RELIEF DRAINAGE SETTLEMENT. 15 



Va. ; the Watauga gorge and the two gorges of Doe River above Elizabethton, 

 Tenn. ; the Nolichuckj^ gorge above Unaka Springs, Tenn. ; the French Broad gorge 

 near Hot Springs, Tenn.; the several gorges on Big Pigeon, Little Tennessee, 

 Nantahala, and Hiwassee rivers in North Carolina; on Tallulah River at Tallulah 

 Falls, Ga., and the Linville gorge on Linville River, North Carolina. Above 

 the gorges are valleys or basins having slopes moderate enough to be arable. 

 Above these valleys are canyons cut by swift creeks flowing down the mountain 

 sides, and above the canyons are "coves" or small basins, usually well up on 

 the mountain sides, where the brooks or "branches" unite to form the creeks. 



DRAINAGE. 



This region is drained by many rivers, most of which rise in the Blue Ridge 

 and flow outward from the mountains in all directions New River through the 

 Kanawha into the Ohio; the Holston, Watauga, French Broad, Big Pigeon, Little 

 Tennessee, and Hiwassee into the Tennessee; the Coosa and Etowah through the 

 Alabama and Chattahoochee into the Gulf; and the Tallulah, Chatooga, Toxaway, 

 Saluda, First and Second Broad, Catawba, and Yadkin into the Atlantic through 

 the Savannah, Santee, and Peedee. 



The descent of these streams is necessarily very rapid. Heading at altitudes 

 of 3,000 to 6,000 feet and leaving the highlands at 1,000 to 2,000 feet, they must 

 fall 2,000 to 4,000 feet within the mountain region. This descent is in great part 

 accomplished by cascades, but after they leave the mountains the streams are 

 much less rapid. 



It is estimated that the power that could be developed on these rivers amounts 

 to 1,000,000 horsepower. 



SETTLEMENT. 



The population of this tract is about 318,000, almost entirely white. There 

 are about 440 miles of railroad, 50 miles of tramway, and 5,000 miles of wagon 

 road, much of which is bad and, during the frequent rains, impassable. One 

 million two hundred and seventy-two thousand acres of land, or 24 per cent of 

 the area under consideration, have been cleared of forest and are now in various 

 stages of cultivation or abandonment. 



NATURAL RESOURCES. 



The distinctive factors which give value to this mountain region are as 

 follows: (1) A temperate and healthful climate; (2) grand and varied scenery; 

 (3) an ample supply of pure, cool water; (4) abundant water power; (6) mineral 

 deposits of iron, copper, mica, talc, gold, corundum, precious stones, kaolin and 

 other clays, building stone, etc. ; (6) soils that are in general of good physical and 



