu 1 Mr liir ISros., detailed lice Mill. nd three osits on c.Rori' oi' xrcci'/rs 1m)1iiu1 nil llu I'.iUHit rivir : iiai.m.il -y/v riiniMyi ,i]>lu d h.iin tin- iiriuiii^il'- in llu nni-i inn Mrtlu ( ii iilniiil-al Suivrw IIU.IU.I ■I 37 lots IS and ro, Inllowc.-l bv some un.kToroun.l ucrks un lots , 7, ih :uu] is 01 cc I,u-y Alltlicsc uorkin^rs were easy aiul small on.ups ..f miners w.-rked at tliem and fcnnd a i)n,r!t in them when not dislurhed hv the water That part oi the Cilhrn river was alone considered pnxlnctive. Afterward Mr J.ockwood eame provided with snfr.cient eapital, and undertook a series of deep shafts, from So to kk, tVel in (R.pth ; in iIk' first plaee toward h.ts rs 14 and 13 of de Uerv ; then on lots 7 to 13 of St. Charles and bein- supplied with powerful pumps by means of whieh he eould reaeh the botton, he estabhshed the presence of ould on lots 15, ,3 .,f dc Lc'rv au.l i ^ to 7 of St Uuirk-s. rins may be said to be the true industrial discoverN- of u.>l,l on the ('.Ibert. iMualh from .S7f> to 1SS3 the era of re,>,n,lar minino- set in ; several niip'.vtant companies carried on work, minino- in a svstematic manner and extract.n- ; much oold. amon..- others : the Heatice r,old Mininn- and M. l.ii^ Co., on 14, the Clarence tk.ld Co., on lot 13 of de Lcrv ; the Canada (..dd Mnnnu- Co., on 13 and 12 of St. Charles, ; the St. Onoe on lots 12 an'. RriSvSl'.M; DHS MIU'LI'S Tills brook runs in a north-easterly direction and falls to the left into the Mill riwr on lot 45 of the irst ranj^e south west in section 9 of the seii^-- iiior\- of Ri^aiul X'audreuil. The jiarl specially worked on follows lot 45 and is conijirised between the Mill riser and the concession road, (iold has also been found above the road. Sonic was washed in this brook and in the ]\Iill river l)cfore 187S and we can even see that .some shafts were sunk on the bank of that stream. .Vbout 1H7S two shafts So feet decj) were sunk on the ri<4ht bank and near the road by Mr Haley and colors were found on the bed rock, .\bont 1880 another sliaft 53 feet deep was sunk on the left bank by Mr Compton, but without any result. Mr A. Ctinpal then be,^an to work on this brook with Mr Louis Mathicu and found "old for many yeans. At the .same time he sank a .shaft .|2 feet deep on lot 50 011 the left bank of the Mill river throng;h 30 feet of clay and 3 a H ,39 l«-t ..f KTru-W astin,:;- „„ C,,. I,,,l rock, l,„t il cmtai,,.,! „„ ,„;,:. ,[,. ,,i,,.. .■) if^U ol ,l;i:iw1 and .some colons. ' McsM-s McAnhur IJros had uhtaiiu..! Uk- ri;,ht ..f ,„i„i„,. over UkU s.c- .on and Mr Conpal continued his w.rkin, and sank two shafts on tl t ha. ^l'- >^a'"e side hut lower down and it n k ,old. In rssr. a tunnel was excavated to drain this shaft, the water fron. winch was then ,nnnped out l>v a water wheel and a stean, p,nun • it was completed at the end of ,SS; and work was conti,u,ed in th'u tunnel llUtll loot. I p to that date ^old to the amount of 54,200.00 was taken out, three nno:^ets he,n^ worth S65.00, Sua.oo and S154.CK. respectivelv an.l si v others Iron, S4c).oo to S50.00. When I visited this mine in .SS,;, 4 men were eu- poycd and .reat difficultv was experienced in overconnno- the qnick.sand which IS ver\- ahunckuit in this re.L;ion. After tSqi Messrs McArthur ,secui to have cea.sed to take interest in the.sc work.n-s and Mr Conpal continued to work for a vear with 2 or 3 men, in an irre-ular manner, fiudino- a little oold. He afterward al.audonecf it for some time ; then in 1S96 he resumed work in the I.n.ok lot ahove the spot where one Pomerlcau had also prospected. iM-om that time he washed each year wuh one or two men and hmnd n-oKI in ])aviP.M- ii al)(>\(.' llir ,i^Dl(l-l)fariii,t^- ,L;ra\i--l ])ksl'iUs slill mivalfv (Hflknllics than ill llic oiIut iiiiiivs. Tin.' cross sixlidii nl this reeiall\ on the rii;ht hank hehind the old niini.s ,nid also hulow t!u- lirst falls, sjieeie-^ of dykis {^i whitr i^ainel are fonnd. In the latter, llir Keport of the < ii(,lonieal Snr\e\- i>f iS(\^ slates that ;4old is xisihlr : 1 haw also f<.tind in it small ([nanlities of snlphidr of antimony. In the n])per part of llu- ri\er honldersof the same rock are fonnd. .\l)ont two miles from its month is a hraneh of considLMahle size llowin,!^ in a north westerly <]irLelion called tlu' Ssash ])rospccted on the Ri\iere des PlantLS, 1)nt the result f)f his lahors does not seem to haw encourai^ed him to continue. About I '"^79 Messr 'huhieu. lie'rube ;uid (iendreau ])ros]iected and fonnd j;o()d indicatioris , \\ Jiis ri\'er. Later on, they or!.^ani/.ed with otherS) includinj;- Mr Jutras of ,St. iM'ancis, a com])an\- knoviU. ur-h-r the name of the " Rivieres des I'lantes Company. " In i».S2 two coni])auies worked on this ri\'er and erected danrs and Humes which were carried away by a freshet the same season. At the siiuie time Mr A. I'oulin prospected and is reported to ha\e fonnd sonic onnces of yold. n hy During- the winter of 18S3-S4 the Ri\iere <\i^<: I'lantes Compan\- worked 4a (III Mr vSimcuii DonoiTs \:y\u\ oii lln iiorlli fast sick' of llir \'\\\r. A sliaft 26 fffl (\vv\) was sunk in wliifli a iiii;.'<.'C't woilh SiS.imi was found (Hi Rai'Iiiujjf the t;ra\i'l ; I)Ul tlio waUT c-muk' in loo fast and il was ahandoucd. Aflri'ward a shaft T,'r>. fcfl (kt.]) and a luunel lo drain llu' work wcrt- <\\v^ lnj.',!iu" np on tlu' liilk (irawl was a;;aiu iulI and ahoul Si si'.'xj wrlli was waslivd willi tla rocker. I'ri'paralions were tlan UKuk' to ^ i)y the hydraulic ])roccss, Imt in (. DUsupKncc of difllcultics with the ncigliborin<^r miners the work was stopiH'd and was not rcsunic(k ^Fessrs A. McKcnzic and others worked at about the same lime on the same lot on tlie other side of the river. The bed rock is of sli.i^ht (k'lHh there and they did surface work h\- jMaud -luiciui^' or liy tlie hydraulic i)roci..ss. Tlu-y seem to ha\'e found a eousideralile <|U:uilily of ;;old w liich has keen stated to UK' to he worll) from Sl,S<''"-'"' to Sissrs II. Sewell X: Hacon worked at tlie sanu' i ot and also sank, at a distance of half a mile from llu' lii,<;liway, some sliafls which struck the ;^ra\-el at a depth of 25 fet't. This uu(lertakiu,<.;- does not seem to lia\-c been a Iniancial success, as it w;is aflerwar(' aba.udoued. Messrs Protean and others under the of the "Canadian Coni]xmy" worked on tlie same lots, on the same side as and below tin.' McKen/.ie works. It is said that the\ worki'd for 2 or 3 mouths in iH^.\. and found about 8700.