In the centre shaft it is 24
inches, and in the northern 30 inches.
A curious sort of black substance occurs close to the line of clay which
defines the under side of the lode, and may be remnants of some vegetable
material; but with the means at my disposal I will not give any decided
opinion.
Over the rock which forms the main body of the hill lie the usual red clay
and oxidised quartz gravels, which, if treated by hydraulic mining, ought,
as it contains gold, to prove a paying stuff: moreover washing off the
surface-dirt would lay bare the rock and render all after-work easy and
simple.
The alluvials in the bottoms should here prove unusually rich, and means
might be adopted by which they should be raised mechanically and then
flumed down again.
Ample water supply exists both for hydraulic mining and reef-working;
there are good sites for all necessary machinery and building, and timber
as usual is to be had in any quantity that may be required.
The question of transport is of course a most important one, and in the
present state of the roads and country very expensive; but from the
route-survey I have made I am convinced that a cheap and efficient service
to the mines of this and neighbouring districts would be easily organised,
and that instead of paying, as at present, the absurd price of 4_s_.
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