Geology of North Carolina. 247 



2. Elevation of the pinnacle on the north side at 



the place of ascent, - - 205 feet 



3. Elevation of the same on the south side, - 250 " 



4. Highest perpendicular rock on the south side, 214 " 

 The height of the Pilot Mountain and of its rocky castle, as 



indicated by the foregoing measurements, appears so inconsider- 

 able when compared with the summits of the Alps and the An- 

 des, that one accustomed to scale those aerial heights, would 

 perhaps smile at the representation we have given, of the lofty 

 emotions inspired by the view from this comparatively humble 

 eminence ; but he would neglect the consideration that the Pilot 

 stands alone, and does not lose its majesty among surrounding 

 heights — that the neighbouring country for forty of fifty miles 

 around is, with a few exceptions, comparatively a plain — that 

 those who ascend this mountain, have just emerged from a re- 

 gion over which, for a great extent, the prospects are obstruc- 

 ted, and even the horizon concealed, by boundless forests — and 

 finally that the Pilot Mountain is a most favorable post of obser- 

 vation for viewing the Blue Ridge, in its sublimest attitude, pre- 

 senting to the eye at once a varied but unbroken chain of lofty 

 eminences, that stretch over nearly one hundred and eighty de- 

 grees of the horizon. 



While my companions were employed in these observations, I 

 had begun an examination of the geological structure of the 

 pinnacle. A foot path running close to its base conducts one, 

 without the least obstruction, quite round the circle, and no op- 

 portunity could be more favorable for remarking the different 

 kinds of rocks and their relative position. In the geology of 

 the pinnacle, there is something quite remarkable and curious ; 

 and the geologist will linger around its base with as much de- 

 light and admiration, as he gazes upon the landscape from its 

 summit. The pinnacle is made up chiefly of mica slate and 

 quartz ; but each exhibits peculiar and interesting characters. 

 Its rocky wall is full of rents from top to bottom, and it is also 

 regularly stratified, the strata dipping easterly at an angle of 

 only ten degress. By these parallel seams, the whole is divided 

 into tabular masses. The most abundant rock, is a peculiar kind 

 of mica slate or grit rock, composed of very fine granular quartz 

 with flesh-red mica intimately disseminated. The texture is ex- 

 quisitely fine, and the cohesion so loose that it may be frequently 

 crumbled between the fingers into the finest white sand. 



At a mill near the river Ararat, I saw a pair of millstones, 

 said to have been quarried from an eminence on the northwest 

 side of the Pilot. They consisted of quartz rock, somewhat 

 resembling French burrh, and appeared to be of an excellent 

 quality. Grindstones also are quarried from the grit rock of 

 these mountains. 



