Newfoundland in 1897 - Rumbolt

04: NEWFOUNDLAND :
to that of Spain. In 1894 the quantity shipped was
thirty-eight thousand two hundred and fourteen tons,
valued at one hundred and ninety-five thousand seven
hundred and eighty dollars. Adjoining
it is another
deposit, said to be much larger. It awaits capital for
its development. The whole export of iron pyrites
in 1893 was fifty-eight thousand three hundred and
eleven tons, the value of which was two hundred and
sixty-four thousand three hundred and eighty-four
dollars.
It was not till very recently that iron ore in work-
able quantities was found in the island. As in the
case of copper, its discovery was somewhat romantic.
In Conception Bay, about twelve miles distant from
St. John's, lies Belle Isle, six miles in length and
three in breadth. It was long noted for its excellent
soil and the value of its farm products. No one
dreamed that it held any minerals. Under the
vegetable soil, however, there were extensive strata
of rock of a dusky red colour, which cropped out
at several places in the cliffs around the shores of
the island. Blocks of this reddish rock were detached
by the weather and lay on the beach, but no one took
any notice of these boulders. A fisherman, who was
going to St. John's, chanced to observe that these
rocks were much heavier than ordinary blocks, and
it occurred to him that they would make good ballast.
He piled a number of them into his little craft, and
when leaving St. John's on his return trip, having
obtained a cargo of goods, he left his ballast on one
of the wharves. Some one with a sharper eye than