4 FISHES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



The inner margin of the coastal plain region is determined by the so-called "fall- 

 line", characterized by the occurrence of falls or rapids in the streams. The 

 rivers are more or less tortuous and their banks are mostly sandy, clayey, or 

 loamy, the unstable character of the banks resulting in undermining, washi-ig 

 away of trees, and the frequent formation of new channels. 



The Piedmont plateau region extends from the "fall-line" to the moun- 

 tains, and has an average width of 125 miles and an area of 20,000 square miles. 

 The average elevation above the sea is 900 feet, the eastern half averaging about 

 750 feet and the western half 1,200 feet. Forests, consisting of deciduous trees 

 interspersed with the short-leaved pine, cover upwards of fifty per cent of the 

 region. The geological formations, consisting of upturned belts of slates, granites, 

 gneisses, etc., running parallel with the mountains, have resulted in the develop- 

 ment of cascades, rapids, and shoals, owing to the unequal erosion of the rocks 

 of varying hardness. 



The Appalachian mountain region, which reaches from New York to Ala- 

 bama, attains its greatest height in North Carolina. Here the mountainous area 

 is an exceedingly rugged and irregular timbered tableland of some 6,0C0 square 

 miles, which lies between the Blue Ridge Mountains on the southeast and the 

 Great Smoky Mountains on the northwest, the tableland being crossed by numer- 

 ous ridges which are separated by narrow valleys and deep-worn gorges. The 

 average elevation is about 2,700 feet above the sea; there are many peaks over 

 5,000 feet high and a number over 6,000 feet, the highest being Mount Mitchell. 

 The Blue Ridge chain constitutes the divide between the waters of the Atlantic 

 slope and those of the Mississippi basin. The mountain streams are cold, clear, 

 and swift, and possess a rare beauty. 



THE COASTAL REGION. 



The peculiar, not to say remarkable, character of the coastal section of 

 North Carolina has much influence on the variety and abundance of the fish life 

 and has favored the development of most extensive fisheries. Nearly the entire 

 coast of the state is skirted by low, narrow, sandy islands and peninsulas, locally 

 known as "banks", between, which and the mainland there are numerous 

 sounds, some of large size. The sounds communicate with the ocean either 

 directly through narrow inlets or through other sounds; and many receive the 

 drainage of important streams. The sounds in geographic order are Currituck, 

 Albemarle, Roanoke, Croatan, Pamlico, Core, Bogue, Stump, Topsail, Middle, 

 Masonboro, and Myrtle, and they constitute a series such as exists in no other 

 state. 



Currituck Sound is the most northern. It is parallel with the coast, and 

 extends from Virginia to the eastern end of Albemarle Sound, into which it 

 discharges. Its length is 40 miles and its width 3 to 4 miles. The water is 

 quite shallow, nowhere exceeding 9 or 10 feet, and is fresh except during periods 

 of little rainfall. Up to 1800 it communicated with the ocean by means of Caffey 



