APPENDIX. 341 



to weigh from two to five tons. This extraordinary mass is 

 situated at the base of a diluvial precipice composed of reddish 

 loam and mixed boulders and pebbles of granite, greenstone, 

 quartz, and sandstone and diallage rocks. The nearest strata, in 

 situ, are red sandstone, grauwacke, and greenstone trap. A com- 

 pany of miners was formerly employed in searching for copper 

 mines upon the banks of this river. They dug down about forty 

 feet into the diluvial soil, at a spot where a green-colored water 

 issued from the hill. In sinking this pit, several masses of native 

 copper were found, and they discovered, as their report indicates, 

 the same metal "imbedded in stone." But the enterprise was 

 abandoned, in consequence of the falling in of the pit. 



At Keweena Point, on Lake Superior, I found native copper 

 along the shore of the lake, constituting small masses in pebbles, 

 and, in one instance, in a mass of several pounds' weight, which 

 was found in the Ontonagon Valley. I also observed the green 

 carbonate of copper, in several places, in the detritus. The strata 

 of this point appear to be charged with this mineral, particularly 

 in its native forms. Hardly a mass of the loose rock is without 

 some trace of the metal, or its oxides or salts. It would be diffi- 

 cult, on any known principles, to resist the testimony which is 

 offered, by every observer, to favor the idea that extensive and 

 very valuable mines exist. The whole lake shore, from this 

 peninsula to the Montreal Kiver, is replete with these evidences. 



There are indications that this mineral pervades the rocks and 

 soils, in a radius of one hundred and fifty miles or more, south 

 and west of this central point. It has been discovered at the 

 sources of the Menominee, Chippewa, Montreal, and St. Croix, 

 and even at more distant points. 



At St. Peter's, in digging down for the purpose of quarrying 

 the rock, about eighteen inches depth of dark alluvium was 

 passed; then a deposit of diluvial soil, with large fragments of 

 limestone, greenstone, quartz rock, &c., about six feet; and, lastly, 

 one foot of small pebbles, &c., constituting the copper diluvium. 

 No large mass was found ; nor any veins in the rock. 



