ROADS AND RAILWAYS. 85" 



form, 1)ut little differing in apjiearauce from the in-oduct of the 

 silk\vt)rm ; whilst in America it ii^iiially appears in a woody 

 state, very often exactly like a brown stick. 



"No, there is no ashestos of any value in America; that is, 

 according to our present ideas. It is strange that, in all that 

 great country, none has yet been found of tliat beautiful silky 

 texture we are accustomed to in the proiluct of the Canadian 

 mines. Much valuable asbestos, judging from surface indications, 

 is to be found here in Newfoundland, not only on the West 

 Coast, but in many other pails of the island. I fullv believe 

 that I sliall find it as pure, as silky ami as generally valuable 

 as any that lias yet bt-en fcnuid in Canada. The great difficulty 

 is, that this is a roadless country. It is the business of its rulers 

 to ojien it up by means of roads and Ijridges, and until that is 

 done, but little run be undertaken by private individuals to 

 utilize Newfoundland's great mineral wealth. We mav know 

 where her treasures lie, but the difficulty of reaching them, or 

 of utilizing them when found, in tlie a))sence of such means of 

 communication as an- to be found in every other civilized j^art 

 of the world, is far too great. 



" When did I first come to take an interest in the mineralogy 

 of Newfoundland '. Well, it is very easy to tell you that. On 

 geological grounds I had long been of opinion that tlie peculiar 

 formation in which asliestos in its jmrest form is found in Ca- 

 nada A\as also to be found in Newfoundland. If you will look 

 at a geological map, you will see that the great belt of serpentine 

 which runs through so large a part of Quebec, aj)i)ears and dis- 

 appears frequently, sometimes dijiping under or being overlaid 

 by other rocks, until it finally ci'ops out again and is largelv dis- 

 played in the Peninsula of Gaspe. There it is lost, that is to say, 

 it dips under the sea, but only to reappear again on the western 

 coast of your island. Now, although you may have many hun- 

 dreds of miles of serjientine, it is onlj- here and there and in 

 extremely few places, that any tendency to the fibrous form i>< 

 found. But still, if the formation is the same in that part of 

 Newfoundland where the serpentine is found, then it is only fair 



