70 



Geology of Massachusetts. 



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 valuable 

 beneath. Accordingly he commenced digging. Ere long, his faith 

 was strengthend, by some one's discovering a light, during the dark- 

 ness, 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 \o( 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 infer- 

 ence, 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 in- 

 terest 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 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 whom 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. And I have since been told 

 the work was prosecuted till the owner's property, was well nigh ex- 

 pended. 



Still more ridiculous than the opinions and practices above mention- 

 ed are some still existing in a few places in the State, relative to de- 

 posits of money, said to have been made by one Kidd, a celebrated 

 buccaneer of early times. The statement is, that he frequently as- 

 cended our streams a considerable distance, and buried in their banks, 

 large sums of money. These are supposed to be guarded with sleep- 

 less vigilance by the personage mentioned before. But by the use of 

 certain incantations, while digging for the treasure, it may be wrest- 

 ed out of his hands ; for instance, perfect silence must reign during 