^ The work was done on the surface, the bedrock beinj^- met at a depth of (> or 7 feet onlv. This compaiu' subsecinentlv suspended work for the same reaxui n.s the Riviere des Plautes Compaux'. Mr Jos. Letourneau ^/// I'olettc worked in the bed of the Rixierc des Planles. He made a drain 200 or 3(x^ feet al)ove the first falls. Messrs I'a\ ne .S: Chapman also worked on this river and sank a sliaft. ( )n the left bank of the south-east branch in iS77-7>'^, a shaft was sunk on lot 45 I! of St. Charles 1)\- }.Ir David Ro\-, but it does not a])pcar to have had j^reat results- On Hlack River, on lot 26 of the au<;inentation of St. (laspard, Air Jos. I'ou" lin's lot, 2 shafts 20 feet deep were sunk by Mr Louis Mathien. Later on another shaft was stink by the vSt. On^e brothers. These workiu_t,'-s seem to have struck the bedrock, but I do not know that they jiroduced atu' ^ood results. Traces of former workings may al.so be observed iu the same region- i)i:\ii;s KAi'ii) 'IMiis rapid is in tiK CIiaiiditTf Riwr a mile alioNc Si. lMaiu;(ii>. In lliis rc>^iiin till' rocks c-io]) oiu aluui; tin- ii\iT tor i ili>tant\' ui alioul a niik' and at liiw walir llirv arc ])ailialiy nn('(j\(.r(.'d, Tliis place is well knuwu U> the miners who wash Iumc wilh pan or rocker. Some small i^roiips ha\e e\i ti been or;^ani/,ed to work on a kinder scale hy compKleh' draiiiin;;- one side ol' the ri\er l)y side dams and hand pumps. Larj^e (piaiitities of j^old were found, 1)UL for some vears the de Iain family, the sei;,niior^;, to whom the hed of tlie river helotins, no loniier permit >iic-li woik to he earned on. < >n llu left bank a tunnel was ilni:^ in the hill 1)\ Mr >'cd)onald, ]>robal)ly about N'^r.s-;'') for a len,L;th of Su f(.Lt. Later on, in iS,S2. .Missrs I.ouis lllanchel, llil aire de liilly and others continued the Iniiiiel which 1 am lold w,is carried .250 feet, followiu*,'- the bed rock which descended. At the end of it ,i;olld had been found. (les i\ ne auk St. nits. 'ou' on m lo ood 'ion- In 1S32 the Canada dold Minin.^' Comjxun- sank a shaft from which they extracted (juartz mixed with j^alena, blend, mispickel and p\ rites which are mentioned in the Reijorts of the ( icolo^ical vSnrvey as containin.i; a certain quantity of silver. Dr. vS. Sterry Hunt also mentions the probable presence of a small quantit}- of native siher. Ili.s assays of the .galena alone showed 32, 37 and 256 ounces of sih'er to the ton. He supposes howexer that the last result mi^ht be due to the nati\e silwr. The rapid was worked to a con- siderable extent by the roulin brothers who found a Ljood deal of albuial ,y;old in it and claim to ha\e found nu^i^a'ts of j;old in the \eiu worth as much as $- time. All the abo\e applies to the .Seigniory of Ri,i;and \"andrenil and we ^i;i\e below particulars relatinj^ to other rivers in the N'alley of the Chandiere. RIVlivRK DU L«)rP The Report of the r.e()lo,y:ical vSnrvey of Canada for 1863 oives the details of the work done in 1851-52 towards the month of the Riviere du Lonp b\- the Canada (iold ]\Iinin<^- Company- tnider the direction of Captain Richard ( )alev. According- to this information, in 1S51 j^old to the amount of ,Si,S26 was i^'ot out and in 1852 to the amount of $2,496, say 28S(jdwts makinj^r a total of .^4,322.01) with a considerable quantity of black sand that was estimated at nearly a ton ; 9 nnggets wei.o;hed 468 dwts, the larLiCst wei_t(hin,^- 127 dwts, and the work was done over about three quarters of an acre, the g-ravel bein,<;- 2 feet thick. Mentit)n is also made of ])latiunm, osmium and iridium haviui^- been found, but in too small (juantities to allow of thei^' beini;- work- ed. In the sununer of 1852 the Cieolo^'ical vSurve\- also caused some ])ros- pectins^- to be done which \ielde(l .i^old to the amoiint of Si 24. All the fore.n'oin.^- work was chieP.y done on the left bank and on the edye of the Ri\iere du Loujj near the spot where the brid^^e now stands. The work was snbseqnenth- suspended and in 1859 we find the Xapanee ]\Iinin_i.^- Company in the same region sinking- a sh.aft through schists, but necessarily without any results. I understand that this comixiuy had also done some wt)rk in previous }-ears, but we have no information as to its .success, Im-oui the Report of the Committee of l%n([uir\- of 1865 we obtain the following;- information : Mr Arthur Rankin prosjiected the Riviere du Loup from the Metgermette to the township of Risborough and washed in about fifty diffcR-nt places, fin(lin,n.ro]d everywhere. He also found some on the Meto;ennette river and the Tra\ellers Rest River. Mr. S. L. iM-cnch says that lie found a -o„d paunino- „n the left bank of the Riviere-du-Loup, some miles above its mouth, at a hei-dit of 150 feet above the river. On the upper part of the Porta^^e ri^•er, as en tJie Riviere-dn-Loup, he found lar-e nuo-oets, a hundred feet above the bed of the river. He explored the Portaoe ami Metgermette rivers. We find no other works mentioned until 1S79, when the Colonial Cold Minino- CompauN- worked near the month (.f the Riviere-dn-I,oup, in the township of Jerse\-. The Colonial Cold Mining- Comi>aiiy, under the direction of Mr. Henry Philips, with Mr. Alex. Stuart as enoineer, was orj-anized in 1879 to mine on lot 63S, formino; Jersey Point. The>- built two dams 500 feet wide on the Riviere-du-Loup, one at its month ; about 700 feet from where the present brid- ge now stands and the otherwhere the Ha>cock mill is. These two dams were made to dry up that portion of the river as far as the ChaudiC-re. A canal 700 feet lono- and 1 2 feet wide carried the water below the second dam. A little -old was ,u-ot after 5 or 6 da>s' work below the dam and when a nn--et worth ■ $200.00 was fouiul near the upper dam, difficulties arose with the'iieiohbo,- ^ m- company, the (iold Miuin- Association of Canada, which led to the de .struction of the upper dam and a law suit that bron-ht about the liquidation' of the compaiu-. About 1878, Air A. A. Humphrey had explorations and prospects made on both banks of the river from its mouth to the Cold Stream and obtained gold in sufficient quantities to justify- the organization of a companv. The pros- pectino; was done chiefly with the view of einplovin- the hvdranlic process pre- viously recomniended by Sir Win. L<,iraii. Con.sequentlv, with the aid of Im,- ghsh capitalists he formed The Cold Miiiin- Association of Canada and in 1881, he commenced buildinu- a canal 1 1 ^ , miles lon<,. to tap the waters of the Riviere du Loup ; this canal situate on the left bank rejoined the river near lot I, Kennebec Road ranoe, .section A of Jersey. The water after flowin- throti-h a canal 9,300 feet Ion- continued thron-h steel i-ipes 15 and 11 i,?- ches in diameter. T1k> head of water thus obtained was 215 feet, but up to lot 9 (Jules Jacques), a head of 185 feet of water was elTectiveK' utili/ed The 46 work was completed in the suininer of 18H2 and mining was begnn on the gravel beds sitnate on lot 10 of Liniere and 654 of the Cadastre of Aubin de risle, and known respectively as hydranlics No i and No 2. ^'i rear of hydraulic Xo 2 a shaft 66 feet deep was sunk down to the rock and showed a great thickness of gravel. The hydraulic working was carried on during the two seasons of 18.S2 and 1883, for that kind of work could not be carried on in winter. From 10 1.0 15 men were employed, but while the canal was being dug about 80 men were at work and ten carts. The quantit\- of water that could be sup- plied was 57 gallons per second, say a pressure of 5.7 atmospheres or about 80 pounds to the square inch. It was projected by a nozzle with a diameter of from 4 'j to 6 inches as required and could wash 1500 tons of gravel or clay in the 24 liours. It was estimated that the gravel might yield 10 cents per ton, the workable thickness being from 30 to 40 feet. The tailings con- tained nnich l)lack sand and pyrites containing a high percentage of gold. The sluices were 36 inches wide and 20 inches deep. A first sluice was 114 feet long with a slope of 0.062. For a length of 26 feet the bottom coi.sisted of perforated sheet iron and the fine stuff fell into a