436 Original Articles. [July, 
much valuable ore was got from the surface in other portions of the 
lode, or from pockets intersected at the surface, but of this there now 
seems no indication. Generally, the narrow cracks with their red clay 
contain a few small rounded nodules of rich sulphide of copper, often 
with very little iron. It is these that yield the larger lumps when 
followed downwards. 
The vein, as recognized at present, is very irregular in width and 
contents. The chief ore has been obtained in isolated pockets at 
various depths, down to about 120 yards. These are, to all appearance, 
absolutely irregular. They do not seem to have reference to any 
peculiar condition of the serpentinous veinstone beyond the presence 
of red clay. They are not confined to any part of the lode, but range 
out of it into the gabbro, some of the richest deposits now worked 
being altogether in the gabbro. Veins pass off, commencing with a 
thin line of orey serpentine, and running out of the main lode into the 
gabbro, but gradually enlarging and becoming very rich. The 
general direction of the lode is east and west, and the dip south, and 
the richest of these side veins have similar bearings, but dip at a greater 
angle. 
At adepth of about 80 yards the lode is interrupted by a broken 
mass or dome of alberese and shale, near the contact with which a 
large quantity of excellent ore was found. Below this again gabbro 
has been reached. In the main adit, driven for more than a mile to 
drain the mine to the 30-fathom level, a somewhat similar mass of 
alberese and shale was crossed. It would seem, therefore, that the 
fracture of the rock through which the lava was poured occurred at 
about this point, and thus irregular fragments of rock of considerable 
size are apparently included. But I noticed that the limestone is only 
so far altered at this point as to show more than usual of that peculiar 
interlacing of cale spar, for which it is elsewhere more or less remark- 
able. The general character and appearance of the rock (a compact 
pale grey indurated limestone) is accurately preserved close to the 
gabbro. 
Not only is the limestone not altered, but the shales with it are 
still soft, and even rotten. The serpentinous mass containing the ore 
is also in the same state. It is only by the extreme crushing and 
squeezing that the limestone and associated shales have undergone, and 
by observing that they are bent, and broken, and turned in every direc- 
tion, that one can realize the fact of the great forces to which they 
have been subjected. 
In all parts of the gabbro and in the serpentinous and steatitic 
masses of the vein, cale spar, crystallized more or less perfectly, is to 
be seen. But magnesia is the prevalent mineral. All the rock is 
more or less steatitic, and presents those peculiar appearances that 
steatitic minerals so often do. A strong resemblance to slickensides is 
one of these, and most observers have concluded, from the numerous 
strie and polished surfaces which the stone presents, that the whole 
vein and its contents have been slid over one another, and that the 
strie and polished surface are mechanical. This I am inclined to 
doubt. 
