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agi'.h ultl'rai, RErouT. [K85C, 857, 85?, 85!)
.iccur iii tlie indiratiniis of the limber as compared with the undergrowth ; the limWv In in" indicative of' day soil, whereas tlie nrahU surface soil is really sandy. I lie cl.n Mi'iiliim is scmo’-!11 feet in thickness ; as we go down, it gradually becomes paler ah'! minded with bluish and white specks; it is underlaid by while or blue sand.
s-Vi. I Ins day is luiiinl nil l oth sides of the Bayou Bernard, for a short distance, «nd its limits »iv pretty sharply defined. On an elevation 30 yards from Mr. iluinphi ii--' house (where there is a well dug entirely in thin clay, of the depth above named, and without nulling) no clay is struck at 20 feet—all sand.—The soil is said not to produce well without manure ; but it seems that subsoiling has never yet been tiied. At all events, such land is capable of fine improx i-ment.
A ii"tln t example (fa day ridge approaching the coast, has already been nicntio:,, d a- e\Mingat <'roan Springs (■Kit').	(llhois oe< ur on or near the
1 Had	imling to Dr. Togaideii. As a general thing, tlie clay ijdges
beei me lie ie liei|uent as we advance westward ; and at tlie head of the inner Hay St. i.‘iiis, a Ii w niil<-' inland, we stiike a l’ine liill region, where the neater poitimi of the lands have a good loam subsoil. Here tlie pines attain to a guild size, and a great deal of charcoal is made, line lumber is ratted down Wolf River and liayou Delisle, to Mr. Huddleston's mill, and others ; and I ■inderstai:d that the country between Wolf and -lourdan Hirers is generally of tl.e loll \ chaiacter jii't mentioned, with but few meadow spots of considerable -xti nt.— At M r. Huddleston's mill, too, we find a heavy clay subsoil, similar to hat at 11 um|.hi its', above mentioned : here also, the suifacc soil, to the depth •I ' t" ]'| iiiel.e s. is i(iiiu- light and sandy. 'I hose clay lands extend about a : ii i!-• up the l!a\"ii Mel isle. Ii i in its mouth—into the Maishof Wolf Hirer. This iiiden lay makes tine brick— ijuile a desideratum in the coast region. s'.T. 'I he singular outcrop on Woll Hirer, at Mr. 1. Saucier’s, S. 20, T. 7, R.
W.. !i i' been de.-ciiK-d in the Geological Heport (T 0). It is effectually, as •hcie stated, an ancient, now subterranean, Cypress swamp. As such its muck i iiiud iniiiht be supposed to possess considerable fertility ; it is, however, a pielty -till gray day, w hich, fiom its aspect would not seem to be worth transportation. Analysis, howev er, will decide this point.
Mr. 11. Taylor, at l’ass Christian, infoimed me that about twenty-two miles, by water, above the mouth of Wolf, there is an outcrop of shells on the l>anks, on both sides, 1 regret very much my inability to visit the locality at the time, both on account of the geological interest attaching to such a deposit, and its probable value for agricultural purposes. The deposit is probably of a character similar to the small outcrop at Mr. Bell’s, S. 16, T. 7, R. 11 W.. on the Bayou Bernard, which has also been described (*;218); and shells have also been found in a well at llalxilochitto Bridge, by Col. Kimball. Altogether, it is highly probable that clayey shell deposits of considerable extent exist in the middle portion of Harri'"n ami Hancock counties, which may prove of great ralue to the agriculturists of the coast.—The special surrey of these counties will have to decide the point.
SoS. i 'n the liayou Bernard (at Bell's), and in many other localities in the hilly country, there are outcrops of white pipeclay and hard pan, belonging to^ the < 'range Sand formation (• 7<>). They are here, as everywhere, almost absolutely void ol nutritive ingredients, and unfit for the improvement of soils— except perhaps in a lew cases, as purely mechanical manures. These clays are readily distinguishable by their chalky touch ; they are frequently (as at Bell's), accompanied by \arionsly colored sands, and red and yellow ochre. These, with tlie Selenite or gypsum found at Dwyer's ferry (• -Hi), and the iron pyrites n seme of the gray clays, are the Only minerals found, or likely to l>e louud, in the seaooast counties.
