Arkansas true Democrat., 1858-06-08
HIS ExCELLENCY E. N. CONWAY,
Governor of Arkansas:

publication, Will Ut iouhu lAteieoVino " WI citizens:
 Ills ExCELLENcY E. N. CONWAY.
 Governor of Arkansas: Str-As you had expressed a wish that l should come down to Little Rock some time during the months of May or J une of this sea- son. in order to consult with you and the pub lie printer in regard to the publication of the Geological Report of Arkansas, availed myself of the same occasion to make an incidental excursion of ten days from Little Rock to the Hot Springs.
 During this short tour preliminary to regu-
 lar geological reconnaissance to be hereafter made of that section of country, found it so full of interest and the inhabitants of the coun- ty. as we'll as the visitors from other States, so anxious that should impart some information to the public concerning the general results of my geological observations, thus incidentally made, that 1 have been induced, from the gen era interest expressed, to make this communl- cation to you in advance of of my First Report, the manuscript of which l hope to have ready for the press, agreeable to your request, early Tn October uext l should observe, however, that my examinations, in this portion of the State, have necessarily been rapid and superficial, 50 that must conlne myself, at present, to a few general remarks preparatory to subsequent Sy>- tematlc reports, and shall take this occasion to add some remarks which now occur to me touching the present and future operations and prospects of the geological survey.
 | The principal rock formations which l have observed, occupying the valleys and beds of the streams in Hot Spring county, and indeed, in that part of Pulaski and Saline counties, over which have passed, are various nodlcatious of alumiuous talcous and other varieties of | magnetism sla,es Though have reason to be- ! lieve that these slates occupy very extensive areas in Hot Spring county well as in Pulaski | and Saline counties, though 1 have found their actual outcrop only very local and usually in 1 low situations since they are to great extent, concealed from view and deeply buried under an extensively distributed debris of quartz usually of the milky yarety-ntermixe with abundance of loose, ainty gravel; both derived | from the breaking up and disruption of the se lceous quartzore rocks which alternate and are superlmposed upon the slate formation, and which form the great mass of the more eleva- ted ridges These latter rocks were seen to best advantage in the "divide' between Hot Spring and Cutler Creeks. where they include beds of the different varieties of hone and whetstoneS for which Hot Spring county is justly ceebra- ted
 Not only the slates, but the whole of these siliceous rocks have suffered greatly, at one per iod, from internal courusions, of which abuud ant evidence is found in the tilted and highly
 inclined position of the strata; in the fractured and rent cord ton of the rocks; aud in the wide Spreal detriI uo that covers up and conceas from View much of the parent rock. The cleavage joints and seams, both in the olateS and quartose formation ae frequently far more apparent than 1 the original bedding of deposition and stratG- cation; thls renders 1t often difficult to decide | upon the true course of the dip of the strata; yet the pro;rusiou of igneous rocks from be- heath does not appear to be of frequent occur renee in the nei5hborhood of the Hot Springs, as l had been led to suppose. Granite, con- posed principally of soda, felspar, on the Fourche in Pulaski county, a range of green stone trap traversing Cove creek, and a sienitc rock in Magnet Cove in Hot Spring county are the only intrusive rocks which came under my observation in the course of this exploration; ne- vertheless have little doubt that hypogene (ne- ther born) rocks reach the surface elSewhere;but the quartz and tlinty debris is 50 abundant that but little opportunity is offered for the geolo5st to detect and inspect intrusive rocks, especially if they exist in low valleys
 Some of the slates which were observed. near the confines of Pulaski and Saline coun- ties, in the neghborhood of the Fourche, have much the character and composition of slates which found in my survey of the North west on some of the .Islauds in the Lake of the Woods, near the northern limits of the United States; other states observed in the Magnet Cove and along some portion of Hot Spring creek, approach in Pathological aspect, to slates in the gold-regions of North Carolina. and the Occoee District of Tennessee with the excep- ton of not being pitted over with small cubi- cal cavities
 | From the occurrence of such sates, the quartz association and the appearance locally of black magnetic sand, the existence of some gold may be inferred which might be detected by washing the gravel and sand of some of the streams; still have myself, as yet not actual ly seen .any particles of gold or gold d-bearnc quartz; nor have l, so far, obtained any well authenticated evidence of its having been ac tually collected by others, except few par | tlces said to have been washed out of the sands of Cove creek. I could, therefore. at present, only recommend the search as access sory to other persuits during hours and days of leisure. Those who have had experience in California or in the Carolinas, Georgia and Ten nessee would be best qualified to undertake such work; and for the sake of proving the grounds adjacent to these peculiar slates it would be we'll for the owners of lands. thus tavorably situated, and with such: h:ex pereuce, to undertake, when not otherwise employed, to | test their lands.
 Where the slates are smooth and soapv to the touch, traversed by ferruginous quartz veins (. e. reddish yellow quartz) and where black, magnetic iron sand is observed, in the gulles and beds of the creeks, are the most favorable situations to prosecute the search and, if the symptoms justify the task, some of the streams might be turned and the gravel and sands of their beds washed and famed; some would, in all probability, be rewarded by interesting discov. cries, if not in gold, in brilliant transparent crystals of quartz or perhaps in the de- lection of beds or veins of serpentne which appear to be- locally associated with the slates of this country, particularly where it is inter-