School History of North Carolina (From 1584 to the Present Time) | Page 6

John W. Moore
few feet, and in quantity sufficient to raise and keep it, when regularly applied to the surface, for all time to come at the highest point of productiveness. Of all resources for wealth this is the most durable; and, on account of the industry to which it is subservient--the agricultural--is best calculated to promote the happiness of man.
6. It is in the primitive rocks, however, that minerals abound. Those of North Carolina surpass any in the Union. In the last Report on the Geology of the State one hundred and seventy-eight are numbered and described. Among these are gold, silver, copper, lead, iron, mica, corundum, graphite, manganese, kaolin, mill-stone grits, marble, barytes, oil shale, buhrstones, roofing slate, etc. The most of these are the subjects of great mining industries, which are daily developing to greater proportions.
7. Of some of these minerals, as corundum and mica, North Carolina has already become the chief source of supply. Among the principal sources of the future mineral wealth of the State, copper, gold and iron are clearly indicated. The ores of these metals are found in abundance over extensive tracts of country. Lastly, in North Carolina many beautiful specimens of the precious stones have been found, and a large capital has been raised to carry on mining as a regular business for one of these-- the hiddenite gem.
8. North Carolina will thus be seen to be a State of vast resources, whether we regard the variety and value of her natural or cultivated productions, the immense range of her minerals or her facilities for manufacturing industries. It would, perhaps, be safe to say that no equal portion of the earth's surface will, in half a century, be the scene of industries so various and of such value.
QUESTIONS.
1. Of what does this chapter treat? What does the knowledge of the geology of a State afford? Mention the variety of soils found in North Carolina.
2. Where are the primitive rocks found? Describe them. How are they chiefly represented? What are the soils of this division?
3. Where do the rocks of the secondary formation appear? Describe this formation. What is said of the soils of the secondary formation?
4. To what class do the rocks of the Eastern section belong? What is said of this section? Describe the quaternary formation. What is said of the soil?
5. What else is afforded by geology? Where is marl found and what is said of it?
6. Where do the minerals abound? How many kinds of minerals are located in this State? Can you name the principal ones? What is said of mining?
7. What is said of corundum and mica? Of gold and iron? Of precious gems?
8. What great resources does North Carolina possess?

CHAPTER IV
.
THE INDIANS.
That portion of America now known as the State of North Carolina was once inhabited by Indians. For many ages before Columbus came across the seas in the year 1492, they had held undisputed possession of all the Western Continent, except those Arctic regions where the Esquimaux dwelt.
2. Nearly a century had gone by since the Spaniards had begun their settlements, and yet, north of St. Augustine, in Florida, not a white man was to be found. Cortez and Pizarro had founded great states in Mexico and Peru, but the vast region stretching from the Rio Grande to the St. Lawrence was still the home of only red men and the wild beasts of the forest.
3. There were many different tribes and languages to be found among the Indians. In North Carolina, the Tuscaroras lived in the east, the Catawbas in the middle, and the Cherokees in the western portion of the territory as now defined. There were Corees, Meherrins, Chowanokes, and other small tribes in the east, but they were weak in numbers and occupied but a small portion of our present State limits.
4. The treacherous Tuscaroras were a portion of a powerful race known as the Iroquois. The other five nations of this family dwelt in the lake country of New York, and were the most daring and dangerous confederation among all Indians then known to the white people. These Iroquois of the North were generally friendly to the English, but waged almost ceaseless war upon the French and a tribe of Indians called the Algonquins.
5. The Tuscaroras were generally to be found in the country watered by the Roanoke and Neuse Rivers, and were the terror of all other tribes. It is not known when they had separated from their northern relatives. They kept up amicable relations with them, and messengers and embassies occasionally passed between the banks of the Roanoke and the settlements on the northern lakes.
6. The Catawbas roamed over the fair regions through which flow the Catawba and Yadkin Rivers. Westward of them were to be found, in the mountains, the numerous
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