TOPOGRAPHY OF THE COTTON STATES. 
63 
The outer margin of these older formations is near the following towns: 
Paleigh, Columbia, Augusta, Macon, Columbus, Wetuinpka, Centerville, 
and Tuscaloosa, whence it turns northward through Tennessee, meeting 
the present Mississippi at Cairo, and thence through Little Rock south- 
west ward as far as Central Texas. 
In the waters oft" the sinuous shore-line, thus outlined, of the ancient 
continent were deposited in succession the sediments which constitute 
tbe newer formations. Cretaceous and Tertiary. By the gradual eleva- 
tion of this part of the continent these deposits were added to the land 
an a already existing, and the shore line moved outward, at least as far 
as its ]> resent position. 
By a subsequent depression these newer formations, and the lower 
edge also of the older, were submerged and covered with deposits of 
sand, pebbles, day, and loam, brought down from northern latitudes. 
Upon these deposits some of the cotton States depend for their most 
important soils, and they will hence be again subject of special mention 
below. 
Lastly, a re elevation gave to the continent its present outlines. 
Topograph v. — The really mountainous portion of the cotton States 
is confined to the Appalachian region, in which the strata have been 
thrown into folds, faulted, and elevated many hundred feet above the 
general land surface. The main topographical features of this region 
conform in direction to that of the folds originally impressed upon its 
strata, i. e., northeast and southwest. The unyielding nature of many of 
the rocks ami their alternation with others more easily eroded have like- 
wise had their intluence in determining the character of the scenery. 
This region, as already stated above, is composed partly of the rneta- 
morphio rocks, and partly of the uncrystallized Paleozoic strata. The 
highest mountains of this chain are formed of the crystalline slates. 
Outside of the Appalachian region the Paleozoic rocks are approxi- 
mately horizontal, and, where they make the country, the topography is 
the result of erosion simply, and is very little, if at all, modified by the 
geological structure. 
This whole area has a gentle slope away from the Appalachian axis, 
and there are nowhere within its limits elevations of any considerable 
magnitude as compared with those of the preceding division. 
The presence of sandstones and beds of hard cherty limestone among 
these strata gives rise, however, to varied scenery of the most pleasing 
character. 
The newer rocks have a gentle dip awaj r from the Paleozoic border. 
Their elevation is in general less than GOO feet above the sea, and the 
scenery, as in the preceding instance, is solely the result of erosion. 
The mantle of sands and loams which covers these newer rocks gives 
additional uniformity to the topographical features, which are almost 
entirely independent of the character of the underlying beds. The 
broken and almost mountainous region produced by the hard sandstones 
