196 EXPEDITION TO J'HE 



diffidence. We have seen native copper strewed in many 

 directions, over the great valley drained by the Mississippi 

 and its tributaries, and we know from the reports of all tra- 

 vellers that it exists in many places. It has also been found 

 in several spots on Lake Superior, where it was long since 

 looked to as an object of great promise. The largest mass 

 of it that is known exists on the Ontonagon river, and for 

 a correct account of the characters of this interesting block 

 we are indebted to Mr. Schoolcraft. Our journey having 

 been conducted on the north shore of the lake, we of course 

 had no opportunity of seeing this interesting mass ; but all 

 that we know of the native copper of that country leads us 

 to the belief that it has not yet been found in situ, and that 

 therefore these loose masses ought not to be looked to as in- 

 dicative of mines in their immediate vicinity. The great 

 weight and size of the mass on the Ontonagon might, it 

 is true, induce us to believe that it has not been transported 

 from a great distance, if the much greater size and weight 

 of the boulders which are dispersed along the vallies of 

 the Mississippi did not attest, that, whatever may have 

 been the cause which produced these revolutions, the force 

 with which it operated must have been immense. It is 

 not, therefore, to these masses of native copper, but to the 

 ores of this metal found in rocks in situ that our attention 

 ought principally to be directed with a view to discover 

 copper mines. We have ourselves seen a number of locali- 

 ties of copper pyrites throughout the primitive rocks of 

 the north coast of Lake Superior, but these were always in 

 small specks. A more minute examination might probably 

 lead to more successful results. We believe that there is a 

 site of -copper mines somewhere near this lake, and we 

 think it in no manner improbable that the masses of na- 

 tive copper which occur, from the south shore of Lake 



