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OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 111 
one from the other. The hornblende soils, however, incline more to a reddish brown than the trap 
soils, which are characterised by their warm, dark brown color, sometimes inclining to yellow.— 
This color is often modified, as well as the soil itself, by the porphyritic rocks so frequently asso- 
ciated with the true trap rocks. For miles along the creek these may be traced wherever the soil is 
removed, with the occasional interruption of a patch of granite. 
A section from Beaver Creek, through Winnsboro’, to the Wateree Canal, passes over the outcrop 
of the rocks nearly at right angles to their strike. For several miles the same series of hornblende 
slates and fissile gneiss continues; but as we approach the ridge upon which the Court House 
stands, the subjacent corrse gneissoid rocks occupy the surface for some distance around. On the 
branches of Jackson’s Creek trap is again exposed in some extensive dykes, which extend to a 
point not far distant from the village. Beyond this, large veins of quartz are seen broken down 
and scattered over the fields; and on the brow of the hill, before descending to Wateree Creek, the 
ruins of a dyke are piled up, to remove them from the surface. On the creek, strata of mica slate 
occur, containing a bed of soapstone. Leaving the ridge, and descending towards the valley of 
Dutchman’s Creek, we find, at the bottom of the hill, what appears, at first sight, to be pulverised 
granite, covering the surface to some depth, and consisting of crystals of feldspar, but little altered ; 
grains of quartz, and plates of mica, washed down by the rains from the surrounding hill sides. 
The high grounds bordering the creek are composed of mica slates, worn into rounded hills, 
together with beds of hornblende slates; at the same time that the creek has scooped out its bed in 
a dyke of trap, and the low grounds are for a considerable space based upon that rock. 
When a level tract of land is thus situated, it is not always easy to perceive its connection with 
the subjacent rock. I have, in another place, described the changes presented by these rocks 
during disintegration. All these may be seen here, both on the immediate banks of the creek, and 
on the hill sides. 
In the process of the conversion of these rocks into soil, a considerable quantity of lime is libera- 
ted, which collects into irregular nodules, and may be seen in ravines, wherever disintegration is 
going on. I have explained this in another place, and only refer to it here, because these nodules 
have been supposed to indicate some connection with beds of limestone, in this region. Their 
origin, however, is as I have stated, as any one may satisfy himself by a few minutes’ examination 
of any locality where trap or hornblende is in a state of disintegration. Small, rough, irregularly 
globular pieces of stone of a whitish color, will be found, which will effervesce on the application 
of an acid. These are the nodules to which I have referred, and which are quite common, in 
similar localities, all over the State. 
On Mr. Palmer’s land there is an interesting locality of highly fissile mica slate, having the 
planes of stratification so even as to leave the surfaces quite smooth—an important quality in flag- 
ging stones, that would render these valuable, were they nearer a market. 
Near the creek fragments of ferruginous quartz, which have been subjected to abrasion and the 
transporting power of water, lie scattered over the surface. They are not rounded into pebbles, but 
the angles are worn off, and the whole polished in such a manner as to preclude the possibility of 
its being the result of the action of any aqueous force that could exist in the present state of the 
surface of this part of the District. 
I have also observed beds of pebbles on Broad River, above Ashford’s Ferry, that are far removed 
