300 Messrs. Jackson and Alger on the 
Following the slate formation westerly, this ore-bed does not 
again show itself until it is seen on Nictau Mountain, in Annap- 
polis county, as shown on the map; it being obscured between 
the two places by the unbroken forest, except that in a few spots 
fragments of it have been picked up, barely sufficient to prove its 
continuity from one locality to the other. At Nictau the width 
of the ore, at the surface, is but six feet and a few inches ; but, in- 
creasing apparently as it deepens, it gives the promise of an 
immense supply of this valuable mineral. It is covered by a 
stratum of ferruginous soil about two feet thick, on remoying 
which the surface of the ore-bed, being in some places quite 
smooth as if worn down by attrition, is seen curiously intersected 
by seams, some of which cross it transversely or nearly at right 
angles, and, when not open fissures, are filled up with a substance 
not unlike red ochre, They give the ore a tendency to separate 
into rhomboidal fragments, similar to those into which the slate 
itself often divides, and besides greatly facilitate the labor of 
raising it. The bed has been opened to the depth of eight or 
ten feet, and some hundred tons of the ore have been removed 
to the smelting furnace situated on the southern shore of An- 
napolis Basin. 
The character of the ore at this place differs in some respects 
from that of the Pictou ore. Fromits very uniform slaty structure, 
itis more easily broken up ; and it abounds to a much greater ex- 
tent with the casts of marine shells, the calcareous parts of which, 
are sometimes still preserved. It also contains a larger propor- 
tion of iron, has a slight metallic lustre, and exerts magnetic in- 
fluence upon the needle. But it is not a little singular that this 
ore-bed, although the grave of millions of once living shell-fish, 
the remains of which it exhibits in every part, should afford traces 
