s 
184 Aecount of the Geology, Mineralogy, Scenery, &e. 
aggregate of quartz and feldspar, often friable but some- 
times very firmly combined, exhibiting winding vertical fis- 
sures. A fine compact white sandstone, resembling the 
Portland stone of England, is noticed in a few places as the 
basis layer of the Palisadoes. The compact white sand- 
stone is in repute for cellar walls, not absorbing moisture 
as readily as the red freestone. The greenstone of the 
Palisadoes is much used in forming docks; it is rarely 
found in a decomposing state. 
A metallic vein was worked at Fort Lee at the com- 
mencement of the revolutionary war under the impression 
_ that it contained gold. Doct. Torrey has ascertained that 
the ore is pyritous and green carbonate of copper, the mat- 
rix quartz and a silicious and calcareous breccia dipping un- 
der greenstone. In the breccia numerous cavities of a reg- 
most specimens containing pyrites. 
The trees commonly met with on the above described 
range, are different species of oak, walnut, chestnut, maple, 
butternut, birch, gum, cedar, &e. The neighbourhood of 
Fort Lee and many parts of the mountain is heavily tim- 
bered.— Of berries the blackberry, whortleberry, raspberry 
and strawberry are abundant. 
The wild animals occupying these heights with almost 
exclusive dominion, are the wild-cat, raccoon, fox, opos- 
sum, rabbit and squirrel—The poultry yards at the wes- 
tern base of the mountain are often annoyed by the fox 
and opossum. Of venomous serpents the copper-head is 
the most common, but the rattlesnake is sometimes seen O% 
the Palisado range. Eagles and hawks are numerous— 
they build their nests securely on the mountain cliffs. ' 
The elevation of the several points of the Palisado range 
was ascertained by Capt. Partridge to be as follows.— 
Fort Lee, 511 feet above the bed of the river ;—the bluff 
