GEOGRAPHICAL PEOGRESS IN 1876. 



GEORGIA. 



880 



107 85', and thonco came by way of the White 

 Ki\or agency to Rawlins, arriving there Oc- 

 tol.t-r 23d. They finished in all about 8,500 

 nt|ii!iro miles of topography, and determined 

 about sixty primary positions. Dr. Peale fol- 

 lowed the expedition as geologist. The region 

 first surveyed consisted of a plateau inter- 

 sected by deep gorges, which disclosed sedi- 

 mentary rocks ranging from the Dakota sand- 

 stones to the commencement of the Red Beds. 

 The San Miguel in its lower course flows 

 through lower cretiiceous, Jurassic, and tri- 

 assic outcrops. North of the Grand the ex- 

 posed strata range from the white tertiary 

 rocks which top the Book Cliffs to the Red 

 Beds at the bottom of the river. The White 

 River division was directed by G. B. Chitten- 

 den, with F. 4 M. Endlich for geologist. They 

 surveyed between White River on the north 

 and latitude 89 38' north on the south, and 

 from the meridian 107 80' to a point thirty 

 miles west of the Utah boundary, an area of 

 some 3,800 miles, establishing forty-one geo- 

 detical stations and sixteen auxiliary positions. 

 It was a before unexplored region, rising 

 gradually from White River up to- the steep 

 Book Cliffs which form the divide between the 

 White and Grand Rivers. The deep cafions 

 which intersect the plateau are full of cedars 

 and pifions, and the upper plains are covered 

 with rich grass. The country is inhabitable, but 

 poorly watered and destitute of timber, and 

 seems well adapted to its present purpose of 

 an Indian reservation. The geology is simple : 

 two-thirds of the country contains beds of 

 tertiary rocks, and other parts showed older 

 formations, as far down as the triassic; marks 

 of erosion were frequently visible. The Yam- 

 pah division, under G. R. Bechler, accom- 

 panied by Dr. C. A. White, geologist, surveyed 

 the portion of Northeastern Colorado lying be- 

 tween the Yampah and White Rivers and the 

 Green River, and the lower range west of the 

 Park Mountains. There are table-lands be- 

 tween Rawlins Springs and Snake River, and 

 beyond to the Yampah a more undulating sur- 

 face covered with sage-bush. Between the 

 Yampah and White Rivers is a mountainous 

 district, rising to elevations of 8,000 and 9,000 

 feet. The Yampah and White Rivers both flow 

 through plateau countries: the bottom-lands 

 sometimes widen into broad, grassy valleys, 

 and sometimes contract into steep cafions. 

 The territory surveyed was about 3,000 square 

 miles, and the number of stations made was 

 forty. The geological formations extended all 

 the way from the latest tertiary to the Uintah 

 qunrtzite which underlies the carboniferous. 

 Interesting orographical facts were developed 

 in the geological survey. The fossils found at 

 the base of the tertiary series in the Yampah 

 Valley were found to be identical with those 

 of the valley of Bitter Creek in Wyoming Ter- 

 ritory. The latter locality was revisited, and 

 at Black Bnttes Station three new species of 

 Unio were discovered, making six species 



taken from a single stratum, all closely related 

 to living species now existing in Aim m an 

 fresh waters. Six sheets of the physical atlas 

 are nearly ready for issue at Washington, cov- 

 ering 70,000 square miles. Each sheet con- 

 tains an area of 11,500 square miles, on a scale 

 of four miles to the inch, with contours of 200 

 feet, containing representations of the geo- 

 logical characteristics and agricultural and me- 

 tallurgical resources of the country. An illus- 

 trated account of the geological survey by Dr. 

 F. V. Hayden, with fifteen chrome-lithographs 

 from the drawings of Mr. Morun. is in prepa- 

 ration by Prang & Co., and will be issued in 

 three languages simultaneously. 



GEORGIA. The condition of affairs in the 

 State of Georgia during the year has been 

 peaceful and encouraging. Governor Smith, in 

 his parting address to the Legislature of 1877, 

 says: 



The public credit, as indicated by the daily quota- 

 tions at the centres of trade and commerce, is equal 

 to that of any State in the Union. Our public bt- 

 curities, rated at the time 1 entered the Executh e 

 office at thirty per cent, discount, are now above par. 

 1 found a recognized floating debt of more than one 

 and a quarter million dollars. The whole of this, 

 amounting in exact figures to $1,277,788.26. or to an 

 average sum of over $260,000 per annum, has been 

 entirely paid. The State has been relieved of a 

 fraudulently contracted debt of $6,500,000, while there 

 has been no addition to the amount of the bonded 

 debt of the State contracted on her own account. 

 Any apparent increase of our public debt is the re- 

 sult of liabilities created by railroad charters grant- 

 ed under former administrations. These results 

 have been accomplished without a material addition 

 to the public burdens. 



Throughout the State the stream of justice has 

 moved with a smooth and steady flow. The law 

 has been impartially administered, and not a breath 

 of suspicion has soiled the ermine. Life, liberty, 

 and property, have been faithfully guarded, and not 

 a single human being, of any color or condition, can 

 justly complain of oppression. The great and mani- 

 fest improvement of our condition social, educa- 

 tional, and industrial is due to the home-bred com- 

 mon-sense, the desire for progress, and the love of 

 justice, which characterize the people of Georgia. 



The public debt of the State on the 1st of 

 January, 1877, was $8,447,500, not including 

 the bonds of the Macon & Brunswick Railroad 

 and of the North & South Railroad, which 

 are indorsed by the State. Under an act of 

 February 24, 1876, 542 bonds of $1,000 each, 

 bearing interest at seven per cent., were exe- 

 cuted for the purpose of funding the accrued 

 interest on the bonds of the Macon & Bruns- 

 wick and North & South Railroads. At the 

 beginning of the year there was a cash balance 

 in the State Treasury of $511,785.21, and the 

 receipts of the year amounted to $2,382,933.88. 

 The disbursements of the year were $2,280,- 

 435.26, leaving a balance at the close of $504,- 

 283.33. 



There has been very gratifying progress dur- 

 ing the last three years in the educational in- 

 terests of the State. At the close of 1871 there 

 was due on account of public schools in the 

 several counties upward of $300,000, and the 



