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 NEW HAMPSHIKE 293 union of the Salmon Falls and Cochecho rivers and Great bay at Dover point, draining near- ly one eleventh of the area of the state ; and the Piscataqua and Salmon Falls rivers consti- tute part of the boundary line between Maine and New Hampshire. Great bay, a tidal basin containing an area of about 9 sq. m., extends to Exeter, and receives the waters of the Bel- lamy, Lamprey, Oyster, Squamscot, and Win- nicut rivers. The Piscataqua river from Dover point to Portsmouth is deep and about half a mile wide. Through its channel Great bay discharges its waters at ebb tide with such swiftness that Portsmouth harbor has never been known to freeze over. It is one of the most secure and commodious harbors on the coast, into which ships of the largest capacity can enter. The Merrimack and its branches, and the Salmon Falls, have numerous cataracts, furnishing a large amount of water power to manufacturing towns. The Androscoggin has a small part of its course in the N. E. part of this state, and the Saco has also its source among the White mountains, and runs S. E. into Maine. The Saco near its head waters passes through the celebrated notch, a remark- able chasm 2 m. long, and where narrowest only 22 ft. wide. The Margalloway, which falls into Lake Umbagog, has part of its course in New Hampshire. About one sixteenth of the surface of this state is covered with water, embracing about 1,500 streams and numerous lakes and ponds. Winnipiseogee is the largest and most beautiful lake ; it is about 25 m. long by from 1 to 10 broad, with an area of nearly 72 sq. m., and contains 267 islands, and its shores are indented with numerous bays. Um- bagog lake, about 10 m. long and 5 broad, on the boundary between Maine and New Hamp- shire, is one of the sources of the Androscoggin ; four Connecticut lakes, the source of the river of the same name, are in the north ; and Mas- coma, Newfound, Ossipee, Sunapee, and Squam lakes, and several smaller bodies of water, are the sources and recipients of many streams. The rocks of New Hampshire are chiefly eozoic, belonging to the Laurentian, Atlantic, Labradorian, and Huronian, as defined by the state geologist. Small areas of Cambrian slates and larger ones of supposed Helderberg occur in the ^W. and S. W. portions of the state. Lithologically the rocks are gneiss, granite, felsite, ossipyte, andalusite gneiss and schists, mica, talcose, hydro-mica, and hornblende schists, clay slates, limestones, and quartzites. The most recent investigations indicate the existence of no good reasons for regarding the New Hampshire formations as altered palae- ozoic. Not much has been done in the work- ing of metallic ores. Iron has been mined at Franconia and Bartlett, and there are smaller veins at Landaff, Piermont, and Gil- ford. The ores are magnetic and specular. A blast furnace has been erected at Franconia, but the amount of pig thus far produced has been small, and the works have been aban- doned. Copper, zinc, and lead ores, most of the last argentiferous, are found in a large number of towns. In 'Madison a galena rich in silver has been worked extensively. A lead mine, largely argentiferous, and containing also a considerable quantity of copper, is success- fully worked in Warren. Large deposits of copper sulphuret exist in Gardner's mountain, in Lyman and Monroe. Pyrites is abundant in Hanover, Lebanon, Croydon, and Unity, suit- able for the manufacture of sulphuric acid. A vein containing oxide of tin in small quantity, and associated with arsenic, occurs in the town of Jackson. Gold is mined from the quartz in Lisbon, where are the quartz mills ; two com- panies are at work, and since the beginning of operations about $30,000 worth of gold has been sold to the United States mint. Granu- lar quartz has been worked in the towns of Unity and Keene, and applied to a variety of purposes. It is ground between millstones and bolted, to be used either as a polishing powder or for the preparation of sand paper at the manufactory of that article in Eocking- ham, Vt. It has also been mixed instead of barytes with white lead. The quartz of Lynde- borough is used in the manufacture of glass. Acworth, near Bellows Falls, is celebrated for its beryls, gigantic specimens of which are found in the collections of minerals through- out Europe. Tourmalines and mica are also found in great perfection. The latter is ex- tensively quarried at Alstead, a few miles S. of Acworth, and at Grafton, 35 m. N. It is sold at from $2 to $3 a pound, to be used for the windows in stoves, for lanterns, compass cards, &c. Other quarries are in Springfield and Alexandria. Sulphuret of molybdenum is found in many places, especially at Westmore- land ; and graphite or plumbago is also a com- mon mineral, which is worked for the manu- facture of crucibles at Taunton, Mass. Steatite or soapstone is also found in many localities, as at Orford, Haverhill, Richmond, Weare, Warner, and Keene. It is obtained at the quarry in Francestown in large blocks, which are cut to the dimensions of 6 ft. by 3 and 7 ft. by 5, as well as into slabs and smaller blocks. It is used for stoves, fireplaces, sinks, rollers used in dressing cotton warp, and other pur- poses. The mills for sawing the stone from Francestown are at Nashua. Granite is exten- sively quarried at Concord, Plymouth, Hook- sett, Manchester, Milford, Fitzwilliam, Rox- bury, Troy, Farmington, and Marlborough. The variety known as Concord granite is fine- grained, soft, and well adapted for monuments as well as for buildings, and takes a high rank in the estimation of architects. The soil of New Hampshire is not generally very fertile, but by industry and skill the inhabitants have in great measure overcome its natural defects. The best lands are in the valleys of the rivers, some of which are subject to occasional over- flows. The N. part of the state is chiefly pas- ture and wood land. The climate is severe,