122 



GEOLOGICAL REPORT. 



[If 184, 185, 180 



184. In the bed of Peechyhaly Creek, S. of Shongalo, on S. 2 ?, T. 1G, R. 5 E., 

 there occurs, associated with blue clayey sand, a soft sandstone, mottled blue 

 and yellow, very closely resembling that of S. Neshoba and Lauderdale ; no 

 fossils were, however, discovered in it. Large billets of silicified wood have 

 been found in the neighboring streams, by Win. Batey, Esq., in whese well on 

 S 35, T. 17, R. 5 E., laminated clay like that in the deep cut at Vaiden, with 

 rosettes of gypsum, was struck at 28 feet, continuing, with little change of 

 character, to 44 leet; a level fully as low, probably somewhat lower, than that of 

 the ltdge ot roc 1- in Peech} haly Creek, in the edge of the bottom of Big Black 

 River. Crossing the latter at Kirkwood's Ferry, about S. 11, T. 16, R. 5 E., 

 we find on the S. side a steep bluff about 70 feet high, on which the following 

 section is exhibited : 



SECTION OF 



(Sec. 23.) 

 TERTIARY STRATA AT 

 ATTALA COUNTY. 



KIRKWOOD'S FERRY, 



The white siliceous sandstone, No. 7. which is very abundant on the ridges 

 of N. Attala (H59), strews the hillside. 



185. The facts just stated, in connection with this section, can leave no doubt 

 as to the fact, that the lignito-gypseous strata both overlie and underlie this 

 marine ferrugmous deposit, which is quite extensively developed in N. Attala, 

 and acquires some practical importance through the large amount of greensaud 

 it contains ; which not only renders Rome of its materials suitable as manures, 

 but is also scattered through the heavy "red hills" soil of that portion of the 

 county, rendering them both fertile and durable. In numerous steep gullies on 

 the Shongalo and Kosciusko road, as well as on the bluffs of Zilla, and both 

 forks of Poukta Creek, the several materials observed on the bluff at Kirkwood's 

 Ferry, crop out ; and the fertilizing powers of the very sand deposi'S of these 

 creeks (in which, of course, thegreensand is concentrated), are already known 

 and appreciated among the agriculturists of the region. 



186. I have not traced out this formation in E. Attala county, but have looked 

 closely for traces of it in Winston. The deep characteristic tint of its materials, 

 which is unmistakeable in the "Red Hills" of Attala and Holmes, again meets 