Pass Christian and Shicldshoro’ (Bay St. Louis), are both situated on s.wd Hommock-'. delated Irom five to twelve feet above tide-water. In both,
^SCO, 3G1]	'	SHKI.l	HAN'KS AND HOMMOCKS.
383
the beach is occupied by the “ I’iteh I’inc ” and Live Oak; and level pine woods (of Long-leaf Pine), with wet spots characterized by the l’itcher-plant (Surra-ccnia variohiris), a7iil yellow star-grass (Aleh in a urea) form the back ground at no great distance. Such, also, is the aspect of the country passed over in traveling from Shieldsboro’ to the 171011th of Pearl River, and to Pcarlington.
Shell banks and hommocks ("r833; 8ol), occur, to a|large extent, on the western shore of the inner Bay St. Louis, inland from Shiddsljoro’. The shells (chiefly the “clam”, or Gnafhodon) have been used in the improvement of the (extremely sandy) streets at Pass Christian; and the “ shell roads ” thus made are exceedingly pleasant to the traveler who has been obliged thus far, to jo" along at the rate of a mile and a half an hour, in the deep sand of the “hom-7nock-5.” I have not as yet personally visited these shell deposits.	-	,
Therealer, we meet with no more shell banks or hommocks, up to the mouth 1 of Pearl River; there, on the Sea Island Cotton plantations of Col. Claiborne I and Maj. A. .Tackson, we find several extensive deposits—the last, in this I direction, in the Stale of Mississippi.
800. An exception to the general character of the sand “ hommocks ” of this region, occurs at Col. -I. F. 11. Claiborne’s residence, at the extreme west end of Shieldsboro’, five miles from the Point. The hoinmoek land on w hich Col. Claiborne’s residence is situated, resembles a good deal that of the Pascagoula shell hommocks, although nn .ihelh are fotihd there. The light, ''mulatto” colored soil scarcely changes for aliout ten inches from the surface; then its color gradually becomes paler; the subsoil is very sandy, so that it is advisable not to plow too deep (HolO). At two and a half to three feet, there underlies a yellow hardpan, which at times passes into a pretty heavy clay, which has been .used to advantago in making brick. It lies too deep to be reached by the plow. The same material crops out on the beach, forming a steep bank some five feet high. This is another of the “ clay ridges” reaching down to the shore.
This hommock land produces corn finely—forty bushels to the acre—and is a warm, generous soil, easily tilled. Its growth is mainly Sweet Gum and Magnolia, with Oaks, viz : the Live Oak, Spanish (“ Il&l ”), Water and Laurel-leaved Oak ; Pitch Pine, Hickory, “Cassina”, Stag'horn Sumach, Persimmon, Spanish Mulberry, Wild Plum, and Grape vines. This growth, it will be observed, is almost identical with that of the Pascagoula “Shell hommocks’’ (*TS?>3), as/> well as the river hommock at Dwyer’s ferry (•'819). Patches of hommock land somewhat similar occur near the heads of Mulatto Bayou, e. g., at Maj. White’s i plantation; it is, however, underlaid by stiff gray clay at about three feet. J
Between Shieldsboro’ and the mouth of Pearl River, the coast is mostly low, and a great deal of it taken up with marshes, usually of the “ Round Rush ” character.
8(il. The Sea Island Cotton- Plantations.—The rich “hommocks which form the soii oi‘ these plantations, arc situated at the south-eastern border of th? great Pearl Kivcr marsh on Mulatto
Bayou. They comprise, on the whole, an area of about------------------acres,
anti are bounded by th6 level pine woods on one side, and by the marsh or the Bayou on the other, forming a belt one-third of a mile on an average, and elevated six to ten feet above tlie marsh. The soil is very light and easily worked, of a dark “ mulatto " color ; its aspect does not vary sensibly for eighteen to twenty inches, at which depth there underlies a pale yellow sand. It bears a magnificent growth of Magnolia, the latter being almost the predominant tree; next to it Sweet Gum, Bay, Live Oak, Spanish ("Red"). White and Laurel-leaved Oaks; Ironwood, Sassafras, Hickory, and the Pitcli or Bottom Pine, sparingly; French