28 Facts relating to Diluvial Action, 



the north part of Sullivan ; that south of this space of 50 miles, 

 the altitude of the mountains considerably increases ; in this in- 

 termediate space, it appears that tops of the ridges had been 

 dilapidated by mighty force, and that the current had pressed 

 easterly, and often times carried large pieces of rock to a con- 

 siderable distance, say from 50 to 200 rods, and if the frag- 

 ments are of very considerable size they always rest in the solid 

 strata. In many instances, sections of the strata were broken 

 out and raised by the violence of the current, and left on the 

 tops of the highest hills. I have seen an instance where a rock 

 20 feet square has been carried half a mile on the level surface 

 of the strata that are covered about three feet with earth, and 

 there left in that position ; the violence of the current having 

 ceased to effect its farther removal from its original position. 



The upper strata of the whole section of the county before 

 the deluge, appear to have been composed of a common grey 

 sandstone, covering the surface of the rock from 12 to 24 inches 

 thick. This seems to have been the last marine formation ; it 

 is full of fissures and cracks, being broken into small angular 

 pieces by the first violent surges of the deluge, and now scatter- 

 ed on the surface of the ground. 



The next lower strata are puddingstone, filled with quartz 

 and felspar, and other primitive minerals ; its parts are gene- 

 rally water-worn, and are from the size of a robin's to that of a 

 hen's egg. The next rock underneath is the old red sandstone, 

 which is universally found in the bottom of the valleys ; on the 

 tops, however, of the highest hills, the red clay-slate is universal- 

 ly found, and, for 80 or 90 miles west, gives a reddish colour to 

 all the soils of the county, and passes southerly through New 

 Jersey and Pennsylvania. 



The valleys in this section of country uniformly run from north 

 to south, are in many instances from 1000 to 1200 feet deep, 

 and are the beds of the large streams. The lesser valleys are 

 covered with pieces of red and grey sandstone, of a convenient 

 size for making fences. The most free and feasible land is al- 

 ways found on the tops, and on the eastern sides of the hills, 

 the western sides being uniformly steep and broken. The 

 whole of the earth or soil appears to have been removed from 

 the solid strata at the deluge, and most, if not all the upper 

 strata of sandstone, were then broken up. A small portion of 