second sluice 96 feet long with a slope of 0.0418. Mercury was kept in che riffles in the centre over a length of 48 feet. The sluices were cleaned up every 15 days. We are not aware of the quantity of gold that was obtained from these works, but we may infer that the results were not satisfactory either on ac- count of the small quantity of gold that was found or because the appa- ratus did not work proi)erly. In any case, after working this gravel in the summer of 1882 and in 1883, the company went into licpiidation and aban. doncd its works and its properties. This company had the control of lots 640 and 645 of Aubin de Tlsle and from i to 11 inclusively of the Kenebec Road range of the township of Jersey on the left l)ank, of lot 653 of Aubin de risle to 12 inclusively of the irst range of Liniere on the riglit bank of the Riviere du L^up. I\Ir Humphrey afterward directed his attention to the vSlate brook and Pozer creek, as will be explained elsewhere. It seems fully established that the large gravel beds on the Riviere du Loup contain gold, but it would apjjcar that at the points where they were worked the rock is below the bed of the present river, hence the diffi- 47 ■ciilty of reachin<( the richest portions of these deposits by the hydraulic process. From that period work on the Riviere du Loup was abandoned for some years and it was only in 1S90 that Mr Louis Ciendreau began some work on the former property of the Colonial Gold Mininji^ Company. In 1S92 he induced Mr H. II Haycock to take an interest in his works and the latter prospected alonj^- the Riviere du Loup, especially on the left l)ank. and found that the portion which it would really be advantageous to work was in the bed the river itself. He then built a dam on the left bank, on lot 638, opposite of lot 652 of Aubin de Tlsle, and a wooden flume of 750 feet (8 x 4) to carr}- off the water of the river. In the dry season of 1892, he sank a shaft 19 feet deep ; he struck the rock, but not the lowest point of the river, and, in spite of all the work done and of all the pumps used to drain that shaft 'Sir. Hay- cock does not seem to have been able to work at the bottom 1 r more than a few hours during the season ; just enough to ascertain that there was a little gold. This mode of working was therefore abandoned also and ]\Ir. Haycock confined his operations to washing on the banks of the river in the dry season. At the same time, he studied the quartz of that region and for that pur])ose he put up a small three-stamp mill driven by steam which is sill standing on the left bank near the dam. This mill was in oi)eration during the fall and a portion of the winter of 1H94 and quartz from \-ari(nis veins was tested, as will be explained in the chapter o-.i (juarlz. ere ley iflfi- In 1894, I\Ir. Haycock entered into arrangments with Messrs John Blue and \V. C. Eustis respecting his rights to certain lots on the Riviere du LoU)X Those gentlemen sank shafts on some veins and kept the little mill in o'pcration during se\-eral weeks in December 1894 and January '^95 under the direction of an expert. The work was abandoned at the end of 1895 and has not since been resumed. At the same time' Mr. lilue did some ])r()S])eet- ing on the alluvial (k'l^osits near the (lold Stream, lot 12 of Liniere. Mr. Crcudreau afterward continued to ])rospect alone in that region and in 1896 he succeeded in inducing some persons to take an interest in his work and organized The Central Quebec (lold Fields Company, with the object oi finding again the former bed of a ri\er that he sup]x)scd to run across the present bed about lot 9 of the Kennebec Road range, section A, in Jersev. He therefore sank on lot lo five shafts in an almost north-easter 1\- direction. These shafts struck the rock at depths of 22 feet, 32 feet, 64 feet, 40 feet and 45 feet. A drift 70 feet long was run to the .south west toward the hill at 48 the bottom of the shaft 40 feet deep, but no auriferous gravel was found. The 64 feet shaft came upon quicksand and water which stopped the work during one season and in the wintei of 1898, steam pumps had to he employed to drain it and reach the bottom. On the other side of the Riviere du Loup> on lot 12 of Lini^re and near the river, he also sank a shaft which, at a depth of 12 feet, struck the rock, but without any gold. These various works seem to have thoroughly investigated a cro.ss section in an easterly and westerly direction and as no auriferous gra\el was found, Mr. trendreau abandoned his theory as to that place. I give below the section of the deepest shaft : Arable soil 1 foot Clay and gravel 6 feet Gravel containing a little gold 6 " ^ Clay 27 " Boulder cla>- 32 " Clay '. 24 " Rock To complete the information on the Riviere du Loup, I may mention that previously, on the same lot 9, a shaft 45 feet deep was sunk by the St. Onge Brothers which struck the bed rock without finding gold and that washing to a .somewhat considerable extent was done on lot 9 by Mr. Humphrey. In 1897, while prospecting with the pan, Mr. ?I. Xagaut found a nugget worth $20.00 on lot 6 of Jersey. At present, the works on the Riviere du Loup are suspended. FAMINE RIVER This river is one of the most important of the region. It flows into the Chaudiere in a south westerly direction with a considerable volume of water and has several notable tributaries, the Cumberland and Abenakis rivers,, among others. Its course is broken l)y several falls of considerable size, one 40 feet high on lot 6 of Watford and a series of falls about two miles from the Chaudiere giving a head of water of 70 fee;. Very favorable opinions are expressed regarding this river. W'e are not aware of the 49 as on utl '■ ^^^^^'^^"^^^'^^'-^ ^I""».M: Company obtained the ri^.ht to work on the Pannne river, but did only a little prospeclinj.. The resident^ however seem to ha^•e worked re,adarl>- and to luu-e obtained gold ' ' Mr de Bellefenille, Mining Inspedor, reports that, in 1864, he .^ranted 22 mn.ng hcenses on the Famine, which wonld lead ns to infer tha't wo^ to a somewhat considerable extent was done there. M E "s^" U^r "' ''" ''"i"'"? ''' ''"^""■>- ''' ^'^^' ''^■- ^^^^---^ I-ons> and \ of Watford and that n, the vicinity of the (kand Falls he Cashed and fonnd go d. He adds that in the inunediate neighborhood of t lo rfal several ponnds of gold had already been obtained. We see in the same report that in 1864, Dr Reed and Mr C;eo Desb-irats had prospcled m Watford on lots 4 and 5 of ranges III and IV. Tlev woTk ed at the foot of the falls dnringa conple of seasons with abont t w v ^et ami reported hav.ng found .X400 ; one nugget weighed four ounces 1 ^ U cun^s Park began to dig a canal to divert the course of the river o the left bank at lot 20. He found a little gold, btit stopped working. Subsequently, in 1867, an area of abont 5,000 acres coverin-.