10 Gold Regiou of North Carolina. 
gion will possess rather more interest, than when they were 
regarded as a mere substratum, over which a layer of aurif- 
erous earth had been brought and deposited, and a few re- 
marks in relation to their geological character, and with ref- 
erence to a determination of the question, whether they are 
primitive, transition or secondary ; granite, argillite, seconda- 
ry greenstone, or greenstone slate, will not be inappropri- 
ate. ; 
The accompanying map is copied from Price & Stroth- 
er’s large map of the State, and though not very accurate, 
is sufficiently so for our purpose. I have thought an exhibi- 
tion of a small extent of country, upon a large scale, admit- 
ting of a distinct view of the different formations that trav- 
erse the State, preferable to an extension of the map, so as 
to comprehend the mines of Guilford and Rutherford : our 
object being an illustration of the geology of the gold re- 
gion, rather than an account of particular localities. These 
formations, it will be seen, are four in number; one of them 
admitting of a subdivision—1. Beginning with the upper- 
most—the alluvial, colored yellow, and coming into contact 
with all three of the others. 2. What it is agreed, in this 
country, to call the old red sandstone, colored red. 3. € 
transition or slate, colored green. 4. e primitive, colored 
blue, with a red trace passing through it, and indicating the 
line, along which it is separated into. two distinct portions, 
bearing little resemblance to each other. In noticing each 
of these more particularly, it will be most convenient to 
speak of them in the reverse order, commencing with that 
which is lowest. 
The Primitive—The existence of a body of primitive 
rocks in the central and western parts of North Carolina, has 
