—————— eee —— 
ein 
85 
the dyke, and contains a considerable quantity of white opaque 
quartz, in some of which may be detected small specks and flakes 
of antimony. A shaft was sunk a few fathoms at the point where 
antimony was first found, and afterwards a level was driven on the 
vein for the purpose of unwatering the shaft. About twenty tons 
of oxide of antimony were obtained, chiefly in the shaft, but it is 
doubtful whether the quantity raised was sufficient to cover expenses. 
There are now few traces of the work done in this mine, the upper 
part of the shaft has been covered over and filled in, the mouth of 
the level walled up, and all the material brought out of both shaft 
and level has been removed and used for road repairs. 
Thus, we find that all the veins on the southern and western 
sides of the Skiddaw group of mountains are practically barren. 
They have been proved to be lacking in workable deposits of ore 
like those at Threlkeld and some of the Caldbeck Fells mines ; 
and, with the exception of the antimony at Robin Hood, there is 
an almost entire absence of those rare minerals for which the 
Caldbeck Fells mines are so famed. 
There is nothing in the position and surroundings of the veins 
and mineral deposits of the Skiddaw group that would tend to 
reveal the laws which govern the deposition of minerals, or afford 
any evidence that would be of service in guiding miners in their 
search for metalliferous ores, either here or elsewhere. We may 
learn something of the laws which regulate the decomposition and 
changes which take place in minerals already deposited, but those 
which governed the original deposition are still wrapped in obscurity. 
In the Caldbeck Fells District the best ore-bearing veins run 
parallel to the axis of the higher ground, and in a position which 
causes them to receive the drainage from the higher ground ; while 
in the Blencathra mines the best deposits are found in veins which 
penetrate the mountain at right angles. On the other hand, the 
Skiddaw vein, which occupies the same position on the south as 
that occupied by the best Caldbeck Fells veins on the north, 
