308 TRAVELS IN THE CONFEDERATION 



for the conveniences they lack by the less labor they 

 expend. 



Through fertile valleys and over a few barren hills, 

 consisting wholly of limestone soil and growing almost 

 nothing but white-oaks, I came to Hancock-town on 

 the Potowmack ; a small place begun shortly before the 

 war and numbering only a dozen houses. It belongs 

 to Maryland which province here runs very narrow, 

 for but a mile and a half from the town I crossed the 

 boundary-line, already hewn out of the woods, between 

 Pensylvania and Maryland, and the river which here 

 is as much as 2-300 yards wide forms the boundary 

 between Maryland and Virginia. 



On the Virginia side it is six miles more from the 

 river to the Warm Springs, the road continuing 

 through limestone hills and their woods of white-oak. 



Warm Spring Hill, a steep but not high mountain 

 running from north-east to south-west, consists of a 

 quartzose species of rock together with the already 

 often-mentioned laminated whet-stones (cos, grind- 

 stone, grit-stone). The lower hills on both sides the 

 valley contain species of limestone. The deeper, middle 

 part of the valley, in which is the watering-place, 

 shows something of iron ; on digging a cellar recently 

 a coarse sort of blood-stone or manganese ore was 

 found, which as it lay was neither rich nor heavy. 

 And almost everywhere digging is done near the 

 springs of this valley, a black slate is found which is 

 partly micaceous and also contains sulphur-pyrites in 

 pockets and flecks ; in other places jet-black and brittle 

 like coal ; and again splitting in fine plates and good 

 for every use. In this region there is said to have 

 been found an octahedral manganese ore (miner a ferri 



