THE BATON.

GOLD BEAEING BEEF,

MKSaaa Babbeb and MCfttthy, the diaooyerwfl bl *fte reoefltly foand reef at the Bfttori-, ware in town yesterday, and they brought with them Several pieces or quatta taken; from the reef. As daieribed, the reef runs down to.and apparently under the. Baton j river.; It -was. discovered on 'ft little J&iind ertek close to the river, and the liwoVqwati m* exposed on a shelf or Bmall terraoe some eight , feet -t above thejtor&k aii^f^iha ' feeY abovejihe river. Mesira Barter and M'Qarthy ha|fl ;fea««d thf x«e?if orTjjome Sjsftatiofii, but aa yi^theyihave not. driven on or opened up thevqaarfcc. r .Th«y did, how(sv«r,;-p a 't3in6ne >ho> wh»re the reef va^.ejpoMdioafte shell $m$ : ;. ■ . , ; •'-.. •■■■■ ' ."■ '■

°* •itarape . referreu* taHand it was from the atone ihus^broken otUpthat the pieces the> have Jo tdwn. H Jwera taken. The qaartz in question is fibWthe outcrop of the reef,y and therefore, fls^m'ght be expected, .varieaj somewhat:, in; ycolori and appearance, but throughout tha etone gold ia to be seen. The quartz from nearest. the hanging wall is in color blue and white, and shows nice gold, ! while the stone from above the footwalt is cf a brownish color, showing oxidiaation, and this too .shows fine gold, while ths stoce throughout contains some mundio. We expeot Boon to hear that steps are being taken to prove the extent and riohneaa of the quartz, in the.meantime the stona referred to may bs eeen by those interested at the office of Mr Bethwaite. The position where the raef was discovered is about 48 miles from town, and it iff estimated that an expenditure of £15 would construct a road 1 from the -reef to the main road. From what we learn special facilities exist for working the reef. Coal has long been known to exist at the Baton, and iron is said to exist there in large quantities andjpf eapfioial riohneas. We hear, too, that BilWr.and cinnabar, from whioh qaioksilver is derived, have also been discovered at the Baton.