38 Some Notes of Africa. 



contributions on their way, very much as at the greater springs 

 already named. 



Here and there about this spring are what were evidently gey- 

 ser cones, two or three of the larger of which still retain their 

 shape, but most of them have crumbled, and being covered with a 

 thin soil and creeping vines, are overlooked by the average trav- 

 eller. Some Roman baths, in one or two of which the water may 

 still be used, indicate that the springs were made use of as long 

 ago as the Roman occupation. 



The other point named lies far to the westward. 



The diligence will carry the traveler, who has the nerve and 

 pluck to undertake the all-night journey, from Oran to a most 

 interesting geological region near the village of Kleber. A gray 

 and arid looking mountain, or rather high plateau, rises just beyond 

 the town, the broad summit of which is an almost uninterrupted 

 mass of marble breecia with a large percentage of iron, and a 

 smaller portion apparently of manganese. 



The indications are that originally the rock was white marble 

 associated with iron ore and therefore discolored in parts; that 

 by some tremendous movement of the earth, the rock was crushed 

 or broken into small angular fragments, and then settling down 

 nearly in the same position, the disintegrated mass was cemented 

 by the infiltration of water bearing with lime, some coloring sub- 

 stance, as iron or manganese. While the fragments retain in 

 good part their original color, the matrix formed by the fiownig 

 water is of a reddish, brown, or purplish hue, making a breecia 

 scarcely excelled in beauty by any rock in the known world. 



A portion of the marble in this mountain still retains its orig- 

 inal character and position, while the breecia occupies another 

 part. It seems probable therefore that only one side of the moun- 

 tain was thus crushed and shaken up, though no line of division 

 can be distinctly traced. It is much to be regretted, that there is 

 not enterprise enough in Algiers to work this quarry and send out 

 its rare treasures to the world. A few specimens may be found in 

 the city of Algiers and a few in London, but for the most part the 

 deposit lies there as it was formed. 



J. H. C. 



