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On the Nueces River, ten miles west of Fort Inge, a seam of bituminous coal several feet in thickness has been discovered. The coal has been employed by the blacksmiths at the Fort, and found to be of good quality. This deposit is probably cretaceous.

No mineral coal has heretofore been discovered in any portion of the region examined by myself west of the Guadalupe Mountains. From the general character of the strata, however, I feel satisfied that more thorough explorations in that direction will succeed in developing the existence of this mineral over a very large extent of territory. Strong evidences of the existence of coal were discovered by myself in several localities in Western Texas and New Mexico.

Iron is found abundantly distributed through the rocks of the Coal Measures in various portions of Arkansas and the adjacent Indian Territories; also in Eastern Texas. Among the different ores of that metal hitherto discovered in this region, the most abundant are the Brown Hematite, Magnetic Oxide, and Bisulphuret, or Iron Pyrites.

Copper, in the form of black oxide and sulphuret, or Copper Pyrites, has been discovered in abundance in the Chickasaw Nation and in several localities in Western Arkansas.

Lead, in the form of sulphuret, or common galena, occurs abundantly in Western Arkansas. It has also been found in the Choctaw and Cherokee Territories.

The ores of other metals have been discovered in connection with these rocks in Western Arkansas and the neighboring Indian Territories, but inasmuch as they do not occur near any of the proposed railroad routes, it has not been thought advisable to mention them.

The region occupied by this formation is usually much better watered than that of the Cretaceous System. This, towards the west, is owing mainly to the greater elevation of the exposed edges of the strata, by which means they are made to receive a much larger proportion of rain than usually falls upon the Plains, while the rocks themselves are generally of such a nature as to absorb water readily, which, following the general dip of the strata, may gush out anywhere at lower levels in the form of springs; hence they are abundantly met with near the base of many of the mountains of Western Texas and New Mexico, while upon the Plains to the east but little water is found. In the region bordering the eastern side of the Plains, the rocks of this group being still more favorably situated with regard to atmospheric moisture, the surface is abundantly enlivened with springs and brooks, and there is no deficiency of good water.