USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > Historical sketches of the ten miles square forming the District of Columbia : with a picture of Washington, describing objects of general interest or curiosity at the metropolis of the Union. > Part 4
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48
Geology and Mineralogy.
The material of the soil is clay, discoloured by the oxide of iron. It becomes fixed by fire, and on the whole no place can boast of greater facili- ties for brickmaking.
Rock Creek, and its immediate vicinity, is the line between the primitive formation and the ter- tiary: from Rock Creek up the Potomac, the bor- ders of the stream is pregnant with primitive rocks in situ and in boulders, with the exception of a few small pieces of alluvial here and there, in the valley of the river. This is the case for twenty miles or more, when the country changes to old red sand stone, which continues twenty or 25 miles further up the river, with occasional ridges of breccia or pudding stone; marble shows itself in various places along the valley below and above Monocacy. About a mile, however, east of the entrance of Rock Creek into the Potomac. on the Southern point of the city. near the Glass house, the final termination of the primitive rocks that line the bed and banks of the Potomac above, clearly takes place. In digging wells beyond this point, rocks or stones seldom obtrude: the alluvial eve- ry where prevails.
Mr. Warden states that Goden, in his " Obser- vations to serve for the mineralogical map of Maryland," also remarks that Rock Creek se-
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49
Geology and Mineralogy.
parates the primitive from the alluvial soil. In the former gneiss abounds, which is succeeded by the amphibolic rock, or grunstein. The gneiss contains small crystallised tubes of magnetic iron, veins of feldspath and quartz of an opaque white colour. The rock of the Great Falls of the Poto- mac consists chiefly of micaceous schist -- mica schistoide of Hauy, or glimmer schiefer of the Germans; and contains grains of iron which at- tract the magnetic needle.
The stone, with which the basons of the Poto- mac canal are lined, is a species of sand-stone ( grès) similar to that known by the name of gres des houillières, [sandstone of coalbeds. ] The rock employed to form the foundation or base of the houses of Washington, is a species of gneiss, composed of feld-path, quartz and mica, of a lea- fy texture, owing to the abundance and disposi- tion of the mica. It contains primitive sulphu- jous iron, and also particles of the same metal, which are attracted by the needle. At Fort Washington there is a ferruginous clay, known by the name of bol, which is employed to_dye cloth and thread of a reddish colour. This sub- stance, when heated, attracts the magnetic needle. The moulds of petrified shells of the genus arca, weighing several pounds have been dug up at this place.
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50
Geology and Mineralogy.
Robinson, in his catalogue of American Mine. ralogy, furnishes the following for the District of Columbia --
Flint, on the shores of the Eastern Branch of the Potomac, near the Navy Yard, in small no- dules.
Hornestone, containing organic remains.
Agatized Wood, Woodstone, three miles north from Washington, sometimes invested with mi- nute crystals of quartz, fine specimens, and abun- dant.
Schorl, in Georgetown, in gneiss.
Lignite and Pyritical Fossil Wood, are found abundantly in digging wells.
Iron ore, in the vicinity of the Woodstone lo- cality, in detatched masses on the surface. Or- ganic remains in Sandstone-abundant.
51
The Potomac.
THE POTOMAC.
This noble river, which rises in two branches, north and south, near the Back Bone mountain, a spur of the Alleghanies, and, in its course, forms the greater part of the boundary line be- tween Virginia and Maryland, in its descent to the Chesapeake Bay, waters the District of Colum- bia, three hundred miles from the Atlantic ocean, The termination of its tide water is a league above Washington, where the common tide rises about 4 feet. In its course downwards it is joined by se- veral minor streams, the most considerable is the Shenandoah, that rises in Augusta co., Virginia, and runs 250 miles before it unites with the Po- tomac at Harper's Ferry, where the latter bursts through the Blue Ridge, affording a most sublime and interesting spectacle to the admirers of nature.
