Alexandria gazette & daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1817-1822, 1818-05-23
Mr. Printer,


the western country was coeval with the
eastern. or, in other words, that, on RI
sing out of the confused mass Of chaos,
which we will, here, suppose to be the o.
risinal state Of tn universe, that the CO.
aptation OF particles were simultaneous
As no i'll can result from spending a lew
thoughts on a subject which cannot De
fully demonstrated, 1 will, here endea-
vor to give my ideas on this abstruse sub
Ject. ,,
We will suppose that before order took
place on our globe. the elements were
conlusedly mixed together, till their spe-
cific GRANTEES brought each to their natu-
raj distances from the centre-then, wa
ter, as haviag the least weight, except
air. covered the whole face Of the earth !;
The earth's diurnal, as we'll as annual
motion, must have then, as we'll as at
present, caused undulations IN the at
mosphers these with the other natural
and occasional causes OF rarefaction anu
CONVERSATIONS of the air, must have occa-
stoned violent winds and hurricanes,
which, together with their own clement
affected that next below,-the water;
which, BY this means was thrown into
great agitation, and made to assume a
regular current from east to wesr. This
could not but affect the mere solid strata
underneath and currents OF sand were
made to accompany those OF the water
till these, meeting with distractions form
ed an obstacle to the passage OF that
which next followed, and additional ac-
foundations raised it in places above the
surface Of the sea.
Let us suppose that the first parts
which emerged from the ocean, in North
America, to be the tops OF the Allegheny
and Rocky mountains The first would
receive fresh accumulatiOns by the cur
rent from the east, and the latter would
be increased BY the eddies of the vest
whist the middle space would rest in a
state of qaiescence, by being l,ss capa-
Bile of being acted on by the wind. from
its comparatively contracted boundary
To the east aud west imperceptibIe adj
yances were made into the dominions OF
Neptune, who was making up in depth
what he lost in b. esdth. Rivers arose
from the summit of the mountains, and
the visifying rays Of the sun clothed their
sides with vegetation, which making an
ANNUAL deposit, tertilized the soil Tor its
future cultivation. By viewing the face
of The country from the sea shore to the
mountains, it will naturally lead Us to
that conclusion. Near the sea, and for
some distance back, the land is formed
nearly entire Of san'I, with very little Of
avegetabie deposit, as though it Aal late1
ly emerged from the water. As you tra-
vel west, the vegetable and animal depo.
sit becomes more perceptible, and the so
hcious earth, is in great measure ex-
changed for the alluninous and carbona-
cious, and is Of course more congenial to
the culture Of grain. When you ap:
proach the mountains, you fad that BY
long exposure, the once soft clay is har-
dened into rock, BY attracting and mix
sng with the carbonic acid Of the atnos-
phere. Yet the evidence Of its emerging
from the sea still remains, by the guam
tity Of marine crustacious deposits, which
are every where to be found in the body
anal crevices of rocks, on the sides and
tops Of the highest mountains.
lou VIII always observe the mountains
running pareliel with the continent, and
nearly from north tn south. The Alleg
hany being fat on its top, and some con.
siderable distance over /; then as it we're
falling oil, all at once. at the Laurel hill
would seem to favor my argument Of its
being one Of the original scites for did
It form but a narrow ridge on the top, il
would have been liable to be broken dowr
bv the violence Of the waves and want o.