have already been expended in mining in this locality. One remarkable peculiarity in the mineralogical character of this region is the occurrence of great veins of manganese ore in the neighborhood of the copper lodes, though in a rock of a different color.

A considerable deposit of copper pyrites has been discovered near Woodstock, Carleton county, about sixty miles north-west from Fredericton, in a true vein which has been traced for upwards of 2,000 feet on the strike, and traversing talcose and felspathic slates of the same geological age with those of the Tattagouche river. Mining operations were instituted here in 1858, to the extent of sinking trial shafts and costeenings, which have proved the deposit to be of considerable importance and value. We are not aware whether this mine is still worked, or to what extent it has proved commercially profitable. The Tattagouche and Woodstock mines are situated at a distance of about 130 miles apart, on a broad band of the formation; and the fact of such apparently valuable deposits being found at the extreme points of such an extensive area, the intermediate parts of which are as yet entirely unexplored, points to this as a highly promising field for mining enterprise.

Besides the metals above named in New Brunswick, deposits of plumbago and gypsum, and salt springs of a high degree of saturation, are found in many parts of the province.

NEWFOUNDLAND.

THE geological structure and mineral resources of the island of Newfoundland were examined and reported on in 1849, by Mr. Jukes, who gave it as the general result of his investigations, that the island is not favorably situated for useful minerals.

The coal formation occurs on a small portion of the

west side of the island, but the beds of coal do not appear to be of any considerable thickness; although it is quite possible that more important seams may be found, should the district ever be thought worthy of a thorough examination. Gypsum is very plentiful on the island. Copper was worked in Newfoundland upwards of a century ago, to a slight extent, and in 1845 attempts were made to revive the work. The copper veins were found in the "lower slate formation" (probably the equivalents of the Quebec group in Canada), in Shoal Bay, south of Peck Harbor, at the eastern extremity of the island. Owing to the unproductive character of the work, however, it was speedily abandoned.

A very remarkable lode of iron pyrites, containing also much copper ore, was discovered during the year 1861, about one mile inland from Little Bay, on the northeast coast of Newfoundland, and a company has been formed for working this and another similar deposit on Trump Island. A grant of these claims has been obtained from the colonial government, free from royalty during the first five years. Vigorous operations were commenced, during August of that year, by Mr. F. A. Gisborne, mining engineer, who turned the course of two rivers, at the junction of which the lode came to the surface. The lode was thus uncovered for a length of 200 feet, showing a thickness varying from twenty to forty feet of solid ore. The true course of the lode appears to be six or eight degrees north of east, and south of west; the northern country being a soft serpentine, and the southern killas, or slate; the north wall, so far as proved, goes down vertically. After various trial pits had been sunk (all of which proved a rapid increase in the richness of the vein for copper, within a short distance from the surface), a stope was commenced, forty-two feet in length and eight feet wide, along the north wall; from this stope a cargo of 150 tons was obtained, and shipped to Swansea. The ore is found in compact horizontal beds, or floors, averaging twenty

inches in thickness; and at ten feet from the surface, would average eight per cent. for copper, and forty per cent. for sulphur: the surface ore yielding only from one to two per cent. of copper, this rapid increase in richness is truly remarkable. A shaft is now being sunk in the lode, and will yield about twenty-five tons of ore per cubic fathom, a result rarely surpassed in any mine.

BRITISH COLUMBIA, AND VANCOUVER,

ISLAND.

THE present has been, perhaps, more prolific than any preceding generation in wonderful discoveries in the arts and sciences, and especially in those means and appliances which tend to promote intercourse between distant parts of the world. A striking illustration of this remark is afforded by the late extraordinary and unprecedented discoveries of gold in California and Australia, which have done more in a few years for the settlement and civilization of these remote regions, than might otherwise have been effected in as many centuries. Still more recently another region, yet more remote from the beaten paths of nations, has been discovered to abound in the precious metal; by whose potent influence British Columbia is rapidly becoming linked to the brotherhood of civilized nations.

Vancouver Island, on the western shores of the Pacific ocean, has been long regarded in England, notwithstanding its great distance, as a promising field for settlement and colonization, on account of the fertility of its soil, the security of its harbors, the excellence of its climate, and the reported abundance of coal on the island. These circumstances, together with its admirable adaptation generally, as a depot for the naval forces on the Pacific, early attracted the attention of the British government, and dis

posed them to afford every encouragement to emigration; but it was not till the year 1856,* when the governor of the island reported to the imperial government the fact, that gold had been found in considerable quantities within the British territory on the Upper Columbia, that any considerable emigration took place. From that date to the present, the ascertained area and reputed richness of the British Columbian gold fields have steadily and rapidly increased; and the influx of adventurers into Victoria, the capital of Vancouver Island, and the nearest port for the gold fields, has augmented in proportion.

The auriferous region of British Columbia comprises a vast, though unknown, area on the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Hitherto the discoveries have been chiefly confined to the left bank of the Frazer river, and its numerous affluents from the east, and to the head waters of the Columbia river; the aggregate linear extent of which may be computed at 1,000 miles. The country is broken up into mountains and ravines; there is really no level ground, except the tops of the mountains, which, curiously enough, are all flat and level. The ravines are characterized universally by what the miners call "benches," or terraces running along their sides. These benches are all auriferous as far as they have been tested. The geological formations and conditions are precisely similar to the gold-bearing region of California, of which in fact this forms only the northern extension; and it is worthy of note, that gold mining has proved more successful in California the further north it has been prosecuted. The rocks consist of what (for want of a more precise designation) is now called the primary slate formation-probably, as in other auriferous regions, the metamorphic lower Silurian-thrown up and pierced by masses, veins, and dikes of quartz, granite, porphyry, and other so-called igneous rocks; the débris from which, together with their precious

The earliest reported discovery of gold in British Columbia, however, was in 1850, and again in 1853.

metalliferous contents, form vast accumulations of sand, gravel and clay, extending from the base of the mountains to the banks of the rivers, which, as we have before stated, constitute for the present the field of labor for the miners. There is, however, reason to believe that ample scope will be found for their exertions at a distance from the principal rivers.

As a general rule, the gold is found in smaller particles and less in quantity nearer the mouths of the rivers, and both size and quantity increase as we ascend them. At the celebrated Cariboo district of the Frazer river, a lump of pure gold, weighing seven pounds, is said to have been obtained, and all the gold there is coarse. It will be readily inferred from what we have said, that the adventurers confine their attention entirely to placer digging and washing, and this method of working will doubtless, for many years, be that universally adopted; but there can be little doubt that the auriferous veins which have supplied these washings will ultimately be discovered,* and will afford inexhaustible supplies of the precious metal for generations to come. The principal difficulties to be contended with at present are, the want of roads or means of conveyance into the interior of the country; the difficulty of obtaining provisions, tools, and other materials; the freshets on the rivers, &c. ; to which may be added, the hostility of the native tribes of Indians, who, though at present apparently friendly, are treacherous and capricious.

In Vancouver Island, although gold has been found and actually worked in a few places, it has not hitherto been obtained in paying quantities. There is every reason to believe, however, that important gold fields may yet be discovered on the island. Rich copper ore has also been found, but hitherto it is undeveloped.

Although here, as in all other gold-producing regions, wonderful instances of good fortune occur, and are noised

* A rich auriferous vein was discovered in 1852, in Mitchell Harbor, Queen Charlotte's Island.