This meeting of the waters of the Potomac and Shenandoah, at Harper's Ferry, is indeed an ob- ject truly grand and magnificent. Mr. Jefferson's graphic description of the scene is well worth in- sertion :- " The passage, says Mr. J., of the Patowinac through the Blue ridge is perhaps one of the most stupendous scenes in nature. You stand on a very high point of land. On your right comes up the Shenendoah, having ranged along
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59
The Potomac-Harper's Ferry.
the foot of the mountain an hundred miles to seek a vent. On your left approaches the Patowmac. in quest of a passage also. In the moment of their junction they rush together against the mountain. rend it asunder, and pass off to the sea. The first glance of this scene hurries our senses into the opinion, that this earth has been created in time, that the mountains were formed first, that the ri. vers began to flow afterwards, that in this place particularly they have been dammed up by the Blue ridge of mountains. and have formed an oceas which filled the whole valley; that continuing to rise they have at length broken over at this spot and have torn the mountain down from its suminut to its base. The piles of rock on each hand, but particularly on the Shenandoah, the evident ma: k, of their disrupture and avulsion from their beds by the most powerful agents of nature. corro boral. the impression. But the distant finishing which nature has given to the picture, is of a very diff : ent character. It is a true contrast to the fore- ground. It is as placid and delightful, as that i wild and tremendous. For the mountain bei !: cloven asunder, she presents to your eye, throu. the cleft, a small catch of smooth blue horizon. - an infinite distance in the plain country, invitin. you, as it were, from the riot and tumult roaring
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55
The Potomac-Harper's Ferry.
around, to pass through the breach and participate of the calm below. Here the eye ultimately com- poses itself ; and that way too the road happens actually to lead. You cross the Patowmac above the junction, pass along its side through the base of the mountain for three miles, its terrible preci- pices hanging in fragments over you, and within about 20 miles reach Fredericktown, and the fine country round that. This scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic. Yet here, as in the neigh- bourhood of the Natural Bridge, are people who have passed their lives within half a dozen miles, and have never been to survey these monuments of a war between rivers and mountains, which must have shaken the earth itself to its centre."
The celebrated Volney, in his tour through the United States in 1795-6-7, visited Harper's Fer- ry. As he is acknowledged to be a traveller of penetrative intellect, and scientific acquirements, we think his view of the Gap, contrasted with that of Mr. Jefferson's above, may also be interesting and instructive to our readers. " Coming from Fredericktown, " says Volney, " twenty miles dis- tant, I proceeded from the south-east towards the south-west, through a woody and uneven country. After crossing the first ridge, which, though of visy ascent, is quite distinct, I saw before me, eleven or twelve miles, to the west, the Blue Ridge
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54
The Potomac-Harper's Ferry.
resembling a lofty rampart covered with forests, and rent, in one place, from top to bottom. Re- · ascending, over a rough and waving surface, which lay between me and the ridge, I found myself at length at the foot of this rampart, which appeared to me about eleven hundred feet in height.
After emerging from among the trees, I beheld, in the body of this great wall, an immense rift or gap, about 4000 or 4500 feet in width. At the · bottom of this gap flowed the river Potomac, hav- ing on the left side, or that on which I was, a sloping bank, equal in breadth to itself, and on the right touching the foot of the gap. On both de- clivities, from top to bottom, are scattered trees, rooted in the clefts and hollows, and partly con- cealing the rent. On the right, however, there is a considerable part of the declivity too steep to admit of trees, and which, being bare and expos- ed to the view, shows marks of the interior struc- ture of the ancient wall. There appears a grey quartz. broken and chafed by the fragments roll- ed along by the torrent. Some considerable blocks which have withstood the flood, still continue as its monuments, at a small distance. The bottom of the chasm is bristled up with rocks, which are worn away or removed by small degrees. The waters fret and boil up around these obstacles,
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برامج التعار
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The Potomac-Harper's Ferry.
which, for two miles, form dangerous falls or ra- pids. They were covered, when I saw them, with the fragments of a batteau, which had been wrecked a few days before, by which sixty bar- rels of flour had been lost. The temerity of the American navigators renders accidents of this kind as frequent in their rivers as on the ocean.
As we advance in this defile, the gulph narrows till nothing be left between the rock and the river but a wagon way, which is covered by the floods of spring and summer. 'The sides of the moun- tain abound with springs, whose descending streams interrupt this road in many places. As the hill consists chiefly of pure rock, of grey quartz and sand stone, and even of granite, the canal which is projected appears impracticable. Three miles upwards, the river joins the Shenandoah, which proceeds from the left along the inner base of the mountain. Its breadth, at this place, I es- timate at one third of that of the Potomac, which may be reckoned at 650 feet. Higher upwards, we may cross the latter river at Harper's ferry, and go up a steep bank to the inn belonging to it. From this point of view, the gap appears like a deep canal, where the eye meets nothing but rocks and trees, and cannot penetrate to the further end of the chasm."
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56
Potomac-Great Falls.
A bridge has been lately thrown across Harper's Ferry, for the comfort and safety of travellers pas- sing over to Jefferson county, where an United States Armory was established in 1798, which employs about 300 hands, and is celebrated for the excellence of its rifles.
