Stevenson.] ^^^ [Jan. 21, 



Helderberg, Oriskany and Hamilton as at Robinson's mill on the Sneedville 

 road, and the little village of Pattousville stands on the Hamilton ; but the 

 Pattonsville fault is crossed by that road immediately beyond the village 

 and the Lower Helderberg is brought up as in the gap below Robinson's 

 mill. The Oriskany sandstone is reached again near the "bottom" of 

 North Fork of Clinch and varies in color from rusty yellow to dingy 

 white. The lock is very friable and it must be somewhat calcareous, as 

 the surface has given way at many places, showing the presence of caverns 

 beneath. The hills are covered with loose reddish yelloAV sand, derived 

 from this rock. Both the Lower Helderberg and the Oriskany sandstones 

 are fossiliferous but the fossils are very obscure. Brown hematite occurs 

 on the Pattonsville ridge and is continuous up the North Fork of Clinch. 

 No analyses of this ore have been made, but the quality seems to be good. 

 The Hamilton shales are continuous to the wall of Powell mountain in the 

 other division of this area and are fairly well exposed at many places. 

 Here, as at many other localities, they are supposed to hold coal. 



Ascending the North Fork one reaches the strip of Lower Helderberg 

 rocks in Slemp's gap near Ward's mill, and the upper limestone of that 

 group is well shown at but a little way above the mill. These rocks re- 

 main in sight on both sides of the road until the summit between Clinch 

 and Powell is reached. The Oriskany was not seen here, its place being 

 concealed. 



Returning again to the Jonesville and Estillville road, one crosses the 

 Hunter Valley fault and enters Buckner's ridge at probably 2 miles from 

 Pattonsville. An ill-exposed space of about 10 yards exists here, but there 

 seems to be no reason to suppose that any rock lower than the Hamilton 

 shale is brought to the surface. The Robinet "ores" are clearly absent. 



In Buckner's ridge the calcareous sandstones and silicious limestones at 

 the base of the Knox group have a dip of 45 degrees, which soon decreases 

 to 30 degrees. With these are thin beds of shale, and the whole thickness is 

 not far from 500 feet. Above this series are shales with irregular beds of 

 impure limestone, in all about 1000 feet thick. These are followed by massive 

 limestone, some of it dolomite, w^hich extends beyond the divide and appears 

 on the waters of Little Stock creek. The exposures are indistinct beyond this 

 divide, until at some distance one comes to shales which bear close resem- 

 blance to those which rest on the calcareous sandstones. These shales are 

 well shown along Little Stock creek, which flows between them and the 

 massive magnesian limestones. The shales are badly twisted. The creek 

 flows through a tunnel in the limestone, which is not far from 600 feet 

 long, and from 10 to 15 feet high. 



Few observations were made in Big ridge, the continuation of Copper 

 ridge beyond Clinch river. The rocks are the same as those seen in Copper 

 ridge and it is altogether probable that the reports respecting the occurrence 

 of iron and manganese ores are true. One may not do more than to assert 

 the mere occuri-ence of these ores, as nothing has been done to determine 

 the extent of the deposits. 



