The Warm Springs.—These springs are situated in a country which presents many attractions to the travelling geologist; and much light, it is hoped, will yet be thrown on the geology of our country, by a more minute and accurate examination of it than has yet been made.
The warm springs ooze through the sand on the south bank of the French Broad river, in the mountains which divide the state of Tennessee from her parent state, about the 36th parallel of latitude. The temperature of the water is about 95° of Fahrenheit.
On the opposite side of the river from the springs is a geological curiosity. A limestone rock is seen dipping under the sandstone which forms the country. Limestone is nowhere else to be seen within six miles of this place. In this limestone rock is a cave similar to others already described.
Paint Rock, in the vicinity of the Warm Springs, is interesting on many accounts. It is a bold precipice on the bank of French Broad river. At this place the river passes with a very rapid current directly across the course of a mountain, which terminates abruptly, and forms the precipice on the north bank of the river. On looking at the rock, the opposite end of the mountain, and the ruins around it, the mind is insensibly carried back to the contemplation of some dreadful commotion in nature, which probably shook these mountains to their bases.
The rock is composed of a clay slate; and it is here again remarkable, that this stone is not to be seen in any other place within some miles. It has received its name from some red paintings, (probably left on it by the Indians,) which have the appearance of hieroglyphics.
To conclude. It will be seen from the above observations, that this country presents a vast field of most interesting research, and claims the attention of every traveller who is interested at all in geological inquiries. If what has been said will at all contribute to the enlargement of the general stock of our knowledge on these subjects, the writer will be much gratified; and it is his sincere wish, that the accuracy of his remarks may be tried, and his mistakes corrected, by the researches of succeeding travellers.