The Sun.
London, England, 1867-07-30 00:00:00

THE GOLD FIELDS OF NOVA SCOTIA.

The Paris prints are a good deal occupied with
speculations concerning the fate of Dano, the French
representative in Mexico, who was accredited in
June, 1865. The Emperor Maximilian sent to
Paris as his plenipotentiary General Almonte, in
May, 1866. Juarez, on his success, demanded
that General Almonte should be given up, threat-
ening, in case of refusal, to shoot 1)ano. Of
course, France cannot give up Almonte ; but, with
the specimen we have had of Juarez's recklessness,
the safety of the French plenipotentiary is doubt-
ful indeed. The Courrier Francais reports that he
has effected his escape, but there is no notice of
such an event in the official journal.
An ancient town has lately been discovered in
Russia in a curious way. A fort was in course of
construction at Orembourg. The Kirgis had un-
dertaken to supply the bricks, of which they seemed
to have an exhaustless supply of a very fine kind.
The Russian engineers at last benme curious to
know whence they were obtained, and, in answer
to their inquiries, were told they had a mine of
them. The officers required to see the mine, and
found that there was a town of considerable extent
buried beneath the soil. The Kirgis had already
destroyed the dome of one large edifice for the sake
of getting the bricks. There was no one on the
spot, however, capable of determining the date of
the constructions.
The Abb6 Sire, one of the professors of the
Seminary of St. Sulpice, while in Rome for the
Centenary of St. Peter—l believe on St. Peter's
day itself—presented to the Pope the very labo-
rious production on which he has been engaged for
a long time. It is a collection of translations of
the Bull Ineffabilis Deus (defining the doctrine of
the Immaculate Conception) into three hundred
languages and dialects. He has been at pains to
render it as correct and complete as possible, each
translation having been verified by the bishop of
the diocese in which the language or dialect is
spoken. Each is written, adorned and bound
according to the prevailing style and taste of each
country ; the precious metals, jewels and enamels,
corals and mother-o'pearl, have been put in requi-
sition for their ornamentation. It is curious that,
of all the European versions, those from Poland
and Portugal are said to be the most costly and
elaborate.
A letter from Brussels says:—
Great astonishment has been expressed here at
the rumoured retirement of M. Van de Weyer, and
all sorts of conjectures are afloat as to the probable
cause of that Minister's tender of resignation.
Nothing can exceed the gratification of the Bel-
gian nation at the more than cordial and handsome
manner in which its representatives have been
received by the English people. The souvenirs of
the Belgian volunteers seem to rest with peculiar
satisfaction on the entertainment offered them by
Miss Burdett Coutts ; but they seemed at first to
have some difficulty in understanding why that lady
was singled out for one special occasion in their
programme. The public spirit which prompted
this individual liberality, however, and the peculiar
circumstances which suggested to her the wish to
receive them on her own responsibility, upon being
explained to them, it was both felt and appre-
ciated.
The awkward incident of the disproportion be-
tween the number of medals distributed by his
Royal Highness the Prince of Wales at Wimbledon
and the number of recipients has excited some
comment and remains to be explained, and Colonel
Gregoire has been severely censured for a laxity of
discipline and a want of method, without which
such an accident so vexatious to all parties, and
principally to his Royal Highness, could not have
occurred.
The magnificent annual procession known as that
of the " Tres Saint Sacrement de Miracle," took its
accustomed circuit on Sunday last from the Cathe-
dral of Ste. Gudule, amidst an immense concourse
of the faithful, and followed by upwards of 2,000
pilgrims. Every accessory that could contribute to
the imposing richness of the occasion was supplied ;
and, although those who took part in it began their
preparations as early as three in the morning, it
was five in the afternoon before the different groups
put themselves in order to gain their respective

homes.
The first stone has just been laid of a new bridge
across the Vesdre, which is to unite Verviers to the

