characteristic of the district. Similar terraces were noticed by Dr. Hector on the Athabasca, Kootanie, and Columbia Rivers, and they have been also observed on some rivers in California and Mexico; but in none of these instances do they appear comparable in extent and regularity with those of the Thompson and Fraser. It is worthy of remark that in nearly every instance where these terraces have been found, in various countries, they occur in _three_ successive tiers, as in these of British Columbia; which would seem to mark as many separate epochs when important geological disturbances took place. [Illustration: THE TERRACES ON THE FRASER RIVER. (_See page 338._) ] Gold is found in all these benches on the Fraser in the state of the finest “flour gold,” but not in sufficient quantities to satisfy the miner when the richer diggings of Cariboo outrun all competition. There seems to be some unexplained connection between these terraces and the celebrated “bunch-grass,” for where the terraces commence on the north, the bunch-grass is also first found, and both end together above Yale. The rolling country between the two rivers is indeed clothed with this grass, but it does not extend beyond the northern limit of the terraces. In the valley of the Columbia, to the south-west, it grows with great luxuriance, and here again the curious terraces are found. The probable explanation of this circumstance is that the peculiar kind of soil formed by the disintegration of the limestone, or soft volcanic rocks, found in this district, is necessary to the growth of this peculiar grass. Soon after we again reached the Thompson, we came to a place where a portion of the road was not yet made, and led our horses over high rocky bluffs, which at first sight appeared completely to bar all passage. The trail was a mere ledge of rock of a few inches in width, and conquered the precipitous ascent by a succession of windings and zig-zags. The path was so narrow that it was quite impossible for horses to pass one another, and as the river rushes hundreds of feet immediately below, and even a slip would be certainly fatal, it is necessary to ascertain that the road is clear before venturing over the dangerous precipices.