398 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. 



Compared with the coals of Pictou and Sydney, the Little River 

 coal is more bituminous than either, or contains more volatile matter 

 and less fixed carbon. It contains about the same quantity of earthy 

 _ matter with Pictou coal ; but in quality and colour the ash resembles 

 that of Sydney. Practically it will be found to be a serviceable coal 

 X? for domestic fires, well adapted for smiths' use, and, from the large, 

 quantity and high illuminating power of its gaseous matter, probably 

 a good gas-coal. There should be little waste in its extraction, and 

 it will suffer little by being " banked " or kept in the open air. It 

 contains more sulphur than the Pictou coal. 



The coal of the small bed (No. 2) is somewhat similar to that of 

 No. 1 ; but it is more impure, and contains much bi-sulphuret of iron. 

 The fragments found in the river, and supposed to be derived from a 

 third bed, are very similar to the coal of No. 2. 



"The point at which the coal appears on Little River is distant in a 

 direct line from the main road to Ship Harbour about one mile and a 

 half, and from Ship Harbour four miles ; from the shore at Carribou 

 Cove two miles and a half; and from the navigable part of River 

 Inhabitants two miles and a quarter. In the direction of the Strait of 

 Canseau, the Coal measures appear to be cut off at the distance of 

 about half a mile from the river, by one of the fractures which abound 

 in the district. In the opposite direction, it is possible that they may 

 extend to the estuary of the River Inhabitants. 



In the direction of the beds of coal, the ground in the vicinity of 

 the river is low, rising to about thirty feet only above the stream. 

 Only a very small depth of coal could therefore be drained by a level 

 from the river-bed, or without the aid of machinery. The vertical 

 position of the beds will also require a method of mining different 

 from that employed in the other coal-fields of the province, where 

 the seams are only slightly inclined. These circumstances, in addition 

 to the comparatively small dimensions of the beds, as they tend to 

 increase the expense of extracting coal, must operate as objections to 

 the opening of this deposit. On the other hand, the seam No. 1 is 

 sufficiently large to be conveniently worked, its coal would command 

 a fair price in the market, and it is near harbours from which its pro- 

 duce could be shipped at any season. There is also a probability 

 that the beds might be traced to localities more favourable for the 

 extraction of the coal ; and that, by works of discovery carried on in 

 the adjacent measures, other workable seams might be found. I am 

 glad to learn that, since the above remarks were written in my first 

 edition, this mine has been opened, and is known as the " Richmond 

 Mine." A second bed of coal, 154 feet distant from the first, has been 





