.52 GEOLOGICAL REPORT. | " .88. 89 



pt'ominently exposed on \vo;ithered surfaces, and sometimes Avashcd out of the 

 mass altogether. The indistinct fossils of the sandstone, No. 2, stand out 

 prominently on its cleavage planes. Whether or not the shale stratum (No. 1) 

 is fossiliferous, I could not ascertain. 



88. The outcrop at McDouglas' mill constitutes an isolated outlier of only a 

 lew acres, between which and the outcrops at Peden's, Gardner's, and Bay 

 Spring, we find (see below) only the strata of the Orange Sand and Eutaw 

 Group. 



Between Stoddard's Ford ("Walnut Peak) and Scott's mill on Big Bear Creek 

 S. 12, T. 5, Pi. 11 E., high bluffs of siliceous sandstone frequently occur on that 

 i. forming some of the little rock scenery to be found in the State. It 

 u s usually in ledges, from a few inches to 3 feet in thickness, is less flinty 

 than that at Mann's and McDouglas' mill, and well suited for grindstones and 

 fIa°*stones. Outcrops of this sandstone are common, also, in the country border- 

 lag on Big Bear Creek, in the S. portion of T. 5, and in T. 6, PR. 10 and 11 E. 

 Mr. Gardner's, on S. 36, T. 5, P. 11 E., there is a narrow valley excavated 

 ther into the sandstone, whose ledges form vertical walls 20-25 feet high 

 on both sides, the talus at their base being strewn with huge blocks which have 

 fallen from above. The ledges, whose thickness varies from % of an inch t<< 

 feet and more, seem to lie horizontally ; the rock is usually hard enough to be 

 suitable for grindstones and flagstones, though in some points it may be crumbled 

 Ifoatween the fingers. On the cleaved surface we often see, besides the ripple 

 marks, curved tracings as of Cololithes or Serpuho ; but no distinct fossils 

 occur. 



89. At Mr. Alex. Peden's place, S. 34, T. 5, P. 10 E., the same sandstone ap- 

 pears, overlaid here both by ferruginous pebble conglomerate, and the strata of 

 he white pipeclay deposit (^62 ft'.). 



At Bay Spring, we find outcropping on Mackay's Creek, for about 2 miles 

 -above, and % mile below the factory, the hard siliceous sandstone of the 

 arboniferous. At the latter place itself, heavy, solid ledges of hard sandstone 

 form the banks, both of the main creek and of a tributary which empties into it 

 at that point ; they show a dip of 2 to 3 deg. southward. The same indistinct 

 impressions on the surface of the slabs, mentioned at Gardner's, are seen here. 

 This is the most westerly outcrop of the Carboniferous formation in Mississippi. 

 All along Pock Creek (of Mississippi) and its branches, E. of Bay Spring, the 

 sandstone crops out — more or less variable in its hardness and the thickness of 

 its layers, yet still essentially the same. At Mr. Jourdans, S. 30, T. 6, R. 11 

 E., and at Mr. Smith's mill, on S. 32 — both localities on Rock Creek — the sand- 

 stone is underlaid by a black clay shale precisely similar to strat. No. 1 at Mc- 

 Douglas' mill (1[87, Sec. 2) ; into which, at Smith's mill, the sandstone shows a 

 transition, by the appearance of clay "galls,"' and the gradual softening, and 

 darkening of the tint, of its lower layers. — The last outcrop of the carboniferous 

 -andstone on Rock Creek occurs a few miles above its mouth ; it also crops out. 

 though it does not form high bluffs, on Big Bear Creek, in TT. 6 and 7. RR. 10 



