A slightly undulating line, stretching from the Delaware river 

 a little below Trenton to the llaritan river at the mouth of 

 Lawrence's Brook below New Brunswick, divides the State into 

 two regions, which are nearly equal as respects their area, but 

 which are strongly contrasted if we regard their external physical 

 features and scenery, their geological structure, mineral produc- 

 tions, and prevailing soils. 



The portion of the State lying south of the Raritan bay and 

 east of the tidewater portion of the Delaware* and the line above 

 mentioned, is remarkable for its low, level, and uniform surface. 

 With the exception of a few isolated hills of humble elevation, 

 ■which occur at distant points, chiefly in the northern part of the 

 region, this extended plain seldom rises higher than about sixty 

 feet above the sea. It is extensively penetrated, however, by 

 streams that have a very genlle descent from the summit level of 

 the region — one half of them running east and directly into the 

 Atlantic ocean, while the other half pursue a westward course 

 and empty either into the Delaware river or the Raritan. The 

 whole surface of this area is extensively undulated by a system 

 of ravines of denudation, which furnish their drainage to the 

 numerous streams alluded to. These, in connexion with the 

 banks of the streams themselves, afford a ready access, to a 

 moderate depth, to the valuable mineral deposits which expand 

 widely beneath the surface over large tracts of this section of 

 the State. 



Throughout this entire district the strata are very nearly hori- 

 zontal, excepting a brown sandstone and a thin limestone, both of 

 which occur only in a few localities of limited range; the mineral 

 deposits are generally soft and uncemented masses, consisting of 

 a series of alternating sands and clays. Prom the evidence 

 derived from the organic remains imbedded in the strata of the 

 southern half of the State, these belong, with very few exceptions, 

 to the latest period of the secondary formations of our continent. 

 The exceptions referred to are a few very local and shallow 

 deposits of a still later tertiary date. 



The soil, throughout by far the largest part of this region, is 

 excessively sandy, and more than three-fourths of the surface is 

 covered by an almost continuous forest. Towards its north- 



* The tide extends as high up as Trenton. 



