154 



Olsr THE TOPOCiKAPlIY AND CJEOLOfiY 



the upper part of which are occasional strata of a calcareo-argillaceons shale, abonnd- 

 ing in fossils, among which the commonest are ^Irca grandis and Pleurotoina virgo. 

 The formation is well exposed in numerous sections cut by streams, and in some of 

 them beds of lignite occur similar to the Samana coal. I^ear Savaneta, at the point 

 where the road crosses the Yaguajal, the following section was obtained, mainly 

 interesting as illustrative of the relation that the gravels bear to the underlying shale 

 beds : 



^ - • . ■' Gravkl. . • • . 







20 feet. 



■ . _ ,^ (Smface dcinulcd.) : ■■ , • 





Yellow Sandy Clay Shales. 



13 feet. 



Lignite. 



2^ inches. 



Yellow Sandy Clay Shales. 



7 feet. 



Lignite. 



Zk inches. 



■ . , , . , _ ' , Blue Shales. , 



Depth unknown. 



There is little doubt but the yellow beds which are interposed between the gravels 

 and the "Nivaje," oi- blue shale, are the equivalent of the yellow shales of CTuayul)in 

 and Samana, and which in those cases also cany equally insignificant seams of 

 lignite, which there, like here, is impure, earthy, semi-laminated, and shrinks, ci-acks, 

 and disintegrates on exposure to the ail-. It is not necessary to add that it has no 

 l)ossi])le economic value, despite all that has l)een said about "Samana coal." 



Although I carried my own examinations no further west than Savaneta, some 

 of m}^ assistants have been beyond there, and Mr. Arthur Pennell conducted a 

 detailed survey of Dajabon, on tlie 1)oundary of llayti. He repoi-ts the same gravel 



