216 
[Assembly 
Sufficient has now been said of the qualities of this rock, to make 
known its true value and character as a building stone. The places at 
which it may be, or has been quarried, are numerous. In Gouverneur, 
is a fine deposit of it, in inexhaustible quantities on the lands of Dr. Mur- 
dock, also in De Kalb, in Hammond and Rossie, and on the Racket river, 
and in Potsdam, extending 8 or 10 miles, in the direction of Pierrepont. 
It occurs, also, in Hopkinton, and in Parishville. The color of the 
sandstone, at Gouverneur, which, for aught I can see, is as good as that 
of Potsdam, is gray. It is situated in the northwest pare of the town, 
and dips to the northwest, at an angle varying from 5° to 10°. The 
thickness of this whole stratum of sandstone is no where great. In 
some places it is entirely worn through; in others, insulated fragments, 
or masses, remain attached to the primitive strata, and dipping into what 
were, at the time of the deposition of the rock, open fissures, or cracks, 
and every where showing that it is unconformable to the rocks on which 
it rests. The effects of currents of water on this stratum, are not among 
the least interesting geological phenomena of this region. 
It appears that when the strata were elevated they were frequently 
fractured for miles in a north and south direction, and along the line of 
the greatest uplift they were in one sense comminuted, or broken into 
small pieces. Subsequently currents of water passing over the whole 
region, farther broke up and carried away all the loose materials. The 
result of the combined effects of the uplift and of the currents, have 
been the production of long narrow valleys, bounded on both sides by 
perpendicular walls of sandstone, which still stand, in many instances, 
like regular mason work. The fractures usually extend downward to 
the primary strata, and the whole stratum of sandstone has been some- 
times removed down to the gneiss and granite. 
That the above is not hypothetical, is evident from the rounded cor- 
ners of those portions of the strata which lie along these valleys, and 
also from the scratches they received, and which still remain as perfect 
and fresh as if they were made but yesterday. 
12 
Fig. 12, is a transverse section of one of the valleys described above. 
The walls on either side are rounded and scratched; their depth varies 
from 10 to 100 feet. 
