186 



beyond the soullicrn border of the map, on Cnshing Street, 

 hold this rehitioii to Liberty Phiin. Ghid Tidings Phiin 

 niiiy thus be traced as far north as Hobart Street, where 

 it forms a very perfect phiteau (Pigeon Phiin), and it is 

 probably re[)resented by the high ridges or eskers (70—85 feet) 

 between Fort Hill and Beal's Cove. 



Although the sand plains testify to the postglacial flooding, 

 if not to an actual depression of the land, the salt marshes and 

 the drowned valleys of Weymouth Back River, llingham 

 Harbor, and Weir River Bay ai"e a sufficient indication that the 

 land formerly stood higher than at present, and that the exist- 

 ing level has been maintained for a very long time. It is 

 obvious, then, that so far as the lithified formations are con- 

 cerned, the relief features of Hingham may be summarized as 

 follows : Hingham and the adjoining towns are an area of hard 

 rocks which, in preglacial times, had been slowly worn down 

 nearly to its base-level ; and such to|)Ographic ruggedness as 

 was developed in this old peneplain during the strong elevation 

 which ushered in the glacial epoch is pretty well smothered by 

 the marine deposits and the almost continuous mantle of drift. 



In its drainage system Hingham is almost a unit. With the 

 exception of tlie northwest corner of the town, which drains 

 directly into the harbor and Weymouth Back River, and the 

 limited basin of Fresh River, also tributary to Weymouth Back 

 River, nearly the entire area is drained by Weir River and its 

 branches ; and this system derives but very little water from 

 beyond the limits of Hingham. It rises in Valley Swamp, in 

 Norwell, and in Accord Pond, which lies in the three towns of 

 Norwell, Abington, and Hingham. The streams are all small, 

 and, although the total fall is considerable, the drainage is, as 

 a whole, decidedly sluggish, the streams meandering through 

 broad level meadows and swamps, with little power to clear out 

 their drift-encumbered channels. Strangely enough, Weir 

 River is not now tributary to Hingham Harbor, but when 

 within three fourths of a mile of the head of the harbor and 



