GEOLOGY. 353 



rived from others I am induced to think that this subsidence may extend 

 along a considerable portion of the Atlantic coast of the United States. 



The occurrence of timber in the marshes and water below tide-level is 

 common along our whole Atlantic shore. Almost, every person at all fami- 

 liar wLh shore life has observed the remains of logs, stumps and roots in 

 such places. Generally, however, they have been looked upon as the re- 

 mains of trees, torn from their original places of growth by torrents or by 

 the wealing away of the shores, and deposited where they arc found by tiic 

 ordinary action of the water. To any one who examines them carefully it 

 soon becomes evident that they grew upon the spots where they now are. 

 The stumps remain upright; their roots are stiil fast in the firm loamy 

 ground which underlies the marsh and their bark and small roots remain 

 attached to them. The localities, too, where they are most abundant, arc 

 such as arc least liable to be affected by the violent action of the water or of 

 storms. Thus they arc by far the most abundant on the low and gently- 

 sloping shores of Long Island, New Jersey, and all the states further south, 

 which are protected from the violent action of the surf by a line of sand 

 beaches, at the same time that the numerous inlets allow free access to the 

 tides. In these protected situations, hundreds and even thousands of acres 

 can be found, in which the bottoms of the marshes and bays are as thickly 

 set with the stumps of trees, as is the ground of any living forest. 



The first and chief part of my own observations were made upon the south 

 ern part of New Jersey, following the shore of Delaware Bay from its head 

 down to Cape May, and the Atlantic shore from Cape May north to Great 

 Egg Harbor. The examinations have since been continued along the shore 

 to New York City, and thence eastward at several points along the south 

 shore of Long Island. 



I may remark that the remains of trees are not equally abundant in all 

 localities, owing partly perhaps to differences of exposure, but more to the 

 difference in durability of the various species of wood. In many places, 

 where oak, gum, and other deciduous trees were known to stand formerly, 

 there are no traces of them now ; they have entirely rotted away. On the 

 contrary, the pine and the red and white cedar are almost indestructible. I 

 hive seen pine stumps several feet under the marsh, where they have been 

 for an unknown period, which retain the characteristic smell and appearance 

 of the wood almost as perfectly as the fresh-cut specimens. At several places 

 m southern New Jersey an enormous amount of white cedar timber is found 

 buried in the salt marshes, sound and fit for use, and a considerable business 

 is carried on in mining this timber and splitting it into shingles for market. 

 In some places it is found so near the surface that fragments of the roots 

 and branches are seen projecting above the marsh, while in other cases, the 

 whole is covered with smooth meadow sods, and there is no indication of 

 what is beneath till it is sounded by thrusting a rod down into the mud. 



It is in deposits where these durable species of wood are found that wa 

 get the most accurate idea of the depth to which these remains extend. At 

 Dennisville, there is a large tract of marsh underlaid by cedar swamp earth 

 and timber. By probing the marsh with an iron rod the workmen find 



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