- both banbs of the bannne was sold by the Governn.ent to Mr. Thos. McCh^ev b t wort^was done on .. These lands have since becon.e the property oJ Mn j!;: In the sunnner of ,869, some prospecting was done in the township of Watford and shatts were sunk on lots 5 and 6, but the bed rock do s uo seem to have l)eeu reached. "°^ About 1877, Mr. T. C. Reecc ]M-ospected probablv on lot 6 (I.awrissou) and .seems to iuave obtained a certain quautitN- of gold' V shaft (^c f . ^yas al., sunk probably on lot 3- between the Abe^akis r^ve F •:: nver, hrough so,l that was difficult to penetrate on account of ik^ C,ta^ el auc bed rock were strt:ck and some gold was found. The work-as continued for two >ears. ■■ "l woik \\as 4— 5° The vSt. Otij^e Brotliers, after abandoning the Slate Creek, betjan opera- tions on tlie rij^-ht bank and near the mouth of tlie Famine, by drivinj^ a tunnel startin,<; from the river. This work was abandoned the followino- \X'ar, probably throui.;;!! want of means, very little .ui'old havin<,r l)een found. CUIMBERLAXI) RI\'KR. This is one of the tributaries of the Famine. In 1885, Cajnain Richard, after abandonincr the Gilbert, went, in Mr. P.ecmcr's interest, to work on that river, on Icjt VI. 6 of Cumberland y/Vy." He found j^-ood indications and sunk 2 shafts, one on each side of the river. That on the left bank was 66 feet deep, and struck pay j^ravel ; he ran a drift 130 feet lon<>- from which he <,rot out 12 ounces of cauce, decided to explore along this creek and with the view of striking the old bed of the river, he had a tunnel commenced near the village of vSt Oeorge Kast, on lot 595 of the ca- dastre. This tunnel was coutiniied a distance of 900 feet, meeting with some difficuities owing to the f[uicksand. It was subsequently abandoned in 1896, but will ]irobabl\- be opened up again some day. In his report for 1896, Mr R. Chalmers gives detailed information respecting the lands traversed. POZKR RI\'KR. 117 river lul a but 11 rain On the left l)ank of this ri\er and higher up than the little vSt. .\inie brook in the seigniory of Anbert Gallion, shafts were sunk on lot 354 by Alessrs Humphrey, Allan and vSt. ( )nge, in 1882, about the time that they worked on the Slate Creek. The bed rock was reached at a depth of 40 feet, but work was not continued although gx)l(l was found. In the winter of 1897-98, a license was granted to Mr. Cnrrie who sank a shaft 20 or 22 feet ^rriiiRtrojpSipApiBBiMtiiB 52 deep on lot 355. He found 4 feet of amble soil, 13 feet of bonlder clay, 6 feet of black cenienied j^ravel, 3 feet of yellow gravel containing,'- black sand, pyrites and sli t'<-'iits, $1.00 and even more at a time ; one ])annin<^ containing 32 colors, lie afterwards procured a rocker which was in i)ad order and in half a day he ol)taint.d from ,>4.(H) to $7.00 worth of <.^old. In consequence of this, a small company was orj^an- ized and Mr. Ward started on the 15th July iold in his workinj>s and that on retnrnin*;; there, in the month of November, and dio;<^ini^ some holes under the snow, his companions washed two pans wdiich yieUled from i?2.oo to J^3.oo each. The company that worked there was called the " Riviere du Loup IMining- Company." This information was repeated to me by Mr. Thomas Wilson, a miner who resides in the district and who has worked there from his infancv. hlack laves the of the With the view of verifying; the important facts mentioned in connection with this river, I inspected the localities and made inquiries amonji; the residents of the reji^ion, but the result of this investi<;ation led me to believe that the information ,q;iven above .should not be accepte-l as an indica- tion of the richness of the .said reo;ion. I had a .slij^ht amount of work done above the Kennebec Road, but fonnd only a few and very fine colors in a gravel that seemed to rest on clay. 54 In iSSo, Mr. Cassels, of Toronto, had some prospecting'' done on of the nppcr part of this river as well as on the Oliva, by his ajj^ent, Mr Chnbnck, with al)(jnt ten men. They .sank a shaft but could not reach the bed rock on account of the water. OLIVA RIV1\R Mr. Edward Lyons prospected on the Oliva river and fomul nmnerous indications on blocks 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, by washino- with jian and rocker. He built a sluice and worked on blocks 5 and 6 for several days as well as on block 3. He says that the bad weather and the abundance of water impeded him, but that he is convinced that with favorable weather he wotdd have paid his expenses. He mentions in particular block 3 asshowiu},^ nuich line gold in the river bed. . GOSSULIX BROOK. A shaft was sunk on the Gosselin brook in vSt. X'iclor de Trint,^, by Mr. Kennedy, who reports havin,^- ftnind j^old there. DAAOUAM RIVER. Mr. Pierre Patry, in the Report of the Committee of 1865, states that in the month of August, ic-auce, and the Committee of hupiiry of iSy the Deti'oit Company, on lot i of Kennebec Road in Linierc, near the bonndary line, 40 feet deep, and at Jerse\- Point ; by the Reciprocity Mining Company on the Kempt river near the Kennebec Road ; by the Dn Lonp Mining Company, on the Metgennette ri\'er near the Kennebec Road ; by the New York Company at Jersey Point and in the Cumberland y?r/ (seig- niory of Aiibin de I'lsle. ) The following shafts were snnk in the seigniory of Rigand Vandrenil : P.y Rigg cS: Co. — range i X. \V. lo< Stj, i^ ^' \t 45 feet deep ; by Kilgonr and Fenton, vSt. Charles, 19 and -^ the Reciprocity IVIining Company, 19 de Lery ; by Power, Cansle; ^t)nipany, r; \ge I N. W. 39 ; by Hamil- ton Smith .K: Company — range . W. 71. In the report for 1866, we find a se iesof 31 assays made by Dr T. Sterry Hnnt on specimens of qnartz, reported by Mr A. IMichel. T''ese as.says have since been reprodnccd in the reports of the Geological Snr\ e\- and other re- ports relating to Beance. They came from the following points, probably from the veins above mentioned : Liniere I, 2, 7, 6 ; Seigniory of Anbert 57 (iallioii I, 30; Siij^nioiN of Aiihiii dc I'lslc I 9; Si-ij^'-tiioi)' of Ri)^;ui(l-\'au- divuil I X. I'",. 39, _S3. 5<;- (>2, S3; St Charles K), 21 ; eciall\' those nuule hy I)r A. A. Hayes of I'.oston, and si'veral also \ ieh'ed extraordinary results. Mr Michel also cites some assays and says that lu- himself crnslied and washed quartz .sometimes in (piantities of from 20 to 30 ponnds which contained some color. In Mr. Lockwood's mannscripl report, we find an entire chapter devoted to the quartz veins. He mentions about twenty in the seij,Miior\- of I\i;.;and Vandrcnil, of which he j^jives the location, the names, the dimensions and the resnlts that they yielded in various a.s.says. Some of these veins are of <^reat thickness, .sometimes reachint^- 23 feet ; others are a mile and over in len,<^4h and the a.ssays mentioned st)metimes ,i;ive a hij^h ]x-rcenta<;e ; shafts ha\e been snnk on several of these veins, some beinj^ the .same as tho.se mentioned above. The veins in (piestion are on the followinji^ lots of the seij^nory of Rij.,'-an(l Vandreuil : I Ran((e N.-K. 47, 59, 62, 71, 75 ; vSt. Charles 7, 11, 12, 19, 21 ; De Lery 20. 