82 Notes on a Tour in France, Italy, and Elba. 



you see at the right hand as you enter the harbor of Porto Ferrajo, 

 has all the appearance of having been ejected from the earth by an 

 internal energy ; whereas those massy piles which stand on the south 

 and east of the island, bear no obvious marks of fire, although they, 

 too, may have been raised, at a more remote period, by that agent. 

 I have spent a week here, and seen many of the mineral productions. 

 I shall enumerate some of those which I have seen, without any re- 

 gard to system. There are probably others which have not come 

 under my observation. 



1 . Rock crystals, of various sizes, from a line in diameter to two 

 inches ; all in the form of the hexagonal pyramid at one extremity, 

 and some at both ; some diaphanous, as the purest water, and oth- 

 ers entirely opaque. 



2. Feldspar, crystallized and massive. 



3. Tourmaline. It often occurs in the feldspar. I found a vast 

 quantity of it in rolled fragments, lying along the northern shore of 

 the island, and it must have been brought there by the waves of the 

 sea. Some of the balls were nothing but black tourmaline, (schorl ;) 

 others were a mixture of this substance with feldspar. 



4. Rubellite. in beautiful crystals, but not enveloped, like those 

 of Chesterfield, in green tourmaline. 



5. Aqua-marine, not plentiful, but sometimes found. 



6. Epidote, crystallized, and in irregular masses. 



7. Jasper, red, green, and brown ; very abundant. 



8. Porcelain earth, or decomposed feldspar, in different parts of 

 the island. The manufacture of this article into porcelain, or China 

 ware, might be made a source of revenue to the government, were 

 fuel more plentiful. 



9. Limestone, primitive and secondary, red, white, and sky- 

 colored. The white is capable of being converted into a marble, 

 little, if at all, inferior to that of Carrara. The red, too, when pol- 

 ished, strongly resembles the best of the Rouge Antique of Rome. 



10. Arragonite, in the shape of calcareous stalactites. 



11. Mica, silver white, green and black. 



12. Yenite, jet black and brown, crystallized and massive. The 

 crystals usually occur in groups, which are, occasionally, large and 

 splendid. Formerly, yenite was abundant here, but at present good 

 crystals are rarely to be met with, and when bought of the inhabit- 

 ants, they are purchased at a high price. I have obtained, by dis- 

 covery and by purchase, a good number of specimens. A large group 



