1846.] LYELL ON ALABAMA COAL-FIELDS. 281 



tific ability by Mr. Brumby. Of the extent of the coal in Alabama 

 he published a brief account in 1838 in Barnard's Almanac, and 

 communicated the same to Dr. Silliman ; and from the observations 

 which we have lately made together, and from his notes and infor- 

 mation, it may be inferred that a section from the north-west to the 

 south-east, passing through the basins of the Warrior and Cahawba 

 rivers, would present an anticlinal axis along the line of the water- 

 shed between the two rivers, in the middle of which the beds are 

 highly inclined, and often vertical, while on both sides the produc- 

 tive coal-measures occur in separate basins, their strata having a 

 slight dip, and being in many places nearly horizontal. These views 

 will best be explained by the annexed section. 



Section across the Alabama Coal-fields. 

 N.W. S.E. 



Black Wairior R. Rooks Valley. Cahawba R. 



Coal. Grit. Limestone. Grit. Coal. 



Length of section 50 miles. 



In regard to the most western of the two coal fields, or that on 

 the Warrior River (the principal tributary of the Tombecbee), it 

 has been found by Professor Brumby to be no less than ninety miles 

 long from north-east to south-west, with a breadth of from ten to 

 thirty miles, extending through the counties of Tuscaloosa, Walker, 

 Jefferson and Blount, on both sides of the Warrior River and its 

 several branches. Throughout all this area, seams of bituminous 

 coal crop out; but the number and thickness of these it has as yet 

 been impossible to ascertain, no survey having been made. They 

 must "however be numerous, for I saw several separated by a slight 

 thickness of intervening strata at points between eleven and twenty 

 miles north-east of Tuscaloosa ; and I am informed, that in one place 

 in the bed and banks of the Warrior River three seams are exposed 

 to view, one above the other, the lowest and largest being ten feet 

 in thickness. 



The more eastern coal-field, or that of the Cahawba, is nearly of 

 equal length and breadth, terminating southwards at Centreville, 

 where it meets the lower cretaceous beds, and extending from thence 

 through Bibb, Shelby, Jefferson and St. Clair counties, to the source 

 of the Cahawba River. In this also numerous beds of coal of good 

 quality have been found, and worked to slight depths. 



A third coal-field on the northern confines of the State of Ala- 

 bama, is that of the Tennessee Valley. It is separated from the two 

 former by a broad but low chain of mountains, running nearly east 

 and west, which intervenes between the Tennessee and the sources 

 of the Warrior and Cahawba rivers. These mountains, according to 

 Professor Brumby, consist of strata older than the productive coal- 

 measures, and similar to those seen by me in Rook's Valley. 



The coal on the Tennessee, above alluded to, may perhaps be con- 

 tinuous with that of the great Appalachian coal-field. I hope here- 



