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It appears from the above that the two principal | which borders the High Peak on the west. depressions in the section of country over which this road passes, west of the Schroon valley, are in one case two thousand and in the other eighteen hundred feet in elevation,

Some beautifully opalescent specimens of the labradorite were found in the bed of this stream.

SECOND EXPEDITION TO THE MOUNTAINS.

HIGH VALLEY OF THE HUDSON.

Another mile of our course brought us to a smaller tributary from the north, which from the alluvial We left the settlement on the 3d of August, with character of the land near its entrance is called the five woodsmen as assistants, to take forward our pro- High Meadow fork. This portion of our route is in visions and other necessaries, and commenced our the centre of this mountain valley, and has the exascent to the higher region in a northeasterly direc-traordinary elevation of three thousand and seven tion, by the route on which we returned last year. hundred feet above tide. We continued the same We reached our old camp at Lake Colden at 5 general course for another mile, with our route freP. M. where we prepared our quarters for the night. quently crossed by small falls and cascades, when The mountain peak which rises on the eastern side we emerged from the broader part of the valley and of this lake and separates it from the upper valley our course now became east-southeast and southeast, of the main stream of the Hudson, has received the with a steeper ascent and higher and more frequent name of Mount McMartin, in honor of one now de- falls in the stream. The declivity of the mountain ceased, who led the party of last year, and whose which encloses the valley on the north and that of spirit of enterprise and persevering labors contrib- the great peak, here approximate closely to each uted to establishing the settlement at the great Ore other, and the valley assumes more nearly the charBeds, as well as other improvements advantageous acter of a ravine or pass between two mountains, to this section of the state. with an increasing ascent, and maintains its course for two or three miles, to the summit of the pass. Having accomplished more than half the ascent of this pass we made our camp for the night, which threatened to be uncommonly cold and caused our axemen to place in requisition some venerable specimens of the white birch which surrounded our encampment.

On the 4th, we once more resumed the ascent of the main stream, proceeding first in an easterly direction, and then to the southeast and south, over falls and rapids, till we arrived at the head of the great Dyke Falls. Calcedony was found by Prof. Emmons near the foot of these falls. Continuing our course on a more gradual rise, we soon entered upon unexplored ground, and about three miles from camp, arrived at the South Elbow, where the bed of the main stream changes to a northeasterly direction, at the point where it receives a tributary which enters from south-southwest. Following the former course, we had now fairly entered the High Valley which separates Mount McMartin from the High Peak on the southeast, but so enveloped were we in the deep growth of forest, that no sight of the peaks could be obtained. About a mile from the South Elbow we found another tributary entering from south-southeast, apparently from a mountain ravine

* Four hundred and ninety eight feet above Lake Champlain. + Seven hundred and ninety feet above

do.

+ Mean of the two sets of observations two thousand feet, nearly.

PHENOMENA OF MOUNTAIN SLIDES.

A portion of the deep and narrow valley in which we were now encamped, is occupied by a longitudinal ridge consisting of boulders and other debris, the materials, evidently, of a tremendous slide or avalanche, which at some unknown period has descended from the mountain; the momentum of the mass in its descent having accumulated and pushed forward the ridge, after the manner of the late slide at Troy, beyond the centre of the valley or gorge into which it is discharged. It appears indeed that the local configuration of surface in these mountain valleys, except where the rock is in place, ought to be ascribed chiefly to such causes. It seems apparent also, that the Hudson, at the termination of its descent from the High Valley, once discharged itself

into Lake Colden, the latter extending southward at
that period to the outlet of the Still Water, which has
been noticed in our account of the former exploration.
This portion of the ancient bed of the lake has not
only been filled, and the bed of the stream as well as
the remaining surface of the lake raised above the
former level, but a portion of the finer debris brought
down by the main stream, has flowed northwardly
into the present lake and filled all its southern por-
tions with a solid and extensive shoal, which is now
fordable at a low stage of the water. The fall of
heavy slides from the mountains appears also to have
separated Avalanche lake from Lake Colden, of
which it once formed a part, and so vast is the deposit
from these slides as to have raised the former lake
about eighty feet above the surface of the latter. In
cases where these slides have been extensive, and
rapid in their descent, large hillocks or protuberances
are formed in the valleys; and the denudation from
above, together with the accumulation below, tends
gradually to diminish the extent and frequency of
their occurrence. But the slides still recur, and their
pathway may often be perceived in the glitter of the
naked rock, which is laid bare in their course from
the summit of the mountain toward its base, and these
traces constitute one of the most striking features in
the mountain scenery of this region.

MAIN SOURCE OF THE HUDSON.-FALL OF THE
AU SABLE.

