flows directly into the ocean in this State; the others, after reaching the low country, move on with diminished current and empty into large bodies of water known as sounds.

6. The great rivers of these three systems, with their network of countless tributaries, great and small, afford a truly magnificent water supply. Flat lands border the streams in every section; they are everywhere exceptionally rich, and in the Tidewater section, of great breadth. In their course from the high plateaus to the low country all the rivers of the State have a descent of many hundred feet, made by frequent falls and rapids. These falls and rapids afford all unlimited motive power for machinery of every description; and here many cotton mills and other factories have been established, and are multiplying every year.

7. The sounds, and the rivers which empty into them, constitute a network of waterway for steam and sailing vessels of eleven hundred miles. They are separated from the ocean by a line of sand banks, varying in breadth from one hundred yards to two miles, and in height from a few feet above the tide level to twenty-five or thirty feet, on which horses of a small breed, called "Bank Ponies," are reared in great numbers, and in a half wild state. These banks extend along the entire shore a distance of three hundred miles. Through them there are a number of inlets from the sea to the sounds, but they are usually too shallow except for vessels of light burden. Along its northern coast the commerce of the State has, in consequence, been restricted; it has, however, an extensive commerce through Beaufort Harbor and the Cape Fear River.

8. The sounds, and the rivers in their lower courses, abound with fish and waterfowl. Hunting the canvas-back duck and other fowls for the Northern cities is a regular and profitable branch of industry; while herring, shad and rock-fishing is pursued, especially along Albemarle Sound, with spirit, skill and energy, and a large outlay of capital.

QUESTIONS.

1. What is the subject of this chapter? How may the mountains of North Carolina be classed? Describe each chain. Point out these mountains on the map.

2. Describe the Smoky Mountains. The Blue Ridge. The Brushy. The Oconeechee.

3. Describe the river systems of the State. Give the dividing lines between the systems. Describe the flow of the rivers of Western North Carolina. Trace the courses of these rivers on the map. What is said of the mountain gaps?

4. Where are the Catawba and Yadkin Rivers? What portion of the State do they water? Point them out on the map.

5. Describe the rivers of the third system. Where do they empty?

6. What do our rivers afford? What is said of our water power?

7. What mention is made of the sounds? Describe the banks. Point out on the map the sounds and the banks.

8. With what do the sounds and rivers abound? What important branches of industry are mentioned?

CHAPTER III.

GEOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS.

A knowledge of the geology of a State affords the key to its soils; since the soils are formed by the disintegration of the underlying rocks, more or less mixed with animal or vegetable matter. The peculiar geological structure of the State furnishes the material for every possible variety of soil. In fact, there is no description or combination unrepresented. There are, first, the black and deep peaty soils of Hyde county and the great swamp tracts along the eastern border of the Tidewater section; then come the alluvious marls and light sandy soils of the more elevated portions of the same section; then the clayey, sandy and gravelly soils of the Piedmont and Mountain section, the result of the decomposition of every variety of rock.

2. From its western boundary to the last falls of its rivers, the rocks generally belong to that formation known as "primitive". Primitive rocks are easily distinguished; they are crystalline in structure, and have no animal or vegetable remains (called fossils) imbedded or preserved in them. The soils of this formation are not very fertile, nor yet are they sterile; they are of medium quality, and susceptible, under skilful culture, of the highest improvement. The primitive rocks are chiefly represented by granite and gneiss.

3. The rocks of the secondary formation appear in certain counties of the Piedmont section, and here the coal-fields occur, embracing many hundred square miles. This formation consists of the primitive rocks, broken down by natural agents, and subsequently deposited in beds of a thickness from a few feet to many hundred, and abounds in organic remains. The soils of this formation vary more than the former, as the one or the other of the materials of which they are made up happens to predominate.

4. The eastern section belongs to that which is known as the "quaternary" formation. Here no rocks like those mentioned above are found; indeed, rocks, in the ordinary sense of that term, are unknown. This formation will be best understood by regarding it as an ocean bed laid bare by upheaval through some convulsion of nature, and thus made dry land. Sandy soils predominate somewhat in this section, though there are tracts in which clay is in great excess, and other tracts in which vegetable matter is in great excess. Between these extremes there exist, also, the usual mixtures in various proportions.

5. Geology also affords a key to the mineral resources of a State. Those of the Tidewater section are summed up in its marls. That whole section is underlaid with marl at a depth of a few feet, and in quantity sufficient to raise and keep it, when regularly applied to the surface, for all time to come at the highest point of productiveness. Of all resources for wealth this is the most durable; and, on account of the industry to which it is subservient--the agricultural--is best calculated to promote the happiness of man.

6. It is in the primitive rocks, however, that minerals abound. Those of North Carolina surpass any in the Union. In the last Report on the Geology of the State one hundred and seventy-eight are numbered and described. Among these are gold, silver, copper, lead, iron, mica, corundum, graphite, manganese, kaolin, mill-stone grits, marble, barytes, oil shale, buhrstones, roofing slate, etc. The most of these are the subjects of great mining industries, which are daily developing to greater proportions.

7. Of some of these minerals, as corundum and mica, North Carolina has already become the chief source of supply. Among the principal sources of the future mineral wealth of the State, copper, gold and iron are clearly indicated. The ores of these metals are found in abundance over extensive tracts of country. Lastly, in North Carolina many beautiful specimens of the precious stones have been found, and a large capital has been raised to carry on mining as a regular business for one of these-- the hiddenite gem.

8. North Carolina will thus be seen to be a State of vast resources, whether we regard the variety and value of her natural or cultivated productions, the immense range of her minerals or her facilities for manufacturing industries. It would, perhaps, be safe to say that no equal portion of the earth's surface will, in half a century, be the scene of industries so various and of such value.

QUESTIONS.

1. Of what does this chapter treat? What does the knowledge of the geology of a State afford? Mention the variety of soils found in North Carolina.

2. Where are the primitive rocks found? Describe them. How are they chiefly represented? What are the soils of this division?

3. Where do the rocks of the secondary formation appear? Describe this formation. What is said of the soils of the secondary formation?

4. To what class do the rocks of the Eastern section belong? What is said of this section? Describe the quaternary formation. What is said of the soil?

5. What else is afforded by geology? Where is marl found and what is said of it?

6. Where do the minerals abound? How many kinds of minerals are located in this State? Can you name the principal ones? What is said of mining?

7. What is said of corundum and mica? Of gold and iron? Of precious gems?

8. What great resources does North Carolina possess?

CHAPTER IV.

THE INDIANS.

That portion of America now known as the State of North Carolina was once inhabited by Indians. For many ages before Columbus came across the seas in the year 1492, they had held undisputed possession of all the Western Continent, except those Arctic regions where the Esquimaux dwelt.

2. Nearly a century had gone by since the Spaniards had begun their settlements, and yet, north of St. Augustine, in Florida, not a white man was to be found. Cortez and Pizarro had founded great states in Mexico and Peru, but the vast region stretching