166 On a Veiii of Bi tutu i nous Coal in the Island of Cuba, 



trating the juice of the sugar-cane, or for the inanufacture 

 of gas, this coal is singiilarJy well adapted. As it contains no 

 sulphuret of iron, the gas manufactured would be free from, 

 that very deleterious portion or admixture, which is so diffi- 

 cult to separate from those gases usually manullictured from 

 bituminous coals containing sulphur. It might also be em- 

 ployed with advantage in manufacturing lamp-black [Noir de 

 Jumee) . 



Quantity. — As we have no knowledge of coal being ever 

 before found in formations similar to those in which the mine 

 of Casualidad occurs, no opportunity is afforded us of reason- 

 ing from analogy, and from the experience derived from the 

 exploration and working of similar deposits. It will there- 

 fore be admitted, that whatever observations we might be in- 

 duced to hazard concerning the extent of carbonaceous mat- 

 ter existing here, they would necessarily be founded more or 

 less upon conjecture. 



The outcrop of this singular vein was accidentally disco- 

 vered where the public road winds down the point of a small 

 ridge, and was worn down sufficiently deep to expose the 

 coal and attract attention. 



In whatever way we may account for the origin of this re- 

 markable coal deposit, in a rock of this age, we must be led 

 to view it, in some measure, in connection with the petroleimi 

 which is found in the rocks of this region. We observed it 

 in a liquid form, filling cavities or cells in veins and masses of 

 chalcedony, a few yards only from the coal vein; and whilst 

 breaking with the hamnier fragments of euphotide, serpentine, 

 and various rocks in this vicinity, during a hot day, we per- 

 ceived a strong odour of pitch or tar, arising after every blow. 



The petroleum springs which rise from fissures in the ser- 

 pentine at Guanabacoa, two leagues distant westward, have 

 been known for two centuries. 



Round a great portion of the Bay of Havana, asphalt is 

 still collected at low water, under the name oi Chapapote^ and 

 is employed in the manner of tar, for paying vessels. As this 

 substance is remarkable for yielding a dense column of black 

 smoke, when ignited, it has frequently and at various times 

 been had recourse to for the purpose of making signals along 

 the neighbouring coast of the island. It is matter of history, 

 that Havana was originally called by the discoverers and early 

 occupiers of this part of Cuba by the name of Carine, be- 

 cause there they careened their ships and pitched them with 

 the natural tar they found washed on the shores of this beau- 

 tiful bay. 



The position which we have described in the foregoing 