On the morning of the fifth, we found that ice had formed in exposed situations. At an early hour we resumed our ascending course to the southeast, the stream rapidly diminishing and at length becoming partially concealed under the grass-covered boulders. At 8.40 A. M. we arrived at the head of the stream on the summit of this elevated pass, which here forms a beautiful and open mountain meadow, with the ridges | of the two adjacent mountains rising in an easy slope from its sides. From this little meadow, which lies within the present limits of the town of Keene, the main branch of the Hudson and a fork of the east branch of the Au Sable commence their descending course in opposite directions, for different and far distant points of the Atlantic Ocean. The elevation of this spot proves by our observations to be more than four thousand seven hundred feet above tide water; being more than nine hundred feet above the highest point of the Catskill mountains, which have so long been considered the highest in this state.

tangled in the zone of dwarfish pines and spruces, which with their numerous horizontal branches interwoven with each other, surround the mountain at this elevation. These gradually decreased in height, till we reached the open surface of the mountain, covered only with mosses and small alpine plants, and at 10 A. M. the summit of the High Peak of Essex was beneath our feet.

The aspect of the morning was truly splendid and delightful, and the air on the mountain-top was found to be cold and bracing. Around us lay scattered in irregular profusion, mountain masses of various magnitudes and elevations, like to a vast sea of broken and pointed billows. In the distance lay the great valley or plain of the St. Lawrence, the shining surface of Lake Champlain, and the extensive mountain range of Vermont. The nearer portions of the scene were variegated with the white glare of recent mountain slides as seen on the sides of various peaks, and with the glistening of the beautiful lakes which are so common throughout this region. To complete the scene, from one of the nearest settlements a vast volume of smoke soon rose in majestic splendor, from a fire of sixty acres of forest clearing, which had been prepared for the "burning,”. and exhibiting in the vapor which it imbodied, a gorgeous array of the prismatic colors, crowned with the dazzling beams of the mid-day sun.

The summit, as well as the mass of the mountain, was found to consist entirely of the labradoritic rock, which has been mentioned as constituting the rocks of this region, and a few small specimens of hypersthene were also procured here. On some small deposites of water, ice was found at noon, half an inch in thickness. The source of the Hudson, at the head of the High Pass, bears N. 70° E. from the summit of this mountain, distant one and a quarter miles, and the descent of the mountain is here more gradual than in any other direction. Before our departure we had the unexpected satisfaction to discover, through a depression in the Green mountains, a range of distant mountains in nearly an east direction, and situated apparently beyond the valley of the Connecticut; but whether the range thus seen, be the White mountains of New Hampshire, or that portion of the range known as the mountains of Franconia, near the head of the Merrimack, does not fully appear. Our barometrical observations on this summit show an elevation of five thousand four hundred and sixty-seven feet. This exceeds by about six hundred feet, the elevation of the Whiteface mountain, as given by Prof. Emmons; and is more than sixteen hundred and fifty feet above the highest

The descent of the Au Sable from this point is most remarkable. In its comparative course to Lake Champlain, which probably does not exceed forty miles, its fall is more than four thousand six hun-point of the Catskill mountains.* dred feet! This, according to our present knowledge, is more than twice the descent of the Mississippi proper, from its source to the ocean. Waterfalls of the most striking and magnificent character are known to abound on the course of the stream.

HIGH PEAK OF ESSEX.

Our ascent to the source of the Hudson had brought us to an elevated portion of the highest mountain peak which was also a principal object of our exploration, and its ascent now promised to be of easy accomplishment by proceeding along its ridge, in a W. S. W. direction. On emerging from the pass, however, we immediately found ourselves en

WEAR OF THE RIVER BOULDERS.

The descent to our camp was accomplished by a more direct and far steeper route than that by which we had gained the summit, and our return to Lake Colden afforded us no new objects of examination. The boulders which formn the bed of the stream in the upper Hudson, are often of great magnitude, but below the mountains, where we commenced our exploration last year, the average size does not much exceed that of the paving stones in our cities;-so

lington, Vt., bearing S. 63° or 64° W. by compass; the variation

*The High Peak of Essex is supposed to be visible from Burat Burlington being 9°45′ west.

