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 B E P O R T S 
 
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 ON THE PROPERTT OP THE 
 
 dT'HMk diflto 'gjmmg C0., 
 
 COMPRISING 
 
 SIX HUNDRED ACRES OF LAND, 
 
 SITUATED ON THE 
 
 KivER r>u 1.0 UP, 
 
 A TRIBUTARY OP THE 
 
 \ 
 
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 CHAUDIERE RIVER, 
 
 CANADA EAST. 
 

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 CAMDA GOLD MINING COMPANY. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 The Gold Fields of the Chaudidre in Canada East are deservedly 
 attracting much attention, and will undoubtedly yield a rich harvest 
 to those who shall be the first to enter upon their regular develop- 
 ment. Multitudes of experienced Californian Gold miners have 
 already visited the locality, and pronounce the prospects equally 
 favorable with those at the scene of their former labors ; while 
 its comparative accessibility, the cheapness of provisions, and 
 proximity to tho comforts of civilized life, combine to render it 
 greatly more eligible as a field of operations. 
 
 The Township of Marlow, lying between the Chaudidre and its 
 principal tributary, the River du Loup, has recently been discovered 
 to be among the most promising parts of this gold region ; and, 
 accordingly, the present Company have selected this as the most 
 fitting site on which to commence operations. For this purpose 
 they have acquired in fee-simple a block consisting of six hundred 
 acres of land, bordering on the River du Loup, and having a front- 
 age of four miles on that river ; the property is also traversed by 
 a smaller tributary of the River du Loup. The alluvial flats are all 
 found to be highly auriferous ; while the veins of gold-bearing 
 quartz are expected to become profitably available. 
 
 The accompanying Reports, by Sir William Logan, the provincial 
 geologist, and -others, will fully establish the mineral wealth of the 
 place ; and it should be rem.arked that more recent discoveries have 
 proved that the results therein detailed have been greatly exceeded. 
 
» 
 
 f 
 
 • 
 
 7 
 
 EXTRACTS 
 
 FROM THE OFFICIAL REPORT OP SIR WILLIAM LOGAN, 
 
 PROVINCIAL GEOLOGIST, 
 ON THB 
 
 CHAUDIERE GOLD MINES. 
 
 In the Report of Progress preceding this, mention is made 
 of a partial examination of the gold-bearing drift of the Chau- 
 diSre. This examination was last season continued, and the 
 facts resulting from it constitute the only additional topic to 
 which I have to invite your Excellency's attention. Tlie auri- 
 ferous district was found to spread over an area probably com- 
 prising between 300J and 4000 square miles. It appears to oc- 
 cupy nearly the whole of that part of the Province which lies 
 on the south-east side of the prolongation of the Green Moun 
 tains into Canada, and extends to the boundary between the 
 Colony and the United States. Two general lines of explora- 
 tion were followed, one of them up the Chaudi^re and Riviere 
 du Loup from the seigniory of St. Mary to the Province Line, 
 and the other from Lake Etchemin to Sherbrooke on the St. 
 Francis. The former, running transverse to tlie rock ranges, 
 measured about forty-five miles, and the. latter with them about 
 ninety miles. The transverse line was more closely examined 
 than the other, and traces of the precious metal were met with at 
 moderate intervals throughout the whole distance. They were 
 not confined to the channels of the main streams merely, but 
 those of various tributaries furnished indications sometimes for a 
 considerable distance up. 
 
 The lowest point in the valley of the Chaudidre, at 
 which the drift yielded traces of gold, was on a small 
 
