312 JYotice of the Anthracite Region in the 



Upper strata, the beds of coal are continuous through the whole re- 

 gion ; that they pass under the rivers and accompany the strata of 

 coal rocks, through the lowest depressions of the valley, under the flats 

 and meadows, and up the hills and mountains, on the sides of which 

 and even near the summit, and in the banks of the rivers, they break into 

 view. The whole region is completely underlaid by coal beds, repeat- 

 ed again and again, widi their attendant rocks; five repetitions of the 

 series of coal beds and rocks we distinctly saw, and sometimes in nat- 

 ural sections, made by rivers and other causes," three or four were, at 

 once, in view; we understand that seven were ascertained by the late 

 Mr. Jacob Cist of Wilkesbarre, than whom, both as a scientific and 

 practical observer, it would be difficult to cite a better authority ; he 

 »ipposed that the entire depth of the coal strata, and their attendant 

 rocks, is one third of a mile. It is not certain however, that the num- 

 ber of beds is limited to seven, or the entire depth to one third of a 

 mile; it is indeed altogether probable that other beds exist, at a depth 

 still greater. Except as a matter of science, there is however no 

 necessity of deciding this question, for the quantity of workable coal 

 in the valley is altogether inexhaustible ; and (especially if we add 

 the vast magazines on the Lehigh and Schuylkill,) there is a suffi- 

 cient quantity of anthracite In Pennsylvania, to supply remote gener- 

 ations and countries. 



Wherever in the valley of the Susquehanna and Lackawanna, 

 the puddingstone or sandstone and slate are repeated, there we usu* 

 ally find the coal as a third member of the series ; I w^ould not ven- 

 ture to say that there is no exception ; but all the appearances in 

 the valley countenance the opinion that this is a general arrangement ; 

 no instance to the contrary was observed by me, or was remembered 

 by the inhabitants, and I am persuaded, that if the position is not 

 universally, it is, at least, generally, true. If the preceding observa- 

 tions are just, it follows, that all the lands of this great valley are 

 coal lands, and there can be no reasonable doubt that the coal beds 

 maybe found beneath every acre of ground. 



It does not however follow, that the coal can be, in every situation, 

 profitably explored; there is much room for the exercise of good judg- 

 ment in the selection of proper situations and the following cautions 

 may prevent fruitless expenditures. 



^ 



In numerous instances, the people draw the coal for domestic consumption, i^otn 



Jkheir own grounds. 



