Silver Islet

I. INTRODUCTION. AMONG the industrial enterprises which have, from time to time, been undertaken in our Dominion, few have been more uniformly unsuccessful than those which have had for their object the development of our mineral resources. These resources have not been regarded as insignificant. On the contrary, it is supposed that we possess in our ore deposits something more than mere points of mineralogical interest. Some people are enthusiastic enough to believe that our mineral wealth will yet occasion the establishment in our backwoods of happy and industrious communities, causing, in fact, our wilderness to blossom as the rose. These enthusiasts do not shut their eyes to the serious obstacles which at every stage interfere with the carrying out of mining enterprises in this country, and which tempt one to believe that no such enterprise can ever be conducted to a desirable end, but they entertain the conviction that as our capitalists, miners, and technologists reach the years of discretion, and handle our mines in an economical, vigorous, and judicious manner, and as our statesmen become alive to the necessity of fostering, without extremely protecting, our metallurgical industries, mines and furnaces will gradually prosper, and so develop as to become a tower of strength to our agricultural, manufacturing, and mercantile interests. The fact that our past experience does not generally justify such glowing anticipations makes one all the more anxious to put on record the history of a successful mine, such as the Silver Islet has, on the whole, been. My connection with its discovery and early development was a very intimate one, and I propose in this paper to sketch its history and character, and sum up the amount of silver it has so far yielded. An additional reason for the appearance of this paper is that the Transactions of the Institute contain only a few references to the Silver Islet Mine. Although this mine is reported successful, we have, of course, no guarantee that it will not fall a victim to the same influences which have