No. 200.] 165 
films of anthracite which frequently glaze its surfaces, have nourished the 
hopes of those who ardently wished that coal might be found there. 
In Fishkill, on the farm of Mt. Annan, is an excavation which has 
been made in expectation that coal would be found. It is in black 
slate, glazed with anthracite, and would be more likely to deceive those 
who are not familiar with coal regions, than any I have seen, except 
those of Hudson, and Rider's mill, in Chatham. This place has been 
called the coal mine for a century. It is at the base of the Highlands j 
and very near the junction of the granitic and slate rocks. 
Many localities might be mentioned, but these are sufficient to indi- 
cate the general character of the coal mines which are so often describ- 
ed in our newspapers as important discoveries, by the fortunate finders 
or speculators. I am unwilling to say that coal will not be found in 
quantity in the group of slate rocks of the Hudson valley, but I think 
it improbable that workable beds will be discovered in Columbia or 
Dutchess counties, and I would advise, that before any considerable 
expenditures be made in any locality where coal or other valuable mi- 
nerals may be supposed to exist, that a professional geologist, who is 
competent to judge, should examine the locality. Such a course would, 
in numerous instances, have saved much money which has been invest- 
ed and expended on unproductive property.^ 
Limestones and Marbles. 
The limestones of Columbia and Dutchess counties are very extensive- 
ly distributed, and are only beginning to attract the attention of the in- 
habitants to their value and their varied uses. They will form an inex- 
haustible source of wealth to the community. 
The limestones of these counties belong to four distinct geological 
epochs. The most recent of these limestones is that forming Becraft's 
mountain and Mount Eob, near Hudson. These mountains, (as they 
are called, although they are but moderately high hills,) are formed of 
several beds of limestone, which vary in their mineralogical and zoolo- 
gical characters.! Mount Bob and Becraft's mountain are outliers of 
* I feel it my duty here to expose the conduct of an individual named Adsett, who, during 
the past year, travelled over a part of Columbia county, pretending that he was one of the 
geologists employed by the Slate. In repeated instances, it is stated, he has taken leases of 
land, and then pretending to have discovered valuable mines, sold out the leases. He has thus 
swindled persons of various sums, amounting in'the aggregate to some hundreds of dollars at 
least. He is believed to be the same man who induced the company in New- York to bore and 
dig for coal in Canaan and Austerlitz. Some similar circumstances have been made known in 
Ulster county, in relation to lead and other mines. It is not known whether the same individual 
was concerned in these. 
t Mr. Conrad is investigating the fossil remains of those rocks, and the scieptific discussion* 
m relation to these formations, will be contained in the final report. 
