98 
I AsSEMBLlf 
steep face of the hill, at the foot of which, and within sixty yards, is a 
fine creek, with water power sufficient to saw a large quantity of the 
marble, if the demands of commerce should require it. 
VII. SIENITE. 
This rock abounds in some parts of Westchester and Putnam coun- 
ties. In Westchester county it approaches in its characters to the 
" Quincy granite " of Massachusetts, and would probably make as 
beautiful and durable a material for building as that which is justly so 
celebrated. In Putnam the sienite is generally coarse grained, of a red- 
dish colour, spotted with black crystalline and irregular masses of horn- 
blende. This rock passes into hornblende slate and hornblende gneiss 
on the one hand, and into hornblende rock on the other. No localities 
were seen in Putnam county where this rock would be available for 
economical uses, except the granitic sienite, which has already been 
mentioned under the head of granite, as occuring in Break-neck moun- 
tain, and at Stoney Point above Cold Spring.* 
The sienite of Westchester county is composed of feldspar of a dark 
grayish colour, containing a little black hornblende. It forms the 
shore of Peekskill bay of the Hudson river, from about one-half mile to 
one and a half miles below Peekskill, on the eastern side of the bay. 
It forms the mass of some of the hills for four or five miles southeast of 
Peekskill, and valuable quarries of this rock may be opened, if it can 
brought into notice and use. It is a durable and beautiful stone, and 
may be procured in large blocks, but it is more labor to dress it than 
many of the granites and sienites sent to market. 
The same rock east of Verplanck, is changed to a black hornblende 
rock, with but little feldspar, and it contains magnetic oxide of iron dis- 
seminated in grains. One mile east of Verplanck it is coarsely crystal- 
line and jet black. Beautiful specimens of hornblende may be obtained 
there. The jet black colour of this mineral has caused excavations to 
be made in these hills to find coaLf a search that every one who knows 
* The mountain at the northwest corner of Putnam county, is frequently called Anthony's 
Nose and Anthony's Face, in consequence of the profile bearing a rude resemblance to the human 
face, that may be seen in one position in passing it ; but Break-neck mountain is the name by 
■which it is generally known. Anthony's Nose mountain is at the southwest corner of Putnam 
county, opposite Fort Montgomery. Stony Point, above Cold Spring, I propose to call 
Quarry-Point, to distinguish it from Stony Point in Rockland county, a place of much noto- 
riety in the annals of the revolution. 
t Another excavation for coal was made near the landing at Peekskill. It was in gneiss m 
which there was a seam of plumbago, or black lead, mixed with pyrites. It would burn for a 
time, in consequence of the carbon and sulphur, but was not adapted for a combustable, even 
had there been an abundance of it. A great noise was made in the papers for a time, but the 
