The Express.
London, England, 1853-09-13 00:00:00

GOLD DIGGINGS IN CANADA.

It is only necessary for the sceptic to take a dine
to the Chandlers gold diggings, to be convinced that the
soil of the river and its tributaries is not only of an aurife-
rious character, but contains 'he precious dust in abundant
and paying quantities. We have just returned from the
diggings—we have dug, washed, and rocked—we have seen
the miners, after having dammed the river, blast the rock—
we have seen " Loag Tom" at work—we have beheld the
auriferious sand and the shining gold, in scales and lumps,
turned out from the gravel and veins of quartz in the crane-
verse ledge of rocks, immediately above the first falls of the
River des Plantes, a tributary of the Chaudiere, only
some 45 miles distant from point Levi—and we leave
wen a section of the country, which from its general
appearance indicates the presence of gold in much
greater abundance than is generally supposed. How,
under such circumstances, the inhabitants can re-
main at home on their most miserably cultivated
farms we know not. It is as certain as that the sun
rises at night that gold in quantities as great as in either
California or Australia: is obtainable for the digging, and
had any more intelligent people been aware of the existence
of gold to such an extent as it does exist, Canada, as far as
the increase of population is concerned, would nave been on
a par with California or Australia. This may unhesitatingly
be said, for in the very spot where eight min are now em-
ployed by the gold-digging company, gold of the value of
461. currency has been paid over as .having been taken in
one day, and lumps of different sizes and of considerable
values—one ingot of the value of 501.—have repeatedly been
obtained from the gold-bearing quarts at different times. At
the river des Plantes,: a mountain torrent which joins the
Chaudiere about a mile above Galway's tavern, the com-
pany have constructed a dam, to which there is at one end
• dalleau carrying the water of the river over the first falls,
and leaving for a short distance the previous bed of the
river comparatively dry. The present operations are
not, however, conducted in the bed of the river
Ides Plantes, but on the right bank of that stream which,
before the company commenced, was covered with trees.
The superstratum of red gravel has been taken if, and the
detritus of shingle, the serpentine, and slaty rocks are ex-
posed, though the shelf has not yet been reached. This
shingle is washed by wheelbarrow fulls in what is called •
" Long Tom," a kind of spout, having wooden sides and
an Iron bottom, with an iron drainer or sieve at the end,
elevated to a degree sufficient to prevent anything but
water passing oil. Under the sieve of this washing appa-
-1 ratus, which is connected with the dalleau by means of a
common wooden spout, there is a wooden trough into
which the flakes, ingots., and particles of gold fall, while
the cleanly-washed stones are shovelled off the iron drainer
by one of the miners. The " Long Tom" is the ordinary
working apparatus. Those who go prospecting are fa-
voured with a tin bake-pan into which they place a
shingle, covered with ferruginous clay, for the purpose
of washing it by hand. In our presence a piece
of rock was tumbled over with the aid of a crow-
bar, and in the chink, which was packed with the
yellowish ferruginous clay, several heavy pieces were picked
out by hand, one piece worth about 15e. ; and two pansful
being scraped up and washed, about 15 dwts. of the pre-
cious metal were obtained. The thirst for gold being now
strong upon us, we procured a pan and scraped and dug
among the shingle, spooning out the yellow clay. One
washing produced 17 grains, a second 10, a third 29, a
fourth 11, and a fifth 2. We stopped for dinner, and after-
wards set off for the Touffe des Pins, and at Bolduc* re-
ceived the information that several ingots had been picked
op that morning, but that, on account of the height of the
river, caused by the rains, it was impossible to go ea with
the washing. We returned to the river des Plantes, and

watched the emptying and washing in a pea of the contents
of the trough. there was about 12 doll. worth of gold;
and this, considering that the morning had been lost in
consequence of a dehoulli, was considered a fair day's work :
and, an truth, we think it was, for " A Voice from the
Diggings" of California, spe..king through the instru-
mentality of Blucktrood's Map:in, to the world, says :
Unremitting labour from sunrise to sunset was necessary,
our very existence depended on the day's produce. In-
deed but fur the excitement and the hope of great gain,
gold.digging might he pronourceil the severest and most
monotour us of all labour. We change our digging occa-
sionally, but we generally obtain sufficient gold dust to
procure us the necessaries of life. Twenty-five dollars
worth was the most w e ever secured in a day, and that
only on one occasion ; from fifteen t s eighteen dollars
seemed to he the usual average of daily fiading, not only
with us, but with many others, end our station seemed to
be considered as prolific as any other." Now at the river
des Plantes, where eight men only are employed and paid
high wages, to keep them as honest as possible, 45/. worth
of gold has been obtained in one day; and we, a haphas .rd
visitor, saw nearly 41. obtained or. Wednesday last. It is
these facts, togcth'r with the California and Australia-like
appearance of Dorchester County, which led us, as far as
we are personally concerned, to the honest, and certainly
most disinterested conclusion, that Canada is as rich in gold
as either of the two great Ophirs of these auriferous times.
Quebec Chronicle.

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