OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 73 
been exposed to the full force of the stream, the rock is more worn than on the sides, which gives it 
the form of a horse-shoe. Very large pot-holes are worn in the surface of the rock, which in some 
instances is completely perforated, and the water finds a passage through the fissile rocks below. 
From the moment we enter this beautiful valley till we reach the foot of the falls, we have, on 
our right, the outcropping edges of the gneiss, like an enormous wall, high above the tall hemlocks 
that cover the sides of the mountain. . 
It is quite obvious that all these mountains are due to this enormous and indestructible stratum 
of gneiss: they have very generally a vertical side turned towards the S. E. and on the opposite 
side the ascent is often quite gradual. One may ride a horse to the summit of White-side, one of 
the loftiest peaks of the ridge, but on the other side it requires some nerve, even to look down. We 
have here the anticlinal axis of the Blue Ridge, and at our feet the waters that flow into the Gulf 
of Mexico separate from those that take their course to the Atlantic. 
The direction of this axis coincides with that of the valley of the Saluda, which separates 
Cesar’s Head from Table-rock, so that we have these mountains on opposite sides of this axis, and 
dipping in contrary directions, leaving no doubt that they were once continuous. 
The section, Fig. 15, across the valley of the-Saluda, represents the structure of these mountains: 
ZL 2B® aS 
3 
1—Table-rock. 2—Czesar’s Head. 3.—Underlying slates. 
The difference of the angle of inclination between the lower rocks and the overlying thick beds, 
is due to two distinct uplifts, separated by an interval of time suflicient for the deposition of the 
thick upper stratum. 
When the slaty strata were first elevated they had a dip of about 20°; the superincumbent beds 
were then deposited upon their upturned edges; the whole was now elevated to its present position, 
or about 15° or 20° more. During such movements as these vast fissures and gorges would 
oceur, through which air and water would be admitted to the destructible beds below; their disin- 
tegration woud follow, and the overlying rocks would be left projecting, till brought down by their 
own weight; the debris would form a talus, which, in time, would reach the top of the destructible 
beds, and protect them from further encroachment—presenting one of those beautiful balancing of 
forces so common in nature. Such a cause as this may be found yet in operation at the S. E. 
corner of 'Table-rock: where the inferior slaty rocks are not entirely protected undermining takes 
place, and vast pieces of the rock have fallen at no very distant period. At Caesar’s Head a mass 
has separated from the main rock, to the distance of three or four feet, and a little more wasting of 
the rock at the base will cause it to come down. 
Another mode in which the destruction of these rocks takes place, is the separation of thick 
19 
