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BUILDING STONE AND LIMESTONE.

Although the possibility that a demand for these materials
will arise is remote, it is well to note places where they may be
obtained.

The massive beds of the Haida formation on Maude island
would probably furnish sandstone of good quality, though little
is known regarding the jointing, and the dressing qualities of the
stone. It is probable that some of the areas on the west coast
underlain by granitic rocks would furnish granite at tidewater.
The basalt of the Masset formation of northern Graham island,
Lawn hill, etc., would furnish inexhaustible quantities of excel-
lent stone for surfacing roads.

Limestone, suitable for use in plaster and probably cement
manufacture, may be obtained in large quantities on the south-
east end of South island in Skidegate inlet.

GOLD.

At several places along the east coast of Graham island,
from Lawn hill to Rose spit, gold has been obtained by washing
the black sands of the beach. The east coast of Graham island
is underlain by unconsolidated or soft Tertiary sediments, cov-
ered with stratified glacial drift. Long continued action of the
waves and currents on these deposits has developed a nearly
straight, low, flat beach, with very shallow water off-shore.
The sorting effect of the waves has concentrated the heavier
minerals in the quartz sands at certain places; and it is in reddish,
brownish, or black streaks of sand that the gold is found. The
writer has not examined the deposits carefully, nor has he been
able to get any detailed information about them. At Masset,
however, deposits of a similar nature were seen, and were said
by Mr. James Martin to be like those of the east coast in all
respects but size.

The Masset black sands occur in the ordinary white quartz
beach sand as layers of a reddish to black colour, from one-fourth
to one inch thick. They are a few square feet in area, and
irregular in outline. The location of the layers is not permanent
as they shift with every storm. A sample of the Masset black