42 CRETACEOUS STRATA. [CHAP. XXII. 



feet thick, alternating with red clay and sand, which 

 I at first supposed to be tertiary, from their re 

 semblance to strata near Macon and Augusta in 

 Georgia. The fossil shells, however, of the accom 

 panying marls (Inoceramus and Rostellaria arenaruni), 

 soon convinced me that they belonged to the cre 

 taceous formation. About three miles south of the 

 town there is a broad zone of calcareous marl, con 

 stituting what is called the prairie, or cane-brake 

 country, bare of natural wood, and where there is so 

 great a want of water, that it was at first difficult for 

 settlers to establish themselves upon it, until, by aid 

 of the Artesian auger, they obtained an abundant 

 supply from a depth of 300, and often 500 feet, 

 derived from the underlying gravelly and sandy beds. 

 Farther from the outcrop of these gravelly beds 

 borings have been made 800 feet deep without suc 

 cess. The temperature of the water was found to 

 increase in proportion to the depth of the wells. 

 A proprietor told me he had found it very difficult 

 to get trees to grow on the prairie land, but he 

 had succeeded, with great care, in rearing a few- 

 mulberries. 



The common name for themarlite, of which this tree 

 less soil is composed, is &quot; rotten limestone.&quot; I found 

 many lumps on the surface, much resembling white 

 chalk, and containing shells of the genera, Inocera 

 mus, Baculite, Ammonite, Hippurite, and that well- 

 known fossil of the English chalk, Ostrea vesicularis. 

 In the market-place of Montgomery, I saw an 

 auctioneer selling slaves, and calling out, as I passed, 

 &quot; Going for 300 dollars.&quot; The next day another 



