No. 161.] 
35 
According to Messrs. Pierce and Torrey, it is reddish brown, cel- 
lular, and contains much oxide of manganese.* 
Orange county contains many extensive beds of Limonite, but I 
have not yet had an opportunity of visiting them, nor can I at pre* 
sent give a particular description of them. 
In the county of Dutchess, there are most valuable beds of brown 
hematite. These I have particularly examined, and I was no less 
surprised at their great extent, than gratified with the flourishing 
condition of the manufactories established in their vicinity. I had 
supposed that the wealth of this county was derived wholly from 
its agricultural products; but it only required a visit to the locali- 
ties about to be described, to satisfy me that in two important mi- 
nerals, viz. iron ore and marble, it contains treasures of no ordina- 
ry value. And I am happy to be enabled to state, that in all those 
parts of it through which I passed, much interest was manifested 
in the objects of the survey. My thanks are especially due to 
Gen. Cunningham, of Poughkeepsie, for the facilities which he af- 
forded me in the examination of the various mines and iron works 
of this interesting district. 
Fishkill Ore Bed.— This is the ore bed belonging to the Fishkill 
Iron Company. It is situated abo^at three miles north-east of the 
village of Hopewell. The hill in which it occurs presents no pe- 
culiarity that I could discover, except that its surface is made up 
of coarse gravel, and has a rounded form in various places. The 
ore is covered by a stiff whitish clay, and is intermixed with the 
same substance, caUed fuller^ s earth by the miners. Quartz is also 
one of the accompanying minerals, and a sort of slate is often 
found in the centre of the masses of ore, which causes some incon- 
venience to the smelter. The whole bed is made up of nodules of 
ore of various sizes and forms, but usually rounded, which are co- 
vered, and apparently cemented together with a yellowish-brown 
clayey ochre. These nodules are often hollow, and when this is 
the case, the inner surface is highly polished and has the appear- 
ance of having been fused. Sometimes, also, beautiful stalactites, 
of various sizes and forms, are found in these balls, and occasion- 
ally there is observed a thin lining of a black powdery matter, re- 
sembling plumbago, which is believed to be oxide of manganese. 
The structure of the ore is fibrous, and its color brown. 
* Cleaveland's Mineralogy. 
