Hon. M. D. K. Taylor,
Speaker of the House of Representatives

The committee on State Affairs, to which was referred the Governor's Message, transmitting to the Senate and House of Representatives, the Report of the State Geologist, have had the carne under consideration, and instruct me to report the following resolution and reccommend its passage.

F. F. FOSCUE.
One of the committee.

Resolved, That twelve hundred copies of the Report of the State Geologist, together with the accompanying documents, be printed, one thousand copies for the use of the House, and two hundred for the use of the State department. Adopted.

Resolved, That 500 copies of the Report of the State Geologist, now in the hands of the Committee on Printing in the House of Representatives, be ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate. Adopted.

EXECUTIVE OFFICE,
AUSTIN, Dec. 3rd, 1859.

Gentlemen of the Senate and
House of Representatives

I enclose herewith, a letter of the State Geologist, communicating his report, in conformity with the act under which he received his appointment.

H. R. RUNNELS.

GEOLOGICAL OFFICE,
AUSTIN, Dec. 1, 1859.

To his Excellency, H. R. Runnels, Governor of the State of Texas:

Sir: I have the donor to submit herewith, a Report showing the progress of the Geological and Agricultural Survey of the State from its commencement to the present time. It will be seen that I have not attempted to furnish a detailed account of our operations, but merely a general statement of the work done, together with some of the leading results. The time intervening between the organisation of the corps and the meeting of the Legislature, was too short to permit us to accomplish any great amount of field work, and prepare besides, a full report accompanied with the necessary maps, diagrams and sections. It was therefore deemed advisable to devote as much time as possible, to investigations in the field. As there have been two and sometimes three parties, constantly at work in different parts of the State, a very large district of country has been examined.

Our field operations were brought to a close about the 1st of November, and since then, the several members of the corks have been actively engaged in the Geological Rooms and Labs oratory. Much time is required to unpack, label, examine and classify the large amount of material that has already accumulated, and it is proposed to devote the winter months to this work, and in making

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analyses of soils, subsoils, rocks, ores, coals and mineral waters.

It gives me pleasure to mention that the Survey has thus far been eminently successful, and our detailed report will show that Texas possesses not only unbounded agricultural resources, but vast mineral wealth.

With much respect,
I am, sir, your ob't sv't,

B. F. SHUMARD.

On the 25th of August, 1858, I had the honor of receiving from His Excellency, Governor Runnels, a notice of my appointment to conduct the Geological and Agricultural Survey of Texas, authorized by an act of the Legislature, passed February 10th, 1858.

By this act it is made the duty of the State Geologist to make as speedily as possible, "a thorough and complete Geological Survey of the State, so as to determine accurately the quality and characteristics of the soil and its adaption to agricultural purposes the species of produce to which the soil in different sections is adapted its mineral resources, their location and the best means for their development its water powers, their location and capacities and generally everything relating to the Geological and Agricultural character of the State."

On receipt of the above notice, and under directions from the Governor, I proceeded immediately to make the necessary arrangements for commencing the field work of the Survey as early as practicable.

As the interests of the Survey demanded that the instruments employed in the work, should be of the best construction, I visited Philadelphia and New York early in September, and gave my personal attention to the selection of them, and also made arrangements for the purchase of such chemicals, as would be needed in the Laboratory.

Returning to St. Louis, two weeks were employed in packing my collection of geological and mineralogical specimens and library for shipment to Texas, and immediately thereafter, I Started for Austin, where I arrived on the 30th of October.

On the 21st December, Geo. G. Shumard, M. D., who had already spent several years in investigating the geology of Texas and New Mexico, while acting in the capacity of Geologist to the U.S. Governments, Expeditions of Capt's. Marcy and Pope, was

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appointed Assistant Geologist, and on the 18th January, 1859, Prof W. P. Riddell A. M., M. D. of the Texas Military Institute was appointed Chemist and Assistant Geologist.

As no provision was made for a draughtsman in the act authorizing the Survey, and as maps of the districts to be explored were immediately needed, it was deemed necessary to employ such a person, allowing hire a reasonable compensation for his services. Accordingly, with the approval of His Excellency, the Governor, Mr. A. Roessler, was employed for this duty.

As the subject of Climatology, in its connection with agriculture, is of great importance, we have made partial arrangements to establish a regular system of meteorological observations throughout the State, on the plan adopted by the Smithsonian Institution at Washington. For this purpose complete sets of instruments of excellent construction have been placed in the hands of competent observers, from whose labors we may anticipate interesting results. Prof. C.G. Forshey so well known for his scientific attainments, who has already devoted much attention to the Climatology of Texas, has obligingly consented to take charge of one set of instruments at Rutersville, and Swante Palm Esq., of Austin, a skillful and accurate observer, of another. A third set has been until recently in charge of the Geological party in the northern part of the State.

Everything being in readiness, on the 11th of January, Dr. Geo. G. Shumard was placed in charge of a party with instructions to proceed to Red River in Grayson county, making such examinations of the strata along the line of his route, as would enable hint to construct an accurate geological section of the country passed over. He was further directed to make a minute and careful exploration of Red River, from Cooke county to the north eastern boundary of the State. Besides accomplishing this work he has made thorough and final surveys of the counties of Grayson, Fannin, Cass and portions of Bowie, Red River and Lamar. He has also assisted me in the examination of Rusk county.

Another party was placed under the direction of Prof. Riddell who entered upon the field work of the survey on the seventh of February. He has made minute and final surveys of the counties of Caldwel1, Guadalupe, McLennan and Coryell, and nearly the whole of Bosque, besides aiding me in the detailed examination of Burnet, and in making a reconnoissance of the coal region in the northern part of the State.

Each party consists, beside, the Geologist in charge of a subordinate assistant, a cook, and a teamster.

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Mr. Roessler, in addition to performing satisfactorily his duties as draughtsman, has assisted Dr. Riddell in the survey of Bosque county.

On the 3rd of February, I procured the services of Samuel Heron Esq., who remained in the survey during a large part of the season, and proved a most valuable and efficient aid to Prof. Riddell, in the counties examined by him. Mr. J. F. Brown, of Caldwell county, also rendered valuable assistance in the survey of Coryell, and Mr. Bagby, in the counties of Rusk and Cass.

In the commencement of the Geological Survey, it was deemed important to obtain as soon as practicable, some general knowledge of the geological structure of the State. The leading physical features of the country, and the area and general boundaries of the formations, being once known we would have a good basis for our more detailed examinations of the counties. I have therefore endeavored to make a rapid reconnoissance of as large a district as possible. My lines of exploration have been extended over a considerable portion of Eastern and Middle Texas, as follows:

• 1st. A section from Austin, through the counties of Travis, Bastrop, Fayette, Washington, Austin to Houston in Harris, distance 172 miles.
• 2d. From Hempstead through Harris and Liberty, to Sour Lake in Hardin 122 miles.
• 3rd. From Sour Lake through Hardin, Tyler, Jasper, Saline, San Augustine, Nacogdoches and Rusk to Marshall in Harrison, 256 miles.
• 4th. From Henderson in Rusk, through Cherokee, Anderson, Freestone, Limestone to Waco in McLennan, 180 miles.
• 5th. From Austin, through Williamson, Bell, McLennan, Bosque, Johnson, Parker, Palo Pinto to Fort Belknap in Young 240 miles.
• 6th. From Fort Belknap through Buchanan, Eastland to Camp Colorado in Coleman, 100 miles.
• 7th. Front Cain p Colorado through Brown, Lampasas, Burnet and Travis to Austin 150 miles.

In making these preliminary surveys, careful sections of the strata have been made at all points of outcrop, within reasonable distances of the route traveled, and the thickness, stratigraphical order, dip and mineral and fossil characters of the various beds have been determined, with as much precision as possible. We made frequent barometical observations to ascertain the elevation of the country above tide water, and much attention has been directed to obtaining a correct knowledge of the topographical features

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and the kinds and quantity of timber of the districts explored.

Besides accomplishing the above work, I have made detailed surveys of Burnet and Rusk counties, and partial surveys of Travis, Bastrop, Washington, Fayette and Young.

From the foregoing statements, it will be seen that besides a general survey extending over a large portion of the eastern and middle regions of the State, we have made minute and final surveys of eleven counties, two are nearly finished, and a number of lave been partially surveyed.

In the counties examined we have determined the areas occupied by each group of rocks, and detailed sections of the strata have been made at all points where they were exposed and their thickness, order of superposition, dip, mineral and fossil contents investigated. In some counties, sections of the strata have been measured at more than one hundred and fifty localities. Particular search has been made for minerals of economical importance and all mines, whether of prospective or known value, have been examined with special care and the probable amount, richness, and quality of the ores determined. Samples of ores and their accompanying minerals, coals, limestones, marbles, clays, mineral waters, etc., have been collected and are now deposited in the Laboratory at Austin, for chemical analysis, and final preservation in the State Cabinet.

A large share of attention has also been devoted to an investigation of the agricultural capabilities of these counties. The different varieties of soils and sub soils have been carefully examined, numerous specimens have been collected for future study and analysis, and we have spared no pains to ascertain the most advantageous methods of cultivating and improving them. We have also determined, with as much accuracy as possible, the amount and quality of timber in each county, proportion of timber and prairie, elevation of hills, depth and width of valleys, and the amount of available water power furnished by the streams.

Our county maps will embrace the areas occupied by the different geological formations, localities of workable mines, ore deposits, coals, lignites, marble and stone quarries, medicinal and other springs, furnaces, towns, post offices, churches, saw and grist mills and boundaries of timber and prairie. This portion of our labors has often been attended with considerable difficulty, arising from the fact that the maps in the Land Office at Austin, "

The survey is much indebted to Hon. F. M. White. who has obligingly permitted us to have free access to the maps in the band Office.

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are more or less imperfect, and the surveys in some instances exceedingly erroneous. It has been sometimes almost impossible to locate our observations with that degree of minuteness and precision which was thought desirable, but we have spared no exertions to remedy defects, supply omissions and to make our maps as complete as possible in their geographical, as well as in their geological details.

The investigations of the Geological Survey have already developed results of the highest interest. It is now known that within the limits of Texas, occur the most complete series of geological formations to be found in any State in the Union, ranging, as they do, from the Potsdam Sandstone of the Palaeozoic era to the latest Tertiary, and presenting an aggregate thickness of many thousand feet. A thorough and systematic study of these different geological groups, cannot fail to afford results of the highest scientific and practical value.

