487 



[White. 



110' 



No. X. 



(a.) Massive limestone in layers 1'— 5' thick, 



sparingly fossiliferous 25' 



(J). Shaly limestone and calcareous shales, very 

 fossiliferous, especially rich in Productus, 

 Spirifer, Athyris, Lophophyllum and Gri- 

 noidal columns 5' 



(c). Limestone, gray, good, few fossils 45' 



{d). Shales and limestone 35' 



13. " Silidous limestone," passing gradually into 



sandstone below 30' 



14. Sandstone, massive, pebbly, current-bedded, 



making cliffs 100' 



15. Concealed to level of Cheat river 475' _ 



Here the " Silicious limestone" runs down into the underlying sand- 

 stone to a depth of 30' and finally fades into sandstone so imperceptibly 

 that it is impossible to fix the line between the two. 



Just above this locality, about one-fourth mile, the Chestnut Ridge axis 

 crosses Cheat river, four and a half miles from Ice's Ferry. At the latter 

 locality the top of No XII. is 300' under the river, while here at the axis 

 its top comes about 1300' above Cheat river, or 1400' higher than at Ice'a 

 Ferry, since the stream falls nearly 100' between the two points. 



Here, at the crest of the axis, the Great Conglomerate makes a broad 

 and gentle arch, being almost horizontal for nearly a mile and a half. Its 

 outcrop is traversed as usual by great intersecting fissures which are often 

 3' — 4' wide, and separate the stratum into immense blocks, some of which 

 50' on a side, have toppled over into the steeply sloping edge of the canon, 

 and look from a distance as though a slight push would dislodge them into 

 the great chasm beneath. 



The scenery along the crest of this great arch is the grandest and most 

 picturesque to be found on this river, famous for its wildness for a dis- 

 tance of nearly 200 miles. There are two points from which the out- 

 look is especially fine, one of these known as Hanging Cliff View is on the 

 east side of the river and about one mile above the locality of the last 

 section. Here the river bends sharply westward and a long, narrow 

 ledge of No. XII. sandstone, extends in a bold cliff far out into the main 

 course of the canon. From this elevated point, the eye takes in a radius 

 of 25 to 30 miles for nearly three-quarters of the horizon ; to the south east 

 one looks up through the great gorges carved by the river out of Laurel 

 Hill and Briery mountain, to the vicinity of Rowlesburg (30 miles dis- 

 tant), where on a clear day, the white puffs of steam and smoke from the 

 B. & O. R. R. engines may be distinctly seen, as the heavily laden trains 

 wind up the steep slopes of the Alleghanies to Cranberry Summit, the 

 lofty peaks of whose surrounding mountains loom proudly against the 

 horizon ; to the west and north, the eye has an unobstructed view down 

 the cafion and out over its fast receding walls, to the great plateau of the 



