| Book Name |
Gems in North Carolina |
| Author |
Kunz |
| Published |
1907 |
|
|
North Carolina, with its magnificent mountains and its swiftly running rivers and streams, has now for some years come to possess almost as great a charm for the Northern as it long before had for the Southern tourist. "The land of the Sky" has become a favorite resort for the traveler, the invalid, the sportsman, the lover of nature, and the seeker for rest, from almost every part of the country. For the mineralogist, too, it has peculiar interest, so great, indeed, that its scenic attractions have, for such as he, been almost overmatched, not to say overlooked, in the search for the beautiful crystals that are found in its mountains, and the variety of rare, minute, and interesting minerals that occur in the brooks and streams associated with gold. Among these crystals and sands occur many minerals that have yielded true gems, and North Carolina has hence become one of the most notable States for gem production in the American Union.
The finding of these minerals, however, has been in most cases a secondary or incidental result in the search for and mining of substances more immediately desired for practical use on a larger scale. These last have been essentially three, which have developed in succession, and mark several stages in the mineral production of North Carolina. |