Our partial explorations show the existence of an extensive Coal Formation in the northern part of the State, that will exercise a nest important influence on her future welfare and prosperity. We are not now able to define the precise boundaries of the Texas Coal Measures. To do this with precision would require a much more detailed investigation than the limited tune at our disposal has permitted us to make. It may, however, be stated as a reasonable estimate, that the area occupied by the Coal strata cannot fall short of four or five thousand square miles. Taking Fart Belknap as a starting point, we have found this formation to extend uninterruptedly south eastwardly to Patrick's Creek in the S. W. part of Parker county, a distance of more than sixty miles ; westwardly about forty miles, and southwardly beyond Camp Colorado in Coleman county, say one hundred miles. We have not traced it in its northward extension more than six or eight miles from Fort Belknap, but it is highly probable that it reaches into Archer, Baylor and Clay counties. It is also probable that the same formation is developed in San Saba and some of the counties adjacent.

The strata composing the Coal Measures, of the region we "

The existence of the true Coal Measures in Texas, was first indicated by Dr. Geo. G. Shumard, in 1851, who mentions their occurrence in the region of Fort Belknap. See Marcy's Report of Exploration of Red River.

Mr. Marcou, in his a Carte Geologique cles Etats Unis," has attempted to define the limits of our Coal Measures. But the boundaries laid down by him are incorrect and liable to lead to serious error. The Coal Measures do not extend into Grayson, Fannin, Collin and Dallas counties, as represented in that map.

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have described, have a thickness estimated at not less than three hundred feet, and consist of quartzose and argillaceous sandstones, limestones, grits and conglomerates; argillaceous and calcareous shales, fire, potters and pipe clays and coal. Some of these strata and particularly the limestones and shales, are filled with organic remains, among which we have recognized many species which are highly characteristic of the Coal Measures of Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois and Iowa. The shales also frequently contain large and beautiful crystals of selenite and rounded masses of excellent iron ore. The coal at all of the localities examined reposes either on fire clay or shale.

In Young and Buchanan counties, outcrops of coal occur at a number of points, and in the former county it has been struck at many places in excavations for wells. We have here recognized four distinct coal seams, varying from six inches to five feet and presenting an aggregate thickness of eight or nine feet. At the mouth of Whiskey Creek, near Fort Belknap, is an interesting exposure, exhibiting three distinct coal beds, separated by bands of limestone, fire clay, sandstone and shale, and the whole surmounted by sandstone and conglomerate.

In regard to the quantity of coal we do not speak in extravagant terms, when we sssert that in the region under consideration, there is an abundance of this most valuable mineral fuel, to supply the present and future demands of the State for centuries. With reference to the quality of the Texas coal, it may be stated that it will compare favorably with most of the coals which are wrought in Missouri, Illinois and Iowa. In general appearance and weight it resembles very closely the coal of St. Louis, Missouri, and Belleville, Illinois.

The following analysis made by Dr. Riddell, in the State Laboratory, shows the chemical constitution of an average specimen from a bed three and a half feet thick, exposed on Whiskey Creek two miles north of Fort Belknap.

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According to Dr. Riddell, this coal cokes without changing its form and burns with a bright yellow flame.

For the make of comparison we subjoin the following analysis by Prof. J. D Whitney, Chemist, of the Geological Survey of Iowa, showing the composition of a specimen from Van Buren County Iowa, regarded as one of the best coals in that State.

Besides the coal area just described, it is highly probable that productive coal beds will be discovered in the extreme western part of the State. This opinion is funded upon an interesting group of fossils from the Hueco Mountains, and a part of the Guadalupe Range, which were obtained by Dr. Geo. G. Shumard, while connected with the Expedition of Capt. Pope. In this collection t brave found with sonic forms that are undescribed, quite a number of well marked species of the Coal Measure. I am also informed by Hon. J. F. Crosby, of El Paso, that coal has been discovered at one or more points in El Paso county. Should future researches develope the existence of workable seams of coal in this portion of our State, they will prove a fertile source of wealth and their value can scarcely be over estimated.

Connected with the Tertiary Formation, which occupies a vast area in the Eastern and Middle portions of the State, are extensive beds of brown coal or lignite, which will, I think, be of great service to the public. Our detailed examinations in Rusk show that a large portion of this county is underlaid by deposits of this material, exposures of which occur at a great many localities. The beds examined vary from six inches to eight feet in thickness, and are associated with bituminous, shale, fire and potters clay, soft quartzose and argillaceous sandstone, impure limestone and iron ore. At a number of localities visited the lignite appears to be of good quality and adapted for the ordinary purposes of fuel. It varies greatly in character in different sections of the county, some specimens exhibiting the woody fibre with tolerable distinctness, while others show no traces of organic structure, being dull, shining black and very compact in texture.

An example of this variety from the neighborhood of Iron Mountain P.

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In the N. E. corner of Cass County, at "Stone Coal Bluff," examined by Dr. G. G. Shumard, there is a bed of lignite ten feet thick which resembles the bituminous coal of Fort Belknap, both in external character and chemical composition, ** and it is quite probable that it may be employed to advantage in the manufacture of iron. Regular seams of lignite of more or less value have been discovered by different members of the corps, in the counties of Grayson, Harrison, Caldwell, Guadalupe, Bastrop and Fayette, and we have heard of many other localities in various sections of the State which we have not yet been able to visit.

Brown Coal or lignite is in general inferior to true bituminous coal which belongs to an older geological formation, nevertheless its importance has usually been underated. In Germany and Prussia, large quantities of lignite are annually mined to supply the inhabitants with fuel, and the Tertiary brown coal of the Pacific coast has been successfully employed for purposes of Ocean Steam navigation. It is estimated that the heat given out by lignite is about one third more than that of wood. The better varieties of Texas lignite may not only be used as fiel but it is also probable that some of them may also be employed for the rnanufacture, of illuminating gas.

Among the combustible minerals, may also be mentioned the occurrence of Petroleum, which has been observed at severa points in the State. The most important locality visited is at Sour Lake in Hardin County, where this substance may be collected in considerable quantity from the surfaces of the remarkable

Dr. Riddell's examination of an average specimen of this lignite gave:

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acid springs adjacent to the Lake. The earth for some distance around these springs, is also so highly charged with bitumen as to be employed for purposes of illumination and to some extent as a fuel.

In addition to her coal deposits, Texas embraces within her limits vast accumulations of iron ore; which require only judicous expenditures of labor and capital to be converted into fertile sources of wealth.

Until the commencement of the present Survey, it was not known that we had workable deposits of iron except in one or two localities. But our labors have demonstrated the important fact that we have a vast iron region in the eastern part of the State, embracing considerable areas in Cass, Harrison, Rusk, Panela, Smith, and Augustine and Shelby counties. The ore deposits belong to the Tertiary Era, and consist chiefly of hematites and limonites of which there are several varities.

According to Dr. G. G. Shumard, Cass county alone is capable of supplying a number of furnaces with an abundance of excellent iron ore for many years. The ore occurs here in regular layers, which sometimes attains a thickness of fifty feet. The only iron furnace our State can boast of is located in this county. It was erected several years since by Mr. Nash, and has been in nearly constant, and I believe profitable operation up to the present time. The ore is mined near the furnace, and the kinds preferred are a porous variety of hematite, termed by the proprietors " honey-comb ore" and compact brown hematite. The pig metal and castings produced from these ores, are of excellent quality and command a high price in the market. Dr. Riddell's analysis of an average specimen of the honey comb variety from the Nash mines yielded the following result.

Our detailed examinations in Rusk county, have developed the occurence of almost inexhaustible deposits of workable hematite, similar to that found in Cass, while our general surveys in Cherokee, Nacogdoches and the other counties above enumerated

Specific gravity, 2,2891

Dr. Riddell's analysis of a specimen taken from an extensive ore deposit in Rusk county, about four miles east of Sulphur Springs, gave:

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have convinced us that farther explorations will reveal there also the existence of equally extensive accumulations of this important element of state wealth.

Other deposits of iron occur in the Tertiary strata in the middle division of the state, but so far as our observations have been carried, these ores are inferior to those found in the East. In the counties of Caldwell and Guadalupe, examined by Dr. Riddell, are heavy deposits of iron ore, but they contain such a large proportion of silex in the forth of sand, as to render them generally unfit for profitable smelting. We have fair workable ores from Bastrop and Washington counties, but further researches are necessary, before we can give a positive opinion respecting their value.

Throughout the region of the Coal Measures in the northern part of the State, we frequently find bands of argillaceous iron ore interstratilied with the gypseous shales, while the surface of the ground is often thickly strewn with masses of hydrated iron ore from the size of a tilbert to that of the double fist. In Young and Buchanan counties, these ores are often quite abundant in places, and they appear to be well adapted for smelting, although our investigations flaw riot been sufficiently minute to enable us to determine whether they occur in sufficient quantity to be wrought with profit.

Lead. In the districts examined, no important deposits of lead have yet been found, but we nave received from different parts of the state specimens of galena or sulphuret of lead, which induce the, belief that future researches will develop the existence of valuable veins of this metal. Thus we have samples of remarkably rich ore from the western part of the Mate, near El Paso, the Wichita Mountains and Fort San Saba. In Liano County, occurs an interesting ore, the molybdate of lead, which is quite rare in mineralogical collections. Specimens of it from this region were presented t) the state Cabinet by Dr. Moore of Burnet, who informs we that it is quite abundant.

Copper. According to Dr. Geo. G Shumard, small rounded

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masses of the oxide and carbonate of copper occur distributed abundantly over the surface of the country towards the source of the Big Wichita, Brazos and Red Rivers, and it is not improbable that productive veins of copper will be found in this region.

We have also seen fine specimens of native copper from the extreme western part of the State.

Silver. All the sulphurets of lead that we have seen from Texas are more or less argentiferous. A specimen analyzed by Dr. Riddell, contains nearly nine ounces of silver to the ton of ore.

Much has been said concerning the existence of silver in Cass county. For the benefit of the citizens it may be stated, that after a careful examination, we are convinced that the geological formations of that county, are of a character to preclude the possibility of finding the precious metals there, and consequently all search for them will end in disappointment, if not pecuniary loss. The substances that have been supposed to contain silver are simply good ores of iron.

