1864.] ^g]^ [Wiestling. 



beneath botli these pits, we located and sank a shaft between them 

 and nearer the larger pit. Although our judgment would have dic- 

 tated a locality a little more eastward, to have struck the bed of ore, 

 yet we selected this as more favorable ground for sinking. 



"At a depth of five feet from the surface, we came upon the beau- 

 tiful white clay which lies immediately upon the ore, and is more or 

 less mixed with it. 



" At ten feet from the surface we penetrated through the white 

 clay and met a clear, sharp, light colored sand, which continued for 

 about five feet. 



"Then we found yellow clay mixed with sand, and spotted with 

 red clay (pigment). This varied but little until we attained a depth 

 of forty (40) feet from the surface, where, at a distinct, decided line, 

 almost horizontal, dipping, if at all, a little south, we encountered a 

 close-grained, tough, black clay, with small particles, as large as a 

 grain of wheat up to a grain of oats, resembling small pieces of char- 

 coal, intermingled with it. This proved only one foot thick ; and 

 then, at a depth of forty-one (41) feet from the surface, we came 

 upon the liynite. 



" After penetrating this four (4) feet, a layer, one foot thick, of a 

 tough, gray, sandy substance, intervened ; after which we met a lower 

 stratum of the lignite, apparently growing more solid as we de- 

 scended. 



"Through this we continued to sink, for eighteen feet further, 

 where about one foot of sand covered a beautiful variegated clay, 

 pearl and white body, with crimson and purple streaks through it. 

 At two feet deeper, the southwest corner of the shaft showed pure 

 red, and the northeast corner pure white clay. 



"Thus far, then, we had sunk sixty-seven (67) feet from the sur- 

 face, and had developed two strata of lignite, respectively four (4) 

 feet and eighteen (18) feet thick. 



" This depth (67 feet) was more than necessary for our purposes 

 in sinking the shaft, and we commenced a drift or adit, three feet 

 above the bottom of the shaft, in the lignite, in the direction of the 

 layer, pit No. 2 (south). This drift we have driven, to this date, 

 forty-eight (48) feet in the lignite; but yesterday the ground showed 

 evidences of a change to light-colored clay. We have concluded to 

 return to the shaft, and from its bottom sink a smaller pit still 

 deeper, for purposes of observation ; a small contribution to science 

 The results I will advise you of as we progress, with pleasure. 



VOL. IX. — Sm 



