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Oil-bearing sands were passed through in all the borings, and oil is occasionally seen in the creeks and springs of the neighborhood, but in none of the borings was it found to flow in any quantity. The reason of this is doubtless due to the fact that the oil-bearing stratum has been cut through by numerous creeks, and the oil, if indeed it ever did exist in any quantity, has been drained off.

The asphalt is probably due to the oxidation of the residuum of oil left in the sand. In many places the summer heat has softened it and caused it to run out of the sand, forming small pools on the hillsides.

This is especially true where the bitumen-bearing bed has been exposed on the surface, as it often is, and subjected to all the atmospheric influences. The amount of asphalt which could be obtained in this locality is not very large, and the asphalt-bearing sand is apt to run into oil-bearing sand, so that the quantity in any one spot is very uncertain. There is, however, enough of the material to be used for paving in the surrounding towns of Palestine, Jacksonville, New Birmingham, Rusk, and other places, and if the asphalt sand was used in its natural state on the streets and pavements it would greatly increase the welfare and comfort of these towns.

The subject of salt and salines is also left for future discussion, as the time at the disposal of the writer has not permitted a full examination of the various localities. It may be said, however, that salt is found in many places in East Texas, and the future possibilities of a large product of that material are excellent. The deposits in Van Zandt County are described on pages 35, 36, and those in Anderson County on pages 33, 34. Besides these localities, salines have been found and worked in Freestone, Smith, and other counties. In all of these places, except in Van Zandt County, the salt was gotten from the brine of shallow wells,