68 _ Geology of Massachusetts. 
upon his mind, I did all in my power to persuade him not to engage 
in searching for the ore. But the only effect was to stimulate him 
to commence an exploration with more ardor. The zine was found 
in a loose piece of rock, lying in the field. ‘The man’s impression 
was, that even if that ore was of no use, it indicated something valu- 
able beneath. Accordingly, he commenced digging. Ere long his 
faith was strengthened, by some one’s discovering a light, during the 
darkness, near the spot; and the last time I heard from the man, he 
had penetrated the soil about seventy feet. 
The following case has been stated to me on such authority, that 
I do not doubt its correctness. 
Some forty or fifty years ago, a farmer residing not far from the 
center of Massachusetts, knocked off from a rock upon his farm, a 
piece of ore, which he sold in Boston for a considerable sum, as a 
rich ore of silver. From that time till the day of his death, he 
searched in vain for the rock from which it was broken. The in- 
ference, which he drew from his ill success, was that Satan, (who is 
thought, by multitudes, to have unlimited power over the mineral 
treasures of the earth,) had concealed or removed the precious vein. 
Conceiving, however, that some of his posterity might have more 
interest with that personage than himself, he reserved to them the. 
right of digging the ore, in the instrument which conveyed away his 
title to the land. His posterity were not forgetful of the reservation ; 
but they were convinced that it would be of no use to them, unless 
they could meet with some individual, who had entered into a league, 
(as the phrase is with the class of people I am describing,) with his 
Satanic majesty. Last year they heard of such a man, a German, 
in Pennsylvania, who had obtained possession of a wonderful glass, 
through which he could discover whatever lies hid beneath the soil. 
The German was persuaded to visit the spot, and when I passed 
through the place, a little more than a year ago, an excavation was 
about to be commenced under his direction. But I have not learned 
how the enterprise succeeded. 
Still more ridiculous than the opinions and practices above men- 
tioned, are some still existing in a few places in the State, relative 
to deposits of money, said to have been made by one Kid, a cele- 
brated buccaneer of early times. ‘The statement is, that he frequent- 
ly ascended our streams a considerable distance, and buried in their 
banks, large sums of money. ‘These are supposed to be guarded 
with sleepless vigilance by the personage mentioned before. But by 
