The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-30 00:00:00

GOLD IN CANADA.

The following official correspondence has been
published at Quebec:-.-
Department of Crown Lands, Quebec, Sept. 12, 1863.
_ .

Sir,—ln consequence of the extensive discoveries of
gold, which is alleged are now being made on the Chaudiere
and its tributaries, and the frequent applications to this
department for licences, &c., I am desirous of ascertaining
officially the truth of these reports, and also the circum-
stances under which these applications are being made,
with a view to the adoption of such new regulations as the
interests of the Crown and the development of the mineral
resources of that :region may seem to require. You will,
therefore, visit the gold mining districts and report to me
the actual state of affairs. Your attention will be given
especially to reported indications of gold, and the position,
nature, and extent of the mining operations now going on,
whether in the seigniories or on the lands of the Crown.
I remain, &0., WM. MACDOUGALL, Commis-
sioner of Crown Lands.
F. T. Judah, Esq., Clerk of Crown Domain, &c,, Quebec.
Department of Crown Lands, Jesuits' Estates and
Crown Dcmain Branch, Quebec, Sept. 26, 1863.
Sir,—I have the honour to state that, in conformity with
your instructions of the 12th inst., to visit and report on the
Chaudiere gold mining district, I left this city on the 14th,
on my way to the locality, and reached the village of St.
Joseph, on the banks of the ChaudiCre, and in the seig-
niory of St. Joseph, on the evening of that day.
On the following morning I proceeded to the adjacent
parish of Francois, calling on the road at the residences of
two of the brothers Poulin, to whom I shall hereafter refer,
and passing the River des Piantes, vhich falls into the
Chaudiere from the east, arrived about noon at the river
called Touffe des Pins, or Gilbert, in tie same parish of St.
Francois, seigniory of Rigaud Vaudrtuill, where I under-
stood that gold mining operations were going on.
This last river, first called Touffe dei Pins from the loca-
lity where it reaches the Chaudiere, has been re-named
Gilbert, after the person
ago. ThesonwhoseodldaunaginteGr
fifibrsetrt,fonuonwd
soma
some 30 yea
60 or 70 years of age, still lives near the mouth of the river
and I learned from his own lips a mita' of the story :—lt
appears that the daughter, in leadin; a horse to water one
morning, found lying in the stream what she supposed to
be a yellow pebble of about the size of a pigeon's egg ; her
father, anxious to learn what it was, gave it to some one
coming to Quebec, and the jewellers here pronounced it to be
gold. Old Gilbert parted with it for 40 dole., a sum appa-
rently much below its value. Encouraged by the discovery,
he made searches, and on several occasions found more gold,
but not any considerable amount. The seigniors of the seign-
iory, the Dr. Lery family, in consequence of these discove-
ries, and the indications which presented themselves, applied
for and obtained from Government, per letters patent of Sept.
18, 1846, an exclusive mining privilege for the precious
metals fur ever within the limits of the seigniory in question,
subject to certain conditions, and among others, the payment
of a Royalty of 10 per cent on the gross produce,which con-
ditions it appears have never been complied with. It does
not seem that the seigniors evercarried on any considerable
operations themselves, and in 1851, they leased, subject to
a per ck ntage, their rights over the whole seigniory to Dr.
James Douglas and others of Quebec. Dr. Douglas eventu-
ally became solely interested in this lease, and under it
mining operations were carried on by him and others under
sub.leases, at different times and at more than one place, as
I will hereafter show, Dr. Douglas's lease expires Sept. 1,
1864, and was transferred in consideration of the sum of
3,000 dols., about the middle of July last, to a company com-
posed of Messrs. Hans, Hagens, and others, also of this city,
who are now mining on the Gilbert, as hereafter mentioned.