ASCENT OF MOUNT MCINTYRE.

great is the effect of the attrition to which these boulders are subject in their gradual progress down the stream. Search has been made by the writer, among On the morning of the 8th, we commenced the asthe gravel from the bottom and shoals of the Hudson cent of Mount McIntyre through a steep ravine, by near the head of tidewater, for the fragmentary remains which a small stream is discharged into Lake Colof the labradoritic rock, but hitherto without success. den. The entire ascent being comprised in little We may hence infer that the whole amount of this more than a mile of horizontal distance, is necessarocky material, which, aided by the ice, and the power-rily difficult, and on reaching the lower border of the ful impulse of the annual freshets, finds its way down belt of dwarf forest, we found the principal peak rithe Hudson, a descent of from two thousand to four sing above us on our right, with its steep acclivity of thousand seven hundred feet, in a course of some- naked rock extending to our feet. Wishing to shortthing more than one hundred miles, is reduced by en our route, we here unwisely abandoned the remainthe combined effects of air, water, frost, and attrition, ing bed of the ravine, and sustaining ourselves by to an impalpable state, and becomes imperceptibly the slight inequalities of surface which have resulted deposited in the alluvium of the river, or continuing from unequal decomposition, we succeeded in crossuspended, is transferred to the waters of the Atlantic. sing the apparently smooth face of the rock by an oblique ascent to the right, and once more obtained footing in the woody cover of the mountain. But the continued steepness of the acclivity, and the seemingly impervious growth of low evergreens on this more sheltered side, where their horizontal and greatly elongated branches were most perplexingly intermingled, greatly retarded our progress. Having surmounted this region, we put forward with alacrity, and at 1 P. M. reached the summit.

GREAT TRAP DYKE.

On the 7th of August we visited Avalanche lake, and examined the great dyke of sienitic trap in Mount McMartin, which cuts through the entire mountain in the direction from west-northwest to east-southeast. This dyke is about eighty feet in width, and being in part broken from its bed by the action of water and ice, an open chasm is thus formed in the abrupt and almost perpendicular face of the mountain. The scene on entering this chasm is one of sublime grandeur, and its nearly vertical walls of rock, at some points actually overhang the intruder, and seem to threaten him with instant destruction. With care and exertion this dyke may be ascended, by means of the irregularities of surface which the trap rock presents, and Prof. Emmons by this means accomplished some twelve or fifteen hundred feet of the elevation. His exertions were rewarded by some fine specimens of hypersthene and of the opalescent labradorite, which he here obtained. The summit of Mount McMartin is somewhat lower than those of the two adjacent peaks, and is estimated at four thousand nine hundred and fifty feet above tide.

The view which was here presented to us differs not greatly in its general features from that obtained at the High Peak, and the weather, which now began to threaten us with a storm, was less favorable to its exhibition. A larger number of lakes were visible from this point, and among them the beautiful and extensive group at the sources of the Saranac, which are known by the settlers as the "Saranac Waters." The view of the Still Water of the Hudson, lying like a silver thread in the bottom of its deep and forest-green valley, was peculiarly interesting. The opposite front of Mount McMartin exhibited the face of the great dyke and its passage through the summit, near to its highest point, and nearly parallel to the whitened path of a slide which had recently descended into Avalanche Lake. In a direction a little south of west, the great vertical precipice of the Wallface mountain at the Notch, distinctly met our view. Deeply below us on the northwest and north, lay the valley of the west branch of the Au Sable, skirted in the distance by the wooded plains which extend in the direction of Lake Placid and the Whiteface mountain.

The distance from the outlet of Lake Colden to the opposite extremity of Avalanche Lake is estimated at two and a quarter miles. The stream which enters the latter at its northern extremity, from the appearance of its valley, is supposed to be three fourths of a mile in length, and the fall of the outlet in its descent to Lake Colden is estimated, as we have seen, at eighty feet. The head waters of this fork of the Hudson are hence situated farther north than the more remote source of the Main Branch, which we explored on the 4th and 5th, or perhaps than any other of the numerous tributaries of the Hudson. The elevation of Avalanche Lake is between two thousand nine hundred and three thousand feet above tide, being undoubtedly the highest lake in the United States, east of the Rocky Moun-ly caused by earthquakes. Large blocks of the same tains.

Mount McIntyre is also intersected by dykes,. which cross it at the lowest points of depression between its several peaks, and the more rapid erosion and displacement of these dykes has apparently produced the principal ravines in its sides. The highest of these peaks on which we now stood, is intersected by cracks and fissures in various directions, apparent

labradoritic rock as the mass of the mountain, lay The mountain which rises on the west side of scattered in various positions on the summit, which this lake and separates its valley from that of the afforded nearly the same growth of mosses and alAu Sable, is perhaps the largest of the group. Its pine plants as the higher peak visited on the 5th. ridge presents four successive peaks, of which the Our barometrical observations show a height of near most northern save one, is the highest, and is situa-five thousand two hundred feet, and this summit is ted immediately above the lake and opposite to Mt. McMartin. It has received the name of Mt. McIntyre, in honor of the late Controller of this state, to whose enterprise and munificence, this portion of the country is mainly indebted for the efficient measures which have been taken to promote its prosperity.

probably the second in this region, in point of elevation. There are three other peaks lying in a westerly direction, and also three others lying eastward of the main source of the Hudson, which nearly ap proach to, if they do not exceed, five thousand feet in elevation, making of this class, including Mount

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McMartin, Whiteface, and the two peaks visited, ten | in all. Besides these mountains there are not less than a dozen or twenty others that appear to equal or exceed the highest elevation of the Catskill group.

