An account of the discovery of a mass of native iron in Brasil. By A. F. Mornay, Esq. In a letter to William Hyde Wollaston, M. D. Sec. R. S

This mass was first discovered in the year 1784 by a person of the name of Bernardino da Mota Botelho, while looking after his cattle; and in consequence of the account he gave, the Governor-General of the province ordered it to be brought down to Bahia. A stout waggon or truck was conveyed to the spot; and after three days’ labour, the mass was lifted upon it, and by the force of forty pair of oxen was removed about a hundred yards, as far as the bed of a neighbouring rivulet, but there relinquished. And there it was found again by Mr. Mornay in January 1811; but the river was at that time quite dry, and frequently is so. The mass is about seven feet in length, its breadth four, with a thickness of about two feet. Its form is very irregular, with various cavities, especially on the under side; but the author estimated its capacity on the spot to be full twenty-eight cubic feet; and hence the weight is conceived to be about 14,000 pounds.