1853.] 



DAWSON ON THE ALBERT MINE. 



Ill 



represented in fig. 2. The outcrop of the coal in the bed of the 

 brook was, as I was informed, very narrow, and the appearances now 

 presented are as if the shales had arched over it. On the northern 

 side of the arch above referred to, and in the north branch of the 

 brook, are seen a thick series of bituminous and calcareous shales, 

 with three beds of sandstone, the whole dipping to the north-west at 

 The strike of one of the most regular beds I found tc 



a high angle. 



Fig. 2. Arched Sh'ata, near 

 Albert Mine. 



Fig. 3. Bent Strata, near 

 Albert Mine. 



be S. 18° W. magnetic. Many of the shales contain scales of Fish, 

 and one of them has a peculiar oolitic structure, consisting of a lami- 

 nated basis of impure coaly matter or earthy bitumen, with crystalline 

 calcareous grains, which are removed by weathering, and leave a light 

 vesicular inflammable residuum of very singular aspect. The shales 

 are in some places remarkably bent and contorted, as if by lateral 

 pressure when in a soft state. A part of one of these flexures is 

 accurately represented in fig. 3, and illustrates some appearances in 

 the mine to be subsequently noticed. 



The principal shaft has been sunk perpendicularly from the out- 

 crop of the coal, and at its bottom is 67 feet south of it. The gallery 

 connecting the bottom of the shaft with the coal shows thin-bedded 

 bituminous shales with calcareous and ironstone bands and concre- 

 tions, dipping at the end nearest the coal S.S.W., at an angle of 60°, 

 though a dip to the S.E, is more prevalent along this side of the 

 mine. The coal at this place is about 10 feet in thickness, and its 

 upper surface dips N.W. about 75°. On the S.E., or under side, it 

 rests against the edges of the somewhat contorted beds, already no- 

 ticed as dipping to the southward, and on the north-west side it is 

 overlaid by similar beds dipping in the same direction with the coal, 

 but so much contorted as to present on the small scale a most com- 

 plicated and confused appearance. The coal itself, as seen in mass 

 underground, presents a beautiful and singular appearance. It has 

 a splendent resinous lustre and perfect conchoidal fracture ; it is per- 

 fectly free from mineral charcoal and lines of impure coal or earthy 

 matter. It is, however, divided into prismatic pieces by a great 

 number of smooth divisional planes, proceeding from wall to wall, 

 much in the manner of the cross structure seen in carbonized trees, 

 and in the streaks of pitch-coal in the ordinary coals. At the N.W. 

 side, or roof, the coal joins the rock without change. On the S.E. 

 side, on the contrary, there is a portion of coal a few inches thick. 



