298 Mr. HOR-N-ER on the Mineralogy of the Malvern Hills, 



very small extent. In this place, a hundred years ago, a shaft was 

 sunk in the hope of finding metal, but from the following account 

 in Nash's History of Worcestershire, the attempt does not appear 

 to have been attended with much success. *' In the year 1711, 

 " one Williams of Bristol sunk a mine about a mile from the town 

 (Great Malvern), on the top of the hill as you go to the Holy Well. 

 He at first worked by a level, about eighty yards, then sunk a per- 

 pendicular shaft, near 220 feet deep : he built several furnaces, but 

 never extracted any considerable metal ; though he asserted that both 

 tin and copper were to be found. He persevered in his trials for ten 

 years, and then gave up the project." It is very probable, that the 

 metallic lustre of the micaceous rock was the cause of the specula- 

 tion ; and to this day, the country people call the scales of mica, 

 which are washed down by the streams in this part of the hill, gold 

 dust. They are, however, so far aware of the difference, that they 

 save themselves the trouble of collecting it. There is now no ap- 

 pearance of the level, and the shaft is almost completely filled up ; 

 a large heap of loose stones however lies upon the side of the hill, 

 immediately below the mouth of the shaft, which is probably the 

 rubbish of the mine, although it is so long since it was worked; for 

 there are no rocks above from which they could have fallen down. 

 Among these, I found the following varieties : 



a. Composed chiefly of hornblende, mica, and felspar. In some 

 places the mica is crystallized. 



b. The same rock as the preceding, but containing a larger propor- 

 tion of flesh-red felspar. A small quantity of copper and iron 

 pyrites is disseminated through the mass. 



c. A friable rock, composed of greenish black mica and green de- 

 composing felspar. 



