over 1000 ft. from the sea, is frequently visited during the summer period of the “midnight sun,” but travellers are often prevented from seeing this phenomenon by adverse atmospheric conditions.
NORTH CAROLINA, a South Atlantic state of the United States of America, situated between latitudes 33° 51′ 37″ (the southernmost point of the southern boundary—35° is the northernmost) and about 36° 34′ 25.5″ N., and between longitudes 75° 27′ W. and 84° 20′ W. It is bounded N. by Virginia, E. and S.E. by the Atlantic Ocean, S. and S.W. by South Carolina, S. also by Georgia, and W. and N.W. by Tennessee. North Carolina has an extreme length from E. to W. of 50314 m., which is greater than that of any other state east of the Mississippi river. It total area. is 52,426 sq. m., of which 3686 sq. m. are water surface.
Physical Features.—The state lies wholly within the three leading topographical regions of the eastern portion of the United States: the Coastal Plain Region, which occupies approximately the eastern half, the Piedmont Plateau Region, which occupies about 20,000 sq. m. in the middle, and the Appalachian Region, which occupies about 6000 sq. m. in the west. At the eastern extremity of the Coastal Plain Region an outer coast line is formed by a chain of long narrow barrier beaches from which project capes Hatteras, Lookout and Fear, whose outlying shoals are known for their dangers to navigation. Between Hatteras and Lookout is Raleigh Bay and between Lookout and Fear is Onslow Bay; and between the chain of islands and the deeply indented mainland Currituck, Albemarle, Pamlico and other sounds form an extensive area, especially to the northward, of shallow, brackish and almost tideless water. Projecting into these sounds and between the estuaries of rivers flowing into them are extensive tracts of swamp land—the best known of these is Dismal Swamp, which lies mostly in Virginia and is about 30 m. long and 10 m. wide. Through most of the Coastal Plain Region, which extends inland from 80 to 150 m., the country continues very level or only slightly undulating, and rises to the westward at the rate of little more than 1 ft. to the mile. Along the W. border of this region, however, the slope becomes greater and there are some hills. The “Fall Line,” the boundary between the Coastal Plain and the Piedmont Plateau, has a very irregular course across North Carolina, but lies in a general S.W. direction from the Falls of Roanoke between Halifax and Northampton counties to Anson county on the South Carolina border and marks a rapid increase in elevation of about 200 ft. The Piedmont Plateau Region extends from this line to the Blue Ridge Escarpment, toward which its mean elevation increases at the rate of about 312 ft. to the mile. It is traversed from N.E. to S.W. by a series of ridges which in the E. portion produce only a general undulating surface but to the westward become higher and steeper until the country assumes a bold and rugged aspect. The S.E. face of the Blue Ridge Escarpment, which rises precipitously 1200-1500 ft. or more above the Piedmont Plateau, forms the S.E. border of North Carolina’s Appalachian Mountain Region, which includes the high Unaka Mountain Range, segments of which are known by such local names as Iron Mountains, Bald Mountains and Great Smoky Mountains. These ranges reach their culmination in this state, and with a series of more or less interrupted cross ranges constitute the greatest masses of mountains in the E. half of the United States. Four peaks along the Blue Ridge have an elevation exceeding 5000 ft.—one of these, the Grandfather, rises 5964 ft.; and about thirty peaks in the Unakas and in the several cross ranges exceed 6000 ft., the highest being Mount Mitchell or Mitchell Dome (6711 ft.), of the Black Mountains, a short cross range extending N. from the Blue Ridge through Yancey county. Other noteworthy peaks are Black Brother (6690 ft.) and Hairy Bear (6681 ft.), the next highest mountains. Many of the neighbouring mountain ridges have uniform crests, but a greater number terminate in numerous peaks, some sharp, rugged and rocky, but more of them rounded domes. Throughout the whole region the slopes vary greatly: the N.W. slope of the Blue Ridge is almost imperceptible, or confused with the numerous mountain slopes that rise above it. As a rule the mountain slopes are well graded and subdued, but a few are steep and some are rocky and precipitous. The numerous valleys are usually narrow and deep, though few, if any, descend to less than 2000 ft. above the sea.
