Their report was of the most favorable character. They found copper, lead, silver, zinc, mercury—bath cinnabar, and sulphide—and in several places they discovered gold, but not in paying quantities. Many concessions for working these mines have been granted; some of them have been profitable, while others have been the reverse, owing chiefly to the lack of means of transportation. The steady increase in the number of railways and wagon-roads is doing much toward the development of these mines, and rendering profitable the working of those which have thus far been managed at a loss. [Sidenote: EXPLORATIONS OF THE IRON MINES.] But the greatest mineral wealth of Algeria is in its iron mines, which abound all along the coast, and so near to it that the matter of transportation is of no great consequence. The ore is of a remarkably good quality, as it contains very little sulphur, arsenic, and phosphorus, which frequently render otherwise valuable material almost worthless. Much of it contains a great deal of manganese, which is very useful in smelting and reducing the metal, and renders it unnecessary to supply that article in making the flux. The ore is so rich that it pays to transport it to England, even though it comes in competition with the iron ores of that country. The principal use of this Algerian iron is for manufacture into Bessemer steel, and it is said to be vastly superior to all other iron for this purpose. The advance in iron and steel in the past few years has been greatly to the advantage of the iron miners in Algeria, and the most of them are making their fortunes with great rapidity. One of the richest mines in the country is near Bone, in the Province of Constantine. During a journey through Algeria, I paid a visit to that place, and embraced the opportunity to investigate the iron question. The mine is nothing more or less than a mountain of iron. It is known in Arabic as _Moktu-el-Hadid_, and was worked very slightly by the Kabyles, previous to the French occupation. The place is nineteen miles from Bone, and a railway connects the mine with the harbor. It is so arranged that the ore, which is piled into the cars at the mine, can be dumped into the holds of the ships in the harbor. At first glance, you would not suppose this mountain to be of any special value. It looks not unlike the famous Iron Mountain of Missouri, but is more irregular, and is not covered in the same way with trees and bushes. But as you examine closer, you see that the mountain is no common affair. [Sidenote: DESCRIPTION OF THE VALUE OF THE MINES.]