Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-11-05

detection was but temporary, as the gla-
cial river followed eventually the olp
Of the granite eastward, ana WIN ils
mighty abrading force became one or the
chief agents I'm clearing a way Tor the
free PUSHES Of narrowing currents
The great bend IN our river. which taxes
the shape of the well-knoWn horsesnoe,
began near Mount Robin, now duppeu
Forest Hill and terminated its tortuous
course centuries ago niue D6lOW ~
wards Island, midway between ~ anu
warwick. Some Of the FORCES winch III
pelled the river 10 this tOrtuous course are
stiI i'm operation. whilst others have long
since ceased TO act. All the blue eatln
or sedimentary matter Of the sea when
had been left has been swept clean from
the bedrock Of the narrowing river, ~
Ing inside the horseshoe, whilst that out
side Of it, on the left bank. or the Rich
mond side, when pierced by well-diggers
shows this inVarlabie successi0n
/. Brick clay. the settings Of ancient
freshets 2. Gravel beds, In which BOWL
ders and drift debris are sometimes seen.
8. Blue clay. or fullers earth, resting
many feet deep on the fundamental gran
POT-HOLEs.
Were it not for the agency Of the pot
holes in breaking up the solid bedrock
and detachng from It those powders,
large and small which throng the water
ways. IL IS not az all improbable that tho
James might be- running nov many feet
above the level Of its falls. These stir
ring. churnlng Water-blasts. as one may
very properly call them, have been in
operation from a time cOeyal with the
first fall of the river over the rocks.
They are of various volume and dimen-
sion, some underlying the tide and others
high and dry above il. A group OF these
aged and retired holes lie in the river
bottom near and abreast Of the old site
Of Ritchie's cOrn-mill mile or TWO
above the basin. They are filed up with
earth and gravel so as 70 prevent theIr
depth from being sounded. one of them.
/ noticed particularly, measured across 70
exposed rim-whiCh. by the by, is as
round rs GrOttO's O-upwards Of four feet.
The highest freshets Of recent times APP
prOach. but do not cover them. Others or
greater axe and at higher levels there
undoubtedly are. but hid from view by
tie old alluyia 81 the floods. If quarry
men were trained 20 look for such-lilIe
testimony Of the rivers ancient course.
when clearing away the superficial
ground Of the quarry, their discoveries
might be Of serviceable help TO the sci
entho inquirer.
A LONG-STRANDED HOLE.
Several years ago. whilst overlooking
the falls from q shelf of land on which a
tobacco factory now rests, at or near the
corner OF Arch and Eleventh streets. /
had the good fortune TO discover In
dump made by workmen a long-stranded
pot-hole. The granite bowlder contain
II
broken I'm two so as TO allow its easy re-
mOval from the sectional mOraine I'm
which IL lay. The other half, by the /
ignorant and Injurious eXcavators, was
covered entirely by the dump. The bowl |
der was watcr-WOrn and the half-cuD on
its inside highly polished. Before being
broken I'm two the hole might have held
upwards OF forty gallons Of water. The
shelf Of land in which IL had been de-
posted by the drift Is noted for the vast
number OF powders IL once contained Its
height above the foot OF the falls Is. ac-
cOrding 10 an eve survey / made, about
forty feet. The river hereabouts. as
shown by actual gauge. never rises du-
ring the highest floods above nine or ten
feet. How many centuries the river had
been az work fashOnlng the cavity, and
how many more centuries still the cup
containing bowder lay untouched in the
ofltt tlh now, are questions that may be
answered by those VINO possess more
AFeN imagination than / am blessed with
THE INDIANS USED THEM.
In this connection IT may not be amiss
10 say that pOt-hOles have been found on
the margins Of rivers several hundred
feet above the level Of their highest
Hoods. ASassiz. In his scarce work on
Lake superior makes especial mention
or them. The Indians Of California. who.
when the whites settled IN their country.
We're stih In the primitive state OF tho
hunter and fisher, used standing as well
az movable pOt-n0les, in which they
ground acorns and grass seeds. Some OF
their primitive mills in the cup or pot
hole shape are 20 be seen still on the
rocky clins overlooking the falls OF the
lholumne. our Indians in some instances
used the larger pot-holes in our river as
hsn preserves.
The vast number OF pot-holes I'm the
bedrock Of the falls are OF various shapes
ana dimensions. Into some OF them an
acorn or goose egg might be dropped
~ a perfect NJ; others take the shape and
contour or the ellIpse and circle. one OF
these l regarded with admlring attention.
1t might be called. without an undue
stretching Of the fancy natures tea
saucer. Had II occurred above the usual
run or the tide, so initiative OF mans
WOfk lt seemed, | should not have hesl-
tated 20 declare it artificial.
But IL Is In the deep sluices Of tho falls
have been greatest. Hundreds OF bowld-
ers have been detached from their pa
rent bed by the persistent forces in ope-
ration, and show by unmistakable marks
how the detachment has been effected.
THE DEVILS KITCHEN"
Tho pOt-cayern known 10 our early and
accomplished swimmers in the falls as
the Devils Kitchen" Is probably OF
greater depth and larger dimension than
any other to be seen in the river. IL lies
midway between Heaven and Hell"--two
streams that were known by these names
In the last century, on the hither margin
OF Dailey's Island. All the small psbblss