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The provincial geologist of Canada, in his reportfor the year 1851 '52, gives an account of gold washings on the river Du Loup, at its junction with the Chaudiere, in which he states that during the present season 1,900 pennyweights of gold have been obtained by fifteen men employed by the company engaged in working the deposit. Much time and money were lost in consequence of their dam being carried away, but on the whole the labor has been remunerative. The other minerals found in connection with the gold and iron sand, a small quantity of platinum, and irrodium with an indication of mercury. Several prospectors, both American and Canadian, have traversed the country around, and have been successful also in finding the precious metal in other localities, but had not succeeded in making its collection profitable. The geologist concludes, from the evidence collected, that the deposits are not generally sufficiently rich to render their working remunerative to unskilled labor; and that agriculturists and others engaged in the ordinary occupations of the country, would only lose their time and labor by turning gold-hunt ers.