stream, falling in on the left side of the river, not far within 
 the flonth-eastem boundary of the seigniory of St. Mary. They 
 were found to occur on four tributaries, in the seigniory of St. 
 Joseph, for distances of one and two miles from their mouths. 
 One of these joins the main stream, on the left bank, about a 
 quarter of a mile below the parish church, and the other three 
 are on the right. The lowest of them is about two miles below 
 the church, the next about the same distance above it, and the 
 fourth is the Riviere des Plantes, about half a mile farther up, and 
 near the south-eastern boundary of the seigniory. In Vau- 
 dreuil Beauce they were discovered on the Guillaume, much 
 farther up than previously stated, and on tlie Bras opposite to 
 it ; on this and some of its tributaries the metal was traced to 
 the centre of the township of Tring, a distance of about twelve 
 miles. Three other streams which yield it in Vaudreuil Beauce, 
 have heretofore been mentioned ; they are the Ruisseau Leseard, 
 Ruisseau du Moulin, and the ToufTe des Pins, on which it Avas 
 first discovered. In Aubert de I'lsle it was found on the Famine, 
 and traced to Plarbottle's settlement, and beyond the seigniory 
 into Watford, a distance altogether of about ten miles. Some 
 particles were obtained on the Ruisseau d'Ardoise, about a mile 
 above the Famine, and it was followed about three miles up 
 the brook commonly called Pozer's stream, in Aubert Gallion. 
 On the Riviere du Loup, in addition to its occurrence in a multi- 
 titude of spots, in fact almost continuously from its mouth 
 across Jersey and Marlow, it was found in nearly all its tribu- 
 tary brooks, such as the Ladyfair, the Grande Coude, the 
 Metgermet for four miles up, the Traveller's Rest, the Por- 
 tage, Kempt's Stream, Oliver's Stream for four miles up, and 
 another stream between it and the boundary of the Province. 
 Above the Loup, on the Chaudi^re, it occurred at succes- 
 sive intervals in twenty places in sixteen miles, as far as the 
 south-western boundary of Dorset township. 
 
 The localities of its observed presence on the other line of ex- 
 ploration were on Lake Etchemin and along the Famine m Au- 
 bert d'Isle, and Pozer's Stream in Aubert Gallion, towards 
 Tring, and again on the St. Francis, in Budswcll, in Weslbuij, 
 
 |. 
 
 ■ 
 
f 
 
 7 
 
 and near the joint corners of Westbury, Stoke, Eaton, and Ascott, 
 as well as in this last township near Sherbrooke. 
 
 It is not supposed that the limits of the auriferous district have 
 been ascertained, but that it very probably extends much farther 
 to the north-east, and attains the valley of the river St. 
 John, while to the south-west it is known to reach Vermont, 
 and to be traceable at intervals through the United States, even, 
 it is said, as far as Mexico. In its breadth, however, it does 
 not appear to cross the range of mountains with which it runs 
 parallel, and no traces of it have been met with on their north- 
 western flank. The deposit in which the gold occurs is part 
 of an ancient drift, probably marine, and supposed to be of 
 higher antiquity than that which, from the extent to which it oc- 
 cupies the valley of the St. Lawrence and some of its tributa- 
 ries, Mr. Desor, who has recently bestowed much attention 
 on the detrital deposits of North America, is disposed to give 
 the name of Lawrencian. In this, alluded to in various Reports 
 as tertiary and post-tertiary, the remains of whales, seals, and 
 two species of fish, the capeling and the lump-sucker, and 
 many marine shells of those species still inhabiting the 
 Gulf of St. Lawrence, are found. These shells on the Mountain 
 of Montreal attain a height of about 470 feet above the tide level 
 in Lake St. Peter, which is the greatest altitude known to me ; 
 none of the remains have yet been found in the Canadian gold 
 drift, and as this appears in its lowest undisturbed parts to be 
 at a height of about 500 feet above the sea, it is probable what 
 is now exposed of it, had emerged from the ocean before the 
 Lawrencian drift was placed, while in lower levels it would be 
 covered up by it. 
 
 In the localities in which the gold occurs, the coarser mate- 
 rials of the drift are made up in a large degree of the debris of 
 rocks similar to the clay slates and interstratified grey sand- 
 stones on which it rests, but these are accompanied by frag- 
 ments and pebbles of fine conglomerate, talcose slate, and ser- 
 pentine, which mth magnetic, specular, chromic and titanife- 
 rous iron (none of them absent when the gold is present) are de- 
 rived from the mountain range, bounding it on the north-west; 
 
