HARPER: COASTAL PLAIN OF THE CAROLINAS 357 
be as well known to botanists as they are to ornithologists, * but 
they should be most interesting places for ecological study. 
The streams of the Virginia-Carolina coastal plain can be 
divided into two classes according to length, namely, the muddy, 
almost opaque, rivers which rise in the Piedmont region or in the 
mountains beyond, and the smaller coffee-colored streams which 
tise in the sandy and little eroded coastal plain. + Those of the 
former class which I crossed (between the Savannah and the James) 
are the Santee, Lynch’s, and Peedee rivers in South Carolina, the 
Cape Fear, Neuse, Tar, Roanoke, and Chowan in North Carolina, 
and the Appomattox in Virginia. More will be said about some 
of these later. To the latter class belong the Salkehatchie or 
Combahee, Edisto, Black, and Lumber rivers in South Carolina, 
the Northeast Cape Fear in North Carolina, the Blackwater in 
Virginia, and all the creeks and branches.t None of the rivers 
seemed to have deep channels or well defined banks where I 
crossed them, being bordered on both sides by extensive 
swamps. ft 
~ Unmistakable fluvial sand-hills § were seen only on the left sides 
of the Peedee, Lumber, and Blackwater rivers, and the right side 
of the Northeast Cape Fear opposite Castle Hayne; though there 
seemed to be a faint development of them on the left side of the 
Neuse near Goldsboro.|| The flora of all these areas appeared to 
be much less varied than that in similar situations in Georgia, 
where most of the known sand-hill species may be found. 
As far as the geology is concerned I can add very little to 
what is already known of this region. In South Carolina, especi- 
ally in Hampton County, I looked closely for evidences of the 
Altamaha Grit, but did not see any of the rock of this formation,{ 
or even any of the characteristic topography, which is unmistak- 
* For some pretty good illustrations of one of them see T. G. Pearson, Bird-Lore 
905. 
7: 121-126, 
A similar distinction was made nearly 200 years ago by Catesby in the appendix 
tothe second volume of his ‘‘ Natural History of Carolina.”’ 
t For definition of ss terms, see Ann, N. Y. Acad. Sci. 17: 25. 
j See Ann. N, Y. Acad. Sci. 17: 25-27. 1906. 
| See in this connection Field Operations of the Bureau of Soils for 1900, page 
1906. 
{ This fact in itself, however, does not prove anything, for outcrops of it are very 
Scarce even in Georgia (see Torreya 6: 245-246. 190 
