EARTHQUAKES IN NORTH CAROLINA. 255 



engiueer, and the senior class of Wofford College, 1 started for Hickory 

 Nut Gap, lor the purpose of making such personal observations as my 

 limited time would permit, and of collecting and sifting all the testi- 

 mony that I could gather from the inhabitants of the aifected region. 

 At Rutherfordtou, we were joined by Capt. William Twifcty, au edu- 

 cated gentleman, who gave us much ass-Istauce in our explorations. 



To understand the bearing of the facts and testimony upon the question 

 whether these disturbances threaten a volcanic eruption, as a prelimi- 

 nary, I shall describe, as clearly as I can, the situation of this mount- 

 ain. Five miles east of Hickory Nut Gap, lies this high mountain- 

 ridge, bearing upon its back several i)eaks, the highest of which are called 

 Bald, Stone, and Round Mountains, and extending from southwest to 

 northeast, a distance of ten miles, in the order in which they are named. 

 They constitute one mountain-ridge from 3,000 to 3,500 feet high, flanking 

 the Blue Ridge, nearly parallel with it, bounded on the east by Crooked 

 Creek, and on the west by Broad River, which, with its narrow valley, 

 separates them from the high ridge of mountains that border the east- 

 ern side of Hickory Nut Gap. 



Directing our course along the eastern slope, we came first to the 

 honse of Rev. Mr. Logan, a Baptist minister, from whom we learned 

 that the noises and shocks were first heard and felt in Stone Mountain, 

 on Tuesday, the 10th of February; that they were repeated on the fol- 

 lowing Sunday, with increased severity, so much so that the people sent 

 for him, a distance of ten miles, to hold religious meetings with them; 

 that he and his wife heard the explosions, and felt the shocks repeatedly 

 day and night, once causing the lightning-rods attached to his chimneys 

 to rattle considerably, the sky being clear, and no wind blowing ; that 

 the sounds came from the direction of Stone and Bald Mountains, were 

 at first explosive, followed by a slight rumbling lasting for a few seconds, 

 similar to a blast from a stone-quarry; that the shocks were almost in- 

 stantaneous with the explosions, very rapid, making the ground trem- 

 ble for a few seconds. In response to an iuquirj^, whether any one was 

 blasting rock about the mountains, he replied that none could be found, 

 and there was but one quarry, thirty -three miles distant in an opposite 

 direction, and that had not been worked for several months past. 



After going two or three miles further, we turned to the left, and 

 were ascending Fork Knob, over which the road leads to the top of 

 Stone Mountain, when a loud explosion in the direction of Stone Mount- 

 ain startled us all. It was instantly followed by a low reverberatory 

 sound, as if descending the slope of the mountain. We felt no shocks, 

 which was due, no doubt, to the steep and stony road over which our 

 buggies were passing at the time. This was on the 19th, at 5. p. m. Two 

 of our company who had preceded us a mile, and were about a half 

 mile from the top of Stone Mountain, heard the report, and also felt the 

 ground tremble under them. The sound resembled the suppressed but 

 sudden report of a quarry-blast, and seemed to come through the mount- 