■—K*!* 
 
 pebbles and fragments of white quartz are abundant, which may 
 be derived from the^veins of the mineral prevailing in the mountam 
 range or from others on the south-east of it. With these 
 materials there occasionally occur in the valley of the Chau- 
 ditiro and its tributaries large boulders of limestone conglome- 
 rate, similar to the beds of the St. Giles and St. Mary, and more 
 rarely boulders of gneiss identical in character with known kinds 
 of the rock on the north side of the St. Lawrence. Not only is 
 the gold absent from the drift on the north-west flank of the 
 mountain range, but so also are the chromic iron and the ser- 
 pentine, notwithstanding that the two have been traced in 
 association 135 miles, constituting a marked band accom- 
 panying the range from Potton to Cranboume. On the north- 
 west flank, however, boulders of northern gneiss are frequent, 
 and a few of limestone have been met with even pretty high up 
 on the hills, showing by their fossils their derivation from the 
 Trenton limestone, the nearest exposures of which are on the 
 north side of the St. Lawrence. In fact, in respect to the drift 
 of the whole country, it may be said, that on southern forma- 
 tions aie found resting the ruins of northern, but no northern 
 rocks are met with overlaid, to any extent, by debris deriv- 
 able exclusively from southern. The auriferous drift shows no 
 exception to this, and there is little doubt that causes con- 
 nected with northern currents, when the rocks were beneath 
 the surface of an ocean, have placed the whole. Ever since 
 the surface, however, has risen from beneath this ocean, causes 
 similar to those now in operation in the district have been 
 working in a contrary course. The rivers of the district 
 emptying into the St. Lawrence, flow north; in so far, there- 
 fore as their forces modify the distribution of the drift, the mate- 
 rials of which it is composed are carried in that direction. 
 This, no doubt, has some effect on the finer and lighter mate- 
 rials, and occasionally, with the assistance of ice and great fresh- 
 ets, on some of the coarser and heavier; but the streams wash- 
 'm<r away the former in larger proportions than the latter, con- 
 centrate these in the valleys and channels. The gold being 
 the heayiest substance is moved the least. It may occasion- 
 
9 
 
 ally bo pushed along the bottom when this 18 smooth, but it 
 seeks every hole and crevice in its course, and when it has once 
 obtained shelter there, it remains protected. Where the edges of 
 the slates come to the surface, the plates have all been 
 moved by superficial forces, and they, therefore, lie more or 
 less loosely on one another, and the fine particles of gold gradu- 
 ally work themselves dovMi between them, reaching sometimes 
 so deep as three feet. 
 
 Although it is probable the whole of the drift on the south- 
 east of the mountain range, both that in high and that in low 
 places, may be auriferous, it appears certain that the metal w,ill 
 be most concentrated in the valleys and the channels of streams, 
 and the larger the stream, the more frequently it has broken down 
 its banks, the oftener and more extensively it has changed its 
 course, the more important the auriferous deposit is likely to be. 
 
 From the combination of the materials associated with the 
 gold in the drift, there appears a strong probability that the 
 metal is derived, through the agency of some southward-moving 
 causes, from quartz veins situated in the mountain range ; and 
 even if traces were foui4 north of this range in the channels 
 of the main streams, such as the ChaudiSrc and the St. Francis, 
 the circumstance would not militate against the supposition, as 
 traces in such positions may be expected from the fluviatile 
 remodification of the drift. 
 
 The object of this examination has not been so much to as- 
 certain quantity as distribution, but an effective experiment 
 being now in operation on the Rivitire du Ldup, under a letter 
 of license from the Government, one condition of the lease being 
 that a correct return shall be made of the quantity obtained, I am 
 in hopes by the end of the present season to have a few such facts 
 as will afford some criterion to determine whether there is rea- 
 sonable ground for supposing the deposit in that vicinity can be 
 worked advantageously. 
 
■*1 
 
 i 
 
 REPORT 
 
 OF EXPERIMENTAL OPERATIONS 
 
 ON THE EIVER DU LOUP. 
 
 BY MR. RICHARD OATEY, MINING AGENT. 
 
 % 
 
 Although the nT-esence of gold In the drift of Canada has 
 been known for u iderable time, it is only lately that attempts 
 have been made . ertain whether the quantity in any locality is 
 sufficient to promise a profitable return. The gi-eat area over 
 which the auriferous deposit in the Province is now known to extend, 
 makes it reasonable to suppose that the quantity may be so in many 
 places ; but to one of these in particular it is, that on the present 
 occasion, I am to confine attention, streaming for gold on it having 
 been prosecuted for the last tAvo years under my superintendence. 
 
 Indications of an encouraging nature having been met with on the 
 Fief St. Charles in the Seigniory of Aubert de I'lsle, an application 
 was made to the Provincial Government for permission to collect 
 the precious metal on a strip of about five miles on the Rivers du 
 Loup and Chaudi^re at their junction, an arrangement having in the 
 first instance been made with one of the censitaires on whoso lots 
 the indications were obtained. License to commence mining the 
 ground was obtained from the Government on the 26th April, 1851, 
 on the conditions of which a copy is hereto appended, and the area 
 to be worked having been fixed as five miles and fifteen chains on 
 the Rivers by a breadth of a quarter of a mile on each side, stream- 
 ing operations were begun towards the end of May. 
 
