Minerdlogical Journey. 297 



The Beryls occur in that part of the ledge which abounds more par- 

 ticularly with black Tourmalines, and are diffused among the imperfect 

 crystals of this substance, common feldspar and quartz. They rarely 

 exceed an inch in length ; are quite perfect, and of a white color, or of 

 a white slightly tinged with blue. In the same aggregate, occur the 

 crystals of Zircon ; and which were first pointed out to me by Mr. 

 Nuttall of Cambridge. They are comparatively rare, and very mi- 

 nute, — requiring a microscope for their observation ; by the aid of 

 which, they are seen to be of a clove-brown color, and to be crystalliz- 

 ed in four sided prisms, surmounted by four sided pyramids with rhom- 

 boidal faces, the planes of which correspond to the lateral edges. 



Of those minerals which this place continues to afford, the Rose 

 quartz^ only, remains to be described. This is found about twenty 

 five or thirty rods in a south easterly direction from the spot above 

 described, in a low piece of ground near the public road. It oc- 

 curs loose in the soil, among the fragments of graphic granite. One 

 spot has afforded all the pieces which have liitherto been obtained. 

 Considerable labor, however, is requisite to procure even a small num- 

 ber of specimens : for much soil and loose materials require to be re- 

 moved and carefully examined ; and occasionally large masses of 

 quartz, are to be reduced to fragments, since not unfrequently these 

 contain the finest pieces. But, so rich are the specimens which 

 this locality affords, that the collector will not regard the labor he is 

 obliged to encounter. They certainly appeared to us, as the finest 

 pieces, for color and fracture, we had ever seen. Those who have 

 not enjoyed an opportunity of observing good specimens from this 

 place, may conceive of them best, by imagining the Madagascar peb- 

 bles of Rock crystal changed from transparent to translucent, by a slight 

 milky cloudiness ; and then, equally tinged throughout of an exquis- 

 itely delicate rose red color. 



I now proceed to the notice of a collection of Tourmalines and oth- 

 er minerals, which I made at this locality in Sept. 1825. I commenced 

 my researches directly upon the top of the Tourmaline ledge, not in- 

 deed, in the firm granite ; but rather, in a covering of loose materials 

 reposing upon it, to the depth of four or five feet. Here a slight dig- 

 ging had been commenced, over a surface of a few feet, apparently in 

 search of the fine crystallizations of brown Qiiartz, with which it 

 would seem, that this particular spot formerly abounded. On causing 

 the exploration to be renewed, an abundance of this substance was 

 thrown out ; and very soon, I began to meet with masses of Lepido- 



Vol. XVIII.— No. 2. 38 