These last named parties have likewise leased from the
seigniors a further similar lease of 15 years, for which they
have agreed to pay 8,000 dole., 2,000 dols. of which have
been given in cash. Beth of these leases are made expressly
without any guarantee on either part. The present opera-
tions on the Gilbert were brought about in the following
manner :—lt appears that one of the three brothers of the
name of Poulin, who have been for some years past engaged
in mining for themselves and others, with more or less suc-
cess, having discovered this mine last fall, imparted the in-
telligence to the other two brothers, and about the end of
May last they commenced operations ; the news having
spread others joined them, and there have been from seven
or eight to 100 or 150 men engaged ever since. Many left
from time to time to attend to their field duties, to be re-
placed by others.

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The stream at high water is here about 15ft. or 20ft. wide,
but now, from the dryness of the season, is very inconsider-
able. On Foulin's lot (22), and Grondin's (21), no works are
in progress, and they are in no way occupied by the miners,
with the exception of a sluice which crosses part of the first,
where the river is dammed, and the whole of the latter, and
which serves to convey water for the operations carried on
by Messrs. Hagens and Co., who are prosecuting works on
Villieux's lot (20). Upon this lot the sluice terminates, and
it is here that the gravel and stone are washed, and the gold
extracted therefrom. The lower part of the sluice (which is
altogether abaft five arpents long, and some 18 inches wide,
and the same in depth), is fitted up with three false bottoms,
each 10ft, long, composed of strips of wood placed length-
wise with. openings between; the gravel and stone being
thrown in from trenches dug at the sides of the sluice is
washed clean by the water, the fine sand and gravel and the
gold sinking in the openings, and the coarser stones being
raked out; once a day, in the evening, the bottoms are re-
moved, and the water being partially turned off, the sand
and gravel are carried away, and the gold remains behind,
the finest sand is caught in a pan at the foot of the sluice
and washed by hand, while care is taken to catch any gold
which may escape, by small pieces of wood placed across
the flume, which carries off the water at the end of the
sluice. The depth of water in the sluice is about two
inches, and the leakage from the dam is trifling. The fall
is about 10 feet in five arpents, and about 1 foot in 15 or 20
at the end of the sluice. Messrs. Hagens and Co. have
also in operation a long torn, the only one I saw in use
there, and which consists of a box or trough, in which the
gold is washed by water from the sluice. They are working
on shares, in partnership with two persons of the names of
Brock and Purceval, who receive one-half of the proceeds
en payment by them of the expenses. On my second visit
to the mine I saw, at 6 in the evening, the gold collected at
the foot of the sluice for that day, and it amounted to some
12 dols. or 15 dols.; but Mr. Purceval showed me the pro-
ceeds of the day previous, among which were several large
pieces, emanating altogether to some 50 dols., and he ad-
mitted that the average yield had exceeded 10 dols. per day.
I am disposed to believe that the average return may be a
good deal larger. Five men were employed ; wages 80
cents. per diem, without board, which, it must be ad-
mitted, is a very moderate rate for gold-diggings. On
Lubier'a lot, the north half of 19, nothing at all is now being
done ; a few pits have been sunk, in some cases to the depth
merely of three or four feet, and in others down to the bed
rock ; but the whole has been abandoned for the apparently
more lucrative workings on the adjoining lands. It is upon
Rodrigues' lot, the south half of 19, that the greatest extent
of work is going on ; pits have been sunk in every direction
in the bed and on the sides of the river, and miners are at
work by the dozens in excavating and washing. The exca-
vating is done by pick and shovel, and the earth and stone
is carried in pans or boxes to the edge of the river, where it
is washed in the cradles or rockers. From four to ten men
are engaged in each pit—one being employed in rocking, one
in supplying the water, and the others in digging and carry-
ing the gravel and stones to the cradle. The rocker or cradle
