76

Geological Reports.

have not hitherto been worked. At Macrae’s there are said to hetwo varieties of gold—one rough and raggedy, evidently derived fromthe slates of the neighbourhood ; the other a smooth, plump, or scalygold, as clearly derived from the quartz drifts developed along thenorth-west side of the flat.

Nenthorn. —Quartz drifts occur in the lower part of NenthornCreek, and in an isolated ridge of hills lying about five miles south-east of the township. In the latter locality some gold-working hasbeen carried on in the valley south-east of these hills, which has ledto the conclusion that the gold came from the neighbouring quartzdrifts. This led to their being prospected, but this was done in aninsufficient manner, and without success.

Green Valley and Waihemo, Shag Valley. — Quartz grits are seenat two or three places on the road from Waihemo Hotel to GreenValley, and on the northern side of Waihemo Hill. Judging fromappearances, these may contain gold.

Dunback to Taieri Peak. —From Dunback to the upper part ofPleasant River, near Taieri Peak, the slopes bounding Shag Valleyare at many places covered with cement boulders, but the quartzdrifts have generally been removed.

Pleasant River. —From Taieri Peak to Mount Watkins, andthence east to the main road and railway-line from Palmerston toDunedin, there is a great development of quartz drifts underlyingbrown quartz sands and rusty greensands. Gold is found in smallquantities over this area, but not so plentiful as to lead to theinference that the grits themselves would pay to work. On theeast bank of Pleasant River, at the base of Smyler’s Peak, the quartzwash is of an unusually coarse description.

Macgregor’s Creek, Road from Palmerston to Foot of the HorseRange. —Between the foot of the Horse Range and Macgregor’s farmthe road-cuttings show a narrow ridge of slate and sandstone ofprobably Devonian age. On both sides of it, and in the hills to thesouth-east mantling over this older rock, are beds of schistosebreccia, breccia conglomerate, and quartz grits. These are auriferous,and are probably so to an extent that renders them payable to work,but, besides being on freehold land, there is no water which, shortof very great cost, could be brought on to the ground. In a blindgully south-east of the road-line, where the older rock shows, thegradual breaking-down of the cements and the removal of the lighterand finer parts has resulted in the concentration of the gold alongthe creek-banks and in the semicircular basin at the upper end ofthe gully. This concentrated material proved so rich in gold thatone man, with but a cradle and such water as he could retain on theground, got for one week’s work gold to the value of £60, This