Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-10-30
A GEOLOGICAL STORY OF THE
COUNTY OF powHArAN.
SIGNS OF MIGHTY GLACIERS.
A walk Through the Forest, and the
story IL Tciis-Action or the ice
-, uo,x II Nanifests ItscIf-Wor-
shin OF Primitive Races.
csor the Dlsnatch.)

charmingy and variously displayed in the
country.
In one hours ride out Of Richmond you
may find at this season Of the year what
ever your fancy wishes most to see-land-
scspes and waterscapes, with dusky
backgrounds Of wooded hills or great
forests. whose solitudes you may traverse
without once meeting human beins or
seeing a single human habitaton. l know
no greater pleasure these halcyon Gays
than that which Is derived from q suol
through the autumn WOODS. How eidS-
tic the fOotstep that treads upon the past
years fallen leavesl How clean-loOk-
ing and sweet-smelling the pine trees
tributes 10 the compost Of centuries!
what light IS here-a light. as II were.
in the dark-a reflection which painters
OF the Rembrandt school endeaVOr I'm vain
10 transfer 10 their cauvas-What rock
clinging lichens. and pretty patches OF
gray and green MOSES, and parasidcal
plants that find no end in wandering
n3aZes lost"
The Sabbath-sllence of great cities will.
10 him who feels il melitatlytly. convey
a just smlliude Of that which pervades
the forest. This silence Is one OF It's chief
est charms when broken, as il some
fimes IS, by the drum-beat OF the wood
peeker. how startling the incident! That
so small a bird. with so delicate bill,
should make so loud a noise has never
been accounted for satisfactorily by orni-
biologists. 80 far as l know.
A VISIT TO POWHATAN.
am now 10 give a sketch of a visit
made 10 Powhatan with an old gentle
man. who desired TO show me the won
ders Of Fine creek, and those OF the forest
land adjacent thereto. We were lucky
h. vi 70 fol
in whh a native Of Mannikn. who, point
ing 10 the far-On hills Of Powhatan, said.
with emotion: THAT IS Gods country,
gentlemen"-and so we found it.
Although the present as well as the
past engages our attention, we cannot
help noting, as We pass. the "Old Powite
Fields" and farther up stream the dark
and bloody ground Of those fierce. old
'Monacans." who disputed, with success
the westward extensiS2 Of the empire Of
''Wahunsonacock." Their hunting-grOunds
their farms and hresidxs, their industrial
works, are familiar TO me as household
words
Just here, at the head Of the falls OBJ
serve how the hills on either side Of the
James fall away with a corresponding de-
preston of the bed-rock-how smoothly
tina river runs in narrow, lake-like reach
es. how the low-grounds broaden out,
and fill up in a measure. the sunken as
pect Of the country! In Jurassic times
you will reasonably conjecture. If you be
skilled in the mysteries of geology. that
the old river. then probably half its pre-
sent length, terminated In great swamp.
or series Of swamps, in which tree-ferns.
old-time pines, and old-time palms flour
ished with tropical luSuriance You Will
conclude. also. and with good reason. that
here. in the deeper cups and ruts OF the
metamorphic rock, the carboniZed plants
found restingplaces. and finally came 20
be coated over with successive LAYERS of
sand and grit, which. under the chemistry
OF nature, were transformed into what
rs popularity known as cOal-measures.
UNDER THE SEA.
Whilst the period Of coal making en-
dured, the tidewater country was AN
under the sea- which beat for ages nj the
eastern base Of our great granite ledge /
without ever once overlooking IT, Beyond /
this ledge-rock. towards the Northwest. /
the land Is of the oldest I'm Virginia. and 4
was probably the first TO appear above |
the Mezozoic waters.
After the Jurassic came the Crctaccous 1
whose deposits consist of green or ,,r1v
tandstones, sometimes red. and after The /
Cetaceous, the Tertiary. When the tide /
water lands became appraised. at the cnd /
OF the Tertiary period, there followed am [
age Of Intense cold which. because of the
y AfaN bl0NltlS lIdA ulSlllkNlSHFN IT'S ITGsf-.
ress, has been called by scientists the /
Glacial. or Ice Age.
Evidences Of this Ice Age are abundant
In Inc country north Of the fortieth paraI-
lei, as well-informed persons know. If
such evidences be good and true for your
hypothetical glacier I'm one latitude. and
you find similar evidences in another
latitude, however near TO, or distant
from, the former then Il is clear that
IN oft aVs |
or fall together.
THE ACTION OF ICE.
Use your eyes intelligently, and you
Will observe the hills on either side of |
the James to have those shapes that are
supposed by glacalists TO result from the
action Of ice, moving on lines parallel
with their longer axes, ana the general
trend of the old river troughs. They IRE
called rOches moutonnees. or sheen
backs. Such sloping hilocks occur i'm
mediately on either side OF the river as
high up as the Piedmont and as low
down as the foot of our falls
1t should not be understood from this
that the Virginia glacier was fed by a
great ice-cap. but that it might be mere
ly an ice-river. creeping slowly down from
the highlands over the old bedrock
outing and securing 1t deeper and deep
or. and overlapping on either side the
]
as 10 render them witnesses in our time
o. the ancient visitation.
Scratched stones of the approved tyne.
fcored rocks, bowlder CLAWS, containing
angular and rounded GRANTEES. and !
1uarzltes, unevenly dispersed i'm beds
lying at various depths on the bottom
rocks; terminal moraines the greatest or
which may be seen in a fragmentary con-
dillon on the secondary levels Of the old
river In the vicinity of Richmond, are
proofs OF anteoedent phenomena which
may again appear thousands of years
hence with more or less severity.
ABOUT THE PRESENT.
But fear, Messrs. Editors, that, unless !
address myself more 10 the present. and I
ess to the past. this paper will prove as
iesultory and long-winded as one Of the
chapters of '"rristram Shandy." l shall
resume the story of our trip to
pOwhatan, and endeavOr to get over
much interesting ground as fast as iron {
wheels viii carry u.s.
After passing 'Mannikin" we came I'm ,
light Of "Boscobel," the next station. !
There is a romance associated with the q
lame Of this station. which / should Ike ]
o recount, If l were sure Of not over
unning the limits l have prescribed to :
his paper ,
"BoscObei." according TO tradition. IS
famed after an old tree Of the elm family.
hat grows IN the fairgrounds close by.
N some way II has come TO be associated p
With another tree, still more celebrated
$ the asylum OF Charles H., when he
'as at one time In hiding from the Round
ieaos The word. literally translated. ! u
means beautiful wood" or. more freely. 9,
beautiful tree" =
IL Is much admired by all who have a,