VISIT TO THE GREAT NOTCH.-RETURN TO THE

SETTLEMENT.

The descent of the mountain is very abrupt on all sides, and our party took the route of a steep ravine which leads into the valley of the Au Sable, making our camp at nightfall near the foot of the mountain. The night was stormy, and the morning of the 9th opened upon us with a continued fall of rain, in which we resumed our march for the Notch, intending to return to the settlement by this route. After following the bed of the ravine till it joined the Au Sable, we ascended the latter stream, and before noon arrived at this extraordinary pass, which has been described by the state geologists, and which excites the admiration of every beholder. Vast blocks and fragments have in past ages fallen from the great precipice of the Wallface mountain on the one hand, and from the southwest extension of Mount McIntyre on the other, into the bottom of this natural gulf. Some of these blocks are set on end, of a height of more than seventy feet, in the mosscovered tops and crevices of which, large trees have taken root, and now shoot their lofty stems and branches high above the toppling foundation. The north branch of the Hudson, which passes through Lakes Henderson and Sanford, takes its rise in this pass, about five miles from McIntyre, and the elevation of its source, as would appear from the observations taken by Prof. Emmons last year, is not far from three thousand feet above tide.

Following the course of the valley, under a most copious fall of rain, we descended to Lake Hender

son, which is a fine sheet of water of two or three miles in length, with the high mountain of Santanoni rising from its borders, on the west and southwest. It is not many months since our woodsman, Cheney, with no other means of offence than his axe and pistol, followed and killed a large panther, on the western borders of this lake. Pursuing our course along the eastern margin of the lake, we arrived at the settlement about 3 P. M., having been absent on our mountain excursion seven days.

ELEVATION OF THE MOUNTAIN REGION.

The following table of observations, as also the preceding one, is calculated according to the formula given by Bowditch in his Navigator, except for the two principal mountain peaks, which are calculated by the formula and tables of M. Oltmanns, as found in the appendix to the Geological Manual of De la Beche, Philadelphia edition. For the points near lake Champlain, the height is deduced from the ob servations made at the lake shore, instead of those made at Albany, adding ninety feet for the height of lake Champlain above tide. The barometrical observations made at Syracuse, N. Y., at the same periods, by V. W. Smith, Esq., (with a well adjusted barometer, which has been compared with that of the writer,) would give to the High Peak an elevation of five thousand five hundred and ten feet. The observations at Albany have been taken for the lower station, because the latter place is less distant, and more nearly on the same meridian. Perhaps the mean of the two results may with propriety be adopted. In most of the other cases, the results deduced from the observations at Albany agree very nearly with the results obtained from the observations made at Syracuse.

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the prolonged basin of lake Champlain, which is obtained from this point, is well worth the trouble of the ascent, and is worthy the attention of tourists who can find it convenient to land either at Port Henry or Westport.

thence to the Peak, the most interesting chain of waterfalls and mountain ravines that is to be found, perhaps, in the United States, may be visited. At Keene, Mr. Harvey Holt, an able woodsman, who was attached to our party, will cheerfully act as The source of the Hudson and the High Peak of guide and assistant, in reaching the mountain. From Essex, can be most conveniently reached from John- the valley which lies southward of the peak, and son's, at Clear Pond, by a course N. 20° W.; or by near to the head waters of the Boreas and Au Sable, landing at Westport, or Essex, and proceeding to may be obtained, it is said, some of the best mountthe nearest settlement in Keene. By landing at ain views which this region affords. But travellers in Port Kent, and ascending the course of the Au these wilds, must be provided with their own means Sable to the southeast part of Keene, and from of subsistence, while absent from the settlement

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The above sketch must be considered only as an by Prof. Bigelow, from barometrical observations approach to correctness of topography, and is based reduced by Prof. Farrar, at six thousand two hunin part upon the old survey lines, as found on the coun-dred and twenty-five feet. Prof. Bigelow adduces ty map; but the geographical position is approxima- the observations of Capt. Partridge, made several ted to Burr's Map of the State of New York, by years since, as giving an elevation of only six thou means of bearings from known objects on the bor-sand one hundred and three feet. But the writer is ders of Lake Champlain.

MOUNTAINS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.

The only point east of the Mississippi which is known to exceed this group of mountains in elevation, is the higliest summit of the White mountains in New Hampshire; the elevation of which is given VOL. V. 45

indebted to Dr. Barratt for a memorandum of observations made by Capt. Partridge in August, 1821, which gives the height of the principal peaks of the New Hampshire group, as follows:

New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery, Vol. V

p. 330.

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