 The system adopted for obtaining the gold was that practised in 
 Cornwall in streaming for tin. By this a fall of water is required, 
 and a small stream called Creig's Creek, near the position where 
 
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 11 
 
 the first indications were mot with, was considered available for the 
 purpose. Immediately that the water was applied to a sufficient 
 quantity of gravel in a streak, a number of large and small pieces 
 of gold were obtained, and it was soon perceived that the distribu- 
 tion of the metal in the part experimented upon was pretty uniform, 
 and the quantity sufficient to encourage farther perseverance. 
 
 The streaming, however, had not been continued many days be- 
 fore it was perceived that the water in the creek diminished very 
 much, and it so far dried up that only one streak and one tye could 
 be kept in operation. Although the experimental facts ascertained 
 by these were sufficient to authorise the opinion that, provided the 
 rest of the location were like this part, there was gold enough on it 
 to render the enterprise of mining it profitable, it was very evident 
 that success would depend on obtaining water from some other 
 source in sufficient quantity to work a much larger number of streaks 
 and tyes. 
 
 As the summer advanced the dry weather continued, and the 
 water in the creek failing altogether, streaming had to be suspended. 
 Advantage, however, was taken of the time to extend exploration 
 to other parts of the location in order to ascertain more fully the 
 distribution of the gold over it. The result of this was so far satis, 
 factory that wherever a trial was made, such indications were ob- 
 tained as to authorise the opinion that it is about equally abundant 
 throughout, not only in the beds of the main streams but in parts 
 extending up to ten feet above their level, and particularly in a flat 
 of about twelve acres at this height over the River du Loup, a lease 
 of which for mining purposes was subsequently obtained from the 
 censitaire. 
 
 The interval of dry weather was also used for the purpose of col- 
 lecting from the bed of the river and placing on the bank, a quan- 
 tity of gravel for future wasiiing, and before the expiration of the 
 drought, an attempt was made to construct a wooden dam across 
 the River du Loup, with a view of getting a head of water to work 
 an effi}ctive number of streaks and tyes. Before, however, the dam 
 could be finished and secured, a freshet which occurred carried the 
 structure completely away, causing a loss of $500, but towards the 
 end of the season, wet weather once more permitted the creek to 
 
iiSUi 
 
 I 
 
 12 
 
 yield a temporary supply of water sufficient to wash the grave 
 which had been collected, and a small additional quantity not pre 
 viously moved. 
 
 The area worked over during the season, the thickness of the 
 gravel being on the average about two feet, Avas, by actual measure- 
 ment, found to be about three-eighths of an acre, and the quantity 
 of gold collected from this (including a small portion derived from 
 the general exploration) was 1947 dwts. 11 grs., among which were 
 several pieces weighing from 1 to IJ oz. ; and besides this, there 
 was a quantity of iron sand (about a ton) resulting from the last 
 process in washing the gi-avel, which by experiment was found to 
 , contain about 160 dwts. of gold. 
 
 On comparing the value of the gold thus obtained with the wages 
 expended in collecting it, (exclusive, however,' of all charges for 
 superintendence), the result is as follows : — 
 
 dwts. grs. 
 
 Clean goH obtained 1947.11 
 
 Gold in one ton of iron sand. . . 160.00 
 
 J^ 
 
 *»» 
 
 2107.11 at 861 cents— $1826.46 
 
 Amount expended for labor in min- 
 ing, washing and cleaning from 
 25th April to 8th November . . 
 
