70 Narrows of Licking. 
teen miles. - A little south of Websport, the canal leaves the Musk- 
ingum alluvions, and rises with the aid of two locks into the valley 
of the Wakatomika, a large creek, with wide and very fertile bot- 
toms. After leaving this valley by a pretty deep cut, the canal 
passes into the valley of Licking, in which are seated the villages 
of Irville and Nashport. After the canal enters the Wakitomika 
valley, it turns more westerly, and a short distance beyond Nashport 
strikes the Licking River, which is here about fifty yards in width. 
It is now about to emerge from the coal measures, which it has tra- 
versed more than one hundred miles, into the tertiary deposits of 
the Licking and Scioto valleys. A dam is thrown across the stream 
at this point, and by the aid of a lock the boat passes into the river, 
which now performs the office of a canal, for the distance of two 
miles, through “the narrows of Licking,” the tow-path being cut 
out of the solid sandstone for the larger portion of the way. 
* Black Hand’’—Narrows of Licking.—This. is a very pictur- 
esque spot; cliffs of sandstone rock, fifty feet in height, line the 
sides of the canal, especially on the left bank of the stream. In 
some places they hang over in a semi-circular form, the upper por- 
tion projecting, and defending the lower from the rains and weather. 
In one of these spots, the aborigines chose to display their ingenuity 
at pictorial writing, by figuring on the smooth face of the cliff, at an 
elevation eight or ten feet above the water, the outlines of wild ani- 
mals, and amongst the rest the figure of a huge, black, human hand. 
From this circumstance, the spot is known to all the old hunters and 
inhabitants of this vicinity, by the name of “ the black hand nar- 
rows.” It is the scene of many an ancient legend, and wild hunting 
story. At the point where the canal touches the Licking, the rock 
strata in the banks and bed of the stream dip to the north, at an an- 
gle of nearly fifteen degrees. As we ascend the stream, the incli- 
nation becomes less, and finally at the western outlet of the narrows 
assumes its usual horizontal appearance. It is a wild, romantic spot, 
and has evidently been subjected to great disturbance, before the 
waters of Licking commenced their cutting and disintegrating pro- 
cess through its rocky bed. These sandstone rocks contain very 
few fossil plants, but when fairly without the line of the coal meas- 
ures, they abound in fossil shells, very similar to those found in the 
lime rocks of the older secondary formations. The cliffs are lined 
with evergreens of various species, amongst which I noticed the 
hemlock, red cedar and yellow pine. On emerging from the ravine, 
