THE WATERS OF NORTH CAROLINA.. 13 



rises in numerous mountain springs in Transylvania, Henderson, Buncombe, and 

 Madison counties, and has a length of 70 miles and a drainage area of 4,745 

 square miles before it enters Tennessee. Its principal tributaries are Laurel, Ivy, 

 Swannanoa, and Pigeon rivers, the last the most important; these and various 

 creeks are nearly always cold and clear, and are among the most beautiful 

 streams in North Carolina. The Pigeon River drains practically the whole of 

 Haywood County, having a length of 60 miles and a drainage basin of 570 square 

 miles. In the last 40 miles of its course in North CaroHna it has a fall of 1,300 

 feet; it breaks through the Great Smoky Mountains in a deep, wild, rocky gorge, 

 and 25 miles further on joins the French Broad. 



The most extensive of the river basins west of the mountains in North 

 Carolina is that of the Little Tennessee, which embraces all of the counties of 

 Macon, Jackson, Graham, and Swain, an area of more than 1,800 square miles, 

 of which nearly nine-tenths is forest-clad. The length of the main stream within 

 the state is about 80 miles. The principal tributaries are the Cheowah, Tucka- 

 seegee, and Nantahala rivers, all mountain streams with rapids and falls, some of 

 the latter being high and beautiful. The Little Tennessee enters the main river. 



Flowing through Clay and Cherokee counties toward the northwest is the 

 Hiawassee River, the most western of the important streams of North Carolina. 

 This river, whose two most important tributaries are the Nottely and Valley 

 rivers, has a drainage basin of more than 1,000 square miles before it leaves the 

 state to join the main Tennessee River in Tennessee. This is a rapid mountain 

 stream, at least 60 miles of which are within the limits of North Carolina; in 

 places the river is 300 feet wide, but for the most part it is narrowly confined 

 within steep, rocky banks. 



The fishes of these waters belong to a very different fauna from those inhab- 

 iting the streams which drain into the Atlantic, and in fact are very dissimilar as 

 to species. The anadromous fishes, which constitute the most characteristic 

 feature of the streams east of the mountains, are entirely absent from these waters, 

 while minnows and darters attain a great development. Of the fishes of the 

 upper waters of New River nothing definite is known, as no collections have 

 been made in that part of the basin within the state. The headwaters of the 

 Watauga abound in trout and darters. The upper tributaries of the French 

 Broad are among the finest and most beautiful trout streams in the entire Alle- 

 ghany region, and are also well supplied with other food and game fishes, includ- 

 ing pike, pike perch, rock bass, small-mouth black bass, spotted cat-fish, green 

 cat-fish, and suckers, together with a host of minnows and darters. The streams 

 west of the French Broad have been only very superficially examined with refer- 

 ence to their fish life; while the fishes are doubtless quite similar to those of other 

 tributaries of the Tennessee, it is quite possible that some undescribed species 

 remain to be discovered and it is certain that a number of minor species will 

 eventually be added to the state's fauna from those waters. 



