HARRISON COUNTY. 137 



country is covered with an orange-colored sand, amongst which nodular ore 

 in considerable quantities is found. The nodules found here lie quite close 

 to the surface and have a depth of about three feet. These nodules lie closely 

 packed to each other in places, but eastward they become more scattered. 

 These nodules are probably the largest seen in Harrison County, and are 

 from twelve to fifteen inches in length, having a thickness of from two to 

 six inches. They are concentrically ringed like most of the other nodular 

 ore geodes, but have the peculiarity of having their centre or core filled 

 with a fine gravel firmly cemented together in the form of a conglomerate 

 and have this gravelly core attached to the inner layer of the surrounding 

 bands. 



On the banks of Walnut Creek, about two and a half miles north of Mar- 

 shall, there is a mixture of nodular ore, ferruginous sandstone, laminated 

 and conglomerate ores. The nodular ore is not very prominent. 



On the Joel B. Grain, John Johnson, and Joseph E. White headrights scat 

 tered quantities of nodular ore are found in the different washouts common 

 throughout the region. The surface soil is of a dark brown or orange-red 

 color and contains a considerable quantity of ferruginous and other gravel, 

 and fossil wood. The nodular ore found throughout the district is embedded in 

 this sand in apparently great quantities. Nodules are found thinly scattered 

 over the surface, embedded' and projecting from the sides of the cuttings 

 made by the streams and rain, from which those lying in heaps along the 

 bottoms of these cuttings must have fallen. These nodules are dark rusty 

 brown upon their exterior surface, but throughout the interior they are a 

 dark steel blue, and many have a considerable play of color when freshly 

 broken. While some are partially hollow and show concentricity of their 

 laminae, the greater proportion of the nodules have the interior rings so pli- 

 cated as to show an almost solid body. The depth of the ore bearing gravel 

 in this region is about six feet. 



Small quantities of nodular concretionary ores are also found in the region 

 lying to the north of Little Cypress Creek. 



Although nodular concretionary ores of this class show a considerable per- 

 centage of metallic iron in their composition and are practically of easier ac- 

 cess for mining purposes, those of Harrison County are not of sufficient im- 

 portance in point of quantity to be extensively worked alone. 



