"This room," he said, "I cannot intrust to Jackson, who would soon
throw everything into confusion by grouping instead of classifying
things. This country is full of most valuable minerals, and the people
know as much about them as a pudding does of the plums contained in
it. Observe this shelf, Sir, there are specimens of seven different
kinds of copper on it; and on this one, fragments of four kinds of
lead. In the argentiferous galena is a very considerable proportion of
silver. Here is a piece of a mineral called molybdena of singular
beauty, I found it at Gaberous Bay, in Cape Breton. The iron ores you
see are of great variety. The coal-fields of this colony are immense
in extent, and incalculable in value. All this case is filled with
their several varieties. These precious stones are from the Bay of
Fundy. Among them are amethyst, and other varieties of crystal, of
quartz, henlandite, stibite, analcine, chabasie, albite, nesotype,
silicious sinter, and so on. Pray do me the favour to accept this
amethyst. I have several others of equal size and beauty, and it is of
no use to me."
He also presented Cutler with a splendid piece of nesotype or needle
stone, which he begged him to keep as a memento of the "Bachelor
Beaver's-dam."
"Three things, Mr Slick," he continued, "are necessary to the
development of the mineral wealth of this province--skill, capital,
and population; and depend upon it the day is not far distant, when
this magnificent colony will support the largest population, for its
area, in America.
Pages:
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269