Gypsum. This valuable material has a vast development both horizontally and vertically in our State. According to Dr. Geo. G. Shumard, who has had fine opportunities for exploring the gypsum district in Texas and the adjacent Territories, it occurs in the greatest abundance in the country watered by the upper portion of the Canadian, tied, Big and Little Wichita, Brazos and Pecos Rivers. On Reed River the gypsum beds are from a few inches to thirty feet thick. On Delaware Creek, a, few miles belows its source they are sixty feet, while between the Big Wichita and Brazos Rivers, there are hills nearly seven hundred feet high, composed al Most entirely of this material. It is usually of pure white, more or less granular and sometimes resembles loaf sugar. Occasionally it assumes the character of fibrous gypsum, selenite and compact alabaster. We have also found gypsum in the form of selenite somewhat abundantly disseminated through the mars; of the Cretaceous Period in Grayson county, and those of the Coal Measures in Young and Buchanan. The crystals are frequently quite large, and form beautiful cabinet specimens. The gypsum field of Texas is believed to be the largest in the world, and capable of supplying all the demands of the South and West for thousands of years.

In several counties we have discovered extensive deposits o potters, pipe a d fire clays, and inexhaustible beds of calcareous "

Unpublished report on the Geology of the UT. S. Expedition, under Capt. J. Pope, for boring Artesian Wells & c.,

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marl. Limestones, sandstones and other materials adapted for building purposes have also been met with in nearly every portion of the country examined. In Burnet county we have found extensive tracts underlaid by building rocks of great beauty and durability, and there occurs here a beautiful variegated limestone of remarkably fine texture, which receives a good polish and firms a handsome marble for ornamental work. A considerable district in this county is likewise occupied by a rather coarse red granite, which, if properly selected may be advantageously employed in the construction of such works as require great strength and durability. In the State of Missouri a rock of the same kind is frequently employed for mill stones, for which purpose it is tolerably well adapted.

In the counties of Young and Rusk, valuable beds of hydraulic limestone occur, and we have collected specimens from other parts of the State, which appear to possess hydraulic properties, but further experiments are necessary before we can decide positively upon their value.

Our collection of ,soils clays, rocks, ores, coals and fossils is quite extensive and already embraces many objects of great interest and rarity. The suit of organic remains is especially large and valuable, and it is believed when carefully studied will throw considerable light on some disputed points in the geology of the West and Southwest.

The following is a statement of expenditures made on account of the Geological Survey, from its commencement to the 1st Nov., 1859.

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Among these we may mention a magnificent mass of meteoric iron, from the head waters of Brazos River, presented by the late Maj. R. S. Neighbors. This interesting specimen weighs upwards of three hundred pounds, and is one of the finest examples of native iron to be found in any cabinet in the United States. it is earnestly hoped that the citizens of the State will continue to aid us in our labors, by sending to the geological rooms at Austin, specimens of rocks, ores and fossils, from their respective neighborhoods. It is our aim to form at the Capitol, a complete collection illustrating the geology, mineralogy, palaeontology and natural history of the State.

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In conclusion it affords me much gratification to acknowledge here, our indebtedness to she citizens of the State, who have every where manifested the warmest interest in the progress of the work, and encouraged us by their aid and kind hospitalities.

All of which is respectfully submitted,

B. F. SHUMARD,
State Geologist,

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0a

To His EXCELLENCY,

Sir: The following report of what was done by Dr. Francis Moore and myself in the Geological Survey of the State is respectfully submitted to your consideration.

I have the honor to be, with great respect, your ob't serv't,

S. B. BUCKLEY.

The Legislature of Texas, in April, 1861, resolved that the Geological Survey of the State be suspended and that Dr. Moore should prepare a report of what had been done under his supervision in said survey. The death of the Doctor caused me, who had been his assistant and companion in the survey, to write a report. As I was also an assistant of Dr. B. F. Shumard in the Geological Survey, my explorations over the State were more extensive than those of Dr. Moore and all the knowledge thus obtained which promises to have any public value is embodied in the following pages,

To many it may seem unnecessary to say anything on the utility of Geological Surveys, because they have already been tested and found to be of great practical value by most civilized countries. Indeed, it is impossible to develop the mineral and agricultural resources of a State in an economical manner without such a survey. Every citizen of Texas is more or less interested in having its mineral and agricultural resources made known, in order that a proper estimate may be made of the materials appertaining, to the State, their extent and their localities. In regard to valuable minerals, we want to know where they may be found, or where we may not expect to find them. This last item is by no means the least useful part of the knowledge imparted by a Geological Survey, for it will often save useless expenditure of time and money. Individual expenditures in the vain search after gold, silver, copper, lead, or other useful metals, to which may be added coal, are public as well as private losses; because the entire wealth of the State chiefly consists in the sum total of its individual wealth; hence what individuals lose is so much subtracted from the whole taxable property, which adds to the taxes of the remainder. On the other hand the discovery of gold and silver, or other useful minerals increases the wealth of the State, and also adds to its sum total of individual wealth; hence all are interested in a Geological Survey, as a matter of public economy. The iron mines in Llano county are alone worth to the State more than one hundred times the amount which the Geological Survey has already cost. Before the Geological Survey of the State of New York began, it was truly estimated that more had been spent in the vain search after coal and other minerals in that State, than was sufficient to defray the entire expenses of its survey, which has been in progress during the last twenty years or more. The annual tax now derived from her iron mines and iron works is greater than the cost of the survey, and this is only one of the important benefits which that State has thus obtained. Other mineral resources have been developed; its agriculture has improved; its lands have been improved (not worn out;) so that they have increased in value more than an hundred fold. Not that her Geological Survey has done all this, but it has certainly been a very important agent in making these results. The value. of the iron productions

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of New York for the year ending the first of June 1860, was 22,304,443 dollars. This is at least one third greater than the value of the entire cotton crop of Texas for the same year. Texas has actually, in a state of nature, greater and bettor resources in iron and the materials needed in its manufacture than the State of New York. Money is money, whether made in the manufacture of iron, or. the raising of cotton. Let Texas do both, and also develop her other resources, and she will soon become the empire State. Every State at the North has had a Geological Survey, or has one now in progress, and every one at the South, with the exception of Louisiana and Florida ; yet there is not one State east of the Mississippi river which gives promise of such vast mineral and agricultural resources as Texas ; nor is there one which has derived or can derive, so much benefit from a Geological and Agricultural Survey, properly made, as this State. If we turn to Europe we find that Geological Surveys have been made, or are in progress, in all its countries. England has had one in operation during the last twenty five years; and under her direction a Geological Survey of Canada began many years ago, and is stir incompleted. The miner must have the, assistance of the Geologist and Chemist to determine the value of his ores. California is no exception to the rule. Before large quantities of gold were found them the Geologist of the United States Exploring Expedition noticed the gold bearing rocks of that State. Its Geological Survey was commenced several years ago when the washing of its sands had, in many places, ceased to be productive, since which a new impetus has been given to the obtaining of its gold by the working of quartz veins from whence most of the gold from that State is now derived. None of the mining companies in the rich mining States among the Rocky Mountains venture to begin work before suitable geological examinations are made. Hence mining, as it is now generally conducted on scientific principles, is much more reliable than it was a few years ago. This result has been brought about by the enormous sums which have been spent by companies, and individuals in fruitless mining operations.

The survey, if properly conducted, will make known the agricultural capacity and adaptation of the soil for particular crops, and disseminate information with regard to the best modes of cultivating the different grains, grasses, cotton, sugar, tobacco, fruits, etc.; for Texas is so extensive that she has a climate and soil suited to a more varied agriculture than any other State east of the Rocky Mountains. Within the last thirty years the great progress and general diffusion of agricultural chemistry in

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Great Britain, and also in New York and other Northern States has more than doubled the amount per acre of their agricultural productions, and more than tripled the value of their lands.

The State collection at the Geological Rooms, although damaged to some extent during the war, is still very valuable. There are many duplicate specimens which should finally be distributed among the leading schools of the State. In 1861 we had applications from three different colleges in Texas for specimens to illustrate geology, mineralogy and botany; for it is off little use to teach t i se studies without the aid of suitable specimens We think the main collection, should when completed, form the cabinet of the State University. We believe the most effectual, the most; speedy and the most economical way of protecting the frontier, is make known the mineral wealth of Western Texas, when the tide of emigration would be such as to stop the inroads of the Indians.

The Geological Rooms, having been used in the manufacture of percussion caps during the late war, the cabinet very much injured, the specimens were thrown in Maps, covered with dust, their labels displaced, and many of the most valuable taken away. It leis required much time and labor to restore the fragments to a position suitable for exhibition, or for scientific study. This I have been enabled to do, in part front having in collecting a large portion of them. The value of many specimens is much diminished from the loss of the labels which specified the particular localities where they were found. Such can only be named and placed among the group of rocks or fossils to which they naturally belong. This is not intended to be a, full report of what has been done in the Geological Field ; but it will chiefly embrace matters of practical utility to the people of the State, and most things which merely have a scientific interest will be omitted. In order that all may understand the subject better, the following synopsis of the principal Geological subdivisions is given, omitting such as have not been found, or are not expected to be found in Texas. The names of the periods and epochs for the Paleozoic of America, are the same that have been to those rocks by the Geologists of the New York Survey, which are now adopted by most American Geologists

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In Texas, at the bottom of the series, we have the azoic rocks which are mostly supposed to have formed, when life was absent from our globe; a large portion of the paleozoic, the cretacious of the mesozoic, and the tertiary or the cenozoic period, embracing

7

as far as is now known a greater geological variety than any other State east of the Rocky Mountains.

The true geological position of. the different strata of rocks are known from the fossils, or animal and vegetable remains found in them, such as shells, bones, impressions of leaves, etc. Hence the great utility of fossils in the examination of rocks, and the determination of their true geological position. These animal and vegetable remains have been aptly termed the A B C's of geology; for no one can be a practical geologist unless he knows the characteristic fossils peculiar to each geological epoch.

