VIRGINIA 67 



bank, and he is now working at the project of a large 

 and fine bridge, which would be the first and only one 

 of the sort in America, if the projector can but secure 

 permission of the Assembly and the right to make of 

 this a toll-bridge. + At Manchester I visited Mr. Jacob 

 Riibsaamen, who at one time was engaged in mining 

 and forge-works in Jersey, but the war breaking out 

 set up a powder-mill in Virginia, the first in America. 

 The saltpetre requisite was got in the mountains, but 

 the sulphur was fetched from Europe ; for although 

 sulphur-pyrites is found in great quantity and in many 

 places in America, experience proved that it would be 

 slower and more costly to smelt the sulphur out in this 

 way. The powder-mill, however, was unable to fur- 

 nish much material, and in the end was burnt by 

 British troops. Mr. Riibsaamen stated that here and 

 there in America traces of antimonium are found, and 

 that zinc is not rare, occurring oftenest in and about 

 lead-mines, especially at Chiswells mine, in Virginia. 

 Rich lead-ore is found in quantity, and at the surface 

 on the New and Greenbriar rivers ; copper near the 

 Roanoke; iron-ore everywhere plentiful, among other 

 places, a very good ore 20 miles from here in the 

 county of Buckingham. There has been discovered a 

 bed of pit-coals 12 miles from here, on the south side 

 of the James River and above the falls, + the occasion 

 of discovery being the uprooting of a tree by the wind. 

 The region is low, and it is probable that the bed 

 was formed from the plant-earth choked up behind the 

 falls. Four feet below the surface there is a white 

 clay-slate, next, a blacker clay-slate, and then the coals. 

 Trenches are dug straight down, and at 26-30 ft. the 

 bed is not yet gone through ; these trenches soon filling 



