42 



At Mr. Washington Basset's, about 4£ miles higher up the river, 

 the bank is precipitous, and presents the following series of strata: 



Miocene— Superficial gravel, - - 5 or 6 feet. 



Thin layer of friable Bandy clay with casts, - $ 



Olive-coloured earth with shark's teeth, and a few 



casts of Miocene shells, 7 



Thin line of black pebbles. 



Eocene. — Dark greenish-brown stratum, containing a large pro- 

 portion of greensand, and in some parts 

 abounding in shells. The upper portion con- 

 sists of a rocky mass of cemented shell, 

 chiefly the saddle- oyster, - - 20 



At Walker Tomlin's, on the south side of the river, immediately 

 below Newcastle, the beds arc, 



Miocene. — Friable white clay and sand with casts of shells, 2 



Eocene. — Olive earth with pebbles at bottom, - - 6 



A dark bluish-green clay, containing a great deal of 

 greensand, capped by rock as at the former 

 locality, - - 25 



At Newcastle and William H. Roane's and Mrs. Ruffin's estates, 

 a similar series of beds occurs, rising still higher above the level of 

 the stream. About 1 £ miles above Newcastle, the upper surface of 

 the Eocene marl has an elevation above the river of more than 

 thirty feet. The lower stratum consists of the bluish-green clay 

 before mentioned, containing only a few of the more delicate shells, 

 and richly abounding in greensand ; the upper of a gray calcareous 

 marl, thickly speckled with granules of this substance. Over the 

 whole is a layer of the white friable material, with Miocene impres- 

 sions. 



The upper surface of the Eocene usually presents an unbroken 

 line, though at some places, as at Mr. Fox's above Newcastle, this 

 is not the case. The bed here consists of a light-coloured sand and 

 clay, speckled with the greensand, and containing vast numbers of 

 the Eocene oyster. Its outline presents numerous cavities and emi- 

 nences, exactly resembling those which occur in the Miocene de- 

 posite nearer to the seaboard. A narrow layer of common sand 



