APPENDIX. 527 



of tliat metal in beds ; and hence we occasionally see, upon maps 

 of that section of our country, particular portions marked as con- 

 taining "copper mines," where no copper now exists. But, while 

 it is certain that a combination of circumstances has served to 

 mislead the public mind with regard to the geological situation 

 and existing quantity of that metal, it is no less certain that a 

 greater quantity of insulated native copper has been discovered 

 upon the borders of Lake Superior, than in any other equal por- 

 tion of North America. 



Among the masses of native copper which have engaged the 

 attention of travellers in this section of country, one, which from 

 its great size was early noticed, is situated on the Ontonagon 

 Eiver, a stream which empties its waters into the southern part 

 of Lake Superior, 831 miles above the Falls of the Ste. Marie. 

 The Ontonagon Eiver is, with some difficulty, navigable by bat- 

 teaux 36 miles, at which place, by the union of two smaller 

 streams — one from an easterly and the other from a westerly 

 direction — the main stream is formed. The mass of copper is 

 situated on the western fork, at a distance of six or eight miles 

 from the junction. 



The face of the country through the upper half of the distance 

 from Lake Superior is uneven, and the irregularity is given it by 

 hills of marly clay, which occasionally rise quite abruptly to the 

 height of one or two hundred feet. No rock was observed in 

 sitUj except in one place, where, for a -distance, the red sandstone 

 was observed, forming the bed of the river. 



The mass of copper lies, partly covered by water, directly at 

 the foot of a clay hill, from which, together with numerous 

 boulders of the primitive rocks, it has undoubtedly been washed 

 by the action of the water of the river. Although it is completely 

 insulated, there is much to interest in its examination. Its largest 

 surface measures three and a half by four feet, and this, which is 

 of malleable copper, is kept bright by the action of the water, 

 and has the usual appearance of that metal when worn. To one 

 surface is attached a small quantity of rock, singularly bound 

 together by threads of copper, which pass through it in all direc- 

 tions. This rock, although many of its distinctive characters are 

 lost, is evidently a dark colored serpentine, with small interspersed 

 masses of milky quartz. 



