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Numerous boulders, many of which are too large to be put through the
sluice boxes without blasting, occur in the surface gravels and occasionally
in the clay. The gold is said to occur mainly in the surface gravels and on
the clay, but probably some occurs also on bedrock. The average tenor of
the gravels is not known and would be difficult to estimate over a large area
without extensive testing of the ground, because of the irregularity and lack
of continuity of the pay-streak. There is little doubt, however, that
comparatively rich pay-streaks occur locally on the benches that border
Burns creek in its lower part and extend to Devils Lake creek. The area
is an attractive one because Burns creek is known to have produced large
amounts of gold; and gold-bearing quartz veins from which the gold was
originally derived are known to occur in the upper part of the basin of the
creek. The main cause of failure of the hydraulic operations of the Cariboo
Exploration Company appears to have been that, although Jack of Clubs
creek at the intake of the ditch has a low water flow of nearly 100 miner’s
inches, little or no water was delivered by the ditch in the dry season
because it is excavated for long distances in porous gravels into which the
water seeped. Whether there is sufficient payable ground for hydraulicking
to justify the expense of obtaining ample water can probably be determined
only by further prospecting. Several prospect pits and shafts were put
down in the vicinity of the hydraulic pit, by the Cariboo Exploration
Company, but the results of these tests are not known. How far upstream
the old driftings in the China pit extended is not known, but they probably
extended as far as there was any pay. It is also uncertain whether these
workings were in an old channel of Burns creek, although this seems probable,
and whether another channel may not exist between it and the present
Burns creek.

Olally Creek

Olally creek lies between Burns and Jack of Clubs creeks and flows
north into Slough creek. The creek occupies a narrow, steep valley cut, for
the most part, in bedrock above Jack of Clubs ditch. In the lower part it
flows across drift-covered rock benches and has a comparatively low
gradient. Several shafts were sunk to bedrock in the lower part, a few
hundred feet above the junction with Slough creek, and several tunnels
were run. One, known as the St. Clair tunnel, started near the lower end.
Two others, run by Gust. Lange, started a short distance below the ditch.
The materials found on bedrock in the shafts and tunnels are said to have
been glacial muddy gravels carrying little or no gold. Most of the ground
along the creek was leased by the Cariboo Exploration Company in 1899.
In recent years no work has been done on the creek.

Devils Lake Creek

This creek (Figure 21) is traversed by the main highway and flows
north into Slough creek. It occupies a comparatively narrow steep-sided
valley. The valley sides in the upper part of the creek are mostly rock, but
in places are veneered by talus and glacial drift. Three small ponds, in the
upper part of the valley, occupy depressions formed as the result of rock
slides partly blocking the valley. The basins are probably, also, in part,