73 



at length but I am very much pressed by my duties. Some future 

 day I should be glad to explore those beds more fully. 



Very truly yours, 



P. A. Chadbourne. 



The shell-heaps extend along the banks of the river for a distance 

 of nearly half a mile ; one small deposit is seen on a small island near 

 the western bank. They vary greatly in size and form, but are mostly 

 continuous with each other, except where separated by the river. 

 Some of the smaller heaps contain a few bushels only of materials 

 while the largest one examined reaches a height of thirty feet. They 

 rest upon the natural surface of the soil, which is composed of clay 

 and gravel and sandy loam, belonging, geologically, to the drift. 

 Granite ledges rise to the surface in the neighboring hills and numer- 

 ous bowlders lie scattered about, but none are seen on the surface of 

 the shell-beds themselves. A tolerable heavy growth, chiefly of ever- 

 greens, covers the surface of the larger mounds. The soil upon them 

 is quite thin, so that a slight stirring of the surface is sufficient to 

 betray the presence of any underlying shell deposit. The water of 

 the river is salt, and the river is, in fact, like many of the so-called 

 rivers on the coast of Maine, simply an inlet from the sea, like the 

 fjords of Norway. The coast of Maine is notched with these narrow 

 fjords into which the salt water flows, often for many miles into the 

 interior. This peculiar character of the coast line is considered by 

 geologists to be due to the direction of the rocky strata. In New 

 England these jut ovit irregularly with their ends toward the sea, 

 while along the rest of the coast they lie parallel to it. 



The shell-beds first examined by our party were those on the west- 

 ern bank. Through the gradual erosion of the bank by the water the 

 eastern edge of the beds has been worn away, so that a longitudinal 

 section is exhibited along the line of the shore. The shells lie very 

 loosely, are remarkably white and friable, being in a state of partial 

 decomposition and readily falling to pieces when handled. The great 

 majority of them are oyster shells, many of them of great size and of 

 a peculiarly long and narrow shape. One of these shells measured 14 

 inches in length. Mingled with the oyster shells are found those of 

 the common clam [niya arenaria) and the quahog {venus mercenaria) , 

 and occasionally those of the mussel and pecten or scallop shell. The 



