•■^4:2 The A literif(f II trenJoijist. December, l.S95 
drainage system. The elevated traets like that at the head 
of Pine rnn in Stone connty, and the plateau country or crest 
of the Ozarks, were the higher portions of the plain, where 
the streams had their sources. The short ridges and mounds 
above described were preserved from erosion on account of 
the hardness of their strata, and were the only elevations of 
any prominence on the ancient plain. 
Tektiary Valleys. 
'i'he larger streams in the Ozark region are exceedingly tor- 
tuous and flow in comparatively narrow, steep-sided valleys, 
trenched 200 to 500 feet below the level of the surrounding 
upland. The meanders of the streams are similar in form to 
those produced on broad flood-plains; but in this case the 
valleys partake of the meandering course of the rivers, and 
there are practically no flood-plains, although generally a 
narrow tract of river swamp deposit spreads to a few times 
the width of the stream, and changes about from side to side 
as it is displaced by the river approaching the bluffs. 
These river valleys are compound, consisting of a small 
trough excavated in the bottom of a much larger trough or 
valley. The duplex form of the valleys is especially notice- 
able in the portion of the White river basin crossing the region 
of Lower Carboniferous limestone. Standing on the edge of 
the higher upland, on the heavily timbered ridges of the ex- 
ceedingly rough countr}' locally known as the Carney moun- 
tains, and looking south across the valley of White river, one 
sees a broad moderately rolling plain, ])leasantly diversified 
with cultivated lands and small tracts of timber, and bounded 
on the southern side beyond the Arkansas line by the pine- 
clad hills of the Eureka mountains. F'ar to the west is the 
still higher range of the Pea ridge, and scattered al)Out in the 
cultivated lowland are timbered, cone-shaped hills or peaks, 
rising nearly or quite to the level of the surrounding moun- 
tainous tracts. Descending from the hills and traversing the 
lower but still undulating country, the traveler is surprised to 
find the White river occupying a small valh'V only four or five 
times wider than its stream bed, although trenciied 100 or 
more feet below the level of the lai'ger valley. 
In the smaller valleys of the region the contrast between the 
two troughs is not so prominent. Along the James river and 
smaller streams, such as Flat creek, the plane of demarkation 
