THE ALPINE REGION. 185 



into the Tugaloo river, while the Chatuga, the Hiwassee, the Toxoway, 

 and innumerable mountain streams of this well-watered region would 

 serve as feeders to maintain the water supply in any desired quantity. In 

 1873 water was drawn from Black creek, an affluent of the Tennessee, 

 across the Gap, to Izell's mills, on Chicken creek, an affluent of the 

 Savannah. 



The elevation above the mean level of the sea of the following points 

 in western South Carolina were determined by the United States Coast 

 Geodetic Survey: King's Mountain, 1,(392 feet; Paris Mountain (near 

 Greenville), 2,054 feet; Caesar's Head, 3,118 feet; Mt. Pinnacle (near 

 Pickens, the highest point in South Carolina), 3,430 feet. 



The bracing and healthy climate of this region, its beautiful scenery, 

 the bold mountain outlines, the rich luxuriance of every growth, no 

 stunted plant on mountain side or summit, every part, even the crevasses 

 of the rocks, covered with trees and shrubs of some kind, all full of life 

 and vigor ; the clear, swift streams that everywhere leap in a succession 

 of cascades from crag and cliff, and sparkle in their course along the 

 narrow but fertile valleys, have made it for generations a health and 

 pleasure resort during summer. 



THE GEOLOGICAL FEATURES 



of this region are very similar to those of the one lying immediately 

 south of it. The prevailing rock is gneiss, sometimes changing into 

 granite, of good building qualities, and sometimes slaty, furnishing su- 

 perior flagging stones, a 'remarkable locality of which occurs eight milas 

 south of Pickens Court House, on the Greenville road. For the most 

 part, the rock is found at a depth of thirty to fifty feet beneath the sur- 

 face in a state of greater or less decomposition. Above the gneiss, whose 

 out crops are much confined to the beds of streams, islands of mica slate, 

 occupying the more elevated lands, are found. The largest of these iso- 

 lated bodies extends for a considerable width along the ridges above the 

 Chatuga river. 



The proportion of mica slate is greater here than elsewhere in the 

 State. Between the mica slate and the gneiss, and cropping out almost 

 everywhere around the edges of the first named rock, are extensive seams 

 of hornblende rock, and its decomposition adds largely to the fertility, 

 especially of the creek and river bottoms, of this region. Above the mica 

 slate, on the large body of that rock on the Chatuga, some talc slate is 

 found. The last named slate underlies a considerable area of itacolu- 

 mitic sandstone that, in turn, support several bodies of limestone rock. 

 A number of limekilns have been in operation here. 



