Reports of explorations and surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean: Vol. 5, Pt. 2

GEOLOGY.
seven hundred, and other rocks about twelve hundred." * * * * "The workable
veins are, respectively, 20', 6', 6', 12', 25', 5', 5', 18', and 13' feet in thickness-making an
aggregate of 116 feet.
"Bellingham Bay here offers a fine harbor and good anchorage for vessels of all kinds; and
by constructing a wharf a few hundred feet in length coals can be brought down from the pits
in cars, and dropped into the vessels, without the employment of any other power than their
own weight."
The following descriptive section is also given by Lieut. Trowbridge. The measurements are
on a horizontal line; the real thickness of each stratum is therefore 9e4 of that stated.
SECTION OF COAL-BEARING STRATA, BELLINGHAM BAY.
Fee
21. Coal (impure) --------------------------------- 4
22. Clay and shale ------------------------------- 40
23. Sandstone ---------------------------------— 35
24. Coal --------------------------------------— 12
25. Bituminous shale (probably will work into coal) 14
26. Coal --------------------------------------— 25
27. Clay ---------------------------------------- 24
28. Sandstone, (thickly bedded,) about ------------— 100
29. Clay --------------------------------------— 30
30. Stratified argillaceous sandstone ---------------— 50
31. Coal -------------- -------------------------- 5
32. Clay and shales ----------------------------— 200
33. Coal —-------------------------------------- 5
34. Shales and slates ----------------------------- 150
35. Coal. --------------------------------------— 18
36. Clay ---------------------------------------- 20
37. Sandstone, (thickly bedded,) about ------------— 200
38. Coal --------------------------------------— 13
39. Clay. —---------------- ---------------------- 15
40. Sandstone (thickly bedded.)
1. Sandstone, (thickly bedded) about.
-2. Coal -- - --
3. Shale. -.. ----
4. Argillaceous sandstone ---------------------------
5. Clay shale. —
6. Slate filled with impressions of leaves
7. Clay and bituminous shale. —--
8. Slate filled with impressions of leaves.
9. Clay - ----
10. Bituminous shale -----—. —-------------------
11. Bituminous shale and clay
12. Sandstone, (thickly bedded,) about -
13. Coal
14. Shales.
15. Coal. —16. Sandstone and shale..
17. Coal ---------------------------
18. Clay, iron-stone, clay, and shale
19. Coal (impure) --------------------------------
20. Clay ---— I —--------------
It is possible that some of the many distinct beds of coal described by Lieutenant Trowbridge
are not perfectly pure; they may contain seams of bituminous shale, or earthy matter, which,
in the rough and unworked outcrops, might be considered as good coal. The number and
thickness of the beds, as given in the section, show that the formation is very remarkable and
extensive, and excites a desire to know more of the geology of the region.' An extended and
careful survey is exceedingly desirable, not only for the geological results that may be expected,
but as preliminary to the exploration of the beds.
The imprints of leaves and twigs occur in the shales of the locality; but the specimens
procured by Lieutenant Trowbridge were too obscure and imperfect to permit their specific
characters to be made out.
I learn from one of the officers that accompanied the United States Coast-Survey steamer
Active on a recent trip to'Puget Sound, (1854,) that the Bellingham Bay coal was used on the
steamer a part of the voyage. The furnaces of this steamer are provided with " drop and
return fues;" but notwithstanding this construction the flame from the furnaces would generally pour out of the top of the smoke-stack for ten or twenty feet. This is sufficient evidence
of the existence. of a very large amount of volatile matter in the coal; and it shows that the
fire was not properly managed, or that the furnaces were not adapted to the peculiarities of the
~1 It is not impossible that these beds of coal are so much plicated that the same series is included more than once in the
section as above given. I am assured, however, that the measurements were made with great care.
286
Feet.
150
20
6
6
10'
2
14
4
55
25
178
200
6
35
6
25
6
145
4
40