6 Dr. Beckwith on the Subterranean 



As to the question of their origin, whether aqueous or 

 volcanic, I dare not, with my hmited knowledge of Geolo- 

 gy, hazard an opinion. I would however, with great diffi- 

 dence, and with submission, question the correctness of Dr. 

 Woodhouse's decision. He believed them to be of volca- 

 nic origin, and founded his opinion upon a belief that there 

 are volcanic appearances in this section of country. Such 

 there may be ; but I have never heard of, or seen any tra- 

 ces which could lead to such a conclusion. If they had 

 their source in one common point, would not their course 

 be divergent rather than parallel, especially as they are sev- 

 eral miles apart ? Does not the fact that they observe the 

 same general course with the great range of mountains in this 

 country, and of our atlantic coast, argue something in favour 

 of a belief that they are an aqueous deposit ? 



In the box you will find some small specimens of kaolin 

 (No. 7) ; my largest pieces I some time since sent to Pro- 

 fessor Olmstead, of our university, and have not since had 

 an opportunity to obtain more. It is found on a spur of the 

 Tryon mountains, called Flat-Swamp mountain, running up 

 north from the narrows of the Yadkin river, to within seven 

 or eight miles of Lexington. The summit is composed of 

 granite and quartz chiefly. On the sides this clay is found 

 in immense quantities, thinly covered with gravelly earth. 

 The foot of the mountain on the East, together with the 

 plain below, is covered with this clay in fine powder, wash- 

 ed down by the rains. This plain had long been the resort 

 of cattle for the purpose of licking the absorbent earth, par- 

 ticularly in the spring. People in the vicinity considered 

 it a salt-lick. Accordingly, when during the late war salt 

 became a scarce and expensive article, their attention was 

 directed to this spot,' as likely with a little labour and ex- 

 pense to furnish a supply, and become a source of consid- 

 erable revenue. About this time a crafty fellow, a miner 

 from some part of Europe, passed this way, and determined 

 to convert their credulity into ready money, if he could not 

 their clay into salt. He sunk a shaft about sixty feet, then 

 commenced boring, and pursued it to the depth of eighty 

 feet more. Their funds or their patience were now ex- 

 hausted, and their suspicions of fraud awakened ; the knave, 

 pocketing his wages, coolly told them that, if they ivould go 

 deep enough, they would be sure to find salt, and walked off, 