The Blue Ridge is the principal water parting of the state. West of it the Hiwassee, the Little Tennessee and the French Broad rivers flow W. or N.W. into Tennessee. Farther N. are the headwaters of the New river, which flows N.E. and finds its way to the Ohio. On the S.E. slope of the Blue Ridge rise the Broad, the Catawba and the Yadkin, which flow for some distance a little N. of E., then, finding a passage across one of the ridges of the Piedmont Plateau, turn to the S.S.E. and across the boundary line into South Carolina, in which state their waters reach the Atlantic. In the N.W. part of the Piedmont Plateau Region, and a little to the N. of the most N.E. course of the Yadkin rises the Dan, which in its N.E. course crosses the boundary into Virginia, where it becomes a tributary of the Roanoke, in which its waters are returned to North Carolina near the “Fall Line.” The other principal rivers—the Cape Fear, the Neuse and the Tar—rise in the N.E. part of the Piedmont Plateau Region, have their S.E. courses wholly within the state, and, with the Roanoke, drain the Coastal Plain Region. In the Mountain Region and in the Piedmont Plateau Region the rivers have numerous falls and rapids which afford a total water power unequalled perhaps in any other state than Maine on the Atlantic Coast, the largest being on the Yadkin, Roanoke and Catawba; and in crossing some of the mountains, especially the Unakas, the streams have carved deep narrow gorges that are much admired for their scenery. In contrast with the rivers of these regions those of the Coastal Plain are sluggish, and toward their mouths expand into wide estuaries.
The Coastal Plain Region is the only part of the state that has any lakes, and these are chiefly shallow bodies of water, with sandy bottoms, in the midst of swamps. In all they number only about fifteen, and have an area estimated at 200 sq. m., about one-half of which is contained in Lake Mattamuskeet in Hyde county.
Flora.—In North Carolina’s flora are many species common to sub-tropical regions and many common to temperate regions, and the variety is consequently very great. In the swamps are the bald cypress, the white cedar and the live oak, usually draped in southern long moss; south of Cape Fear river are palmettos, magnolias, prickly ash, the American olive and mock orange; along streams in the Coastal Plain Region are the sour gum, the sweet bay and several species of oak; but the tree that is most predominant throughout the upland portion of this region is the long-leaf or southern pine. In the Piedmont Plateau Region oaks, hickories and elms are the most common. In the Mountain Region at the bases of the mountains are oaks, hickories, chestnuts and white poplars: above these are hemlocks, beeches, birches, elms, ashes, maples and limes; and still higher up are spruce, white pine and balsam; and all but a comparatively few of the higher mountains are forest-clad to their summits. All of the species of pine and of magnolia, and nearly all of the species of oak, of hickory and of spruce, indigenous to the United States, are found in North Carolina. On the dome-like tops of such mountains as are too high for trees are large clusters of rhododendrons and patches of grasses fringed with flowers. The forests throughout most of the state have a luxuriant undergrowth consisting of a great variety of shrubs, flowering plants, grasses, ferns and mosses, and the display of magnolias, azaleas, kalmias, golden rod, asters, Jessamine’s, smilax, ferns and mosses is often one of unusual beauty. Venus’s fly-trap (Dionaea muscipula), a rare plant, is found only south of the Neuse river; and there are several varieties of Sarracenia, carnivorous pitcher plants. Among the fruit-bearing trees, shrubs, vines and plants the grape, the blue-berry, the cherry, the plum and the cranberry are indigenous and more or less common. Aromatic and medicinal herbs, of which the state has several hundred distinct species, have been obtained in larger quantities than from any other state in the Union.
Fauna.—In North Carolina five of the seven life-zones into which North America has been divided are represented, but more of its area belongs to the upper-austral than to any other zone. The species of fauna that are at all characteristic of this part of the United States are found in the Piedmont Plateau Region and the western portion of the Coastal Plain Region. Among the song-birds are the mocking-bird, the Carolina wren and the cardinal grosbeak (or red bird); there are plenty of quail or “bob white” (called partridge in the South). Among the mammals are the opossum, raccoon, star-nosed mole (Condylura cristata), grey fox and fox squirrel. The mammals of the Mountain Region include the cotton-tail rabbit, red squirrel, lynx and woodchuck; and there is a considerable variety of migratory song-birds, which are common to the more northern states. In the eastern portion of the Coastal Plain Region are the cotton rat, rice-field rat, marsh rabbit, big-eared bat, brown pelican, swallow-tailed kite, black vulture and some rattlesnakes and cotton-mouth moccasin snakes, all of which are common farther south; and there are some turtles and terrapins, and many geese, swans, ducks, and other water-fowl. Large numbers of shad, blue fish, weak fish (squeteague), alewives, Spanish mackerel, perch, bass, croakers (Micropogon undulatus), mullet, menhaden, oysters and