23 ; Chans.sejjros 16. Mr. Lockwood, thronj^hont his work, expre.s.ses his ojMiiion that the alluvial .yi'old comes from these veins and states as an arj.j-nment in snp])()rt of his theory that theallnvia! deposit contained nnich more ^old in their \ieinity. He also mentions the shaft on lot 7 of St. Charles in which a thickness of 40 feet of very fine white qnartz contained gold. In 1867, in conseqnence of the aforesaid experiments, a mill was erected by the de Lery (iold Minin*;- Company in the vicinity of the Devil's Rapid, abont a mile from the villaja^e of St. Fran(;ois ; it was l)nilt of .solid ma.sonry and contained 10 stamp.s. Great hopes seem to have been ba.sed on this mill at that time. A quantity, I know not how mnch, was pnt throngh the mill which worked for several weeks onl\-. The resnlt .seems to have been BB I •I 58 nil as to the quantity of j^okl obtained. To explain this want of success, the insufficiency of the plant and the inexperience of those in charge were allc,i(ed. This mill with a portion of its plant is still in existence, but it has not been worked since. In liis report for 1884, the ]Minin- open to criticism, but I think that we mav safeh- draw the following conclusions from it : ' ' I have mentioned a certain number of rivers where work has been carried on and gold has been found, but at a given moment work was stopped hv the water and by the expense required for prosecuting the work. In one case however, on the (;ilbert, the work of searching was carried out to the end • sufficiently powerful pumps were used and it mav be said that the result.s during the period from iS;^ to iHH^ were perfecth- satisfactorv and even remunerative in cases where the companies po.ssessed enough territor\-. It may be said with reason that the valley of the (Gilbert is the only ..'iie in which gold has been found in paying (luantities, but we are free to' believe that the same means applied to other districts would produce similar results. Thus, previous to 1S67, k)ts 15 to 20 of de Lerx- were considered as being about the only productive ones along the river and \et deep workinns have caused ground just as rich to be fouiul up l., 9 and ,S of St Charles. In the du Loup, Famine, des I'lantes, des Meules and Metgermette rivers— to say nothing of the others—coarse gold in notable quantities has been found at certain p;>ints, but, for si-ecial reasons, the w(,rks were not continued. We mav therefore hope that hv prosecuting the explor- ations, the same results would be obtained as on the (iilbert. Some persons but little acquainted with the technical si.le of the question, are under thj impression that the Beauce gold mines have not paid. This is an error if we 62 only coiisidet that the money spent in law-snits shonlcl not be eharj^^ed a.y;-ainst the nuniil<,^ and it cannot be denied that lej^al difficulties have done the (greatest injury to that re<^ion, while adniittinj^r that work there is of a difficult nature. On the other hand, the legal difficulties that impeded the development of that industry have disappeared and the (iovernment has resolved to apply the law in a broad and liberal spirit. The trouble about .small claims no Ioniser exists, while miners are nevertheless j^iven every facility for workinj;- on a limited scale. I consider that this industry has a chance of succeedinir by carryinji;- on the work over laru;-e extents of territory and with the assistance of considerable capital. The em])loyment of Boring machines have been suggested for the purpose of testing the ground down to the bed rock and this idea is a very pratical one provided the machinery used be fully adapted to the pur]X)se and be able to work as well through the quicksand as through the boulders that ma\- be met with. The places most suitable for sinking shafts would thus be ascertained. Practice has already demonstrated that drainage 1)\' canals or tunnels is the most ])rofitable. I hax'e often l)een (juestioned as to the prac- ticability of dredging in this province, but I consider that it would hardly be possible except in certain portions of the Chaudiere and perha])s at some points of the larger rivers. I thei'cfore believe that companies with capital at their disposal, as well as sufficient land, have a chance of succeeding in Heauce under careful man. agemeut. The ( rovernment owns the mining rights over the greater portion of these regions and even the surface in the unsettled districts and it can dispose of the same at prices within easy reach of all. THE CHAUDIKRK VALLKV It is estimated that the basin of this river, which ma\- be considered as gold-bearing, covers 15,000 square miles and, in fact, gold has been found at various points of that territory as estal)lished b)- the foregoing facts. The geology of this region has been studied by the Geological Survey, which has published a map showing the various formations. I give a sum- mary description according to these high authorities. The general forma- tion belongs to the Cambrian and cambro-silurian s\stenis : the former con- sisting of schistous sandstones and the latter of aryilleous schists. These forma- 63 tions have nn(lcrn;one upheaval due to dioritic eruptions, the maiu uiass of Nvh.cli ,.s ni s,,dit on Ino-h ],ill,s i„ the township of Cranbourne with raniifi- cations extending, on both sides of the Cliaudiere, but showing, then.selves duefly :n the valh;v of the Riviere des Plantes, where thev are^ccon.pa:^^ bv serpentnaes. They cross the Chaudiere river and appear on the other side on tlie I.ras nver and on the hei,n;lns of the sei.^niiorv of Anbin de I'lsle • lie folds have a north easterly direction as may be sJen bv an antielinal line rnnnino- across the whole re.yion. The superficial ,o;eolo,eauce has beloiK^ed to quart, veins, but it cannot be said in what condition that quart, was at the time ot the disintes^n-ation nor at what period in took place. The disa-o-reo-ated mass has been considerable and dnriii<,r a Ion- series of ,o-eolo.o:,cal epochs the beds of former rivers were excavated, wherein a long process of classification deposited the heavier portions, includin..- ocdd mthe lowest parts with gravel, worn and washed, and large boulders '" This gravel was overlaid by stiller waters containing the finer particles constitu- ting the fine sand and stratified clay. The glacial period covered the whole with a thick lay., of boulder clay, thereby levelling the soil iu which the present rivers afterwards excavated their beds. To this work is added a map on the scale of one mile to the inch comprising all the gold bearing regions of the province. The infornntion relating to mines is marked in red. The geological indications that we have deemed advisable to note are obtained fn.m the map of the (k-oh^-ne-d Sur vey of Ottawa. It will be observed that the greater portion of the land's iu this region belong to the Crown. This map has been compiled from the original docu.nenls of the Crown Lands Department and the plans of the Cadastre. 