or MARYLAND. 



31 



character being more marked on the slopes of the hills and 

 towards the river than lower down the peninsula, or inland, 

 where tlie soil is chiefly a sandy loam. In the beds of the 

 branches, an alluvial soil formed by the washings from the 

 hills is found better constituted, though principally also of a 

 very light character. When these ravines acquire more extent, 

 as they are observed to do from the Piscatawa to the Wicomico, 

 so as to present long and broad valleys, a corresponding im- 

 provement in the soil is discovered. This is the case with the 

 valley of the Piscatawa, a part of Mattawoman swamp, Port- 

 Tobacco bottom, and portions of Allen's fresh. But the best 

 lands occur on the levels along the Potomac, where the soil 

 is formed by the washings from the elevated country which 

 bounds them to the north and east. Some of these flats are of 

 considerable extent, increasing in this respect from north to 

 south, and are covered by sandy or clayey loams, or occasion- 

 ally stiff" clays, that yield good crops of wheat, corn, and 

 tobacco. When wooded the timber consists on these levels 

 principally of oaks, with several species of walnut and hickory, 

 {Juglans nigj^a ei cinerea and Carija alba et comprcssa;) and 

 along the river shores the sycamore, (Pla tonus occide7)ialis,) on 

 the uplands the pines, {Piruis inops,) and the red cedar, {Jimipe- 

 rus Virgifiianiis,) predominate, though occasionally large tracts 

 of woodland occur, here also, covered with the usual forest trees. 

 At the extremity of the peninsula the country is low, with a 

 sandy soil, but it does not terminate as on the opposite shore of 

 the bay in an extensive marshy surface. On the Patuxent side, 

 where the ridge-land acquires its greatest elevation inclining 

 gradually towards the south, the country is very irregular and 

 broken, being a succession of short hills separated by narrow 

 and deep ravines, and spurring towards the river, which they 

 sometimes reach, they form banks of from ten to thirty feet in 

 elevation, though they more generally terminate at a quarter 

 or half a mile from it, leaving an interposed level. This 

 description belongs more particularly to the Patuxent side of 

 St. Mary's county ; for, on ascending the peninsula the coun- 

 try still hilly, more elevated and more broken, presents on the 

 borders of the river in its numerous bends, extensive marshes, 

 the retreat of the snapiiing turtle (Chclonitr a serpent itia of Say,) 

 and of the otter and nniskrat. 



