Page:Transactions of the Geological Society, 1st series, vol. 1.djvu/310

 very small extent. In this place, a hundred years ago, a shaft was sunk in the hope of finding metal, but from the following account in Nash's History of Worcestershire, the attempt does not appear to have been attended with much success. “ In the year 1711, one Williams of Bristol sunk a mine about a mile from the town (Great Malvern), on the top of the hill as you go to the Holy Well. He at first worked by a level, about eighty yards, then sunk a perpendicular shaft, near 220 feet deep: he built several furnaces, but never extracted any considerable metal; though he asserted that both tin and copper were to be found. He persevered in his trials for ten years, and then gave up the project.” It is very probable, that the metallic lustre of the micaceous rock was the cause of the speculation; and to this day, the country people call the scales of mica, which are washed down by the streams in this part of the hill, gold dust. They are, however, so far aware of the difference, that they save themselves the trouble of collecting it. There is now no appearance of the level, and the shaft is almost completely filled up; a large heap of loose stones however lies upon the side of the hill, immediately below the mouth of the shaft, which is probably the rubbish of the mine, although it is so long since it was worked; for there are no rocks above from which they could have fallen down. Among these, I found the following varieties:

a. Composed chiefly of hornblende, mica, and felspar. In some place the mica is crystallized.

b. The same rock as the preceding, but containing a larger proportion of flesh-red felspar. A small quantity of copper and iron pyrites is disseminated through the mass.

c. A friable rock, composed of greenish black mica and green decomposing felspar.