64 DISTRICT OF DUDSWKLL Gold has been found for some time in certain streams in the valley of the River St. Francis, especially in the townsliijis of Dudswell and \Vestbur\-. In the stream ktiown as " Hall's Brook ", <^old was foinul Unv^ iv^o on lot IV-ii and the ruins of an old lo stamp mill can still be seen which was built previous to 1880 by Mr Brook of Boston. I understand that this mill had been built to treat the stuff from the river itself, which contained much fine ji^old that was difficult to wash ; I have, however, little or no information respectintr the work of that period which must have been carried on to some e.KLCUt judginj^ by the debris to be seen in the upper part of the river. A shaft 28 feet deep was then sunk to the bed rock and a little .n'old was found. Al)out 1 89 1, Messrs Charles Rodrigue and Louis Mathien, Beauce miners began prospecting on this brook and found a little gold ; one nugget being worth $90.00 : encouraged by these discoveries, they sank on the left bank and in the immediate vicinity of the river on lot I\'-ii, a shaft 52 feet deep which struck solid rock. They found a little gravel at the bottom and ran a drift 27 feet long which followed the rock in a descending direction, but without much results. The water was pumped out of the shaft by an ordinary wlijel in the miner's fashion. This shaft was 400 feet from the former one. Another shaft was begun and 1 2 feet from the surface a large piece of unrolled conglomerate was found weighing several hundred pounds and containing numerous specks of visible gold. Work was suspended in 1894, after producing from $500.00 to $600.00 worth of gold from the brook. Besides the large nugget above mentioned, pieces worth from $5.00 to $10.00 were found. The materials of the cpiartz mill were removed in 1897, bv Mr. Graff who used them in building another mill near the line of the Boston and Maine Railway. These miners afterward prospected on other brooks in the vicinity known under the names of the owners of the laud through which they run. Gold in .small quantities was found everywhere. It may be said that all the brooks flowing from the mountains of Stoke contain gold. vSmall grou])s of miners worked on the Andrew, Row and Harrison brooks. On the Andrew, I\Ir Cunningham got out a few dollars' worth. On the Row, Messrs vSotero, Brown and Hanman got out about a hundred dollars, one nug- get being worth $10.00 ; Mr Walcott also worked a little in 1897. ^^" ^'^^ 65 Harrison, Mr Fred. Harrison ^^ot out about $200.00 from lot 6 of Westburv Mr Henry Hujrhey commenced prospecting in the spring of 1898 in the same brook, on lot XI, 28 of Stoke, that is above Fred. Harrison's work -all Urn ^prospecting was done from 1895 to 1897, only a few men being an- The most important work was done on the Kingsev brook that runs tln-o„.h lots 3 ui ranges HI and IV of DtKlswell. In 1894, the nnners above ne„t,oned ^^•orKed ni the bed of the brook and found gold in snflicient quan- tities, including several large nuggets. There were then 4 or . men rZltT^ d . ''' "• "-'• ''°""" ^"'^'^ ""'' ^"^^^^'^^ "^ ''^^ "--' -hL the results led to an organization of a small companv known under the uam^ Rodrigue(,old Mining Co." in 1896. A steam pump of one hundred horse power was put m with the object of carrying on hvdraulic works or rather o removing the part over-la>-ing the rich gravel b>- means of a powerful iet of water. The work of this company yielded about $4,000.00 worth of .^okl the largest nuggets being worth $45, $39, $27. In 1897 the properties palsed mto the hands of Mr C. A. Parson of Boston who has not yet done anv'work. No shaft has been sunk, on this creek but only .surface' work was done, .old IS found chiefly in a bed of gravel a few inches thick restin,. on schists hat are rather hard and with but few fl.ssures, somewhat different from those found in Beauce. The valley of the stream is verv narrow and the bed rock appears e^•erywhere at a depth not exceeding a few feet. Work was done over a length of about half a mile and onl>- in the bed of the stream The and belongs to Mr W. Kingsey in range III and to the British and American Land Co. in the IV range. , ^,%'^'' ^;^' "f ^^^' ^'-■^°^'' "^''"^'^'^y V. II, work was done about 1882 by Mr Trenholme, the surface owners, who got out about $75.00, a .shaft about 25 feet deep having been sunk. In 1895, Mr. Louis Mathieu came and prospected with another miner and found gold in the bed of the stream They then sank in 1897 on the left bank a shaft S3 feet deep which" struck solid rock. The ground traversed consisted of the surface, a bed of .gravel three feet of clay and nine feet of gravel resting on the bedrock and hey found a little gold. When I vi.sited the works in Mav 1898, Mr Louis Mathieu was occupied with two other men in sinking a shaft 8 feet bv - nearer the stream and was then twenty feet down. The^• hoped to strike 'the rock at a depth of about 50 feet, being then nearer the'old bed of the river. 5 — 66 They set up a small water wheel to pump f)ut the shaft. The quantity of <,rol(l found by Mr Louis Mathieu in the bed of the river does not exceed about one hundred dollars ; the larj^cst nuj,'-get, found on the clay, weij^-hed 19 dwts. The indications of gold found in this district are different from those of Bcauce, the gold lacing generally flatter and finer ; its origin seems also to be more recent and to be due to the disintegration of the veins of quartz existing on Stoke Mountain. Therefore there is not there what the miners call a *' lead ". The shafts that have been sunk have not yielded great results and the stirface gold seems to have followed the course of those small brooks whose valleys arc narrow and bordered by solid rocks. The only points which would seem to me to be favorable to the testing by means of shafts, would be the lower part of those brooks where their valleys widen. A remarkable fact is that rolled boulders of quartz are sometime.^ found containing visible gold which I never remarked in Heauce. On the Hall Brook there was found a piece weighing several hundred pounds of quartz conglomerate, crossed by small veins of quartz, in which gold is visible- These brooks are .small and almost dry in summer. The right to the gold mines in all these regions belongs to the Crown and the work has been done by means of mining licenses granted over small areas. QUARTZ IN DUDSWELL The miners' prospecting has led to the discovery of a small vein of quartz situate in the Gore of Westbury forming range 6 and the property of Mr, F. Harrison. This vein is from 2 to 3 inches thick and descends almost verticallv in a (luartzeous conglomerate or arkose. Mr John Armstrong followed that small vein by means of a shaft fifteen feet deep and I personally noticed small colors of gold. A few hundred feet from there on lot IV south i/j of I of Dudswell 'Sir. Charles Rodrigue sank a small shaft about twelve feet deep in similar rock and showed me pieces of quartz that he got out and that contained gold. These veins seem to be too small to be worked profitably, but it would be important to ascertain practically whether the surrounding conglomerate does not contain gold in paying quantities. A specimen of f \ V t r 1 1( S 1) d h ^>7 that rock taken from the surface and wliich I had analyzed ^"-ave o.oS ounces •of ^old and 0.08 ounces of silver to the t(jn, sa\-, a value of #1.65. Mr. K. Chalmers of the (k'oloji^ical vSurvey made an assay that <^ave 0.35 ounces, say, a value of 57.00 to the ton. I consider that such assays on small si)ecimens are worthless and that only tests with the mill on larj^e quantities could be a jruidc as rej^ards the future of that dejiosit. Tlie small (juantities of alluvial j:[old found in the bed of the streams do not seem to me to justify the or(>anization of lar}j;-e companies, l)ut may suffice to provide a livelihood for small jj^roups of miners. However, prospectin^ivinir $2.00. In ]\Ir. Michel's report in 1S66, he .says that he visited this mine in June 1865 and that at that time .several workmen were en<>;af^ed in washin<^- auriferous gravel, while the others built a dam and erected a mill. He says that the quantity of j^old shown him as beint;;; the result of