By a reference to the preceding diagram the reader will see that at the dawn of creation, we first have the Silurian age; at the base of which, in the Potsdam rocks, are first found vestiges of the existence of life, shells, & c. Next above is the Devonian at the commencement of which new species, and also new genera began to exist in great numbers; then fish were also quite numerous, hence it is termed the age of fishes. At the close of this age there was a general destruction of all its species of life; when other species and many now genera were created, and then began the carboniferous age, or the age of plants, when vegetation was in many places so abundant as to be deposited in vast beds, which were afterwards covered with sand and mud, to become by heat and pressure changed into coal. In many lignite beds are branches and sections of trees half charred, and in both bituminous and anthracite coal its vegetable texture can be distinctly recognized by the aid of the microscope; which joined with many vegetable impressions above and below coal seams, proves its vegetable origin beyond doubt. Next comes the reptilian age which is divided into the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. Of' these the cretaceous has as yet only been found in Texas, where it extends over a wide range of country. To this succeeds the Tertiary, or Mammalian age, where animal life in many of its present forms became prevalent, and a new order of life began, a large portion of which is continued to the present time. Recent discoveries in Europe show that the human race existed in the Post tertiary when the mastadon, the mammoth or gigantic elephant, and other extinct species of quadrupeds had an existence. These geological periods inform us that there has been successive periods of creation ; and also that the work Las been both gradual and progressive. Whenever the condition of things, on land or in sea, became unsuited to the existence of a species or race of animals it ceased to live, and new species and races adapted to the new order of things were created. The different species of shells & c., found in the Silurian rocks, do not occur in

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those of the Devonian nor are any of these in the Devonian seen in the Carboniferous, & c., so with the other geological periods; hence each geological age has fossils peculiar to itself, the study of which unfolds to us the history of the earth and the changes it underwent before man was.

The Azoic are those rocks which lie beneath the oldest fossiliferous strata, which last are in America called the Potsdam series of rocks, so named by the New York geologists from a place in that State where those rocks abound. When these oldest fossiliferous rocks lie in beds horizontal or nearly so upon granite and metemorphic rocks these last being uptilted into nearly vertical strata, it is proof that the granite and metamorphic strata belong to the Azoic. Granite is an igneous rock thrown up from the interior of the earth by forces similar to those by which our modern lavas are ejected. It's peculiar character is owing to its having been cooled under great pressure beneath other strata of rocks, or at the bottom of deep seas. Granite is composed of three minerals, quartz, mica and felspar; when horn blende tales the place of mica, the rock is termed a syenitte. The metamorphic are those non fossiliferous rocks which are more or less stratified, and whose form and composition has been altered by' heated granite, or other rocks of igneous origin; hence they are rarely in horizontal strata, but generally inclined, broken, and contorted by the immense power excited upon them at the time of the upheavel of the granite, and its associated rocks.

The Azoic rocks now known in this State are mostly in Llano and its adjoining counties. There are granites with steatite or soap stone, immense beds of iron are, and metamorphic rocks, consisting chiefly of slates, mica schist and gneiss with quartz veins. A large portion of Llano county, as its name indicates, presents a nearly level surface, with isolated mountains scattered here and there over the plain. These mountains are mostly of the azoic granite, but rarely entirely so, their upper portions being generally composed of the older Paleozoic rocks of the Potsdam period. The granite is mostly coarse, and from the predominence of a red dish felspar in its composition it may properly be termed a red felspathic granite. It often disintegrates easily, and front it most of the soil of the connty leas been formed, and also the sands of its rivers and streams. There sands contain mica of a gold color, winch has often been considered as hardly gold, and much time has been spent in washing the sands of the Llano streams to obtain the precious metal. Gold has rarely if ever been found in the azoic granites, hence,

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it is useless to search for it in sands made by the crumbling to pieces of its rocks. If it be found in such situations it probably came from metamorphic rocks which may have partly formed the alluvial soils of the neighborhood. There is also a granite on the northwestern border of the azoic rocks, a few miles northwest front the Enchanted Rock, which has a fine compact hard texture, which renders it excellent for architectural or monumental purposes. We also saw a similar granite in Burnet county. These last granites probably belong to a later period of elevation and are therefore not true azoic rocks. Future geological examinations will settle this question. The metamorphic rocks here are on the outskirts of the granite and are in nearly vertical strata which are more or less broken and contorted. These metamorphic rocks are peculiarly interesting, for they often contain the precious metals, especially gold and silver. The richest deposits of gold generally are found in quartz veins pervading these rocks. Such veins now yield the greater part of the gold obtained in California. Our metamorphic rocks also Lave quartz veins and extend over quite a large section, a few miles south and southeast from Fort Mason, in Mason county, from which they extend westward into geologically unexplored regions. They are mostly micaceous shales with quartz veins in highly inclined strata. They have a strong resemblance to the gold bearing rocks of some parts of North Carolina and California. At a place about eight miles south of Fort Mason we found a small quantity of gold in the debris of these rocks; but as our stay was less than an hour, those rocks need another and much more thorough examination. Near the western border of Packsaddle Mountain on the route to Honey creek are dark shales with quartz veins dipping at large angles. They have a compact texture and a striking resemblance in their dip irregular contorted, strata and lithological character to metamorphic shales near the base of the Smoky Mountains in North Carolina. Near Honey creek these shales extend beneath the nearly horizontal layers of the sandstones and limestones of the Potsdam rocks. These shales also resemble some metamorphic shales near Charlotte, in North Carolina, on the eastern slope of the Alleghany Mountains, which shales contain rich gold mines. Our stay here was also very limited, so much so that we did not attempt to ascertain they thickness of these, shales, which, judging from appearances, must be several hundred feet. Near their junction with the Potsdam is vein of dark brown hematite, about two feet thick, which contains about fifty per cent, of metalic iron : but other and much larger beds of iron are in this county. and can be worked with much greater

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profit than this vein. Many years go large quantities of ore Were excavated here for the purpose of obtaining silver. Trees apparently forty or fifty years old are growing on the embankments made by the miners. The old inhabitants of this section, when they first visited the mine found a large quantity of ore, which is said to have contained a large per cent. of silver, tied up in a sack of rawhide, lying near the excavation. None of these specimens have been preserved that their value might be tested, but even if they were rich in silver it is uncertain whether they were dug out at this particular locality. It is highly important to determine accurately the age of metamorphic rocks, because most of the gold bearing metamorphic series were formed near the close of the carboniferous age.

The largest deposit of iron ore yet known in this county is on Jackson's creek, near a Mr. Epperson's. It is about twelve miles west of the town of Llano ; and from six to eight miles southeast of the Smoothing Iron Mountain. It is an immense and apparently solid mass of iron, of an oblong oval form, surrounded by the azoic granite, having evidently been raised up from below with the latter. It has a length of about eight hundred feet, and a width of about five hundred feet, with an elevation of from twenty five to thirty feet above its visible base. Loose masses of ore, some of which are of several tons weight, lie scattered over the surface of the iron hill and on its outskirts. It is a magnetic iron ore being the magnetite of the mineralogists. It is the same ore which occurs in the celebrated iron mines of Sweden, and also of those in the northeastern part of the State of New York, all of which are noted for the great excellence of their metalic iron. It is the best iron ore known, and yields the largest per cent. of pure iron. It seems to be a true vein, and like all true veins, to have been ejected up from unknown depths below, hence the supply is inexhaustible; for no true rnetalic vein has ever been traced downwards to its termination. However, there is evidently enough near the surface for the wants of the present generation. During the late war an attempt was made for its manufacture, and abandoned for want of funds. It was then tested on a large scale and found to yield seventy five per cent. of metalic iron. This per cent. is equal to that of the best iron ores, and there are very few which give as much. Some of it was at that time made into horse shoes and nails by some blacksmiths, and pronounced by them to be equal to the best Swedish iron. The limestones of the paleozoic, and cretaceous rocks are in the immediate neighborhood from which abundant materials for a flux can easily be obtained. Soap stones or steatites of

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which large quantities are in the same county, a few miles distant, are suitable for the construction of furnaces. Charcoal is used, or was, in 1858, for the manufacture of more than half of the iron made in the United States. In Overman's Treatise on Metallurgy the relative value of the different fuels is thus stated; "If a ton of charcoal be worth one dollar, the same weight of anthracite is worth 94 cents; that of soft or bituminous coal from 85 to 90 cents, and that of brown coal 78 cents. The cost of obtaining the ore is comparatively trifling, for it lies already at the surface. It is in a dry, healthy climate, where there would be little or no loss to the workman or manufacturer from sickness or bad weather. Plenty of food for man and beast can be had from German and other farmers in the surrounding country. It is a comparatively level country, with a hard graveley soil, over which are good roads throughout the year, which either pass around or between the scattered hills and mountains. A railroad from the south, by way of Fredericksburg or its immediate vicinity and extending northward to the Fort Belknap bituminous coal beds, can be made with a very moderate grade. It would need few bridges and require no large hills or mountains to be tunneled. The iron needed by Texas to make Railroads, and for other purposes, will afford a good home market for many years. These and many other advantages are such as to insure large profits to the manufacturer. It is very desirable that its manufacture may be soon started, so as to supply iron for Railroads, machinery, for manufactories, agricultural implements, utensils for family use, and iron and steel for blacksmiths, most of which are now brought from a distance at a great expense. Yes, Texas has paid many thousands of dollars for the above things, which were mostly made at the North from ores of an inferior quality, yielding often not more than fifty per cent. of metalic iron; while at the same time she has the greatest abundance of iron ores at house, which will afford at least seventy five per cent. of the very best iron. These things ought not to be, and we would earnestly call the attention of the Legislature to the great importance of the subject. Let our own iron ores be manufactured and then use will keep a large capital at home, and attract a still larger one from abroad. It is the cheapest and surest way of having Railroads and manufactories. It will not only create a home market for all agricultural productions, but will also increase the value of every description of property, not alone in Western Texas, but throughout the State, by adding to its railroad facilities, and its entire productive wealth. That there is nothing visionary about this is plainly evident froth what other

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States have done which actually possess less agricultural and mineral. resources than Texas. Take for example the State of New York, and we find according to the census report of 1860, that the value of the steam engines and machinery produced there in the year ending June 1st, 1860, was ten millions, four hundred and eighty four thousand eight hundred and sixty three dollars, and the value of the productions of her iron founderies in the same year eight millions, two hundred and sixteen thousand one hundred and twenty four dollars. We give this example, because New York has no coal mines, but derives her coal from the neighboring State of Pennsylvania, neither has New York any deposits of iron, as favorably situated for working as those in Llano county.

