SCIENTIFIC SURVEY. 



281 



In the edge of Shirley the clay slates dip 10° N. 20° W. At Shir- 

 ley Mills they dip 10° N. 20° W. also, and no other kind of rock 

 is associated with them. We noticed in regard to the drift depos- 

 its between Abbot and Moosehead Lake, that they are often quite 

 thick upon the highest summits. It is an accident almost to find a 

 ledge exposed. So smooth are the ledges that one would expect 

 to find slides common on the sides of the steep hills. 



The soil is excellent between Piscataquis river and Moosehead 

 lake, some of the vegetation being quite rank. The season is quite 

 late in the spring ; but very large crops of the products suited to 

 the climate may be produced, such as hay, oats and buckwheat. 

 The scenery in this region is much superior to that south of the 

 Piscataquis. Here the country is full of large, gently sloping hills 

 and high mountains ; while in the distance, the great granite piles 

 east of Moosahead lake and the enormous mountains to the south- 

 west are commonly visible. 



Between Shirley Mills and the Forks of the Kennebec, the sec- 

 tion runs through a country destitute of carriage roads, and as it 

 was very important that the line should be explored, Mr. Goodale 

 volunteered to explore this part of the section, while the rest of us 

 went around by the way of Brighton and Bingham to meet him at 

 the Forks. We here introduce Mr. Goodale's notes upon this 

 unsettled region. 



Goodale's Observations. 

 While making a continuous section from Mount Desert to the 

 Canada line, it was found necessary to go in a direct line to the 

 town of Shirley, near Moosehead lake. Here the road terminates, 

 and, of course, there is a break in the section including all that 

 territory lying between Shirley and the nearest point on the north- 

 western road. In order to supply the deficiency caused by this 

 break, I was directed to proceed through the woods in a westerly 

 course to the Forks of the Kennebec, noting all outcroppings of 

 rock, the altitude of the line passed over, and whatever else might 

 be of geological importance. Accordingly, having procured the 

 services of Mr. J. Sturdivant and his son Llewellyn as guides, I 

 started on the 26th of July, from Shirley Mills. The clay slate at 

 the commencementof the journey near the "North road" so called, 

 dips north 75° W. It is dark grey in color, and where not weath- 

 ered or injured by frost, cleaves readily into fair plates. There 

 was no other exposure of slate till we reached the west branch of 

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