one month's work, and as the washinj^ of numerous pans of j^ravel, . certainly been worked a threat deal especially between the old line of railwa\- and the present road. All the disturbance of the soil in the' valley can be observed to a width of a couple of hundred feet. The river runs in a northerly direc- tion and the bed rock is struck at a depth of from 4 to 6 feet. It consists of a somewhat compact slatey schist runninjr North Ivast and dip])injj;- 20° vSonth Ea.st. The remains of and (.)ld and very lonj^^ dani may be seen as well as a .shaft S by 5 in the quartz and del)ris of calcined quartz. We can also see the buildiu}; where the mill was and a yreat quantity of tailin,t;s. I washed some panfuls and found co]ur ; the assay of a small specimen oi cpuirtz j^avc me only traces. I eainiot say whether mining has ])een done over the entire vallc)", but Christie sa\s that there are mau)- places that have not been touched. All the work done is on the surface. The people of the neighborhood say that much gold has l>een got out of this brook and even give figures which I do not repeat because they do not seem to lUe to be well founded. In his re])ort Mr. Michel states tiiat he himself made se\'eral prcspectsc n lot 6 range XIII of Ascot, in the bed and on the banks of the same brook and fomul gold in gravel, the rock being at an average depth of 6 feet. Chi the neighboring lot 6 of XI\', he made se\-eral excavations without fir.ding gold or even gravel ; moreover, the .shafts, one of which was 16 feet deep, did not strike bedrock. ' ASCOT GOLD MI\IN'(', COMl'AXV.— In the same report we fiiul that this c()in])atu worked on lot ii of raiij^e XI and an exlraet from tlie »Sherl)rookL' ( iazette of the i.Slh \ovemhi.'r is eited whicli sa\s that, from the 2(Jth October to the 14th November, j^old to the amount of ;?9<;0.o() was taken out. The work has since been abandoned. Illy lUt the TIIK ROCK I'ORl'ST OOLD MIXIXO Co. Limited.— Mr. C. 1'. Kennedy of Stanstead has lonj^ljcen interested in explorations for j^old in this re}j;-i()n and has prospected on the I'elton biuok in particular, hi the fall of i.Sc;7, he did some prospect in j^^ from September to Xovember and lound a little ,L(old, the largest nugget not exceeding ii2.(H). However, the miner Christie, of whom I have already s])oken, claims to ha\e found a S.vdonug- fi;et ; Mr. Kennedy rei)orts that ])revious to these workings ])ropecting had b'jen done on a small scale and that one day. gold to the amount of }!s33. 00 was foinid within a very small sjiacc and on aiiollur occasion ,( Kxhibit Co. The works seem to be on lot .'. 7 or iet worth several dollars that was found there. The work has since been stopped and I have heard nothins^ further about that stream. In the .seigniory of vSt. ( riles de Beaurivag-e, in the Handkerchief conces- sion, the re])orts of Geolo<>;ical Survey mention that i^old was found and the Chaudiere I\Iiiiing- Company worked ([uartz veins that were a.s.serted to con- tain g'old. It is also stated that a little <^old was found in the Palmer river which flows through that region. It must also be remembered that small proportions of gold exist in several of the copper areas of the Ka.s'cern Townships and the Xut brown shaft on lot 15 of range Xl\' of Leeds is mentioned in which native gold was found in a vein of quartz and feldspar containing rich copper ore. I saw a specimen showing gold wdiicli 1 was a.ssured came from this working. It is claimed that gold has been found in other parts of the province, but I have seen nothing in the districts that I have visited to justify that a.sser. tioii. In the county of Ottawa, in particular, .searches have been undertaken several times, but without result. The report of the Cieological vSurxey for 187S .states that in the township of Wakefield apatite was found containing a small piece of gold, but this is accidental. It may also be o])ser\ed that the magnetic pyrites found in the Laurentian formation, when assayed, show traces of eold. PRODUCTION OF GOLD It is very difficult to estimate the exact (piantity of gold yielded in the province owing to the uncertaint\- and irregularity of the eomi)anie^" ■eturiis. Nevertheless we give the following figures taken from the reports of tl e Cr'iwn Lands Department, the only ofilcial figures that exist : •net I'p to 1846 ,^ 300 00 From 1H47 to i7oo,(X)o.oo, the practical yield of the gravel being about $2.25 to the cubic yard. I also give below some figures taken from various reports or oljtained from reliable persons : mm 75 Dr. James Don-las, RiviC^res des Plantes, 1847 to 1850. $ 3000 00 Rivi^^re du Loup 1S51 ,,^26 00 " " " i8q2 ^ ^ "^^^ 2496 00 " 1852 (icoloj^-ical Survey 12400 The Ponlin brothers, 4 men, by ])aniiin-, about 1867 ^,,000 00 PouHn & Co. 13 de Lery ^^2.S 00 Lockwood Com])any, 14 and 15 de Lerv 13540 00 Canada Ciold Co. 12 St. Charles, up to '18S3 65855 00 St. Ono-e Co. II and 12 St. Charles, up to 1883. . -. . . 85090 00 Gilbert River (iold Minin- Co. St. Charles, before 1883 125000 co Gilbert River Gold ^linino- Co. Si. Charles after 1883. 28000 00 Beauce Mininjr and Millin- Co. 14 de Lery Soooo 00 Clarence Minin- Co. 13 de Lery, up to ist Xov. 1881. 13228 00 American Co. from 1892 to 1894 .-00 00 From lots 18 and 19 it is estimated that there has ^'^^" t'^^^" "^^t ,^0000 00 Mr. Lockwood estimates that from lots 16 to 2 i there has been taken out up t(. 1 87, , -,, ,„oo 00 Stafford Brook beft)re 1865 ' ,000 00 Rnisseau des Menles " '.".'."."."."." so.jo 00 Rivieres des Plantes, in 1883 ;_oo ^o ^^^^•^ ^''-''^ 500000 District of Dudswell .^oo 00 District of Ditton ,omoo 00 In Beauce, oold is current coin and' several jK-rsons have told me that they iKue bou-ht considerable quantities of it, anion- others a merchant of St. iM-anyois who -ot about $25,000.00 worth of it. 'J'akin- all these fi-ures into account, it will be seen that the amount of $2,000,000 is not exa-nerated. r -ive below a copy of a certificate of the American Mint, wliieh was communicated to me by Mr. Ph. Anoers-of two specimens of -..jd r.-ceiitlv obtained from the Gilbert : ' ' 76 Weight before melting in onnces " after " " Fine gold per looo Value of gold Wilne of silver Charges Xct value No. I 56 34 55- 14 874. T,/ $996. 79 3- 41 J- 31 996 89 No. 2 12 00 11.90 879.00 $216.23 0.70 1.50 21543 ac NOTE Fnici^ohl corresponds to i,oc,o or 24 carats and is worth $20.67 the ounce. Tlic pound troy is equal to 373.24 grammes = 12 ounces = 20 pennyweights (dwts) = 480 graii.s. LIST OF LANDS SOLD FOR GOLD MINKS SEIGNIORY OF RIGAUD-VAUDREUIL, 71,000 ACRES Patented to Dame Marie Jo.sephte F>aser and others i8th September, 1846 LINIERE Metgerniette River (vSouth Branch). Lot No. I. patented 22nd July 1864 to William Dunn 22nd " " to Richard S. Cassels 19th June " to Robert Bell 26th July '' to Noel H. Bowen (( 2. U u 3- It u A u n Lot No. 5. patented 23r(l July 1S64 to George Kilbotinie 6, ** 1 2th " " to Richard S. Cassels 7' " igtli " " to Robert Bell 26th 13th to Noel H. Bowen to Georti^e Kilbonrne X. B.— All the above lots are 23 ?4 acres, while all the foil acres. ownio- are 25 North Branch •orth 20 Ivot No. I. patented i8th Jnly 1864 to Robert Bell « (( u (( (( (( (( 2. 