this district, inclined at a considerable angle and rising towards a mass of the granite which appears in the form of a wall a few feet above the ground. Within a few yards of the granite the inclination of the strata is about 35°, but as it approaches nearer to it the angle increases to 63°, and the texture of the stone becomes much more compact; the actual junction of the two rocks is, as is usually the case, very indistinct, the stratification of the slate being very much disturbed and broken: but I was informed that the best whetstones are got nearest the granite, and I found the most indurated pieces in that situation. Being desirous of seeing the actual contact, I obtained permission from Mr. Warre to clear away the ground across the line of junction: and although the quantity of brushwood, and thick covering of soil, and a very unfavourable state of the weather prevented me from making so complete an examination as I wished, I so far effected my purpose as to find the junction. The granite as it approaches the slate becomes much finer grained than before, and at the contact there is an indistinct blending of the two, and as far as I can judge from the very imperfect specimens I could obtain, there is an appearance of fragments of the slate united by a granitic cement. All the circumstances appear to favour the supposition of this being a vein of granite, but the evidence I have to offer is too scanty to enable me to speak with confidence on the subject.
§ 11. Some years ago a shaft was sunk in one of the branches of Grabbist hill at Stanton, above the village of Alcombe, in consequence of some indications of copper in the rock there, but the quantity of one found was so small that the workings were very soon given up. I found among the rubbish some pieces of green carbonate of copper with grey copper. Similar trials with no better success were made at Perry near the northern extremity of
