396 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. 



of metamorpliic country, along the edge of which it extends, with 

 some conglomerate and sandstone, in a very narrow belt, skirting the 

 whole eastern side of the Bras d'Or Lake, and connecting this district 

 with that of the county of Cape Breton. 



Useful Minerals of the District of Richmond, etc. 



Coal appears at various places in this district, and at the time when 

 my first edition was printed, it was the only place in which any explor- 

 ation had been made by the Government. In consequence of a petition 

 from the inhabitants, the Legislature voted a small sura for a recon- 

 naissance of this district. I had the honour to be employed in this 

 work, and this was the only geological work for which I ever received 

 any payment from the Government of Nova Scotia. I mention this 

 circumstance, because it accounts for the fact that so much space is 

 given to this coal-field in my first edition, while the far more important 

 mines of Cape Breton County, which I had not the same opportunity 

 to examine, are treated of more slightly. 



Coal. — The bed at Carribou Cove, or Sea Coal Bay, has attracted 

 some attention, owing to its appearance in the coast section in a very 

 accessible situation. It is a seam of mixed coal and bituminous shale 

 eleven feet eight inches in thickness, in a vertical position, or rather 

 thrown over on its face ; its dip being W. 57° S., at an angle of 80°, 

 and the bed which was originally its underclay being its roof. The 

 coal from the outcrop of this bed is of a soft and crumbling quality, 

 and filled with layers of shale. 



A specimen of the best coal, selected from diflferent parts of the 

 bed, gave, on analysis, — 



100- 



The shale associated with the coal contains a sufficient quantity of 

 bituminous and coaly matter to render it combustible, but it diflfers 

 from coal in leaving a stony residue instead of a pulverulent ash. 



It appears from the above analysis that the best coal of this bed is 

 very impure, its percentage of ash being double that of Pictou coal ; 

 and when this is taken in connexion with its intimate intennixture 

 with shale, it must be evident that the produce of this seam could 

 scarcely be exported with profit. It might possibly be worked to 



