24 A GEOLOGICAL HISTORY. 



The hills at "Corker's Hook" were dug down 

 between the years 1800 and 1830. Some of 

 them, at the east of Col. Rutgers' house,* were 

 nearly 80 feet in height ; they were composed of 

 all the different kinds of drift wash, &c, which 

 are found on this island, and particularly of a vast 

 number of large boulders, laying on, and next to, 

 each other, and this to a greater degreethan in 

 any other place. These heights have been lev- 

 elled 1 ; but even now, in many parts of this region, 

 when cellars are to be dug, many of these boul- 

 ders appear,' and when broken up, a sufficient 

 quantity of stone is obtained to build the founda- 

 tions. In digging down these hills, and breaking 

 the boulders, many handsome minerals and fossils 

 were found, which I shall enumerate in the cata- 

 logue. Two of these boulders were Anthophyl- 

 lite, one of which was 18 feet long, 9 or 10 feet 

 high, and about 12 feet broad; in this were beau- 

 tiful crystals of Actinolite.t This Anthophyllite 



* The country seat of Col. Henry Rutgers stood where now stands a 

 new building (in a square) occupied by his nephew, Col. Crosby; in the 

 rear of this, towards the east, on the highest of these hills, was a fort ; 

 this hill, if I recollect rightly, was more than 60 feet above the present 

 level of Montgomery Street. There was also a fort where Division and 

 Pitt Streets join Grand Street, on a hill called Mount Pitt. 



t Near this boulder lay another large one of Chlorite slate, which was 

 translucid, showing a beautiful green light through its thin edges. This 

 boulder cannot be referred to any known locality in this neighbourhood. 