consists of a box about four foot long, 18 inches wide, and
one foot high, placed on rockers, one end being fitted up with
a movable box of about six inches deep, fitted on the top of
the cradle, the bottom of which box is perforated with small
holes, the bottom of the cradle is also fitted up with a couple
of small cross .pieces to catch the fine sand and gold. The
stone and gravel being thrown into the box, the cradle, which
is slightly raised at the upper end, is set going, one man
constantly supplying water, and the small gravel and gold
being detached from the larger stones fall to the bottom,
the larger pieces of gold being extracted with the hand, and
the smaller ones washed out of the sand in a small pan in
the stream. No washing is being done with a pan other
than that I have stated. The pits (called claims) sunk on
Rodrigues' lot, and being dug or worked, when I visited
the mine, number some couple of dozen, there being about
60 or 75 men engaged here altogether. To the depth of two
or three feet the surface is covered with a vegetable mould
or clay (earth), then follows a layer of gravel and sand, and
lastly .a thickness of two or three feet of surface rock, con-
sisting of blue slate down to the bed rock, which is found
at about ten feet from the surface. It is in the gravel end
sand, and embedded in the slate, that the gold is found in
pieces and nuggets varying frern the eiZe Of about to
quarter
of a grain upwards!, the largest piece yet found being 11 °z'
It is only when the washing and cleansing operation is
completed that the gold is seen. It is represented to be
23 carats, but I think this is a mistake, for the finest which
has been discovered in the Chandler() district, submitted
to test, is 892.1,000, and no doubt the first named propor-
tion is a mere approximate calculation; the gold le, how-
ever, beautifully pure and clean and of a deep colour. The
indications of the quartz from which it has been detached
visible in nearly every piece. The alloy is silver. I
saw no very fine or flour gold, nor was any visible with an
ordinary magnifying glass. Notwithstanding this, it may
still exist,but it must be in infinitesimal particles intermixed
with the fine sand, requiring the aid of quicksilver, of which
none is now being made use of at the mine, to collect it.
From May till the middle of July some of the miners paid
Dr. Douglas, the lessee from the seigniors as before-men-
tioned, a percentage of their gross returns, that of the Pou •
line and Rodrigue, the owner of one of the lots where the
mining is going on, and whom the Poulins are in partner-
ship with, amounting alone to 600 dols. Messrs. Hagens and
Co., having taken possession under their lease, sublet or
sold claims to Nov. 1 next to others, principally on Re-
drigue's lot. ranging from 150 to 25;t, sctere, prices giv.

ing about 4 dole. per foot front, parts of some of the largest
of these claims having again been resold by the purchasers
for as much in some instances as they originally paid for the
whole. Messrs. Hagens and Co. at first worked with pans
and cradles, but now they are operating exclusively wi h
the sluice I have referred to. A few days previous to my
visit to the mine Dr. Reed, of Quebec, had purchased the
Viellieux and Grondin lots for, I was informed, 300 dols.
each, and had placed men to work on one-third shares;
these had been notified to desist by Messrs. Hagens and Co.,
and such notice being di,regarded, the latter had sued out
process against them. Matters were in this state when I
left the mine. Though many, it was said, had been disap-
pointed, I think that for the most part the workings have
proved remunerative, for I did not see or hear myself
while I was there of any instance of dissatisfaction or dis-
appointment. The returns, of course, as in all such cases,
vary very much, giving in some instances not much over
2 dols. per day per man, and in others above 6 dole. on the
whole claim, which takes usually from a week to a fortnight
to exhaust, according to the number of the men employed.
I will give a few instances :—Eight men, 15 days each, 40
dole. ; total, 320 dole., or 2 dole. 66 cents. per man per
diem; four men, 15 days each, 100 dole,; total, 400 dole.,
or 6 dols. 66 cents. per man per diem.
On one of the occasions upon which I visited the mine
ten men had got out of one pit nearly 200 dole. on that day
alone, while on another claim three men had taken out 7
dole. 50 cents. the previous afternoon, and 1 dol. 50 cents.
