728 [Assembly 



desolation, and closed against the approaches of agriculturej teems 

 with Immeasurable wealth in Its forests and mines. 



Several detached and broken ranges of mountains enter the coun- 

 ty from the south. These mountains appear to lose their distinctive 

 peculiarities as a system or general range, and are thrown together 

 in promiscuous, massive groups. Two of these disturbed ranges 

 reach the limits of the county at Ticonderoga. They are not high, 

 but exceedingly abrupt and jagged. One, suddenly terminates at 

 Mount Defiance, and the other subsides into slight eminences in 

 the vicinity of Lake George. Two other ranges, loftier and more 

 important, exhibiting the same dislocated character, traverse the 

 county in nearly parallel tracks. They both terminate in bold 

 and majestic promontories upon Lake Champlain, and spread 

 their lateral projections over the county. These lofty promonto- 

 ries, at some points upon the lake, present a high and nearly per- 

 pendicular w^all, and at others their huge beetling cliffs impend 

 over the water. These impressive spectacles of mountain scenery 

 are exhibited at Moriah, Willsboro, Westport and Chesterfield. 



Peaks occur along the line of these sierras, which in other re- 

 gions w^ould be regarded as conspicuous landmarks, but here, 

 associated with loftier and more imposing summits, they have 

 neither names nor notoriety. Among the class of secondary 

 mountains within the county are " Pharaoh," in Schroon, '^ Mount 

 Dix," in North Hudson, and the '^ Bald-face," in Westport, which 

 attract attention and are admired for their position and formation. 

 In the Adirondac group, situated chiefly in the towns of Keen® 

 and Newcomb, a cluster occurs of the loftiest and most remarka- 

 ble mountains east of the Mississippi. Less elevated than indi- 

 vidual summits of the White Hills of A'ew-Hampshire, or the 

 Black Mountain of North Carolina, they far exceed any entire 

 range in the gigantic magnitude of their proportions, and in the 

 grandeur and beauty of their structure. It is extraordinary, that 

 the public should, until so recent a period, have been in compa- 

 rative ignorance of this remarkable group of mountains, and of 

 the deeply interesting and romantic country they envelop in their 

 mighty folds. Tliey are within forty miles of Lake Champlain, 

 the great avenue of northern commerc?, and so familiar to the 

 fashionable tourist. Their highest peaks are visible from Burling- 



