HAWORTH. | Discoveries of Oil and Gas. 11 
of oil, in what is now New York, known to the Indians and by 
them given a name signifying “plenty there.’ Likely this was 
the petroleum occupying the cavities in fossils at Black Rock, 
below Buffalo, in sufficient abundance to be an object of com- 
merce. Concerning the celebrated oil-spring of the Seneca 
Indians, near Cuba, N. Y., which D’Allion may also have seen, 
Prof. Benjamin Silliman, in 1833, said: 
““This is situated in the western part of the county of 
Allegany, in the state of New York. This county is the third 
‘from Lake Erie on the south line of the state, the counties of 
Cattaraugus and Chautauqua lying west and forming the 
‘southwestern termination of the state of New York. The 
‘spring is very near the line which divides Allegany and Catta- 
raugus. . . . The country is rather mountainous, but the 
road running between the ridges is very good and leads through 
a cultivated region rich in soil and picturesque in scenery. Its 
geographical formation is the same as that which is known 
‘to prevail in the western region; a silicious sandstone with 
shale, and in some places limestone, is the immediate basis of 
the country. . . . The oil-spring or fountain rises in the 
midst of a marshy ground. It is a muddy, dirty pool of about 
-elghteen feet in diameter and is nearly circular in form. There 
is no outlet above ground, no stream flowing from it, and it is, 
of course, a stagnant water, with no other circulation than that 
which springs from the changes in temperature and from the 
gas and petroleum that are constantly rising through the pool. 
“We are told that the odor of petroleum is perceived at a 
distance in approaching the spring. This may be true in par- 
ticular states of the wind, but we did not distinguish any 
peculiar smell until we arrived on the edge of the fountain. 
Here its peculiar character became very obvious. The water 
is covered with a thin layer of petroleum or mineral oil, as if 
‘coated with dirty molasses, having a yellowish-brown color. 
“They collect the petroleum by skimming it like cream from 
‘a milk-pan. For this purpose they use a broad, flat board, 
made thin at one edge like a knife; it is moved flat upon and just 
‘under the surface of the water and is soon covered by a coat- 
ing of petroleum, which is so thick and adhesive that it does 
‘not fall off, but is removed by scraping the instrument upon 
‘the lip of a cup. It has then a very foul appearance, but it is 
purified by heating and straining it while hot through flannel. 
It is used by the people of the vicinity for sprains and rheu- 
-matism and for sores on their horses.’ 
“The ‘muddy, dirty pool’ was included in an Indian reser- 
-vation, one mile square, leased in 1860 by Allen, Bradley & 
‘Co., who drove a pipe into the bog. At thirty feet oil began 
‘to spout to the tune of a barrel an hour, a rhythm not unpleas- 
‘Ing to the owners of the venture. The flow continued several 
weeks and then ‘stopped short, never to go again.’ Other wells 
