In the vicinity of the Coleraine Station of the Quebec Central Railway (the next station to Black Lake), serpentine also occurs; but the main ridge, extending south-west, keeps to the north-west for about a mile and a half, where it forms a conspicuous hill feature. An opening recently made on this south-west extremity by Mr. Kennedy disclosed the presence of a number of asbestos veins, one of which, occurring near the surface had a width, it is said, of nearly four inches. Sufficient work has not yet been done to determine the persistence and value of these veins, though when I was last leaving the district I was given to understand that energetic operations would commence immediately on the opening of the working season. A peculiarity here is the occurrence of a considerable quantity of mica in direct contact with the asbestos, a circumstance which has not hitherto been found to be the case anywhere else. BROUGHTON. The finest vein of asbestos ever yet worked in Canada was discovered at Broughton, when the Fraser Mine was first opened and worked by Dr. Reed; although doubtless the largest, most continuous, and consequently best paying veins have been found at Thetford, some of which, it has been stated, were over six inches in thickness. I confess I have not been fortunate enough to see anything like this, but I have seen many veins there, the produce of which was of surprising beauty, and specimens of which I have before me as I write, which are broad enough and good enough for any purpose to which the fibre can possibly be put. It must, however, be borne in mind that the same rule obtains with many other things as is noted in the vegetable world--namely, that the largest specimens are not necessarily the best. The broader veins of asbestos do not, as I have already remarked, yield as a rule fibre of so fine a quality as those of a medium, or even of a small size. The length of the fibre, moreover, cannot be determined with any absolute certainty from the thickness of the vein. On the contrary, the broader veins are not seldom found to be separated at right angles to the length of fibre by minute bands of serpentine, chrome, or magnetite, sometimes even by a separation without any perceptible layer of rock, the only indication of this being an irregular, scarcely visible line, readily detected by the expert.[9]