No. 112.] 785 



passed. The series of specimens, which I have transmitted to 

 the rooms of the State Agricultural Society, exhibits an amazing 

 advance in the improvement of this fabric. The remarkable 

 specimen, \\hich has been subjected to the refining process re- 

 cently introduced into their works, exhibits the closeness and 

 compressed fiber, the brilliant luster, and the general aspect of 

 the choicest steel, from which it can scarcely be distinguished by 

 the nicest mechanical eye. 



On the premises of the Messrs. Tread way, in Schroon, and 

 upon tho same upheaving of the land on which occurs the mines 

 of Penfield and Hammond, and in the same course, I examined 

 several veins of ore, of excellent promise, both as to extent and 

 quality. I infer from these indications that these veins are an 

 extension of the former, and that the intermediate territory, a 

 distance of ten miles, may be occupied by a vast formation of 

 ores. Several large and valuable beds occur in Elizabethtown. A 

 part of these deposits, it is asserted by tradition, yielded the first 

 ore wrought in the county of Essex. The '-JLiittle Pond '■ ore bed 

 constitutes the mass, the formation of a considerable eminence. 

 These mines, placed in the center of the county, and surrounded 

 by extensive iron manufactories, are highly valuable and impor- 

 tant deposits. 



The " Little Pond bed " is among the most remarkable forma- 

 tions of iron ore in this county,' and from the quality of the ore, 

 the apparent magnitude of the deposit, and its favorable position, 

 may be classed among the most valuable mines of the region. 

 This bed is situated ab:^ut six miles from tbe lake, aud near a 

 plank road. It apparently forms the mass of an eminence, prob- 

 ably covering at the l.ase an area of forty acres, and clevate<l 

 uearly two hundred feet. The excavations which have been made 

 reveal a broad breast of ore of the highest purity. The exami- 

 nations already made, which are corroborated by the gi^neral ap- 

 pearance and indications of the mound, seem to authorise the 

 opinion, that this entire eminence is a mass of ore, covered only 

 by an incrustation of rock and earth of a few feet in depth. 



If furthtr lievelopments shall establish this fact, the quantity 



of the ore in this deposit may be pronounced illimitable, and its 

 [As:- Tr. '^3] z 3E 



