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AN AFTERNOON IN THE HELDERBERGS. 



BY FRANK DOBBIN. - 



EAVTXG Albany shortly after noon, a half hour's ride by 

 train brought us to a small station within walking distance 

 of the range of hills known as the Helderbergs. These hills 

 have given their name t(^ two geologic periods and because 

 of their peculiar formations and the fossils contained in their 

 rocks, they are of special interest to the geologist. However 

 it vvas not as geologists but as lovers of out-of-door life and 

 students of botany that we essayed their exploration on that 

 March afternoon. 



Tramping leisurely upward through the woods which 

 cover the ascent to the clifif, rising eighty to one hundred 

 feet to the level ground above, we made a casual examination 

 of the lichen and moss flora. Here we found the lichen Bia- 

 tora veriialis but little else of special interest. We made our 

 way slowly upward by the side of a mountain torrent which 

 issues from Sutphen's cavern. At the cavern we found on a 

 rock in the bed of the stream that •somewhat rare lichen Pla- 

 codiiun clcgaiis. The stream at this time of the year almost 

 completely fills the mouth of the cave, thus effectually shut- 

 ting off further exploration in that direction. The cavern is 

 said to have been explored for a distance of two and a half 

 miles. 



After a short rest we attempted the last hundred feet of 

 the climb which is by a narrow path up the face of the cliff. 

 Just then the path was filled by the remains of the winter's 

 drifts through which we were obliged to stamp a path, one 

 step at a time. Reaching the top at last through a narrow 

 crack, which might aptly be termed "fat man's misery," I 

 was surprised to find cultivated fields to the very verge of the 

 precipice; some of them containing fine orchards of pear and 

 apple trees. Indeed this whole region seems to be well adapt- 

 ed to fruit growing. 



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