The picture is not enticing,--but this is, nevertheless, the true _arida
nutrix_ of the splendid masses before us. The zone of metamorphic rocks
which lines this inhospitable coast varies in width from six or eight
miles at its eastern extremity to forty or fifty at its widest
points,--presenting in its northern boundary only a rude parallelism
with its southern margin,--and comprising, over about six thousand
square miles of surface, the general outline of what may, geologically
speaking, be called the Gold-Region of Nova Scotia.

It will be most interesting hereafter to mark the gradual changes
already beginning to take place in this rich, but limited district. It
is destined throughout, we may be sure, to very thorough and systematic
exploration. For, although it is true that gold is not to be found in
all parts of it, still it is not unreasonable to search for the precious
metal throughout this whole region, wherever the occurrence of true
quartz-veins--the almost sole _matrix_ of the gold--is shown by boulders
on the surface. Back from the coast-line, a large part of the district
named is now little better than an unexplored wilderness; and the fact
that the remarkable discoveries which have been made are in a majority
of cases almost on the sea-shore, and where the country is open and the
search easy, by no means diminishes the probabilities that continued
exploration in the less frequented parts of the district will be
rewarded with new discoveries as important as any which have yet been
made.

The earliest discovery of gold in the Province, yet made known to the
public, occurred during the summer of 1860, at a spot about twelve miles
north from the head of Tangier Harbor, on the northeast branch of the
Tangier River,--shown on McKinley's excellent map of Nova Scotia as
about fifty-eight miles east from Halifax. Subsequent discoveries at