333 On the Low Country of North Carolina. 



ly, as I believe, disappear altogether in the neighborhood of 

 the ocean ; though they may be found in some situations. 

 The clay contains masses of iron pyrites, imbedded in it, which 

 are converted into copperas by exposure to the air. There 

 are also quantities of bog iron ore — the kidney shaped masses 

 of ochre, mentioned by Maclure, lignite and wood, of which 

 the original particles have been replaced by silex. These, 

 along with the limestone marl and shells, constitute the mine- 

 rals of the district. 



2. The upper border of the alluvial is very irregular. Mac- 

 lure draws the line of separation between it and the upper 

 country, "a little to the westward of Halifax, Smithfield, 

 Averysborough, and Parkersford, on Pedee river, in North 

 Carolina ;" and for communicating a general idea of the boun- 

 daries of this formation, it is probable that a better designa- 

 tion of them could not be given. It is, nevertheless, certain, 

 that many thousands of acres of sand lie on the north west- 

 ern, and that there are a great many fixed rocks on the 

 southeastern side of this line. The latter occur in the bed of 

 the Neuse, more than twenty miles southeast of Smithfield. 

 It would appear that the sand once covered the whole coun- 

 try much higher up than it does now, but that it has been re- 

 moved in the neighborhood of the streams, so that we have 

 a broad zone extending quite across the state, exhibiting sand, 

 clay, and water worn pebbles, upon the high grounds, com- 

 pletely covering up the rock formations; whilst in the neigh- 

 borhood of the streams, there is a soil formed from rocks 

 that have undergone decomposition in their original beds. 

 The width of this zone is from twenty to forty or fifty miles. 

 It is important to remark, that the hills covered by the sand 

 and pebbles of the alluvial, frequently attain an elevation of 

 three or four hundred, and I think some of them are five or 

 six hundred feet, above the level of the sea. There are whole 

 counties whose surface must be two hundred feet above the 

 same level. The pebbles, found at the greatest heights, are 

 of the size commonly used in paving, and the quantities col- 

 lected in some situations are immense. 



3. As we approach the sea, we fall in with marine organic 

 remains, at the distance of from sixty to eighty miles from 

 it. They are found in greatest abundance, along the banks 

 of the largest rivers, where a high perpendicular bluff pre- 

 sents us with a section of the strata; but they are occasion- 

 ally met with in places remote from the rivers, where an ex* 



