286 
GEOLOGY. 
seven hundred, and other rocks about twelve hundred.” * * * * u The workable 
veins are, respectively, 20', 6', 6', 12', 25', 5', 5', 18', and 13' feet in thickness—making an 
aggregate of 116 feet. 
“ Bellingham Bay here offers a fine harbor and good anchorage for vessels of all kinds ; and 
by constructing a wharf a few hundred feet in length coals can he brought down from the pits 
in cars, and dropped into the vessels, without the employment of any other power than their 
own weight.” 
The following descriptive section is also given by Lieut. Trowbridge. The measurements are 
on a horizontal line; the real thickness of each stratum is therefore T Vo of that stated. 
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6 . 
7. 
8 . 
9. 
10 . 
11 . 
12 . 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 
18. 
19. 
20 . 
SECTION OF COAL-BEARING STRATA, BELLINGHAM BAY. 
Feet. 
Sandstone, (thickly bedded) about.. 150 
Coal ...- 20 
Shale.. 6 
Argillaceous sandstone_ 6 
Clay shale_ 10 
Slate filled with impressions of leaves- 2 
Clay and bituminous shale....—. 14 
Slate filled with impressions of leaves_ 4 
Clay.-.... 55 
Bituminous shale--—.— 25 
Bituminous shale and clay_ 178 
Sandstone, (thickly bedded,) about..200 
Coal. 6 
Shales. 35 
Coal. 6 
Sandstone and shale---—.. 25 
Coal. 6 
Clay, iron-stone, clay, and shale- 145 
Coal (impure). 4 
Clay_ 40 
Fee 
21. Coal (impure).... 4 
22. Clay and shale. 40 
23. Sandstone.... 35 
24. Coal... 12 
25. Bituminous shale (probably will work into coal).. 14 
26. Coal. 25 
27. Clay..... 24 
28. Sandstone, (thickly bedded,) about. 100 
29. Clay. 30 
30. Stratified argillaceous sandstone... 50 
31. Coal. 5 
32. Clay and shales___- 200 
33. Coal_ 5 
34. Shales and slates........150 
35. Coal. 18 
36. Clay. 20 
37. Sandstone, (thickly bedded,) about...200 
38. Coal. 13 
39. Clay. 15 
40. Sandstone (thickly bedded.) 
It is possible that some of the many distinct beds of coal described by Lieutenant Trowbridge 
are not perfectly pure ; they may contain seams of bituminous shale, or earthy matter, which, 
in the rough and unworked outcrops, might be considered as good coal. The number and 
thickness of the beds, as given in the section, show that the formation is very remarkable and 
extensive, and excites a desire to know more of the geology of the region. 1 An extended and 
careful survey is exceedingly desirable, not only for the geological results that may be expected, 
but as preliminary to the exploration of the beds. 
The imprints of leaves and twigs occur in the shales of the locality ; but the specimens 
procured by Lieutenant Trowbridge were too obscure and imperfect to permit their specific 
characters to be made out. 
I learn from one of the officers that accompanied the United States Coast-Survey steamer 
Active on a recent trip to Puget Sound, (1854,) that the Bellingham Bay coal was used on the 
steamer a part of the voyage. The furnaces of this steamer are provided with “ drop and 
return flues ;” but notwithstanding this construction the flame from the furnaces would gene¬ 
rally pour out of the top of the smoke-stack for ten or twenty feet. This is sufficient evidence 
of the existence of a very large amount of volatile matter in the coal; and it shows that the 
fire was not properly managed, or that the furnaces were not adapted to the peculiarities of the 
1 It is not impossible that these beds of coal are so much plicated that the same series is included more than once in the 
section as above given. I am assured, however, that the measurements were made with great care. 