A large bed of iron ore of a similar character to the preceding is distant from it about eight miles, in a north westerly direction. It lies between two granite ridges, and is traversed by veins of quartz in all directions. This deposit will probably prove to be equally as profitable for manufacturing purposes as the one already described. There are some large veins of ore containing a large per cent. of copper, on the Little Llano, about eight miles above its mouth. It resembles the grey oxide of copper, and on exposure to the air becomes more or less coated with a blueish green color. It's composition is mostly iron, and it is very similar to surface indications at the copper mines of Ducktown, in the south eastern part of Tennessee. It is there termed by the miners "gossan," or the "blossom" of copper. These Ducktown mines have been a source of great wealth to their owners, and it is possible this Llano mine may prove to be equally profitable. There are several veins of a few feet in thickness between gneissoid metamorphic rocks on the borders of the granite. These veins were partly covered with gravel and soil formed by the disintgeration of the granite hills, near the base of which they are situated, so that we did not ascertain their dip or direction satisfactorily. Their geological position is such s to lead us to expect that will here be a lucrative business ; still it always should be remembered that mining, even in the richest mineral regions iii always Uncertain; yet, the great rewards obtained by the fe a, will always induce many to dig and search for valuable ores. These last ales llave their reward ; golden dreams, blight visions of the future, and air castles, are to them sources of happiness.

On Comanche Creek, near Comanche Mountain, are extensive dykes of horñblende rock, enclosing large masses of soap stone or steatite. One of these veins of steatite is about three hundred

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feet wide, extending in a westerly direction, towards the Hondo creek, where, at the distance of eight miles, it appears again. It has a bright grey color, a fine grain and a very compact texture, yet so soft as easily to be cut with a knife or sawed into thin boards. It is an excellent material for the construction of furnaces, fire places, ink stands and griddles. It can also be used for fence posts, as done in some parts of New England. Pounded fine, and mixed with a little grease or tallow, it forms a very durable article to lessen friction in the axles of wagons and carriages. To obtain it for this purpose, wagoners come from a distance, and consider it to be neater, better and more lasting for that use than anything else.

It has already been remarked that most of the mountains in the valley of the Llano river are isolated, and this isolation on a nearly level plain, causes them to appear much higher than they really are. The highest is the Pack saddle, or Llano Mountain, in the eastern part of the county. It has an elevation of eleven hundred and fifty feet above its base. The House Mountain is near the source of Hickory Creek, a branch of Llano river. it is about thirty miles from the town of Llano, in a westerly direction, and derives its name from being shaped libe a huge oblong house with a flat roof. It's base is granite, which extends about two thirds of the distance to its summit ; the remaining one third is a red potsdam sand stone, which lies in massive beds of nearly horizontal strata. From the top of this singular mountain, at the height of eight hundred and fifty feet above the plain, there is a glorious view of the surrounding country. One of the most striking features in the scenery of this region, is the Enchanted Rock, situated near the south western corner of the county. It is five hundred feet high ; but as the whole valley near its base is higher than much of the surrounding country, this rock is probably fully equal in height above the sea to most of the mountains of that section. It is an immense dome shaped mass of naked red granite, flanked on the south or south west by two smaller elevations. Within a circuit of a few miles around its base, the surface of the country is much broken and covered with rugged hills and large blocks of granite. The measurements of the heights of these mountains were made by the writer, with a single barometer and two thermometers, by first taking an observation at the base, and then one at the top. It is probable that none of these mountains are more than three thousand feet above the sea, which is much less than that of the great table land of Mexico, which has an elevation varying from four thousand to upwards of seven thousand feet.

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The Llano Estacado of this State is said to be about four thousand five hundred feet above the Gulf of Mexico. None of the mountains of Llano county, and others in Western Texas, are as high as the more elevated table lands of Mexico and Texas.

That a large part of North western and Western Texas was once a continuation of, or a similar table land, is evident from the strata of rocks of its isolated hills or mountains so like to those of the neighboring hills and plateaus that the most superficial observer cannot fail to be convinced that the whole were once continuous. The Llano valley originated from denudation, and also many other plains and valleys among the Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks. This denudation took place after the Eocene of Tertiary period was formed, because we find water worn rocks and pebbles both of the Paleozoic and Cretaceous formations, containing their characteristic fossils scattered profusely over the surface of' large portions of many of the counties south of Austin, as far as Fayette county. Some of the finer particles were carried farther, and the whole has largely contributed to the making of the rich soil of Southern Texas. None of these water worn pebbles of the older rocks which lie in heaps in many places are in the Eocene strata of rocks of these southern counties, but all lie on the surface, proving that they were thus deposited after the deposition of the rocks beneath them.

The valley of the Llano is about seventy miles long, with a breadth of from twenty to nearly fifty miles. It abounds in prairie and open woodlands, chiefly of post oak, black jack and hickory, having many native grasses on which large herds of cattle, some horses and a few sheep feed.

The great extent of this and other plains in Western Texas, shows that they are not valleys formed by rivers. To break up and carry to a great distance such an immense mass of rocky matter as once filled them, required powerful oceanic currents, and long periods of time. It may have been a sudden breaking up of the rocky strata which gave the waters an increased force and more resistance, which joined to the greater surface of the rocks exposed, caused them to be sooner dissolved, or swept away. Whatever may have been the cause or length of time required to accomplish it ; one thing is certain, we can see that has been done, and done very effectually, leaving no large or small blocks of lime stone scattered over the Llano valley, at least those portions which we visited. That the elevation of this portion of Texas from beneath the sea has been gradual, is demonstrated by the numerous terraces on the Colorado river, and also those in the cretaceous hills about forty miles from

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Austin, on the Fredericksburg road, where there are three or four ancient sea beaches from near the base of the hills, upwards to near their summits, along one of which the road winds for miles.

The views obtained from the summits of the mountains of Llano, are rarely excelled for bold scenery and beauty of landscape. One or more of the sides of many of them are nearly perpendicular or jagged and rough with huge rocks.

The Paliozoic and Cretaceous hills which surround the valley, also often present high and irregular walls of sand stones and lime stones. Rivers and streams wind among the mountains here and there amid woodland and prairie. Those who ascend the highest mountains east of the Mississippi river, after toiling for hours upward, finally arrive, weary, at the top, amid cold winds and misty clouds, which hide both mountains and valleys from view. Such is the fate of most of those mountain climbers; for seldom are those mountain tops, at mid day, uncovered with clouds. Under the clear skies of Western Texas, those who visit these delightful mountains cannot fail to be pleased. There are also many other attractions here. The falls of Falls Creek, in the north eastern part of the valley a few rods from the Colorado river, are about one hundred and five feet perpendicular height. The stream is about sixty feet wide at the top of the fall and descends into a basin of about half an acre in extent, of deep clear water, fine for both bathing and fishing. Ferns, mosses and climbing plants hang in green festoons from the high rocky precipices which are on each side of the sheet of falling water. Cedars and other evergreens grow on the surrounding rocky cliffs, and both cedars and live oaks abound on the broad plateau at the foot of the falls from which the ascent is by three or four terraces of a few feet each, into the Llano valley. We were told that there is a fine sulphur spring on the Colorado river, not far above these falls, which our limited time did not permit us to visit. These things have an economic vague to the people of the State, affording advantages for summer resort which are rarely equalled ; such as a pure, healthy atmosphere, mountains, springs, water falls, bathing, fishing, hunting, fine drives, and horse back rides over the plain, fine climbs up the hills to enjoy charming views of varied scenery from their tops. It is just the place for invalids to get strong, and for the healthy to become more robust. Much money is spent annually in visiting places abroad far less attractive. Suitable buildings here and at Lampasas Springs, in the adjoining county, will, in due time, draw crowds ; for surely there are no mineral springs, watering places or other places of resort in the Atlantic States,

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which have such a combination of natural advantages for true enjoyment as are here within a circuit of a few miles.

The Azoic rocks of this section trend north east and southwest, being in the same line of upheavel, as the rocks of the same period in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, and the Iron Mountains of Missouri. Garnets are quite common in the granite of Llano, and further explorations will probably bring to light other characteristic minerals of that rock.

The Potsdam strata here lies unconformably upon the Azoic rocks in either horizontal strata or in layers inclined at small angles. Near Honey Creek, and also near the head waters of the Little Llano, it can be seen directly overlying the Azoic metamorphic rocks. It consists of red, yellowish white and grey sand-stones in strata, alternating often with grey limestones of differ ant shades, some of which are nearly white. In Llano county its fossils are more abundant than in either Burnet, Mason or San Saba counties, where including the calciferous sand rock of the same period, forms the larger portion of the rocky strata. It's recognized characteristic fossils are of the following genera : Lingula Bathyurus, Conocephalus, Dicellocephalus, Agnostus, Arionellus, Discina and others, some of which are undetermined. There is a fine exposure of these rocks at the Pack saddle or Llano Mountain, at the west end of which the following section was taken:

Numbers three and six are hard, compact siliceous, lime stones highly fossiliferous, tinged with light green spots silicate of lime containing Bathyurus, Lingula, Discina and other fossils.

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This section is interesting on account of the great similarity in lithological character and the imbedded fossils of the two sections numbers three and six, with two hundred and four feet of lime-stone intervening, which shows that a long period of time must have elapsed between the periods of their deposition. It is uncertain whether the surface rock of this section belongs to the Primordial Period. The specimens there collected have been misplaced, and it is impossible now to identify them. We only know from notes taken at the time, that it contains crinoids. In the precipitous rocks adjoining this place were great numbers of a gregarious squirrel, which were at times quite noisy and lively. They dwell in the cliffs of rocks, in places so steep that few other animals can reach them. They are about the size of the common gray squirrel, and have the tops of their heads and shoulders black, the rest grey. The writer succeeded in obtaining a specimen, and it proved to be an undescribed species. It belongs to the Spermophile family of squirrels, and was described in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, by Dr. Slack, late in the year 1861, or early in 1862, as Spermophilus Buckleyii. It's food is vegetable, acorns, fruits and buds.

