J^orth Carolina and Tennessee. 7 



beauliful ; its locality was kept a secret, but it was said to be abun- 

 dant. There is lead on the head of Mill creek, Habersham. The 

 specimens of the ore furnished to me were in cubical crystals. There 

 is a report of mercury taken out of deposits with gold at places where 

 mercury had not been used in the stream by the washers. I had no 

 ocular proof of the fact, but must rely upon the information of re- 

 spectable gentlemen, who affirmed their knowledge of its existence. 

 Silver is associated with the gold at New Potosi, on the Chistitee. 

 Garnet, tourmaline, small staurotides, prismatic quartz, zircon, &.C., 

 and varieties of pyrites, are also found. 



I shall enter into no speculations on the probable results to the 

 community from the new pursuit of mining. So far as it may be seen 

 in Georgia, I will not anticipate an unfavorable issue to adventurers, 

 or to the country; in a country where monopolies are unknown, 

 every new enterprise is hkely to be carried by some beyond the point 

 of discretion ; and where sobriety and education are both upon the 

 advance, I may hope that the profligacy which has been the bane of 

 society in other mining countries, will not find place, or at least take 

 deep root in this. The section described is immensely rich in met- 

 als, and the wise will no doubt turn this gift of providence into a 

 blessing ; the country has as fine water and air as is drunk or breath- 

 ed in the world, and there is much good land. 



I now pass from Georgia over the Blue ridge, into the western 

 parts of North Carolina. This mining section is mostly in the Cher- 

 okee country. 1 will not pretend to enumerate all the places where 

 gold has been found. Immediately bordering on the north-west side 

 of the Blue ridge, there are fine table lands ; the country is high, 

 and a northern exposure renders it cold, and the season short for the 

 latitude. Twelve miles out of the valley, in Habersham, over the 

 ridge to the head of the western waters, makes a change equal to 

 several degrees of latitude, arising from the eastern declivity meeting 

 the sun's rays, and having the western winds broken off by the moun- 

 tain. These lands are formed by the disintegration of hills of the 

 Blue ridge ; the rocks and base of the formation is much covered 

 up ; where the surface is so formed, it would be natural to suppose 

 that gold in deposit would lie deep in these western parts, situate 

 in Georgia, which includes the upper waters of Highwassa and 

 Brass Town. The digging for gold is forbidden bylaw on the Nan- 

 tiale, Valley River. On the head waters of Little Tennessee and 

 the Tuckasage, all in North Carolina, gold has been found j how far, 