3- 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9- 10. II. 12. (( (I ik u a u 25th 23rd 25th 23rd 25th 23rd 25th 23rd iSth 23rd 1 8th >1 u 1.1. (1 u u u It to Richard vS. Cassels to William Dnnn to Xoiil H. Bowen to Georo;c Kilbonrne to Richard S. Cassels to William Dnnn to Noel H. Bowen to George Kilbonrne to Robert Bell to William Dnnn to Robert Bell Traveller's Rest Riv_r. 1846 Lot No. I. patented 6th September 1864 to Thomas Revnolds 2. 7th to L. McDongall 3» 8th to Andrew Wilson 4. 9th to Thomas Morland 5- 6th to Thomas Reynolds 6. 7th to L. McDongall 7- 8t!i to /\ndrew Wilson Oliva R iver. Lot No. I. patented 29th Angnst 1864 to Richard vS. Cas.sels -• " 27th " - to RoIkml Bell 3- '' 3'>th " " to (ieorge Kilbonrne 4- " 29th " " to William Dnnn 3()th to Noel H. Bowei , 78- Lot Xo. 6. patented 27th Aiij^nst .I864, ^o Robert Hell u (( « it (( (( (( 7- 8. 9. 10. II. 12, 13. 14. 30th 29tll 27th 29th 27th 29tll 30th 27tll u u u u to Cieorj^e Kilboiirne to William Dunn to Robert Bell to Richard vS. Cassels to Robert Bell to Richard vS. Cassels to Noel H. Boweii to Robert Bell Portatre River. Lot No. I. patented ist vSeptcnibcr 1864 to McDon.t^mll 2. 5th u 3- 5tli u 4- 5tli u 5- ISt u 6. 5tli (1 7- 5th (i 8. sold u to Andrew Wilson to Thomas Morland to Thomas Reynolds to Donald McDon.i;-all to Andrew Wilson to Thomas Morland to Thomas Reynolds METGERMKTTK NORTH Metiierniette River (Sonth Branch). Lot No. 10. patented 22 July 1S64 to William Dnnn it 1 1. (1 19 to Robert Bell ♦« 12. u 22 to William Dnnn (( 13 (1 23 to George Kilbonrne (( 14. .i 26 to Noel H. l^owen u 15- u 22 to Richard S. Cassels (( 16. u 19 to Robert Bell 79 M ETGKRM KTTK vS( )UTH & Is all Tra\x'ller.s Rest River. Lot No. H. ])atented 9. 10. II. 12. 13- 14. 15- 16. u u CI u il u u Portag-e River Lot Xo. 9. patented 10. II. 12. 13- 14. 15- 16. u u u 11 8 9 9 7 8 9 9 9 5 5 I 5 5 5 5 vSepteinber 1S64 to Thomas Morland " " to Thomas Reynolds " to Donald McDon-rall " to Andrew Wilson " to Thomas Morland " to Thomas Reynolds " to Donald .MeDouK^all " to Andrew Wilson " to Thomas Morland a vSeptember ICS64 to Donald McI)ou,^all " to Andrew Wilst)n " to Thomas Morland " to Thomas Reynolds " to Donald MeDon^all " to Andrew Wilson " to Thomas Morland. " to Thomas Revnolds u u u it u RISBUROUCiH Riviere dn Loup. Lot No. I. patented 13 June 1S64 to Duncan McDonald 2. " 13 '' " to Alex. Munroe 3' " 13 " " to Wm. Mc D. Dawson 4' " 13 " " to Alex. Munroe 5' " 13 " " to Wm. Mc D. Dawson u (( 8o Lot No. 6. patented 13 June 1.S64 to Dnncan McDonald 7' 13 to Alex. Mnnroe 8. ^3 to Wni. Mc D. Dawson 9. 13 to Dnncan McDonald 10. 13 to W'ni. Mc D. Dawson II' 13 to Alex. Munroe 12. 13 to " West i; ■aneli Lot No. 13, patented I3tli June 1S64 to S. J. I)aws( )n X. 15. — .All the lots of Risboronj^di are of 100 acres. All the river blocks above indicated were sold at ,^2.00 per acre in virtue of the Ordcr-in-Council of the 22nd April, 1864. WATFORD (Dorchester) : in. A. h. C. to 19 inclusively, 21 to 27. IV 4. 5. 7. to 27, total 4951 acres, patented on the 5th IVIarch, 1867, to Thos. Mc(Treev\-, at $1.00 per acre, under the terms of the Order-in-Council of the 1 2th April, 1865. DITTOX (Conipton) VII 52 to 61 inclusively. VIII 39. 40. 41. 44. 57 to 62. IX 34 to 42, 45 to 48, 50 to 5T, patented ist June 1866 to Hon. :\Ir. Sawyer. X 34'; N. patented 2irst March 1866 to J.-H. Pope. 8i Mininn; patent confirmed i4tli July i8So, under re^mlation of 1S-4. 5000 acMX'S at Si. 00. (iAVHURST. Lots I to 26 of ran• — These lots euuLain 102 acres, and were sold at #1.00 i)er acre. RANCH ir (Section C) Lots 48, 51, 52, 53, patented 21st August 1865 to Wni. .McDonald Dawson. ^'- ^'- — These lots contain 200 acres and were sold at $1.00 per acre. 83 MAR LOW (Kennebec Road) L..t X(.. I, pati'uted 29lh June 1X37 to L. I-. > acres- A. part. I'.ast patented as X()vend)er iSr):;t() Clis. O.^dt-n ^j-? " KAXGIC XI Lots 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. patented i8th Jnne 1877 to Will. Brcakey and k^^al representatives el' Ivlward 11. Murnev. KAXC.I'. XII Lots I, 2, 3, 4, 5, patented i8th Jnne, 1877 to \V. Breakey and legal representatives of Kdward II. Alnrncv. N. R. — .Vll these lots contain 200 acres and were sold at $r.20 pern acre. .METGKRIMKTTE RAXCK VIII Lots Xo. I r and 12, patented 27tli Feb. 1871 to Caleb Holyokc. 140 acres I3> "' 12 Sept. 1879 to Michael c'ahill 42 '' i-b *' 12 " " to " 43 " 15. " 12 " " to Kdv.-. J. Cahill 65 " (I K U (( 16, 12 to /D RAXGK VII Lot Xo. II, patented 27tli February 1871 to Calci) Holyoke i -.8 acr es legal legal 85 K.w (■,!•; IX Lots Xo. , t.) 5, patrnlf.1 2j I-Vh. ,,s;, f. Ivluanl |. C.iliill Vl; u u u (« C) lo 9 U) and 1 1, " A. i;., " 13 X. 14 X. " 15. icres 27 to Miciiai'I I)()ii()\aii [oo " 27 " " to Jnlin Miirtha 27 " " to Cak'I) Mclvckc, 17 vScpt. 1S79 to James Cahiil, to " " 17 " to KA.NCl'; X IS'; I.fS r()2 «4 68 Lot H.A. patented 27 Feb. 1S71 to Will. Murtlia i to 4, - 27 - •' t,. - 5 to 8, " 27 " - to " 9 to 12, " 27 " " to " " The forenoing luts of Mctgernictte were sold at j^ 1S7 - ^^^ " 400 " 400 " i.uo per acre. RIvSHORorCII u.wc.i'; I lyot No. r patented 9 Feb. 1885 to C. I'. Champion 12.) " 9 " " to I). K. Thompson 120 '' K.wr.i.; XI\' Lot Xo. I, patented 8th b\'l)ruarv 1SS2 to \Vm. Ihvakev, 2(K) aeres "2'/X. K. patented 7th April iSSi to llamel, llnghes, Armstrong, Hlanchet 100 aeres 3, patented 7 April 1S81 to Hamel Hnghes, Armstrong, lUan- chet, 200 acres RAXCi': X\' Loti'/S. P:., patented 29th I)ecend)cr 1880 to ITamel, llnghes, .\rm- •strong, Blanchet, 100 acres - 2, patented 29th Decendx'r 1880 to Hamel, Hughes, Armstrong, Blanchet, 200 acres " i>< N. W. patented 3rd March 1892 to J. Buchanan .K: Ihvakev 100 acres ^> v: ^ 'c^. •cfl •^^# % /} V ^;. /^ y IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 ■• 132. I.I m HI ■ 40 il|M 1.8 Photographic Sciences Corporation 1.25 1.4 1.6 ■• 6" ^ ^ V ^v \ \ 4^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. I4SS0 (7161 872-4503 <^ 6^ Va 84 RANGK XVI hot I S. W., patented 29tli December i8So to Haiuel, Hughes, Arnistroug, Blanchet, 87 }i acres N. R. — All the above lots of Risborough as well as the following of Marlow were sold at $2.00 per acre in accordance with the general mining act of I KHo. I: ^i MARLOW KANC.I-: \' Lot I '< N. W. of •; S. W. patented 3rd March 1882 to John Buchanan & Geo. IJreakey, 50 acif s. KAXCl", \'I Lot ij/N. K, patented 23rd vSeptcnd)er 1S82 to James Armstrong and transferred 26th ]\Lay 1886 to Jas. Morgan, 93 acres. Lot I 'j vS. W. ])ateiited 29th I)eccm1)er 1880, to IlauK-i, IInghe^^ Arm- strong, lUanchet 100 acres. KANC,]., \'II Lot I patented 8lh I-'ebruary 1882 to W. Hrcakey i^i Wilson 200 acres. Table of Contents Page Introduction 3 List of documents consulted 3 Lf j4;islati<)n 5 History ^ Seijj^niory of Riji^audA'audrenil 13 (iilhcrt River 13 Ruisscau dcs Mcules 3^ Riviere des I'lautcs 40 Devil's Rapid 43 Riviere du Loup 44 Faniiuc River 4^ Cuni])erlaud River 50 vSlate Creek 50 Po/.er River 51 vStafford Hrook 52 IMetjrerniette River 52 Oliva River 54 Ruisseau (iosselin 54 Daaquani River 54 Townships of vS]iauldiu.<;- and C.ayhurst 54 Other ri\ ers 55 Quartz . 55 Black Sand 60 Conclusion 61 Valley of the Chaudiere 62 District of Dndswell 64 District of Ditton 67 Gold Mines in ne.i4hl)orhood of vSherhrooke 68 (>ther indications of (lohl 72 Production of ( lold 73 List of lands st)ld for ( iold ?diues 76