At but one locality have we seen the Potsdam dipping at a large angle. This is near the head waters of the Little Llano river, where the broken and upturned strata dip at an angle of about forty degrees west, ten degrees south. Here we have the following section:

No. 4 of this section has evidently been altered by heat. It's compact layers, of a foot or more in thickness, are cleavable into plates an inch or less in thickness. On the faces of these plates are rarely faint traces of fossils, the chief of which is a Dicellocephalus, mixed with nodular concretions of from four to six inches in diameter, which are probably organisms altered by heat. Several specimens of the Dicellocephalus were found in a state of perfection sufficient to identify them. These are now in the State cabinet at Austin. This is on the borders of the azoic granite, where there has been an eruption and upheaval of other granite and igneous rocks at a later period, the heat of

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which has altered and almost entirely destroyed their imbedded fossils. At the top of this section are a few acres comparatively level, back of which are the high hills of San Saba county, rough with calciferous sand rock, alternating with a magnesian lime rock, or Burnet marble, the whole often capped with rocks of a later age. This is a very interesting locality, for here we have some chapters in the remote history of the earth, written by the Creator on tables of stone. They tell of the existence of delicately formed animals in tranquil seas, where they lived and (lied, and were buried in layers of sand, which finally became indurated into the solid rock. After this, in a shallow sea, a limestone was gradually formed from age to age, to the depth of about one hundred feet. Then came the eruption of this later granite, breaking, upheaving and heating the rocks above. Quiet again reigned, the granite became cool and solid, but the waves still rolled above, and other limestones began to form, in the slow process of which many, very many other ages passed; how long, none can tell, only that it must have been very long, because the limestones above our section are several hundred feet thick, extending back in nearly horizontal layers, containing shells and other marine exuvia, far into San Saba county.

At this place horizontal beds of conglomerate, formed from the paleozoic rocks, lie along facing the cliffs. These conglomerates have been much worn away, and now stand in some places in long tabular forms or rounded pillars. In the caves and crevices of the limestone cliffs of this neighborhood, nitrate of potash, or saltpetre, is very abundant; sufficiently so to make it of economic value. Experiments have proved its utility as a manure on wheat, barley, and other cereals. It may be well for those farmers who live near these saltpetre localities in Llano, San Saba and Burnet counties, to use the dirt as a fertilizer, which is found in large heaps at the bottom of some of these rocky walls.

Farther west, in the upper part of the Llano valley, some of the Potsdam sandstones are highly ferruginous, containing a large per cent. of iron. Nodules of iron ore derived from these rocks, (some of which have imbeded shells, which are also changed into iron,) are of frequent occurrence, scattered over the surface in the neighborhood of these sandstones. At one place near the military road, a few miles north of Fort Mason, there is a bed of iron in these rocks nearly two hundred feet thick. This ore has not yet been analyzed, but judging from the weight of specimens, it seems to be little inferior to the best iron ores of Llano county. These dark red s andstones are in massive layers of nearly horizontal strata, resting immediately

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upon the granite. In some places they contain Lingula in great abundance, and in a high state of perfection.

About eight miles below the mouth of Falls creek, in Llano county, are salt works. The brine flows from a yellowish white sandstone, which is varied by brownish yellow spots. It is composed of coarse sand; is easily broken, and of such an open texture that the salt water easily percolates through it in all directions. It seems to lie in a depression of the granite, and also directly upon it, cove ring an area about five miles wide and from eight to ton in length, in massive and nearly horizontal strata. It is at the western end of' the valley of the Llano, and thins out and disappears a few miles west of the Colorado river. We found no fossils in these rocks, and only infer from its position and lithological character that it forms part of the Potsdam rocks of that region. At the base of a ridge of these rocks forty or fifty feet high, are several wells from ten to fifty feet deep, from which the salt water is drawn and evaporated in large iron kettles. As there is an abundance of fuel in the. vicinity, the cost is comparatively trifling. Owing to the limited supply of brine, on an average only from twenty to thirty bushels of salt were then made in a day. To get a greater quantity of water some wells were sunk through the sandstone and several fret into the granite; but as the last named rock does not yield salt water, of course the trial proved a failure, the expense of which a very slight knowledge of geology would have prevented. This sandstone may contain beds of rock salt, over which the water runs, or the water which permeates it may come by an Underground stream from other distant rocks.

Ten or twelve miles above these salt works is Swenson's Saline, in Lampasas county, where the brine is probably derived from the same series of rocks Potsdam and if so, they were probably made in the same ancient basin, or arm of the sea. Swenson's Saline is in a picturesque gorge, nearly two hundred feet deep, not far from the Colorado river. From the top to the bottom of the rocks, near the works, we have the following section:

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In this, shale two wells are sunk; one to the depth of forty feet and the other 80 feet. The bore is about four inches in diameter, and yields about a bushel of salt water per minute, twenty gallons of which make one gallon of salt. The water as it issues from the wells is pumped, by means of a small engine, into a trough 40 feet high, erected on a scaffold, on which are spread numerous cedar boughs for the purpose of increasing the evaporation From the trough the water is scattered over these branches, from whence it falls in a concentrated brine into vats below. Then it is put into kettles, where it is again evaporated. The salt here made is said to be of an excellent quality, and supplies a large section of country. A larger supply of this useful article can probably be obtained by sinking well's at other points in that vicinity.

The calciferous sand rocks and magnesian limestones of the Potsdam are in the eastern part of Burnet county, the southern half of San Saba, and several places on the outskirts of the Llano valley. They consist of siliceous and magnesian limestones, alternating in strata, which are often several feet thick. Some of these limestones are excellent marbles, and already have been used in some few instances for monumental purposes. Railroad facilities would soon bring them into general use, not alone in Texas, but throughout a large portion of the South. They are in massive beds which are nearly horizontal, or inclined at a small dip. The surface of the country, wherever they form the uppermost layers, is very rough, with large and small masses of rock in thick confusion. They are white and dark grey, with all the intermediate shades. The upper strata are sometimes cherty, and in some few places they contain large crystals of rhomb spar, twelve to eighteen inches in diameter. They have but few fossils of the genera Ophileta, Holopea, Orthocera and Bathyrus.

At the Simpson Spring, three fourths of a mile from Mr. Hubbard's, and a few miles southeast of San Saba, the county seat of San Saba county, there is a fine exhibition of these rocks, especially the magnesian limestones, in layers of from two to three feet thick. They are white, and white clouded arid tinged with grey, of a very compact texture. The bluffs here and farther up the valley are from 120 feet to 200 feet high, often perpendicular, or nearly so, ornamented with several species of yucca, cacti, ferns, climbing plants, and a few small trees and bushes, live oaks, elms, pecans and others. The rocks are alternating of light drab marble and hard white dolomite. Some of the latter has been used for tomb stones, for which it answers

21

equally as well as many of the imported marbles. Some of these limestones are of such a very fine compact texture that, they would answer very well as a lithographic rock. Simpson's spring issues from the base of these bluffs by two outlets from the solid rock, which unite and flow in a clear streamlet of sufficient water to irrigate the neighboring farms of Simpson's creek valley. Near Mr. Hubbard's, on this creek, there is a chalybeate spring, in which the taste of iron is quite sensible. Large springs occur frequently in the valleys and ravines of San Saba county, many of which afford sufficient water for irrigating. At the town of San Saba is a large. spring, having an area of nearly one fourth of an acre of the clearest water, which gives rise to a large stream and affords a constant supply of water for a good flouring mill, where most of the flour for the county is made. The calciferous sand rock, and the mountain limestone which lies immediately above, are the prevailing rocks of the southern portion of this county. The latter is of great value for its fine marbles and compact limestones, suitable for monumental purposes and for durable architecture. The Trenton limestone has been recognized in but a few places, the whole needing further examination. It's chief fossils are of the following

• genera,
• Belerophon,
• Maclurea,
• Orthis, Murchisonia,
• Pleurotomaria
• and others.

About three miles above the mouth of Pecan Bayou are sandstone hills in massive beds. It is a fine grained, compact

22

rock, well adapted for grind stones, for which it has been used. It. is also used for flagging and hearth stones, and building, for all which purposes it is highly valuable.

Wheat is cultivated to a considerable extent in San Saba county, and forty bushels to the acre is said to be not an uncommon crop. Barley does well, and its culture is considered by many to be more profitable than corn. It is much more certain, because it matures before the drouts of summer. Mr. Baker, who lives ten miles above the county seat, in the San Saba valley, in 1860 sowed three bushels of barley, and it gave a return of between seventy and eighty bushels. The chief agricultural business of the county is the keeping of stock cattle, horses and sheep, principally the farmer, but they all thrive on the very nutritious mesquite grasses of its hills and valleys. All of the latter, and a large part of the county north of the San Saba river, has a dark fertile soil, which in due time will support a large population.

The geological formations which are in this State between the Trenton limestone and carboniferous, have not been sufficiently studied to be described, nor have they even been nearly all recognized. It is probable we have part of the Devonian rocks and the Sub carboniferous. As this report is intended only to give a brief sketch of those things which have fallen under our observation which may be of use to the whole people of Texas, we omit many points of scientific and minor interest, and proceed at once to the carboniferous and coal bearing rocks. These require a much longer and more detailed geological examination than they have yet received. We made but a flying trip to Fort Belknap and the adjacent region. We saw that the. coal measures, in their characteristic forms, occupy a large region of country in Young and its neighboring counties. The rocks consist of sandstones, limestones and shells, with seams of bitounous coal. Some of the sandstones are ripple marked, and the limestones have some of the well known fossils peculiar to the coal measures of the Western States, in the valley of the Mississippi, such as Spirifer cameratus, Athyris subtilita, Chonetes mesoloba, Fusilina cylindrica, Productus Rogersii, and semireticulatus. The vegetable remains are very numerous and well preserved, among which are the genera Nenropteris, Sphenophylum, Pecopteris and Calamites, of which the last is very abundant. There is a bed of coal about three fourths of a mile above Fort Belknap, in a small ravine near the Colorado river. From this seam coal was obtained, both for fuel and for blacksmithing, when the Fort was occupied by the Government troops. After

23

the removal of the troops the bank above the coal caved in, so that now there is no view of the coal bed which was worked. The layer of coal at this place is said to be between three and four feet thick.

