COPPER ORES. 
71 
than iron, and as it may be extracted from the 
earth with considerably less trouble than any of 
the iron ore that has yet been discovered, there 
is reason to imagine, that at a future day it 
will be much more used than iron for every 
purpose to which it can be applied. On the 
borders of a river, which falls into* the south¬ 
west side of Lake Superior, virgin copper is 
found in the greatest abundance ; and on most 
of the islands on the eastern side it is also 
\ 
found. In the possession of a gentleman at 
•Niagara I saw a lump of virgin copper of se¬ 
veral ounces weight, apparently as pure as if 
it had passed through tire, which I was in- 
■ formed had been struck off with a chisel from 
.a piece equally pure, growing on one of these 
islands, which must at least have weighed forty 
pounds. . Rich veins of copper are visible in 
almost all the rocks on these islands tow r ards 
the shore; and copper ore, resembling cop¬ 
peras, is likewise found in deep beds near the 
water : in a few hours bateaux might here be 
filled with ore, and in less than three days 
conveyed to the Straits of St. Mary, after 
passing which the ore might be laden on board 
large vessels, and conveyed by water without 
any farther interruption as far as Niagara 
River, The portage at the Straits of St. 
Mary may be passed in a few hours, and with 
a fair wind large vessels proper for traversing 
