year was sure to bring several others across the Lindis Pass, one or other of which was certain to reach as far east as the Ben Ohou Range, to the west of Lake Pukaki, where the changing character of the river deposits generally arrested them. It will thus be seen that, in the face of continued non-success, prospecting was most persistently indulged in by numerous independent parties, none of which, although circumstances may have prevented their return, ever left without intending to return.

The mere fact that there is much made ground (consisting of glacier moraines, lake and river terraces) in the district, that the river beds abound with quartz, or that gold in small quantities has been found, do not fully account for the universal belief that paying deposits of alluvial gold will be found. And, but for the existence amongst miners of a theory upon this subject, prospecting would probably have been discontinued in a few years after the opening of the West Coast Goldfields.

The theory alluded to is, that as the Mackenzie Country lies to the west of a line drawn from the central part of the Otago Goldfields to Hokitika or Greymouth, the Mackenzie Country being to the west of this line, and therefore lying directly between the Otago and Westland Goldfields, must (the indications being favourable) be auriferous also; and this belief alone kept many in the field who would otherwise have left before they did.

The above facts alone considered, the probable truth of the theory must be conceded, apart from the actual occurrence of gold in the district. But if a map showing the geological structure of the district be examined, the error to which the theory leads will be at once apparent, although there are important facts connected with this subject, the details of which do not appear on any geological map which I have seen.

The boundary between the auriferous schists of Otago and Westland does, indeed, follow the water-shed of the Waitaki Valley, as shown by Dr. Hector in his Geological Map of New Zealand, 1873; and, in a general sense, no auriferous rocks have been shown to exist east of the main watershed in the provincial district of Canterbury, the non-auriferous character of the rocks at once accounting for the general scarcity of gold in the alluviums of the district. But from the plan and section which I show, it will be seen how much auriferous material may be brought down the rivers with but an insignificant exposure at the surface of the rocks whence the said materials are derived.

The summit of Mount Cook and its eastern slopes consist of slates and sandstones which have not yet been proved auriferous, while to a considerable altitude on its western slopes auriferous rocks are found. This same arrangement with some modification extends throughout the first forty miles of the southern continuation of the main range, the non-auriferous

rocks reaching, at high levels, to the axil line of the range, but the numerous streams flowing west and south from thence in valleys and mountain gorges of great depth have in many cases removed the higher rocks, and now bring down the waste of the underlying auriferous schists, which, in the case of the Ahuriri River, is carried to its junction with the Waitaki, there being no lake, as in the other cases, to intercept it, or if there ever has been, it has long since been filled up.

Thus there is a marked difference between the shingle now filling the river beds and that derived from the same geographical position before the higher rocks had been removed; morainic accumulations, both lateral and terminal, being remarkably deficient in auriferous material, as are the rivers below the outfall of the lakes.

It will thus be seen that the localities likely to yield gold in any quantity are those rivers and creeks the sources of which cut deep into the auriferous rocks, but this being the case it is often very difficult to find gold even then, as the sources of the rivers are often nothing more than a tremendous aggregation of fallen rocks, many of them exceeding the contents of this room. There is scarcely an intermediate condition between this state of things and an open river bed, in which a hole cannot be sunk more than a few feet without finding that the bottom cannot be reached on account of water.

Though gold is to be found in many creeks which do not expose the schistose rocks, and from one of these the gold now shown was obtained, as a rule it is otherwise. Its mode of occurrence was very peculiar, and deserves some notice here. It comes from the first creek above Lake Ohou, coming from the west, but gold in quantities more than a mere colour is confined to about a mile of its course only. It is not surprising that it should disappear in the flat shingle beds near the lake, but its remarkable disappearance above a certain point as the creek is followed up remains to be explained, as there are one or two small flats and terraces which are quite as likely as those in which the gold is found.

There are two explanations of this. One is that the gold is derived from the destruction of an old lake terrace, cut through by the creek. But as this is not a solitary example of such action, why, I ask, is there no gold at the same relative point in other cases. The other explanation is that the gold is derived from the rocks of the neighbouring range which, a little above the occurrence of the gold, are composed of comparatively loose conglomerates which might be the matrix of the gold. Another solution might present itself, namely, that the gold is derived from a dyke of igneous rock which here crosses the creek, and is exposed over a considerable surface of the neighbouring range, but against this is the smooth