1846.] Geological, of a trip to Carbondale. 17 



I expressed a wish to witness some of the coiuusion wrought by 

 the great " fall," and Mr. Bryden immediately offered to accom- 

 pany me. Leaving Mr. Clarkson and assistant procuring speci- 

 mens, we threaded some choked and mouldy passages, and at length 

 stopped by a rough barrier of rocks — the verge of the " fall," we 

 stood a few hundred feet from the scene of Hossie's imprisonment, 

 and the graves of those who perished. Gigantic masses of slate 

 lay piled in wild confusion, and the glare of our lamps shot up fre- 

 (juently into vast and rag2;ed cavities above, from whence the rocks 

 had fallen, and in which semi-detached masses of enormous 

 weight yet hung suspended as if by a thread. The surrounding 

 props, many of them, were crushed and broken. Some of them 

 weie snapped short off, though they were green and tough at the 

 time of the catastrophe; — others were splintered and riven 

 "As the whirlwind rends the ash." 



The day was sultry and close, and no air stirring. This, with 

 the deticient means of ventilation in the deserted chambers, since 

 the " fall," caused an unusual accumulation of carbonic acid. 

 Our lights burned dim repeatedly, and held close to the floor, 

 would probably have been extinguished. Once they were on the 

 point of going out. " Never mind," said Bryden, " there will be 

 time to save ourselves from the effects of the gas, and I can pilot 

 you out in the darkness!" Rejoining our companions, we, after 

 an exploration of five hours, debouched from the mines at gallery 

 No. 5, under the bed of the Lackawana creek. 



After dinner, we entered No. 2, still more desolate and decayed 

 than the galleries previously visited. The props were more rot- 

 ten, the rail way itself falling in pieces. The drainage had 

 become choked, and we frequently waded in water over ancle 

 deep. 



Immense sigillaria were every where visible. I measured one 

 on the roof of the gallery, which was three feet and a half in di- 

 ameter, and it extended unbroken for thirty or forty feet. One 

 has been exposed, of similar dimensions, for more than one hun- 

 dred feet, both extremities still passing under the slate! In the 



No. VII. 2 



