﻿372 
  Judcl 
  and 
  Hidden 
  — 
  Ruhy 
  in 
  North 
  Carolina. 
  

  

  ("knobs") 
  in 
  and 
  immediately 
  around 
  it 
  rise 
  to 
  the 
  height 
  of 
  

   from 
  3,000 
  to 
  3,500 
  feet 
  ; 
  but 
  at 
  no 
  great 
  distance 
  to 
  the 
  west 
  

   there 
  occurs 
  much 
  higher 
  ground 
  (the 
  jMantahaleii 
  Mountains) 
  

   up 
  to 
  5,000 
  and 
  5,500 
  feet. 
  

  

  In 
  1896 
  the 
  district 
  was 
  visited 
  and 
  examined 
  by 
  Mr. 
  C. 
  

   Barrington 
  Brown, 
  who 
  had 
  made 
  the 
  examination 
  for 
  the 
  

   British 
  Government 
  of 
  the 
  well-known 
  ruby 
  district 
  of 
  Mogok 
  

   in 
  Burma. 
  He 
  found 
  that 
  the 
  country 
  was 
  one 
  of 
  gneissose 
  

   rocks, 
  the 
  gneiss 
  often 
  containing 
  garnets 
  and 
  corundum,* 
  not 
  

   of 
  gem 
  quality, 
  and 
  that 
  this 
  mass 
  of 
  gneissose 
  rocks 
  is 
  prob- 
  

   ably 
  traversed, 
  like 
  that 
  of 
  Burma, 
  by 
  great 
  dikes 
  of 
  pegmatite 
  

   and 
  more 
  basic 
  rocks, 
  for 
  blocks 
  of 
  these 
  materials 
  are 
  abun- 
  

   dantly 
  scattered 
  through 
  the 
  gravels' 
  of 
  the 
  district. 
  

  

  Garnets 
  are 
  so 
  abundant 
  in 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  rocks 
  of 
  the 
  district 
  

   that 
  mines 
  have 
  been 
  opened 
  to 
  work 
  the 
  rocks 
  for 
  abrasive 
  

   materials. 
  In 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  pegmatites 
  the 
  crystals 
  of 
  muscovite 
  

   are 
  so 
  well 
  developed 
  that 
  several 
  " 
  mica 
  mines 
  " 
  have 
  been 
  

   opened. 
  There 
  are 
  other 
  mines 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  worked 
  for 
  

   copper 
  with 
  some 
  prospects 
  of 
  success 
  ; 
  while, 
  as 
  we 
  shall 
  see 
  

   in 
  the 
  sequel, 
  gold, 
  monazite, 
  and 
  sperrylite 
  (the 
  rare 
  arsenide 
  

   of 
  platinum) 
  have 
  been 
  obtained 
  in 
  the 
  alluvial 
  deposits 
  which 
  

   are 
  so 
  extensively 
  present 
  in 
  this 
  region. 
  

  

  Although 
  only 
  a 
  few 
  miles 
  away 
  from 
  Corundum 
  Hill, 
  Buck 
  

   Creek, 
  EUijay, 
  and 
  other 
  famous 
  corundum 
  localities, 
  where, 
  as 
  

   shown 
  by 
  Lewis, 
  Pratt, 
  and 
  other 
  authors, 
  corundum 
  is 
  found 
  

   in 
  the 
  intrusive 
  dunites, 
  near 
  their 
  junction 
  with 
  the 
  crystalline 
  

   schists 
  of 
  the 
  district, 
  no 
  olivine 
  rocks, 
  or 
  serpentines 
  derived 
  

   from 
  them, 
  have 
  been 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  immediate 
  neighborhood 
  

   of 
  the 
  new 
  ruby 
  locality. 
  

  

  ]^either 
  have 
  limestone 
  rocks 
  been 
  found 
  in 
  close 
  proximity 
  

   to 
  the 
  alluvia 
  containing 
  these 
  fine 
  rubies. 
  In 
  fact, 
  the 
  nearest 
  

   point 
  at 
  which 
  any 
  limestone 
  bands 
  have 
  been 
  found 
  is 
  about 
  

   eight 
  miles 
  away. 
  Here 
  the 
  bands 
  consist 
  of 
  a 
  '' 
  calciphyre," 
  

   not 
  unlike 
  some 
  of 
  those 
  found 
  in 
  Burma, 
  and, 
  like 
  them, 
  con- 
  

   taining 
  many 
  silicates, 
  such 
  as 
  wollastonite, 
  scapolite, 
  pyrox- 
  

   enes, 
  hornblendes, 
  biotito, 
  etc., 
  with 
  graphite, 
  pyrrhotite, 
  and 
  

   many 
  other 
  minerals. 
  

  

  When 
  the 
  alluvium 
  and 
  the 
  gravels 
  below 
  them 
  (the 
  latter 
  

   being 
  from 
  2 
  to 
  10 
  feet 
  in 
  thickness) 
  are 
  penetrated, 
  they 
  are 
  

   often 
  found 
  to 
  rest 
  on 
  a 
  soft 
  rock 
  known 
  to 
  American 
  petrolo- 
  

   gists 
  as 
  " 
  saprolite," 
  which 
  is 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  the 
  weathering 
  in 
  

   place 
  of 
  basic 
  silicate 
  rocks. 
  This 
  " 
  saprolitic 
  " 
  rock 
  can 
  often 
  

   be 
  pierced 
  to 
  considerable 
  depths, 
  without 
  the 
  undecomposed 
  

   rocks 
  from 
  which 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  derived 
  being 
  reached. 
  

  

  * 
  The 
  coruudurn 
  in 
  these 
  gneissose 
  rocks 
  usually 
  occurs 
  in 
  long 
  hexagonal 
  

   prisms 
  with 
  basal 
  planes, 
  but 
  no 
  other 
  forms, 
  and 
  the 
  mineral 
  nearly 
  always 
  

   exhibits 
  purplish 
  tints. 
  

  

  