T325] ARTESIAN WELLS IN EAST MISSISSIPPI. 103 



bored ; its thickness" was not recollected. After passing through, a " white 

 shell rock " was struck, intcrstratified probably with sand, for water was obtain- 

 ed in it which rose to within eight or ten feet of the surface. At about 175 feet, 

 they struck a dark brown sand, whicli gradually grew lighter and finally white ; 

 then a coarse white sand. At this point, some of the material above began to 

 cave, and they tried to pump the well, but after working twelve days in Tain, it 

 was abandoned. Once, however, the depth of 197 feet was reached. The water 

 when first obtained, was clear and without any unpleasant teste and smell ; but 

 by standing in the bore, it has now acquired tho taste of the " blue dirt." 



It is evident that here, nothing but tubing was wanting for the success of the 

 artesian bore. At the level at which it stood, the water could even then hare 

 been made to run out into the valley ; and had an additional stream been struck 

 after tubing out the quicksand, the water would doubtless have overflowed. 



Another attempt was made by Mr. Foley, about five miles S. E. of Garlands- 

 ville ; but he broke his auger at a moderate depth and abandoned the work : 

 what his results were I could not learn. 



325. These experiments prove conclusively, that deep bored 

 wells, and artesian or flowing wells, are quite as likely to succeed 

 in the prairie region of the Tertiary, as they are on the waters of 

 the Tombigbee : and the importance of this fact will be appre- 

 ciated by those who are acquainted with the difficulty found 

 heretofore in obtaining an adequate supply of drinkable water, in 

 the region in question. For the tracts known as the " hog wallow" 

 or " post oak prairie," in N. W. Jasper, N. E. Smith, and some 

 parts of Scott and Newton, this circumstance is of the most vital 

 importance, since they are utterly destitute of water during the 

 greater part of the year. The nature of the strata does not admit 

 of the existence of springs, and water cannot be obtained in dug 

 wells at any reasonable depth. Not only the uplands of thisregioa 

 have been neglected, to a great extent, on account of this very 

 difficulty, but even the profusely fertile bottoms of West Tallahala 

 and Leaf River waters have experienced the same fate. 



The probable practicability of deep bored wells extends, of 

 course, not only to the region of the calcareous Tertiary, but for 

 some distance, at least, N. and S. of the same, and very probably 

 to that of the Siliceous Claiborne Group (see map). 

 R— 13 