 1644.33 
 
 Leaving a balance of f 182.15 
 
 In the wages, however, is included the expense of constructing 
 the dam carried away, and as this accident had nothing to do with 
 the facts required to elucidate the general probable returns of the 
 mineral location, the value of the gold over the wages may be con- 
 sidered as exceeding $680, or about 42 per cent. 
 * In 1852, mining operations w^ere resumed in the end of May, and 
 warned by the early drying up of the water in the creek the pre- 
 vious season, it was deemed prudent, while one party was occupied 
 in streaming by aid of the creek, to employ another in constructing 
 across the River du Loup a break-water, or dam of stones, brush 
 and turf, with a view of raising and having ready such a head of 
 water, as would keep streaks and tyes going when the creek should 
 
 1 
 
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 faU. From the commencement, however, the creek gave but a 
 poor supply, and after expending a good deal of labor on the dam 
 it proved to be unserviceable, as while the interstices among the 
 stones used for a foundation on an uneven bottom were such as 
 could not be stopped, they were found to be sufficient to permit the 
 escape of all the water. The dam, therefore, had to be abandoned 
 without any remuneration resulting from it. 
 
 This expedient failing, it was conceived that a continued supply 
 of water for regular work might be obtained by procuring at a dis- 
 tance of about 900 feet up the river, and conducting it in launders 
 to join the creek, which by this time was nearly dry, but still gave 
 a small amount that by saving, was made available at intervals. 
 Launders with a breadth of ten inches were consequently construct- 
 ed, but by the time they were placed, the water in the river had 
 fallen so much that it was found necessary to construct a head-way 
 still a little farther up, to get the water into them, with a suflficient 
 current to carry it the whole distance. 
 
 While the launders were in the course of construction and adjust- 
 ment, which occupied nearly six weeks, and the dry weather con- 
 tinued, a party was employed to raise gravel from the bed of the 
 river, and place it on the bank for future use. This was a judicious 
 precaution ; for though the gravel on the banks may hold nearly as 
 much gold, yet it is proper to clean up the river first, as the work- 
 ing of the bank gravel must necessarily send the refuse resulting 
 from it into the river, where it would obstruct the attainment of 
 the river gravel, were not this washed first. The river gravel is 
 only attainable during the dry weather, and it might have been 
 again covered by the water, by the time the launders were com- 
 pleted ; yet if the launders had been ready, this gravel might have 
 been at once carried to the streaks and tyes, and one movement of 
 it could thus have been saved. 
 
 The launders came into operation in the end of July, and though 
 it was found they had scarcely enough fall to give at all times the 
 quantity of water required, yet from that period to the termination 
 of the season, concluding in the end of October, the work became 
 pretty regular. 
 
 The area worked over during the season, was about five-eighths 
 
of an acre. The quantity of gold obtained was 2573 dwts. 7 grs., 
 m which were included the following nuggets : — 
 
 dwts. gr«. 
 
 June 7 1 lid 19 
 
 July 30 83 21 
 
 August 25 10 20 
 
 " 25 38 21 
 
 September 7 98 21 
 
 " 24 55 2 
 
 " 30 23 20 
 
 October 2 16 22 
 
 9 13 2 
 
 In addition to this, was the gold contained in the iron sand result- 
 ing from the copper bottoms in the last process of cleaning. This, 
 however, was mixed up with that of the previous season, and the 
 average of the two, tried by a sample of 25 lbs., is equal to 233 
 dwts. 18 grs. of gold per ton of sand. The quantity of this iron 
 sand now on hand is about two tons, and deducting from the gold in 
 it, 160 dwts. for the ton of 1851, there would remain 307 dwts. 12 
 grs. as the quantity in the ton of 1852. 
 
 Comparing as before, the value of the gold and the labor, exclu- 
 •ve of superintendence, the result is as follows : — 
 
 dwts. grs. 
 
 Clean gold collected 2573. 7 
 
 Gold in one ton of iron sand 307.12 
 
 2880.19a«86|cents~a2496.69 
 Amount expended for labor from the 24th 
 
 May to 30th October X888 35 
 
 Leaving a balance of. $608.34 
 
 In the labor is included the time expended in making the launders 
 but as these might be serviceable for several years, in justice to the 
 experiment, the expense of making them should be distributed over 
 these years, and it is therefore considered that an allowance of 50 
 cents for each of them should be made. The number of them, iuclud 
 
16 
 
 ing those required'for streaks and tyes, is ISO, and the value of the 
 gold over the wages would thus be about $683 or about 36 per 
 cent. 
 
 If, however, a comparison is made between the gold and the 
 wages, from the time the launders came into operation until the end 
 of the season, the result would be as follows : — 
 
 dwts. 
 
