344 



THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. 



westward of Pictou Harbour, there should be other and perhaps more 

 valuable beds. At present, however, little is known of the detailed 

 structure of this part of the Pictou Coal-field, and the distance from 

 navigable water of those portions of it in which coal is likely to be found, 

 prevents any expensive explorations from being made. I anticipate 

 that the careful tracing, for practical purposes, of the northern edge of 

 the East River Coal-beds, along and around the New Glasgow con- 

 glomerate, will, in a few years, give data which may be employed to 

 work out the true relations and practical value of such beds as may 

 occur in the area now under consideration. 



Minerals other than Coal. 



Clay Ironstone occurs in the Pictou Coal measures, apparently of 

 good quality, and in sufficient abundance to be extracted profitably, 

 if in a country in which smelting-furnaces are in operation. At 

 present, however, no attention is paid to it. From the abundance of 

 boulders of Brown Hematite scattered over the surface of the Lower 

 Carboniferous rocks on the East River, I have inferred that veins of 

 that rich ore of iron exist in these rocks, in the same manner as at the 

 Shubenacadie. The outcrop of these veins had not been observed 

 at the time of the publication of my first edition, but I am informed 

 by Dr Honeyman that veins of this mineral have recently been dis- 

 covered in situ, and that there is reason to believe that they penetrate 

 the Silurian rocks. The presence of these ores, in connexion with a 

 large bed of peroxide of iron in the older slates to be hereafter de- 

 scribed, leaves little doubt that were other circumstances favourable, 

 iron-works might be established on the East River without any defi- 

 ciency in the raw material. The following analysis of the ore is by 

 Professor How of Windsor : — 



100-00 



Gfray Freestone, for architectural purposes, is found in a great 

 number of places in the Pictou Coal formation, and is quarried both 

 for domestic use and for exportation to the United States and neigh- 



