The true Democrat., 1855-02-28
NO. 20.
From the Public Ledger. Burning of a Mountain Prospects of a Volcano in Arkansas.

MEssRs. EDITORS: the Ledger of the 10th lnst'' appeared short paragraph copied from the Fort Smith Herald of the 18th ult., with tne aooVe caption Explosions have been heard III that part of Arkansas long before those re- ferred to In the Herald and there are several To- callteS h the mountainous sections of the vest ern part oi the State where these phenomena are met With. They are called, by the settlers, "Blo,0-OM Moantains." A year aeo. when tra- yelling through that portion of Arkansas, I visited two of them, with others of like char acter, distant from each other some twenty miles or more. An examination of these ex- plosive localities was, to me, highly interesting, and when there, gathered specimens of the ma terial discharged, which 1 have at my office. One of the "blo,0-oMs'' is in gorge of moun- tain range, dividing the waters of the Fourche le Fave river, in Scott county, on the north, from those of the Ouachita, in Montgomery, on the south and near their common boundary. Twas accompanied thither by an old trapper whose residence was on the north bank of the Ouachi- ta river about six miles south from, and the nearest house to, that part of the mOuntaln.- He told me he had frequently heard reports, and they generally occurred on clear days, early Tn the morning, and were like the boom of a cannon--a single eXplosion-withOut echO.- The noise was heard not oftener than once a week, for short time, and then a long period would elapse before another report In his hunts, Fryer (for that was his name,) met with this place on the mountain, bearing evidence of very great disturbance. One morning. after an uncommonly loud boom (to use his expres- sion,) ) he determined to go and examine thespot, when he found that earth had just been thrown out of Assure in the rocks six inches wide, and large tree that grew over It, split half way up its trunk, and he saw root of this tree, which had been torn off and driver along the crevice forty yards, doubled up between the sides of this Assure. Dry wood which lay across the crack in the rock had not been displaced by the explosion. That evening he remarked the suns appearance, when setting, Was very "lurid," and hurricane followed, which lasted all night. The country, Geographically, between the Qua chita river and the mountain, is slightly undu- lating, and, geologically, is composed principal ly of Talcose slates, alternating with belts of quartz The river meanders through very narrow valley, and in some places the escarp- ment of slates and rocks forms perpendicular wall of some two or three hundred feet high, through which its channal passes. The scene " is highly picturesque and wild. The strata here have slight dip toward the south, but at the mountain the rocks are vertical, highly sile- ccous and crystalline, with seams of green yell low-of the grauwacke variety, inter-strathed with the seams of green and yellow colored states. The general range of the stratication is N. N. w. and S. $. E. In the gorge small stream rises and runs a north course, along the foot of the steep slope of the western end of the eastern extension of the mountain, and thence to the Foursche le Fave river From the south side, two other small streams rise, taking awestern course, the other running near ly south, toward the Ouachita, into which they both empty. The gap is rough, containing masses of detached rocks. The point of the western mountain range, near to the summit, (which is about six hundred feet above the val ley) has a singular appearance, like perpen- dicular side-cut from six to twelve feet; the ma- terial cast off forming an embankment on the side of the mountain, about six feet broad and two hundred yards in length. This side- cut in numerous places is perforated with holes, from which, it is probable, there has been emit ted something generated within. On the en- bankment there are furrows continuous with the crevices in the rocks on the mountain slope and those on the flat land between 1t and the small stream in the gap, where they all terminate. No- thing of this kind is observable beyond the run or on other parts of the mountain. How deep the Assures are I could not ascertain, as I had no means of measuring more than ten feet Some of the crevices were four feet apart, and others farther, and they appeared to be of diff ferent dates 1 may describe other similar and equally interesting spots hereafter. Imet with much, while west of the Mississippi, which would be entertaining to the curious to investi- gate What have now written, is enough to set some thinking to explain the phenomenon.
 WILLIAM F. ROBERTS,
 No. 46h Walnut street, Phila.