The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1894-04-26
SCOTLAND NECK. N. c.. THURSDAY.

/ halt Is clearly marked IN tate-. Chow
an, Bertie. Martin, Beaufort. a part o'
| Pitt, and can probably he traced across
other counties and into South Carolina.
To the eaS. Of this old ~ea-heach lie. i
| line OF low elevations, marking the east
ern boundary Of the swamp district.
and presenting characters in marked
degree like the line of sandy islands
which we call The Banks. and evident
ly similar 10 those islands in origin
The method Of their formation shall
consider later
After the marking Of this old shore
line and the formation Of the chain Of
dune-like outlying islands the land be
gan TO rise and the upward movement
continued until the country stood very
many feet above its present level and
our coast line was many miles east
ward Of the position that it now occu-
pies While the country stood at this
greater elevation the rivers worked
with renewed energy, deepening their
channels. widening their lower valleys.
and transporting detritus into he sea
With the beginning Of the uplift be-
gan, most probably, the formation OF
our greater swamps in The shallow.
quiet waters of the lagoons lying be
tween the then existing coast-llne and
The Banks of that day for the lower
deposits of these swamps contain the
remains of creatures that lived near the
shore, and there is gradual passing
upward through brackish to fresh wa
ter forms.
After this great uplift there came an
still going on. 1t. TOO, was halting in
its character, as had been the uplift
The lower valleys were drowned out !.
making estuaries, and the rivers began
the work Of filling up the channels
they had so recently cut. But the tide
water tributaries OF our larger streams
found themselves powerless to either
cut or fill to any considerable extent,
and they remain today with sluggish
waters in channels much below the
beds of the adjoining sounds
The waves rolling in from the sea,
pIow along on this recently submerged
land, lifting the sand and bearing it
! along until they break IN the shallOWer
water near the shore and deposit their
| burden The in1Owing tides have also
set hack the rivers, quieting their wa
ters and causing them to deposit the
detrtus brought down from the land
In this way The Banks have been
| built.
The sounds, or more properly Ia
gOOns, behind this chain OF islands, or
dunes. are rapidly silted up and covered
up and converted into marsh and dry
land by the sands blown over the dunes
and the sediment brought down by the
rivers Though the movement of the
sands landward is something near one
| foot per annum, their loss % our coast
| line is compensated by the sands
brought down by the southwark going
! shore current, which is halted by the
Gulf stream and made to drop IL. sands
off Hatteras, where it rises to the sur
! face. The meeting place OF these cur
rents. on account OF its tul olllent, chop
pv character, is much dreaded by sail
Ors, who have given to it the name Of
Little He'll" and as such it appears
upon the pilot charts issued by the
government Hence it may he seen
that our State is constantly acquiring
new lands in spite Of the gradual sub
sidence Of our continental shell;
The embayment of The Banks i al
| original feature with them. due to the
form Of the land and the position q
the rivers to which they owe tI3eir or
igin; but il is being Wear by Year a.
centrated as the tides -cour Out the
hollows Of the bays and leave the sands
upon the points q land. apes Halter
as, Lookout and Fear. Tie ac,ion 81
the waves opposes 5he work OF tie tics
By beating of the headlaHds and Griy-
ing tie detritus into the neighborinG
bays
In tie regions Of harder rocks TIE
opposing iorccs Il TIC tides and IT,
waves are pretty evenly balanced but