Topography of the Valley of the Kenawha River. 87 



The process is one of nature's hidden mysteries, carried on in her 

 secret laboratory, far beyond the reach, and inaccessible to the pry- 

 ing curiosity of man. On the ridge of land which divides the waters 

 of the western branches of the Monongahela from those of Hews's 

 river, is found a bed of the foliated sulphate of lime or selenite, split- 

 ting into broad transparent plates, of several inches in breadth and 

 length. I have a specimen in my cabinet, but no accurate descrip- 

 tion of the deposit or of the accompanying rocks. Salt is manufac- 

 tured below the falls ; but the water is much weaker than that of the 

 salines in the Big Kenawha. Carburetted hydrogen is discharged 

 in great abundance near these salt wells, and may be considered a 

 sure indication of the presence of salt water below. 



Topography of the Valley of the Kenawha River. 



The Kenawha is, on many accounts, one of the most interesting 

 tributaries of the Ohio. In its course from the Iron mountains of 

 North Carohna, where the headmost branches extend, to its mouth, 

 its waters pass over a primitive, a transition and a secondary re- 

 gion ; which cannot be said of any other river, running north and 

 west from the mountains. It crosses three degrees of latitude, and 

 traverses, in its windings, a distance of not less than three hundred 

 miles, passing across numerous mountain ranges, and rushing through 

 all the rocky barriers that oppose its progress. Its numerous trib- 

 utaries rise in the most mountainous portions of western Virginia. 

 Its floods are sudden and rapid, and when at full banks, it pours out 

 a volume of water that vies in strength and grandeur with the Ohio 

 itself; throwing its current across the latter stream, and often strand- 

 ing heavy laden boats on the opposite shore. For seventy miles 

 above its mouth, the average width is, about three hundred yards ; 

 and with the improvements made in its channel, it admits of steam 

 boat navigation to that distance ; after the junction of the Gauly, 

 one hundred miles from the mouth, it takes the name of the "New 

 River," which was given to it by some of its first discoverers from 

 North Carolina. From the mouth of the Green river, to the mouth 

 of Gauly, a distance of about seventy miles, it has a descent of 

 more than seven hundred feet. This portion of its course is called 

 "the chfFs of New river." From thence to its head, there is a con- 

 tinual succession of falls and rapids, with but few interruptions. Its 

 primitive tributaries, are Coal river, Pocatalico, Elk, Gauly and 

 Greenbrier ; the three latter, large and powerful streams, but too 