The following section was taken about two hundred yards above, in the same ravine:

This ravine has not a running stream, and at the time of our visit was partly filled with dirt and stones. No. 5 of the above section is a good potters' clay. There are from two to four seams of coal in the vicinity of Fort Belknap, one or more of which are met in sinking wells throughout that region. The country is undulating, with hills of from one hundred to two hundred feet high, and gentle slopes, excepting occasionally on the banks of streams, or the sides of a few rocky hills. Its timber is liveoak, postoak, blackjack, elm, hickory, cotton wood, mesquit, and a few other small trees and shrubs. The prairies are small. Stock raising is the chief business of the farmers, but sufficient corn and wheat are grown for home use. The soil of many of the prairies is of an excellent quality. On Hubbard's creek there is said to be good coal, which is used by blacksmiths. We were shown coal from this place of quite a hard texture, breaking with a concoidal fracture like cannel coal The blacksmiths of the, country say it is a good quality of bituminous coal, and little if any different from the cal of the western coal fields in Ohio, Illinois and Kentucky. The strata of this section are horizontal, or dip at an angle of from three to five degrees to the northeast.

On Whisky creek, about two miles north of Fort Belknap, there is a fine exposure of the coal strata, of which the following is a section taken near its mouth, and not far from the Colorado river:

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A few hundred yards higher up the stream, where coal has been mined to some extent, and where one man is said to have dug out seventy five bushels in a day, there is the following section:

Here the sandstone above the coal contains coal plants and is ripple marked. There are several other places on Whisky creek where the coal crops out. North of Fort Belknap, at the distance of about six miles, near Judge Harmenson's, is a bed of coal five feet thick. This bed is exposed along the base of a hill to a distance of from twenty to twenty five yards. Coal has also been obtained here both fair fuel and for blacksmithing.

On the Camp Colorado road, in several places in Buchanan county, we saw beds of coal exposed in the hill sides. Li Palo Pinto county good bituminous coal is said to occur, and to be used by the blacksmiths of that section. It is probable that there is a large field of bituminous coal, of good quality, in Palo Pinto, Young, and their adjacent counties.

Copper is said to. be on the head waters of the Little Wichita, in a region which is yet unsettled. The settlements (do not extend more than about twelve miles north of Fort Belknap, a few miles beyond which is the range for buffalo during winter, when they are there by thousands, and are killed in such numbers that hogs are sometimes fattened on buffalo meat. We ate sonic of the buffalo bacon, and unanimously decided that corn made bacon is preferable. The streams which feed the Great, and Little Wichita rivers are most of them said to be brackish and impure, from the mineral ingredients they contain in solution, which has been a hindrance, in part, to the settlement of that section. Good cisterns of ample dimensions, sufficient to contain

25

all the water needed for family use, would remedy the difficulty, because the waters of these streams are not deleterious or distasteful to horses, cattle or buffalo. It is also highly probable that wells throughout a large extent of this country would afford good water, for most of the streams become mineralized at their sources in the copper and gypsum hills. Good rainwater is, however, the most healtny in any country, and should always be preferred.

In the State geological collection are numerous specimens of copper ore from Western and Northwestern Texas, but as they are now mostly without labels it is impossible to specify their exact localities. From the same region we also have a great many specimens of Galena, or sulphuret of lead, some of which seem to contain quite a large per cent of silver. We only mention this that the people of the State may know that the unsettled western and northwestern portions of the State are probably rich in valuable ores; nor is there any reason, from what we already know of their geology, as derived from reports and specimens, why they should no tprove to be equally as rich in mineral resources as the neighboring country of Mexico.

On the upper Red River, lying partly in Texas and partly in the Indian Territory, is the largest gypsum formation known. It is about 350 miles long and from 100 to 50 miles broad. It is said to extend down the river to about forty miles north of Preston. This vast deposit will yet prove to be a great source of wealth to the State, affording a valuable fertilizer to all sandy clay sails within its borders. or in those of other States. The use of this article with red clover has increased the value of many farms in the old States ten fold. It is also used extensively to give a hard finish to walls, and is often called Plaster of Paris.

We frequently heard, while passing through the western frontier counties, traditionary reports of rich silver mines near the old Spanish fort of San Saba, in Menard county. The mines are said to have been very productive, and to have been worked by some of the old Spaniards. Companies from the western settlements have an different times gone to this old fort and searched in its vicinity in vain for this silver mine. It is very probable that the calciferous sand rock, and it may be also, the Trenton rocks abound in that country. As before remarked, these are the rocks containing the rich deposits of lead in the States of the upper Mississippi valley. As silver often occurs in ores mixed with lead, it may be that these reports about the silver mine are true. A geological examination of that country

26

would settle the question. The small expense required in separating the lead from the ore, renders a good mine of it one of the most profitable. Hence the lead mines of Illinois, Iowa; Wisconsin and Missouri, have contributed largely towards the settlement and development of those States, giving birth to cities, towns, railroads, steamboats, and new life to their commerce and agriculture.

We should have remarked, when treating of the calciferous rocks of San Saba and Llane, that when in the latter county we were shown specimens of the sulphuret of lead, by one of the settlers in that region, but the person who had them did not seem disposed to reveal the precise locality in which they were found, excepting that it was in Llano county.

In 1861, the Hon. W. P. Saufley (Senator from Davis, Bowie and Marion counties) took some specimens of iron ore from Marion county, in the north eastern part of the State, to New Orleans and Montgomery, in Alabama, which were tested by chemists in both these places, and said by them to yield from 70 to 75 per cent of metalic iron, and to be equal to the best Swedish iron. This ore was worked at the iron works of Mr. Nash, about one mile from Cypress Bayou, a navigable stream in Marion county, during the late war. In Davis county there are two founderies near Sulphur river, a tributary of the Red River. These iron ores are in a timber region where there are forests of pine and other trees. Coal also occurs in beds, which crop out along the Sulphur river, in both Davis and Bowie counties. We are indebted to Col. Saufley for this information with regard to the iron ores and mineral coal of that section.

Petroleum is a mineral oil derived from the decomposition of organic matter, principally in a vegetable form, being, mostly made by chemical changes in vegetable matter, beneath the surface of the earth. It has been found in the rocks of nearly every geological age above the Azoic, but only in large quantities near, or at no great distance from extensive deposits of coal or lignite, both of which are, as we have before remarked, of' undoubted vegetable origin made in coal beds, from whence it may run in streams through the crevices of the rocky strata below, or be there held in reservoirs until "struck" by the auger of some fortunate company or individual boring through the rocks above. We corn now see why in the oil regions some wells cease to flow. The reservoir may have become exhausted, or the oil stream may have been struck still higher up the stream or valley by the sinking of one or more wells.

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Petroleum, although known to the ancients and by them used to a limited extent, has never been obtained in immense quantities and subjected to a refining process, so as to render it a cheap safe and excellent illuminating agent, until recently. We say safe, because if properly refined and deprived of its more volatile matters, such as benzole, it is not subject to explosion in good lamps. Buy a good article of kerosene, have your lamps filled and trimmed in the morning, and you need have no fears that They will explode. Petroleum has added so much to the wealth, resources and commerce of some parts of the Northern States, and we may add comfort to the entire country by giving a cheap, brilliant light, in place of the old dire tallow candle, which was in general use in a large portion of the United States, that it demands from us quite an extended notice, because we believe that it will ere long be found in abundance in many parts of Texas. Petroleum exists in a fluid form on the shores of the Caspian Sea and in the Birman Empire, where at Rangoon there are upwards of five hundred naptha wells, which yield annually about 412,000 hogsheads. When inspissated, or somewhat indurated, it is called asphaltum or bitumen, in which form (partly) there is a wonderful lake of it in the Island of Trinidad, a mile and a half in circumference, which is in a more or less solid form around its shores and over a large portion of its surface, but boiling in the middle, from whence it increases in hardness toward Ds shores. According to Manross "the solidified bitumen appears as if it had cooled at the surface when boiling in large bubbles. The ascent to the lake from the sea, a distance of three-fourths of a mile, is covered with hardened pitch, on which trees and vegetables flourish, and about Point La Brave the masses of pitch look like black rocks among the foliage. The lake is underlaid by a bed of mineral coal." Two ship loads of' the Trinidad pitch were sent by Admiral Cochran to England, but the oil required, to render it fit for use so much expense, and the present rectifying process not then being understood, the project of importing more was abandoned. At Inniskillen, in Canada West, according to the Geological Report of Logan, the bitumen is in some places two feet deep.

Petroleum was. first brought to notice in our own country by the Seneca Indians, about a century ago. They used it as an ointment for their wounds, and in some of their religious ceremonies. A spring on Oil Creek, in Pennsylvania, was covered with the oil, from whence it was skimmed and sold in small quantities as a medicine, under the name of "Seneca oil." The Oil Greek spring and its adjacent lands was sold a few years

28

since by the Seneca Indians for a small sum, much to the present regret of their leading men, for these lands are now worth many millions, and have, been the most productive in oil of any in the country. In boring for salt near Tarentum, a town about thirty five miles above Pittsburg, oil was "struck" in 1845, which, when tested, proved to be similar in its chemical composition to other coal oils, which were then being manufactured quite extensively in many places from the bitumenous and cannel coal of the Western coal fields. However, as its refining process was not then fully understood, its value was not appreciated.

Twelve years later, Messrs. Bowditch and Drake of New Haven, began boring for oil Titusville, on Oil Creek, high up the Alleghany, in the hilly region of Pennsylvania, where lands were held at little value. Their work progressed slowly and at intervals, so that it was not until August 1859, that oil was struck at the depth of seventy one feet, which flowed out at the surface at the rate of 400 gallons daily. The oil excitement then began, and before the termination of 1860, about 2,000 wells and borings were made, of which seventy four of the largest gave daily 1,165 gallons, worth, at its then market value, about ($10,000) ten thousand dollars. After this wells were sunk deeper to the depth of six hundred or seven hundred feet, which gave an increased flow of oil, and in one instance one well gave the enormous amount of 3,000 barrels in a single day. To take care of these amounts not being practical or economical, contrivances were made to stop and regulate the flow of oil in order to take advantage Of the supply of casks, labor and the market. To guard against fire, great precautions were necessary, on which account it is not considered advisable to have a large quantity of oil in store, at the diggings, where so many people are habitual smokers of pipes and cigars; for, notwithstanding smoking is strictly forbidden in the vicinity of the petroleum, some terrible conflagrations have taken place in the oil region.