Descending the stream a distance of 47 miles, - below the Gap at Harper's Ferry, we reach the Great Falls of the Potomac, impetuously breaking through a stupendous granite ridge, which stretch- es across the river. Viewed from the Virgini shore, the sheet of water above gradually narrows its channel, as it approaches the shute, to about 100 yards wide, at a moderate stage of the stream: then in an entire mass, the vast volume of the Po- tomac makes a perpendicular pitch of 30 or 40 feet. into a hollow rock of micaceous granite, through which the water tumbles into the gulph below .- With this impetus, the stream sweeps along for three or four miles, with great velocity, until it reaches a level country, where it again sub- sides into a gentle current. The banks of the river are formed by naked perpendicular primitive rocks, of great boldness and romantic sublimity. These high and steep precipices are composed of various species of primary and secondary granite. Gneiss, feldspar, quartz, mica and hornblende,
57
The Polomac- Little Falls.
are also found lining the borders of the stream. About ten miles lower down the river, the Little Falls obstruct the navigation. They are, in fact, only rapids: their descent is about 20 feet. The banks, which here limit the main stream to a stone's throw, afford some fine scenery on the Virginia shore. Below the falls, there is a bridge to the Virginia side. From this point of the river to Georgetown, two and a half miles, the entire fall is 37 feet. The diversity and beauty of the scenery from these falls, towards Georgetown, is generally admitted to form an attractive landscape to the admirers of nature. To the Geologist or the Mineralogist, the banks of the river from the Great Falls to Georgetown, afford for examination a wide and interesting field; we hope some scientific individual may be induced to undertake the task. Since Volney's brief visit, we believe, nothing farther has been done for the cause of science in exploring this region.
The Shenandoah, which enters the Potomac at Harper's Ferry, waters a fertile country: is composed of three branches, southern, middle and northern, and is navigable for boats nearly two hundred miles from Port Republic to its mouth. During all this distance, the descent is but 430 feet.
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53
Potomac-Anacostia-T'yber.
The Eastern Branch, or Anacostia, is a main arm of the Potomac, and enters the parent stream at Greenleaf's Point. It was formerly navigable for good sized vessels, to the once flourishing town of Bladensburgh. A considerable distance above the Navy Yard, tobacco ships went up for lading: but of late years, the navigation of the Eastern Branch has been, from sandbanks, and the washings off' the adjacent soil, limited to a short distance above the Navy Yard. Its banks are high, picturesque, and covered. on their summits, with a fine growth of timber. It affords a commodious and safe har- bour at the Navy Yard, for vessel, of the largest class. Its placid waters are, (in the epistle of an accomplished tourist,) described by the Latin poet-
" Hie fessas non vincula naves " Ulla tenent, unco non alligat anchora morsu."
The Tyber Creek, which winds through the heart of the City, enters the Potomac, near the mansion of Gen. Van Ness, is navigable for boats carrying lumber and fire wood to the Centre Market; and afterwards by a continuous canal to the Eastern Branch.
Fifty miles above Washington, the Monocacy, navigable thirty miles, falls into the Potomac -- "The Conegocheaque and Patterson creeks, about
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The Potomac-Canvass-Back Duck.
59
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forty miles; the Opechon creek twenty-five; the Cape Copcon, twenty miles above, and Rock Creek, at Washington.
The breadth and depth of the Potomac, is thus stated in Jefferson's Notes on Virginia: the accu- racy of his statement has not yet been questioned :
Embouchure, or mouth 7 3 miles in breadth.
Nomony Bay
43 ditto
Aquia.
3
ditto
Hallooing Point.
13 ditto
Alexandria
ditto
Mouth ..
7 fathoms deep.
St. George's Island 5 ditto
Lower Matchodic. 43 ditto
Swan's Point and Alexandria 3 ditto
Thewee to the falls, 13 miles above Alexandria, 10 feet.
