608 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



variety of species belonging to this Ibimation, and 

 they he promiscuously together in great conlusion ; 

 single valves ol" the Divalves are more irequentiy 

 lound than the two together, and even the strong- 

 er univalves are most ollen seen in Iragmenis. 

 So abundant are they, thai in cleanmg out some 

 of the larger shells a great number of small and 

 more perlect specimens were Ibund in iheir inte- 

 rior, and added to my collection. A Pectunculus 

 quinque-rugatus, in particular, enclosed between 

 1 s two valves a mulutude ol shells and Iragments 

 closely imbedded in a fine clear (|uartzsand. The 

 contents when picked out occupied a space lull 

 iwicp that in winch they v/eie so closeiy packed. 

 Ahhougii the diameter of ihe Pectunculus was 

 only two inches and one lourili, ihere were in it a 

 Cyiherea reporia, beautiliilly preserved wnh its 

 natural polish, one and one-third of an inch long, 

 and itsell filled with other smaller shells and a 

 purer sand than that which surrounded it — several 

 email Ostreas, Corbulaa, and duplicates ot twenty 

 or thirty oilier species. Tiiere are, as seen by the 

 accompanying catalogue, about 80 sj)ecies lound 

 at this locality. Of these 12 are recent, and 20 at 

 least heretolore undescribed. Some yet undeier- 

 , mined remain in tiie hands of Mr. Conrad, and of 

 these only the genera are given. The Olivaido- 

 nea has been previously described by Mr. Conrad ; 

 it is one of the most beautiful shells lound here, 

 being finely preserved, and most of the specimens 

 not having lost iheir natural polish. The people 

 iivirjo' in ihe neighborhood know them by the 

 name of " key shells," Irom their procuring them 

 to attach to a bunch of keys. The cones are of 

 the species adversarius, so named Irom their being 

 nearly all reversed ; one of mine is the only ex- 

 ception known. The bivalves are only occasion- 

 ally met with entire. 



It is remarked that the water in the well never 

 varies in freshets nor droughts, and tales are told 

 of inefl'ectual attempts having been made to sound 

 it, and of a strong current setting through it, suck- 

 ing down whatever is thrown in ; that there is a 

 current I doubt not, it being nothing unusual lor a 

 stream of water to sink suddenly under ledges of 

 limestone, as at the Eutaw springs in South 

 Carolina, and the limestone of the secondary 

 Ibrmatlon I believe to be not far below the surface 

 of the water, perhaps directly under the blue 

 sandstone at the surlace, which is very likely the 

 upper rock of that formation, and the blue clay 

 the lowest of the middle tertiary, as it often is (the 

 lowest tertiary is wanting in this part of ihe coun- 

 try.) The limestone of Jones couniy is not far 

 oH', and such sinks as these are frequent over 

 limestone beds ; in Georgia they are called 

 "limestone sinks." 



With my valise and saddle-bags well stored 

 with specimens, and a keg lull strapped behind 

 the saddle, I proceeded to South Washington, on 

 the way to VVilmington. In this neighborhood 1 

 discovered again ihe secondary formation on the 

 N. E. banks of Cape Fear river. The rock 

 is a blue sandstone, containing the characteristic 

 Exogyra cosiata, Belemnites, Plafjiostoma pala- 

 gicum, Anoinia ephippium, &c. The existence of 

 this rock between the tertiary deposiies on the east 

 and tlie west, seems to indicate an anticiinai axis 

 here, which extending north, accounts lor the 

 elevation of the secondary throughout Jones coun- 

 ty, and the broad extent of country on each side 



occupied by the tertiary marls. The axis must 

 be low, and the dips very gentle, causing at most 

 a slight undulation of the strata. 



To the east of South Washington are large 

 tracts, called bays and swamps, one of which, 

 called on the map Angola bay, was described to 

 me by one who had crossed it. Alter traversing 

 its margin, which was a broad swamp covered 

 with thick trees and bushes, my informant and 

 his companion came out upon an open heath, 

 spreading as far as they could see, and destitute 

 of all vegetation, save a thick covering of moss 

 and a lew scattered bushes. Through this moss 

 they travelled on with great difficulty, plunging ui 

 at every step nearly knee deep. Procuring a pole 

 Irom the trees on the border he sunk it down eight 

 leet mio the mud without finding bottom. The 

 moss and mud of these swamps would thus seem 

 to be those al\t?ays due lopeat swamps. At night 

 they reached an island in the swamp with a lew 

 trees upon it. Here they remained till morning, 

 and then continued their course aciose, and reach- 

 ed the other side about noon, greatly liiiigued. 

 He thinks they are called " bays" from the quan- 

 tity of bay trees that grow around them. Holly 

 Shelter swamp is similar to this. These swamps 

 remind one of those in the southern |)arts of Geor- 

 gia, the islands of which were once inhabited, 

 according to an old Creek tradition, by a superior 

 race of beings, whose beautiful women, called 

 " daughters of the sun," occasionally condescend- 

 ed to help out the poor bewildered traveller, lost in 

 their intricacies, but who, with their liouses on the 

 islands, were never to be found by man, though 

 eagerly sought after. 



At Wilmington 'is arlother interesting locality, 

 where not only the tertiary marl corresponding to 

 that at the natural well is Ibund, but the seconda- 

 ry sandstones and conglomerates below it are well 

 exposed on the banks of Cape Fear river. The 

 lower tertiary is wanting, and this marl bed, which 

 is ti-om two to three leei thick, is seen resting up- 

 on the sandstones, containing shells belonging 

 altogether to the upper secondary Ibrmation. 

 Above the marl, and resting on it, the upper stra- 

 tum observed is of sand and loam, containing a 

 few layers of small white pebbles. The marl is 

 nearly as prolific in shells as the same formation 

 at the natural well. * * * # 



* * * Comminuted shells and fine 



sand form the marl stratum, and these are either 

 converted into a solid mass not easily broken, or 

 remain unconsolidated. The sandstone beneath 

 is in one place a compact siliceous mass, but a lit- 

 tle way off it changes to a coarse pebbly rock, 

 consisting of small, rounded quartz pebbles of a 

 dark color ; and then again it becomes so calcare- 

 ous that with proper care it might be burned to 

 tolerable lime. The pebbly rock or conglomerate 

 contains shells, and corals, and small sharks' teeth, 

 in abundance. Large teeth are rare, as are bones 

 which are said to have been found in it. The shells 

 themselves have generally disappeared and left 

 only the casts ; these, though very abundant and 

 perfect, render it extremely difficult to determine 

 the species. The uenera are principally Cyprea, 

 Cirrus, Gryphea, Ostrea, Anthophyllum, Nauti- 

 lus, &.C. 



The proximity of this locality to the wharves 

 and the town of Wilmington, would render it 

 easy for strangers to obtain specimens thence. 



