254 TRAVELS IN THE CONFEDERATION 



occurs frequently at the surface ; on the Siotto, 400 

 miles below Pittsburg, there is great plenty of it ; from 

 this and other places similar the Indians fetch their 

 supply for war and the hunt ; they fuse out the ore 

 merely in their common fires. Here and there speci- 

 mens of copper * have been found, and as the story is, 

 of silver also. 



Petroleum occurs in several ways ; but there is a 

 spring in particular, near Alleghany Creek 90 miles 

 from here, which is heavily saturated with it, and the 

 broad creek is for a \long distance covered with the 

 swimming oil. In the neighborhood of the Crossings, 

 on the Youghiagany (commonly called the Yach) a 

 mine is worked which is said to contain silver and 

 lead. The owners are the Messrs. Downer and 

 Lynch. A silversmith perseveres there, who sells the 

 people silver utensils ostensibly fabricated from this 

 domestic ore. But according to precise accounts this 

 artful silversmith appears to be using the gullible 

 country people for his own advantage. Generally 

 speaking, with the passage of time there must and will 

 be discovered more and more on American soil not 

 only the treasures of the earth but everything neces- 

 sary for trade, crafts, and household economy. For, 

 little as is known of America there is already ground 

 for the assertion that nothing essential is lacking, and 

 there is good hope of finding what has not yet been 

 discovered. 



One of the greatest gifts of nature, for the immense 

 tracts of country lying this side the mountains, is the 



* According to Carver this metal appears most frequently 

 about Lake Superior. 



