1903] Harvey,— An Excursion to Mt. Ktaadn 43 
concerning it. Hamlin and Tarr seem not to have been aware of 
its existence. 
This North West Basin, as seen from the west slope of the North- 
ern Ridge, appears as an abysmal amphitheatre enclosed on three 
sides by precipitous walls with a small lake in its floor and with a 
very broad gateway opening to the northwest. In general form the 
basin suggests the capital letter V with its base slightly rounded. 
Its eastern arm is formed by the precipitous West wall of the North- 
ern Ridge extending here very nearly north. The wooded North 
slope of the North West Spur, omitted from Williams?! sketch map, 
makes the other arm of our capital letter, By the confluence of the 
Northern Ridge and the North West Spur as they join the North 
Mountain, the rounded base of our letter is formed. The floor of 
the basin is virtually a shelf cut from the North West Spur, appar- 
ently by glacial action. Its altitude, some 2945 feet, is about 50 
feet lower than that of South Basin. In width, it varies from 200 
to 250 yards. From this shelf a precipitous descent of 250 ft. 
leads to the valley proper below. The mouth of the basin opens 
broadly to the northwest into the valley of the Middle Branch of the 
Wissataquoik, whose southeast boundary is formed by the Northern 
Ridge extension, while the Sourdnahunk range to the northwest 
makes its opposite drainage slope. 
Nestled at the base of the North West Spur and on the shelf 
described above are four small ponds, evidently morainic in origin. 
The largest (Fig. 1), nearly five acres in extent, and the most west- 
ern is the only one visible from the mountain and then only from the 
West slope of the Northern Ridge. Rarely seen it has scarcely been 
reported, for parties with limited time seldom visit this part of the 
mountain. The shores are boulder strewn, sloping off rapidly to 
some depth ; the spruce, fir, birch, and alders come to its very edge. 
The outlet stream at the northeast end of the pond plunges almost 
immediately over the brow of the shelf. It functions, however, only 
at high water after heavy rains and the Spring freshets and must at 
such a time go plunging and roaring over the precipitous granite 
walls in its mad race to the valley 250 feet below. As the bed of 
the stream was perfectly dry at the time of our visit we used this 
outlet as a means of descent, but this was possible only through the 
1 Loc. Cit. pg. 162. 