out of two pansful washed in thecra.dle the following morn-
ing. It is somewhat difficult to ascertain, with any degree
of certainty, during such a short visit as I made, the quan-
tity of gold which has been extracted from this river since
May. The Poulins and Rodrigue have met with the
greatest success, both by being the first in the field, and by
having the good fortune to select a rich location. One of
the Poulins admitted to me that the share of each of the
four had already exceeded 1,000 dole., and I am inclined to
think this amount an under estimate, for I heard that they
had owned to a larger sum, and I can see no reason why
they should seek to exaggerate. I myself saw at Rod-
rigue's house, on my second visit to the mine, upon my
return from the junction of the Du Loup and Chaudiere, a
largo saucer nearly full of pure gold of the weight of about
51b., representing, at 18 dole. per ounce, which is the selling
price at the mine, 1,080 dole. This, Rodrigue told me, was
two-thirds of the gold which he and the Poulins had got
out of the claim they had bought from Hagens and Co. since
their purchase. In this saucer was a piece of about 5± oz.
worth nearly 100 dols., which had been found about two
weeks previous. Among other incidents I noticed a woman
who was working a claim with her husband; this woman
some time before had found a nugget worth from 80 dole, to
90 dole. As I have stated, it is very difficult for me
to form an accurate estimate of the amount altogether taken
out of the river since the spring, but, assuming that an aver-
age of 103 men have been employed per day for the last three
months, and that the gains of each have only reached 2
dole., the total result would give 18,000 dole, as the whole
gross produce of the diggings to this day; but I think that,
while the total number of days' labour may be less than the
above, the average yield has been over the proportion I have
stated in such a ratio as to give the same result, from which
I conclude that a quautity at least equal to 18,000 dole, has
been extracted so far. At the same time, it is possible—
nay, probable—that much more has been taken out. The
Poulins and ttodrigue average above 10 dole. a day each,
but theirs is an exceptional case ; others, however, have
collected as much as they, but during a mere limited
period. It is as difficult to foretell how long these diggings
may continue to give such rich returns as it is to say the
exact quantity of gold yielded up till now ; but this I may
aver, that so far the supply does not seem to have fallen
off. Mr. Purceval, who has mined in California, told me
that the indications were exact y similar to those of one
of the mines he worked at there. Besides Mr. Per-
ceval, I met with others who had been in California,
and gave the same opinion. I also saw and conversed
with several miners from Nova Scotia, but theirs are
mostly quartz mines. During my visit to the mine I could
not help being struck with the unsystematic and altogether
unsatisfactory manner of the works at present going on
there. The pits are being sunk in every conceivable posi-
tion, without regard to order or corevenience. Instead of
arrangements being made by which those fronting on the
river could make use of the water in concert with those
who have obtained claims in rear, or the claims being made
narrower on the river and longer, so as to give the same
superficies by which a water frontage would be secured to
each, the miners working in rear of those who have secured
claims in front of their holdings have to carry their gravel
and stone some distance further down to the stream in
pans or boxes. This may be owing in part to the unsatis-
factory tenure of the holdings, each one being only anxious
to secure as much as he possibly can before the season is
brought to a close. The necessity of some well devised
licensed scheme is thus made most apparent. I also think
that sufficient care is not taken by the miners, and that
some of the gold is lost. This they will learn by experience,
as well as the introduction of those appliances which have
been made so usefully available in California, and which,
during high water especially, could no doubt be turned to
good account with advantage here.
I left the mine at about 6 in the evening and proceeded a
short distance towards the mouth of the river, wherel visited
another working about 40 arpents up the stream,where seven
Americans have been at work for a few days on a lot belong-
ing to the Gilbert before mentioned, being, I believe, No. 76
in the first range. They have dug a trench about 6ft. deep
and 10ft, long at the side of the river, a little below where
Dr. Douglas mined some few years ego ; but, as they had
left their work for the day, I could not ascertain the result
of their operations. I heard, however, from Gilbert that
they had not as yet obtained much gold. I then proceeded
off to the junction of the Du Loup and Chaudiere, where I
passed the evening.
The next morning I visited the location of the Du Loup,
where it unites with the Chaudiere, and in the Fief St.
Charles, seigniory of Aubin de r Isle, which was worked
for some years by Mr. James Logan and others, under the
licence promised by the Government to Mr. Oatey in 1551,
The licensees, having got into difficulties with the owners of
the lot (one Craig), gave up operations, which were after-
wards resumed by a company from Napanee, who worked
for three years, and finally also abandoned it, the land pur-
chased by them from Craig having been sold at the suit of
the latter by the Sheriff for non-payment of the balance of
the purchase price, and bought in by Mr. Childs, notary, of
Quebec, in Craig's interest. The location is now unworked.
