OF ARKANSAS. a7 
had a better opportunity of inspecting the shaly rocks of the subcarbo- 
niferous group, than in Shield’s bluff, where they are too much concealed 
by debris washed from above. At this locality, I found the following suc- 
cession under a ledge of sandstone: 
Buff, earthy limestone... -++++sseeeeeeeeeeeee 10 feet thick. 
Miudstone ssi asi) ate eee aes See e Vewe Suse Gate 6 inches thick. 
Brow shales sae oy eke wie wae Wee te eae eee “ 
Black: shalevovens ceed oe bi ese eh Sai eee 38 « “ce 
Limestone in pavement form: +++++sseeeeeueeee ae « 
Brownshales 2siskiescecas sieve dawn ee eee Slee A 5 “ 
Bilaicle: Shiai isc ese do's 5a ecw ae eco a 8 ge gee Aes alas 1 « ¢e 
Brown mudstone: +++. sree ss ce cece cere rece enee 4 “ 6inches “ 
Bilaiele Shiaileiewe asin wae Geeirerat ease er'ep oa Seve, Ge te ae as seca 5 6“ 
Calcareous septaria (hydraulic). -.++++.+es sees 1 “ 6inches “ 
Brown shales oe % oe soa Gwe Sates sie ea alee Sue ar ee 3 « 66 
Black shale at base (thickness?) at an elevation 20 to 25 feet above the 
adjacent bottom. 
Above these strata is apparently mostly sandstone, but much of it is 
out of place, having rolled down from a former higher elevation; there is 
evidently, however, a great thickness of millstone grit in the upper part 
of the adjoining ridges of 150 to 200 feet. 
Four miles south-east of Batesville, a great mass of red shale crops out, 
which disintegrates rapidly to red clay. This underlies the above mill- 
atone grit rock. 
The hills increase in height from the locality where the preceding sec- 
tion was taken towards Batesville; there a lower mass of intercalated 
sandstone rises from beneath these shales, shaly limestone, and septaria. 
The soil immediately over this sandstone is, as usual, thin, and supports a 
growth of stunted oak. 
From Miller’s creek up to Batesville, the hills are from 130 to 240 feet 
in height. Red shales, running downwards into brown and black shales, 
with calcareous septaria, occupy the base of the hills around Batesville; 
these shales are surmounted by 150 to 180 feet of sandstone. 
The black shales of the above series have given rise to expectations for 
the discovery of coal in their vicinity; but, occupying, as they do, a geo- 
logical position in the subcarboniferous group entirely below the millstone 
grit, and Archimedes limestone, there is no prospect of finding any thing 
but perhaps a few inches of coal associated with these shales, which can 
be of no practical value. 
Between Batesville and the “ Big Spring,” there are high ridges elevated 
about 450 feet above White river, composed in their upper part of both 
