NIAGARA COUNTY. 
441 
Lockport, and Royalton. From the foot of this terrace the country declines gradually towards 
the lake, and the top of the terrace is the highest land in the county. From thence there is 
a gradual slope south, to the Tonawanda creek. The streams flowing to the lake have cut 
their channels deeply into the red marl and sandstone, and their great breadth and depth indi¬ 
cate a much larger quantity of water at some previous time. 
The drift hills do not rise more than a few feet above the general surface. The soil every 
where is composed, in part, of water-worn materials ; but the hills, if there ever were any, have 
been levelled by some subsequent cause. 
In descending the terrace on the north, we find ridges of loose materials extending from 
the top and sloping gradually off to the surface below. Where the northern extremities of the 
hills have been excavated, we find large rounded masses of limestone and shale, from the 
rocks south, with masses of granite. These are all mingled together in confusion; and the 
masses of limestone are worn and scratched, as if having been borne along with blocks of 
harder rock. From these appearances, and the form of the hills, it is very evident that a cur¬ 
rent of water flowed from the south. But again, on the summit of this terrace we find masses 
of sandstone from the north, often wedged into fissures of the limestone, as if driven there 
by violent force. The following section of the cliff, and a superficial deposit of this kind, at 
Lewiston, illustrates the subject. At the point < 2 , which is just beyond the edge of the pro¬ 
jecting mass of grey sandstone, there is an immense accumulation of partially worn fragments 
of sandstone and limestone; large numbers of the latter being from the top of the terrace 
above. This deposit has been penetrated seventy feet, without reaching the rock beneath. 
192. 
1, 2, 3. Lower, middle and upper parts of the Medina sandstone. 5. Shale of the Niagara Group. 
4. Clinton Group. 6. Limestone of the Niagara Group. 
Several extensive marshes along the lake shore are gradually being filled with materials 
brought into them by streams, and deposited, while the outlets are dammed up by beaches. 
Swamps on the south side of the Ridge road contain deposits of partially decomposed vegeta¬ 
ble matter, to the depth of three or four feet. When the swamps are filled with water, this 
substance expands, and the surface is elevated considerably above the level which it occupies 
when dry. When drained, and the vegetation burned, the vegetable soil below takes fire, and 
is with difficulty extinguished. A swamp of this character commences five miles east of 
Lewiston, extends three miles, and is about half a mile wide. The vegetable soil is from 
[Geol. 4th List.] 56 