The waters of the Potomac are frequented by a great variety of the finest wild fowl. Among the most rare and valuable, is the canvass back duck, by some called white backs. Myriads of them, during the winter, literally darken the stream of the river. In Wilson's Ornithology, the male is described about 2 feet long, 3 in extent, weighing from 3 to 4 pounds; the bill is large, rising high in head, and about three inches long. The female
is smaller in size than the male. They feed on the Fallisneria Americana, which is abundantly found on the swamps bordering the Potomac, where it grows from seven to nine feet high .- They only eat the root of the plant, which is white
60
The Potomac-Wild Fowl.
and resembles small celery. Wherever this food is found on the waters of the Potomac, the can- vass backs flock to procure it. Corn, floating on the surface of the stream, has been known to decoy them, as they feed on it, when they can get it on their own element. Wilson, in his praise of this water fowl, it is well known, does not over rate its delicious flavour. " The canvass back," he says, "in the rich, juicy tenderness of its flesh, and its delicacy of flavor, stands unrivalled by the whole of its tribe in the waters of the Chesapeake and Potomac-are generally esteemed superior to all others, doubtless from the great abundance of their favorite food, which those rivers produce .- At our public dining tables and particular enrer- tainments, the canvass backs are universal fa- vorites: they not only grace but dignify the table, and their very name conveys to the imagination of the eager epicure, the most comfortable and exhi- liarating ideas. Hence, on such occasions, it has not been uncommon to pay $1 50 a pair for these ducks; and, indeed, at such times, if they can they must be had, whatever may be the price."
The average price of canvass backs, in Wash- ington, is about 75 cents; but they are frequently sold at 50 cents per pair.
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€1
The Potomac-Fisheries.
Red necks, very little inferior to the canvass backs. shufflers, &c., frequent the river in great abundance and are sold at moderate prices.
The shad and herring fisheries on the Potomac are of great value, and are a source of wealth to the owners of landings where they are taken. - 300,000 shad are often caught. at a good landing, during the spring fishery, which usually lasts from five to seven weeks, beginning about the end of March, and terminating early in May. Half a million barrel of herrings, is probably not too high an estimate for those taken during the season: but we have no authentic information as to the num- ber of barrels cured and exported. The quantity is, however, very great and increasing; it is ad- mitted, that next to the small and delicate Nova Scotia herring, that of the Potomac is by far more nutricious than any found elsewhere in the waters of the United States. The shad, rock-fish and sturgeon, are allowed by epicures, to pos- sess a flavor. unrivalled in any other part of the union: they are also cheap and abundant. Fine shad may be had for $5 per hundred: Falls shad for 812 Herrings retail at &t per thousand. Rock, from 3 to 4: and Sturgeon at 3 cents per lb.
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69
The Potomac-Fisheries.
Mean weight of each, according to Blodget --
Sturgeon- Accipenser sturio, from ... 40 to 150 lbs. Rock-fish-Sparrus calocephalus ... 1 to 75 Shad Clupea aloso. 6
white.
taylor 3
winter
0 oz.
Gar -- Esox Belone
6
green 0 2 oz.
Eel ..
- Fresh water-Murena anguilla .. 3
- -common.
1₺
---- tide water eel . 0
Carp -- Cyprinus carpio.
3
Herring -- Clupea harengus.
2
Pike-Esox lucius. ..
Perch- Perca fluviatilis.
white. 1
yellow
1
su
Mullet-Mugil cephalus
-fine scaled 1
-coarse scaled.
Smelt-Salmo Eperlanus
The herrings are salted without being gutted, and the blood mixes with the brine, which in a few days is poured off, when the herrings are tak- en out, washed, and salted anew. In 1268, an act was passed by the Maryland legislature, which in 1798 became a permanent la w. not to destroy young fish by wears or The penalty is 20
pounds of the currency of that time. Another act was passed, in 1796, to prevent persons from beating the Patuxent river with cords, or poles, rom the commencement of February, to that of
T
65
Potomac-First Exploration.
June. The penalty of the offence, if a white per- son, is a hundred dollars: if a slave, he is to re- ceive ten lashes on his back, unless redeemed by his master by the payment of ten dollars.
G. W. P. Custis, Esq., of Arlington, in his " Recollections and Private Memoirs of the Life and Character of Washington." has given us some account of the " First Exploration of the Poto- mac." The anecdote of the late Gov. Johnson is interesting and pleasantly told:
" The canoe, or pirogue," says Mr. Custis, " in which Gen. Washington and a party of friends made the first survey of the Potomac, to ascertain the practicability of a navigation above tide water, was hollowed out of a large poplar tree, under the direction of Col. Johnson, of Frederick coun- ty, Maryland. This humble bark was placed upon a wagon, hauled to the margin of the Mon- ocacy, launched into the stream, and there receiv- ed its honored freight.
The General was accompanied, in the interest- ing and important reconnoissance, by Colonel, (the late Governor) Johnson of Maryland, one of the first Commissioners of the City of Washington, and several other gentlemen. At night-fall,it was usual for the party to land and seek quarters of some of the planters, or farmers, who lived near
84
Potomac-First Exploration
the banks of the river, in all the pride and com- fort of all old fashioned kindliness and hospitality.