 Clean gold collected 2036 
 
 Gold in proportion of iron sand .... 242 
 
 2278 at 86f cents~$1974.35 
 Amount expended for labor for the week 
 
 ending 31st July to the 30th Oct . . 1130.55 
 
 Leaving 1843.71 
 
 From this, however, is to be deducted an allowance for the supe- 
 rior facility with which the gravel collected, while the launders were 
 making, could be taken from the bank instead of from the river ; 
 this gravel gave about two weeks' work to the streaks and tyes, 
 and the difference is about $44, making the value of the gold over 
 wages f 800, or about 70 per cent. 
 
 From the exploration and experiments that have thus been made 
 on the location, it appears quite evident that it must contain a large 
 quantity of gold. The superficial area of ground is about 2,000 
 acres, and from one of these acres there has already been obtained 
 upwards of $4,000 worth of metal. But it is also evident that to 
 work the location effectually, operations must be carried on on a 
 much larger scale. This would require some outlay. The only 
 natural difficulties in the way are those connected with a supply of 
 water. The supply by the present launders is insufficient ; their 
 breadth is too small, and while their fall is scarcely great enough, 
 the height they gain above the river is not sufficient to carry them 
 above the reach of freshets ; so that while they stand in some dan. 
 ger of being injured by such freshets as may occur during the 
 working season, they must be removed whenever the winter sets in, 
 and replaced in the spring. Th^ .». -pe of the river is much quicker 
 above the present launders, and a quantity of water large enough 
 
16 
 
 to work any required numbor of streaks and tyes, would be procured 
 by conveying it along side of the River du Loup, from the highest 
 point to which the location extends on this stream, by launders of 
 six feet wide. The distance is about a mile, and the fall is sufficient 
 to permit the launders to be carried for the chie^ part above the 
 level of freshets. Such an arrangement would command the whole 
 bed of the river, and nearly emptying it during dry weather, would 
 give the opportunity of operating on the gravel at so many points 
 at once, as would rapidly exhaust of their gold the bed (averaging 
 20 yards), the banks and flats in the whole distance down to the 
 Chauditire, at the junction with which there is a wider flat than 
 elsewhere, the produce of which it is expected will considerably 
 surpass the average of the ground in other parts. 
 
 The Chaudi^re is fully double the width of the du Loup, and at 
 the highest part of the location and within it on that stream there 
 is a considerable cascade, called the Upper Falls of the Chaudi(^re, 
 from which any supply of water might be obtained for operations 
 on the banks, either at the same time or subsequently to washing 
 on the du Loup. 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 RICHARD OATEY. 
 
 \ 
 
procured 
 
 3 higliest 
 ndcre of 
 sufficient 
 bove the 
 he whole 
 r, would 
 ly points 
 veraging 
 r'n to the 
 lat than 
 liderably 
 
 , and at 
 im there 
 audii^re, 
 »eration3 
 washing 
 
 rEY. 
 
 17 
 
 GOLD IN LOWER CANADA. 
 
 (From the Commercial Advertiser.) 
 
 We have been favored by a fri3rii, a practical gold-miner, who 
 spent some years in the placers of California engaged in gold-min- 
 ing, with an accouut of his exploration of the Chaudiere °gold dis- 
 trict, during the present 8umm3r. Oar inforraxnt spent two months 
 in prospecting the country from the junction of the Da Loup and 
 Chaudidre rivers, where the Montreal Company is now workin<r, 
 to the Maine and New Brunswick boundary lines. Tho SDason hw 
 been one of the worst ever known for prospecting, the water in the 
 ri^rers and brooks being at flood hoight, and the ground saturated 
 with moisture by the constant rain. Hi was thorofore prevented 
 from examining the bads of tho stream?, and from sinking trial 
 shafts to the necessary di3t;an33 to obtain an accurate knowled-'o 
 of the nature and ext3nt of tho distribution of the precious motal. 
 But with these unfavorable clrcam^tanoe? his general exploration 
 was highly successful. H3 founi gold in the banks of.every stream 
 examined, in the ditches by the road-side, in the gravel be.ls ad- 
 joining water-courses, on the tops of the hills far removed from 
 water, and in otlicr loealitie? whieh cannot have been submerged 
 for many ages. The general character of the gold, of which we have 
 many specimens now before U3, is of great purity and exceeding 
 coarseness ; sotoe of it is much water-worn, and other specimenl 
 appear to have been only reeently disloiged from the quartz matrix. 
 The country generally exhibits broad expojures of slate, traversed 
 by numerous quartz veins, and resembles in every respect the gold 
 region of California, with the exception of the absence of vulcanic 
 evidences. We have now to announce the discovery of a lar^e 
 quartz vein in the ChaudiSre district carrying an usually lar^e 
 amount of gold in prills and nuggets, many of them weighing several 
 ounces ; and the discovery of other leads showing similar indica- 
 tion of the precious metal, and proving conclusively that these 
 quartz veins may be worked in Canada, as in Australia and Cali- 
 fornia, with a prospect of very large returns. One mass of quartz 
 taken from the large vein was thickly set with nuggets of gold 
 from an ounce up to six ounces in weight, carrying the'gold not io 
 