Ensival.
The ,4 Grand Serment Royal et Noble " of cross-
bowmen and OPlXPliinergi of DgumeLl celtbrated, on

Under the above heading we published in a lato
number an article referring to the districts which
have been successfully worked for gold. We have
since been favoured with the report of P. S. Hamil-
ton, Esq., the Chief Commissioner of Mines at
Halifax, which contains a large amount of infor-
mation relative to this auriferous country, and

from which we gather the important fact that there
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are few other British colonies in which capital can
be more satisfactorily employed than Nova Scotia.
It may be observed, en passant, that Nova
Scotia is distant from England not more than a
ten days' voyage by steamer, being:, in the direct
route of vessels sailing between Liverpool and Bos-

ton, United States—in fact a line of steamers run

every fortnight between these two cities, calling at
Halifax for passengers and merchandise. These
vessels are constantly freighted with gold from

,he mines of Nova Scotia, and there is every reason

,o suppose that future years will show a Consider-

able increase in freights of the precious metal from

Halifax to England.
As everything relative to gold mining—especially
from such an authority as the Chief Commissioner
of mines—must be deemed interesting, we give
the following information, extracted from his
annual report on the mines of Nova Scotia for

the year 1866 :
" GOLD MMES.—Our gold mines continue to be
worked steadily and satisfactorily. The area over
which operations are carried out is yearly extend-
ing, and as a rule, if not universally, the quartz
lodes being worked show no decrease in richness,
but rather the'reverse. Improvements in machinery
and increased skill in mining have led to the pro-
fitable working of many lodes, which in former
years were abandoned or left untouched as too
unprofitable to be mined."
As we shall probably have much to say in future
on the interesting subject of gold finding and
gold mining generally, we shall commence by
describing the districts of Nova Scotia, in which
up to the present time the precious metals (gold
and silver) have been found in the largest quan-
tities.
The first and most westerly from Halifax is
known as "The Ovens Gold Fields," on the At-
lantic shore of the province, near Lunenburg har-
bour, and we take the following description of it
from the Prize Essay, published in 1862, on " Nova
Scotia and her Resources," by Thomas F. Knight,
Esq., of Halifax :
" The Ovens is a peninsula which forms the
western side of Lunenburg Harbour, extending
from the town of Lunenburg, a distance of five
miles, into the Atlantic Ocean, terminating in a
bluff promontory, about forty feet high, With
steep cliffs on the eastern side, but on the western
side sloping down to a stretch of level land, with
another bay beyond. The average breadth of this
peninsula is about half a mile, presenting a front-
age to the sea, where deep caverns have been
worn into the bluffs by the action of the waves
The quartz veins run in all directions through the
promontory, and are visible to the naked eye with-
out labour. Whilst attention was general
directed to the quartz veins in the upland rocks,
it was conjectured that the sands below the cliffs
would be impregnated with particles of gold.
Experiments proved successful, and these shore
claims proved wonderfully remunerative. The
astounding revelations of gold lying at their feet
startled the imaginations of the stolid Germans,
and so great was the excitement for some weeks
before the claimswere adjusted thatbuxom matrons
and maidens might often be seen in diligent search
.
for some shirking nugget, or gathering sand with
the hope of extracting the precious dust."
Such is the description of the Ovens. The quartz
veins, described as running in all directions, are
impregnated with gold in a singular manner, and
we have recently been shown a quantity of this
auriferous quartz which is the subject of much
research all over the world. If we are not rais"
taken, this British colony of Nova. Scotia must ere
long form a great attraction to emigrants of ever?:
class, inasmuch as, apart from its gold fields,
it
possesses great facilities for agricultural operations.
Coal fields and mineral productions are opening 11..
in great abundance, and the fishing grounds in O'
province are known to be some of the finest lo
the world.
We shall take the opportunity of referring to
_
this subject in future publications, taking for ou'i
next article the gold fields of Tangier, which aff°74
much scope for the investigations of the go'
seeker and the geologist.—Westminster Gazette.