The discovery of petroleum in such quantities soon suspended the operations which were being made in the manufacture of oil from cannel and bitumenous coal, of which there were about fifty six factories in the United States, mostly in Ohio, Kentucky and other States, abounding in cannel or bitumenous coal. The capital which was thus invested has been estimated at $4,000,000, employing between 2,000 and 3,000 men, women and children. This business, although then considered large, is but a small item compared with the capital invested, and the amount of labor now engaged, either directly or indirectly, in the petroleum business. The oil wells in north western Pennsylvania

29

have made a hilly, poor section of country rich, in which cites have been built, and to which railroads have been made by its petroleum. Crowds have gathered there from far and near, all anxious to become very wealthy, for they have heard or read that sudden and large fortunes were made at the "oil diggings;" and why may not they do likewise. There a man may be so poor as to be deemed unworthy of being trusted to the amount of five dollars in the morning, and be a millionaire in the evening, for he owns either the whole or part of a well which strikes the oil stream or fountain, and it rushes to the surface at the rate of several hundreds of barrels per day. Still, boring for oil in what is termed the oil region of Pennsylvania, is a very uncertain business, because it is impossible, from external indications, to determine the exact spot of the oil stream or reservoir beneath the surface. Hence a well may be sunk within a few feet of the supply of oil, and yet not obtain any. Again wells sometimes cease to flow, the supply may give out, or the stream may have been "tapped" by other wells higher up the valley. With all its uncertainties the business increases rapidly. In the year ending June 1st, 1866, there were exported from the single port of New York 11,212,647 gallons of petroleum, which is but a small part of what is retained in the country for home consumption.

The of wells in Pennsylvania and Virginia are sometimes sunk into the subcarboniferous strata, and at others still lower into the Devonian, both of which are beneath the coal measures. In the Northern counties of Texas, bordering on the Red River, sand also in the Indian Territory, near the State line, bitumenous springs occur. Mr. Russel, of the Texas Boundary Commission, told us of one which he saw that had a constant flow. This is somewhere in that section, but we cannot specify the locality an the geological rooms are specimens of indurated petroleum or bitumen from Northern Texas. Specimens of bitumen have been lately brought to us which are said to have flowed froth rocks a few miles north of Austin. There are tar springs near the town of Burnet, in Burnet county, from which the bitumen is said to flow at particular seasons. There are said to be several situated in a line extending nearly north east and south west. We, visited one of these springs in the fall of 1860. It was then dry, but indurated bitumen was on the rocks. This spring is on the top of a small cretaceous hill. Bitumen is also reported to be found in the vicinity of Sour Lake, in the south eastern part of the State, and in the neighborhood of Nacogdoches. The Northern coal fields and the lignite beds of Southern and Eastern

30

Texas show that we have large quantities of petroleum making materials; and the coal oil or bitumen which exudes from beneath the surface in various sections, affords conclusive evidence that its streams or reservoirs are in the depths below. Those who are fortunate enough to tap them will realize fortunes.

Kerosene is the best remedy we have tried for destroying insects or expelling them from their accustomed haunts. Its liberal application in the crevices of bedsteads or in the cracks of a room, will expel the vermin. We are now occupying rooms in which these insects were very troublesome a few weeks ago, but by means of this remedy we are now rid of the annoyance. It will also kill and drive ants away. It is said that a sheep skin with the wool on, saturated with kerosene and tied around a fruit or other tree, will protect it from ants. All oils are destructive to insects. Insects have breathing pores in their bodies which, closed by oil or greese, stops the breath and smothers them. Coal oil well diluted with water and sprinkled over vines or plants will protect them from insects. The oil must be frequently stirred into the water, or it will rise to the top and not be distributed equally. It is said a tablespoon full of kerosene in a common garden water pot of water, sprinkled over a seed bed 3 feet by 5, gives it ample protection, and it also acts as a manure. Cabbage plants can thus be saved from the little jumping beetles. Any oil is good, but coal oil is easily obtained, can be easily mixed with water and applied with a watt ring pot or syringe to the plants or ants, for these last are cute rascals, and often are a great nuisance both to the gardener and housekeeper. We found this kerosene preventative in the newspapers, and as far as we have tried it does well within doors. It certainly is worth the trial of horticulturists.

The cretaceous rocks prevail over a large area in the State. We have recognized them in the counties of Travis, Hays, Comal, Bexar, Blanco, Gillespie, Williamson, Burnet, Bell, Mason, McCulloch, Lampasas, Coryelle, McLennan, Falls, Bosque, Hill, Navarro, Hamilton, Comanche, Crown, Coleman, Limestone, Freestone, Menard, Callahan, Johnson, Ellis. Erath, and some few other counties. It must not be understood that they constitute the entire series of rocks of these counties, but that as far as we have observed they form their larger portion, with perhaps the exception of the counties of Burnet, Lampasas and Mason. They are mostly limestones, some of which are hard and compact, and suitable for building; others are soft and friable. Cherty nodules are sometimes imbedded in their strata which

31

are occasionally nearly as white and soft as chalk. They vary very much in color, from a dark grey to a pale yellowish white. Their strata are horizontal or slightly inclined, showing that there has been little, disturbance from below since their deposition, which has taken place since the upheaval of the granite and other igneous rocks. In the vicinity of Fredericksburg and in some parts of Mason county, we have seen the cretaceous rocks resting directly upon the granite in horizontal strata, unaltered by heat, and containing an abundance of their characteristic fossils in a fine state of preservation, viz: holaster simplex, Cidaris hemigranosus, Turrilites Brazoensis, Gryphea Pitcheri, Ostrea subovata, and many others. During the deposition of the rocks of this; Mesozoic Age life, both animal and vegetable, was more abundant and developed to a greater size than when the paleozoic rocks were formed. The cretaceous rocks of Texas abound in organic remains, especially in shells. In some places they occur in heaps as if they had thus been washed together by the waves of the old oceans. Thus placed, Ostreas and Exogyras are met quite frequently on the sides of the cretaceous hills. Near the base of Comanche Peak Gryphea Pitcheris are in layers two to three feet thick, over an area of several rods in extent, in a very perfect state of preservation, as if' they had lived and died there, as they undoubtedly did, else they would be broken and waterworn. In McLennan county, not far from Waco, Ammonites are found of great size, some of which are nearly two feet in diameter. However, this is a less size by at least one foot than they have been obtained in other States west of the Mississippi river. We have seen Inoscerami more than one foot in diameter in the cretaceous rocks near Austin, where these shells are quite common. Shark's teeth are quite numerous in some of the Northern counties bordering on the Red river. Some of these, on account of their shape, are called by the children petrified bird tongues: As yet few fossils of a reptilian character have been found in our cretaceous rocks. Fossil wood is of quite frequent occurrence at the surface of some of them, and we have impressions of leaves from some of their strata, which have not yet received sufficient study to be described, nor have these rocks been traced sufficiently to have their boundaries accurately defined, or their strata properly classified. The attempts towards this which have been made, being founded at least in part on imperfect data and superficial examinations, are certainly erroneous in some particulars. They have a variable thickness extending up to nearly one thousand feet; and it may be that they are still thicker in some of the unexamined regions.

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Santa Anna's Peak, Comanche Peak, and many other isolated elevations are but the monuments left which inform us that the whole region, in which they are situated, was once a table land whose surface was higher than those "mountain" tops now are, because during many ages they have been undergoing a slow yet sure leveling process, which is now being continued by the storms of winter and summer, all of which convey more or less of their materials into the plains below. They are not everlasting hills, yet lasting compared with the puny monuments which vain man attempts to rear for himself.

The green sands of New Jersey, well known for their great fertilizing powers, belong to the cretaceons period. Lands in New Jersey, which in, Texas would be considered worthless, have, by the application of these green sands, been rendered worth from fifty to one hundred dollars per acre for agricultural and horticultural purposes. Fortunately Texas has comparatively little. barren soil throughout its vast area as far as the settlements extend; especially is this true of the counties where the cretaceous limestones prevail. They possess a soil of remarkable fertility a dark, rich and deep vegetable mould which in good seasons produces, when well cultivated, large returns of all crops suited to the climate. The cretaceons rocks do not abound in gold and silver, or other precious ores; but what is far better they afford a soil which, with little labor, fills the pockets of the agriculturist with gold and silver ready coined, which needs no essay of the chemist to tell its true value.

The writer assisted in the survey of Navarro county, which has a gently undulating surface of prairie and wood land; the former being in the larger proportion. On the branches of its streams and on its bottom lands the timber is of great size, particularly its oaks, pecans and cedars. These last are often more than one hundred feet high, producing seven rail cuts to one tree, the rails being not less than 10 feet, and some twelve feet long. We measured cedar sills of a bridge over Richland Creek which were fifty two feet long, and fourteen by ten inches in diameter. We saw and measured other cedars which were between three and four feet in diameter. Shingles, sufficient to cover the large court house of that county, were made from a single cedar tree four and a half feet in diameter. We know of no other section in the United States which produces cedar trees of such large dimensions. Captain Love, a resident there, told us that he had assisted in measuring a pecan tree. with a surveyor's chain, which was twenty three feet in circumference, growing on the banks of the Trinity river in that county. Three species of native grapes

33

are common here, the mustang, post oak and the winter grape. The mustang is so abundant as to be used in the manufacture of wine of a superior quality, which we tested on several occasions with the hospitable inhabitants of that region. Plums, or which there are three native species, do well; also peachesf These last are in general cultivation. The soil is generally of great depth, being often five or six feet deep, which accounts fof the large growth of the timber. Good crops of wheat, barley, rye, oats, corn and cotton are raised. Deep culture and planting the early corn, insures good crops, even if drought prevails during the summer. The principal business, however, is stock raising, the prairies being covered with many species of nutritious grasses. The rocks of this county are highly fossiliferous, and many of the shells are in a beautiful state of preservation, Inosceramus, Gervillia, Turitilla, etc.

At Comanche Peak, in Johnson county, in the Northern part of the State, and about one mile from the Brazos river, there is a fine display of cretaceous rocks. This "Peak" is about six hundred feet high, above the bed of the Brazos river, and is a flat topped hill about one mile and a half long, and one fourth of a mile wide. A portion of t