342 



'/ 



them carefully it soon becomes evident that they grew upon the 

 spots where they now are. The stumps remain upright; their 

 roots are still fast in the firm loamy ground which underlies the 

 marsh — and their bark and small roots remain attached to them. 

 The localities, too, where they are most abundant, are such as 

 are least liable to be affected by the violent action of the water 

 or of storms.. Thus they are by far the most abundant on the 

 low and gently sloping shores of Long Island, New Jersey, and 

 all the. states farther south, which are protected from the violent 

 action of the surf by a line of sand beaches, at the same time 

 that the numerous inlets allow free access to the tides. In these 

 rotected situations, hundreds and even thousands of acres can 

 e found, in which the bottoms of the marshes and bays are as 

 thickly set with the stumps of trees, as is the ground of any liv- 



mg 



The. first and the chief part of my own observations were 

 made upon the southern part of Kew Jersey, following the shore 

 of Delaware Bay from its head down to Cape May, and the At- 

 lantic shore from Cape May north to Great Egg Harbor. The 

 examinations have since been continued along the shore to New 

 York City, and thence eastward at several points along the south 

 shore of Long Island. 



In the marshes above Salem, great numbers of the stumps and 

 trunks of trees are met with in digging ditches at all depths 

 quite down to the solid ground. 



It will be remembered in the frequent allusions made to the 

 marsh, that its surface is nearly on a level with high tide mark, 

 and, of course, that whatever is buried in it is below that mark. 



At Elsinboro Point, a little farther down on the Delaware Bay 

 shore, the cutting away of the marsh by the water has left great 

 numbers of stumps exposed, and they can be seen at every low 

 tide, still firmly rooted in the hard ground. In the bank of Al- 

 loways Creek, a few miles below, the remains of trees can be 

 seen under the same circumstances. They are common in all 

 the marshes of Cumberland Co. Great numbers of them can 

 be seen in the marshes on Maurice Eiver at Dorchester and below. 



In Cape May county they are observed everywhere in the 

 marshes and creeks ; good localities are to be found at Dennis- 

 viile on the Delaware Bay, on the inside of Seven-mile Beach, 

 ^^3^ ^^^a-side, and below Tuckahoc on Great Egg Harbor. 



Thev are common in the marsh which extends along the whole 

 shore back of the beaches quite to Squan. Great numbers oi 

 them can also be seen at low water on the strand at Point Com- 



M 



fort, opposite Sandy Hook, 

 lu the marsh on the Raxitan 



of them were dug out m cuttin 

 River, 



South Amboy, hundreds 