 B • 
 
V, 
 
 U 
 
 regular strings, but in isolated lumps throughout its substance ; a 
 quantity of quartz estimated at five hundred weight having yielded 
 to the discoverer seven hundred dollar j worth of gold by the simple 
 process of breaking out the large pieces with a hammar ; and still 
 containing a large amount of finer gold only to be obtained by 
 crushing. 
 
 Our informant states that ho saw nothing equal to this mass in 
 the most productive quartz leads of California, and if the remainder 
 of the vein from which it was taken U at all like it, its value is in- 
 calculable. It was discovered last year by some habitants of the 
 district, who kept its locality a secret. It was from this vein that 
 the large nuggets sold in Quebec last November were taken. We 
 have before us some specimens, showing its exceeding richness. 
 
 The gold in the different streams varies much in character ; in 
 some it is exceedingly fine, as fine indeed as that of Fraser's River ; 
 in others, and some of the smallest, it is coarser than that found in 
 California, the fine gold being apparently the result of the decom- 
 position of auriferous pyrites, and the product of quartz veins. 
 
 Hitherto the streams alone have been worked, and the operations 
 on them were conducted with so little skill, that our informant is 
 surprised that any gold was obtained ; as it was, the whole of the 
 fine gold was washed away. 
 
 Yet, in one instance, 15,000 dwts. were taken from little more 
 than half-an-acre of a bar ; in another, nine pounds weight were got 
 from a single hole, and more recently $2,000 were obtained in two 
 days, after dammipg a considerable stream, nearly all being coarse 
 gold. 
 
 Our informant is of opinion, and as a thoroughly practical man 
 his opinion is entitled to the highest consideration, that the dry 
 diggings in the Chaudiere district will be found more productive 
 than the streams. He says that on the whole the California streams 
 Have not repaid the expense of working them. He believes that 
 the streams contain no more gold than has been displaced by the 
 water from the rocks traversing them ; and that the whole country 
 in their vicinity would be found as rich, and in many cases much 
 richer, if mined in the same manner as similar land^ are in Califor- 
 nia and Australia, by sinking shafts through the gravel down to 
 
 .>■ 
 
 .r 
 
r 
 
 k 
 
 19 
 
 the rock or clay beds beneath. He says that in no part of Califor- 
 nia could he obtain the same quantity of gold by the same means as 
 he obtained upon the ChaudiOre and its tributary streams ; that the 
 surface prospects, in spite of the unfavorable season, were superior 
 to any he had ever found before ; and that with ordinary skill, by 
 simply panning on the river banks, large wages can be made with 
 certainty. 
 
 ** »*' 
 
 CHAUDIERE RIVER GOLD FIELDS. 
 
 (To the Editor of the Montreal Witness.) 
 
 Sir, — After a residence of many years in Australia, and having 
 seen the Gold-workings on all the principal fields, and been in the 
 continuous habit of testing alluvial gold, I find myself in Canada^ 
 and have had submitted to me the produce of about 5 tons of soil, 
 taken from the neighborhood of Chaudiore river — the amount is 
 nearly 2oz. of almost pure (/old! and, with the exception of Ballarat 
 gold, as fine as any now found in either Australia or New Zealand. 
 Having no interest in this country or in those fields, I submit this 
 disinterested opinion: — that were any Australian miners to see 
 such a result from so small a workhig, thousands of thoroughly ex- 
 perienced men would soon develop these hidden riches. I have 
 no hesitation in saying that a country that can show such samples 
 has untold riches yet to bo produced. The gold of British Colum- 
 bia is not to be compared with the Chaudiere samples I have seen — 
 containing nuggets as large as small beans. 
 
 Montreal, Sept. 16, 1863. An Australian. 
 
 I