The parties acting under Oatey's licence furnished returns to
the department, and covered, I understand, their expenses.
['he Napanee Company proceeded without authority from
the Crown, and never furnished any returns ; they sunk a
shaft on the bank of the river, and as far as I could learn,
were not very successful. I did not see or hear of any fur-
ther mining operations having been undertaken beyond
this point. :The St. Lawrence Mining Company, incorpo-
rated by act of Parliament, own land, it is said, for mining
purposes in the township of Jersey on the rivers Du Loup,
Metgermette, and Portage, but have not yet worked any
mines thereon. I next visited the falls on the Chaudiere,
two or three miles above the junction, and in the townships
of Jersey and Shanley, but as no mining operations were
going on beyond, I here retraced my steps homeward.
On my return I passed the Famine, which was worked
for some time by Dr. Douglas, under the De Lery patent,
and in the afternoon again visited the mine on the upper
part of the Gilbert, and left the following day on my way
to Quebec. _ .

At one of the Poulin's I saw nine pieces of gold found in
the Chaudiere. the Plantes, the Gilbert, and the Famine.
These pieces varied from a couple of dwts. to i oz. each. I
noticed that that got from the Chaudiere was of a much
lighter colour than that of the Gilbert, containing most
likely a larger quantity of silver alloy.
I learnt that previous to this year Dr. Douglas had worked
on the Plantes, the Gilbert, and the Famine, and that in
one season he had obtained a considerable sum out of the
Plantes. The gold found in this last mentioned river is smaller
than that of the Gilbert, the largest piece got out of it hav-
ing been of the value of 30 dols, but it has not been worked
very far up.
The Mr. Brock before mentioned also worked with others
at the Chaudiere last year, under a lease from Dr. Douglas.
A vein of quarts crosses across theChaudiere,at the Devil's
Rapids, in St. Frangois, a little below the Gilbert, and is
seed on the hill on the main road. I also saw quartz crop-
ping out in several places. Some of the qßartz, lam told,
has been tested, and contains gold.
No quartz mining operations have yet been undertaken
anywhere, sufficient indications not having presented them-
selves, and the mining has so far been confined exclusively
to alluvial diggings ; but explorers, of whom I met more
than one, are now out in numbers, and the existence or not
of gold in the quartz state, in alto, in sufficient quantities to
pay for working, will now, no doubt, soon be established.
All the mining operations have also so far taken place in
the seigniories, nothing having been done, as far as I could
learn, on the Crown lands.
The country through which I travelled along the banks
of the Chaudiere consists of rich alluvial flats, gradually
rising from the river to a distance in some places of as much
as 30 to 40 arpents, with hills and plateau of cultivated land
in rear, well and continuously settled as far as I went to the
forks of the Du Loup and Chaudiere. The lots on the De
Lery range of Rigaud Vandreuil, where the mining on the
Gibert is gob:g on, being the third from the river, are un-
improved, but the' first two ranges are all cleared and culti-
vated.

I cannot conclude this report without bearing testimony
to the quiet and good order existing at the Gilbert mine.
The mines consist principally of French Canadian hakitans
from the adjoining parishes, with a few persons from Quebec
and elsewhere, and at neither of my visits did I hear a
wozi spoken in anger.
ha,-e the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant,
F. T. JUDAH, Clerk Crown Domains, Ize.
/ll'Dougall, Commissioner of Crown
The Hon. IN. 'ds, &c.. Quebec.
La,
Stbff-Surg. Major Bray-
The funeral of the late. k place yesterday at
brooke, Military Train, tot,. -.flours, and was
Woolwich, with full military tt,. officers and
attended in procession by about 50t,
'9, and
men consisting of detachments of various mt.
the officers commanding brigades and division. L,.
Braybrooke died suddenly at his family residenc,.
in Mill-late-