50 ECONOMICAL MINERALOGY. 



Two other veins were opened in this vicinity, viz. the Robinson and the Ross veins ; but 

 they have not proved to be of much value. 



Some idea of the extent to which the Rossie mines were worked may be inferred from the 

 fact, that the amount of lead produced from them in 1838 was 3,347,463 pounds.* 



At Mineral Point on Black lake, six miles below the village of Rossie, is another mining 

 region which promised to be of considerable importance. One vein was opened, which had 

 an average width of two feet ; but the ore was largely mixed with the usual gangue, calca- 

 reous spar. The general course of the deposit was similar to that of the Rossie vein ; but 

 the ore, which was both crystallized and massive, was more largely mixed with sulphuret of 

 zinc. 



The mania of speculation which so generally prevailed in 1836 and 37, led to the opening 

 of several other veins in the immediate vicinity. These, however, are at the present time 

 scarcely deserving of notice. In one of them I observed the galena associated with fluor spar, 

 which is not a common occurrence in this region. 



In the northern part of the town of Gouverneur is the Wilson vein, which in fact is rather 

 a vein of calcareous spar in which are disseminated small masses of galena, than a true vein 

 of lead ore. Some beautiful specimens of crystallized spar have been obtained from this 

 locality. 



Veins of galena and calcareous spar, similar in most respects to those already described, 

 have been found in several other parts of this county, viz. in the tovvTis of Fowler and Pit- 

 cairn ;t but they are at present of no importance, and are not deserving of a detailed descrip- 

 tion. 



Sullivan County. The principal deposit of galena in this county is near the summit of 

 the Shawangunk mountains, about two miles northwest of the village of Wurtzboro', and 

 three quarters of a mile from the Hudson and Delaware canal. The vein or bed is situated 

 in the millstone grit of which this mountain is composed, and which here has a dip west- 

 southwest of about 45°. At the spot where the galena was first observed, a perpendicular 

 shaft was sunk ; to intersect which, a tunnel has been excavated, and with this there com- 

 municate galleries of several hundred feet in length. 



The deposit of ore at this locality is from two to five feet in width, but in this there is a 

 large proportion of quartzose materials. Tlu-ee varieties of galena are here found, viz. the 

 common, in the form of foliated masses, and breaking into cubical or rectangular fragments ; 

 the granular, composed of granular concretions resembling grains of steel ; and the compact, 

 made up of very fine grains, and having a compact texture, a somewhat conchoidal fracture, 

 and little metallic lustre. 



The galena, in all its varieties, is associated with tlie sulphurets of zinc, copper and iron ; 

 indeed so large is the proportion of the former of these ores, that the vein may with more 

 propriety be called a zinc, than a lead mine. The galena and blende often appear in the form 



♦ Report of the St. Lawrence Railroad Committee, 1839, f Emmons. New-York Geological Reports, 1838, 



