On arriving at any spot containing gold deposites, the first step to be taken is to examine the general appearance of the country. The hills should be covered with brick-red soil--this should be a prevailing feature in them, although there may be now and then an exception to some portions of them; slate rock should be found, of whatever description, if not on the surface, at least on digging a few feet; but a general rule, when there is any below the surface, some of it will be seen above it in one direction or another. Likewise quartz should be found scattered about on the ground; quartz is a milk-white opaque stone, of considerable hardness; on these occasions it is generally veined with red streaks of more or less intensity of color. The presence of these three signs jointly is sufficient to authorize one to look for gold by digging in some convenient spot, but any of them singly is of no validity in this respect. And if by digging and washing the dirt one finds as a residue black scaly sand--which is magnetic iron, and which, if one were not able to distinguish by the eye, could prove it by the magnet--he can safely expect to find some gold there on some spot or other. The absence of this sand as a residue after washing, is a positive proof that it is vain to look for gold in that region. In digging for gold, besides studying the above mentioned signs, it is necessary to observe and study the currents of water, be it in ravines or dry diggings or along the banks of rivers. Water is perpetually changing its current, consequently before striking a spot with a pick-axe, it is well to consider whether the spot be an ancient bed of the river or brook, or not; whether there be any obstacle in the way of the current that would cause a deposite of gold to take place either before or behind it, for it is only in such places that we can expect to meet with success. Examine also the rock over which, at some season, water passes, and then by breaking it up you may discover a deposite of gold called, by miners, a pocket; such deposites are frequently found on ledges of slate rock in rivers or small streams. On opening a hole in search of gold, the top dirt is thrown away, and each successive layer of earth is examined to ascertain in which portion of it the gold is found, and thus the careful miner proceeds till he comes to the _rocky_ bottom; he never should be satisfied with his work till he does come to a rock, which he should nicely scrape, sweep and collect, then wash the dirt and decide accordingly; if the rock be slate rock, he should split it and break it up, and then wash it, as it is in the cracks and pockets of this rock that gold is frequently found in considerable pieces. A layer of clay, like a rock, equally serves as a barrier to gold; it arrests it on its surface. This work, particularly, should be done carefully when the miner is, as it is called technically, _prospecting_, when he looks for places where he