Putting up for the night at a respectable farm- er's the General and two Johnsons were shown into a room having but two beds. Come, gentle- men, said the Chief, who will be my bedfellow? Both declined. Col. Johnson often afterwards declared-Greatly as I should have felt honored by such distinction, yet the awe and reverence which I always felt, in the presence of that admi- rable man, prevented my approaching him so nearly.
While the party were exploring in the vicinity of Harper's Ferry, news arrived of the burning of the gallant Col. Crawford, by the Indians, at Sandusky. Washington became excited to tears, at the fate of an old comrade and valued friend; for Crawford had been one of those young Athlete with whom the Chief had oft contended in the generous and manly games, commom to his early life. Crawford was " brave as a lion, and as a lion strong." and had served with distinction in the War of Liberty. Tears soon gave way to in- dignation, as the Chief, pointing to one of the loftiest rocks with jut over the stream at its remar- kable passage through the mountain, exclaimed, with a voice treinlous from feeling-Were I the
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ـد ملوسي :
65
Potomac-First Exploration.
sole judge of these Indians, by Heaven I'd hurl every one of them from that fearful height, into the depths below!
We cannot dismiss this subject, which has call- ed up the name and memory of a Revolutionary worthy, without touching on an event of other days. During the war of the Revolution, and at a period peculiarly momentous, the late Governor Johnson repaired to the head quarters of the grand army, bearing with him the pleasing intelligence, that Maryland was arming in all directions, and troops actually on their march, to reinforce our much wasted ranks. Covered with dust, and worn with toil, the patriot presented himself at the quarters of the Commander in chief, and de- manded an immediate introduction on business of weight and moment. Johnson was small in stature, but of a towering spirit in the cause of Liberty. Col. Humphreys, the Aid-de-Camp on duty, filling the entire door way with his portly person, gazed on the little man, and then obser- ved, that the General was engaged, and could not be seen. This would not do for the impetuous patriot, who became chafed and furious at delay, and continued to urge his demand, in no gentle terms. Humphreys desired to know by what name and title he should announce the visitor to the
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66
Potomac-First Exploration.
Commander in Chief, to which the ardent Amer- ican replied quickly, " Why, Thomas Johnson, and be d -- d to ye." Humphreys was a wag as well as a wit, and bore the message verbatim to the room of the General, " Why am I thus dis- turbed," said the Chief, on the entrance of his Aid. Your Excellency will excuse me," replied the Colonel, "but, there is a furious little man at the door, who will take no denial." " And who is he? What account does he give of himself?" " Simply." answered Humphreys, " That he is Thomas Johnson, and be d -- d to ye." " Oh," continued Washington. (the austerity of his brow relaxing to its usual serene and thoughtful cast,) " well. well, never mind; a valuable man, Sir ; show him up instantly ; a valuable man, Sir! "
The Potomac Company, incorporated by the legislatures of Maryland and Virginia, in 1784, have expended vast sums in endeavoring to im- prove the navigation of the river, both in its na- tural bed and by locks, where its falls rendered the passage of boats impracticable. As the hazar- dous and uncertain navigation of the Potomac, above Georgetown, is shortly to be abandoned for that of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, now ra- pidly excavating, it is not worth while to be very minute, on the affairs or improvements of the Po-
67
Late Potomac Company.
tomac Company, now merged in that great un- dertaking. A brief description of the old locks may be satisfactory:
At the great falls of the Potomac, boats pass through a canal one mile in length, six feet deep, and twenty-five feet wide, descending seventy-six feet by means of five locks, each one hundred feet long, and twelve feet wide: on re-entering the Potomac, its course leads to another canal (at the little falls) of the same capacity, and two miles and a half in length, furnished with three other locks, of which the descent is thirty-seven feet to tide-water. The two last locks. at the great falls, cut out of the solid rock. are each a hundred feet in length, twelve in breadth, eighteen in depth, containing about 25,200 cubic feet of water. -- This work was executed in the space of two years, by a hundred workinen. The other three locks are lined with stone, which is found near the river at the distance of ten miles above the falls. The sluice.gates are of cast-iron, and turn on a pivot fixed in the centre, so that the edge of the gate, when open, is directed towards the stream.
The locks of the little falls, three in number, are constructed of wood, and are each a hundred feet in length and eighteen in breadth.
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