336 Glacial Phenomena of Canada. 



to find that thev continued equally strong and frequent up to the 

 plateau on which the Hotel stands, 2850 feet above the sea ; and 

 all, but afeio of the last, ran not across, but along the face of the 

 escarpment. 



By twenty compass-observations made on clearly defined stria- 

 tums the chief grooves run between S. 22° E. and S. 55° W. 

 Among these, one runs S. 22° E., two S. 10° E., two N. and S., 

 one S. 10° W., six S. 22° W., one S. 30° W., two S. 55° W., and 

 one W. 10° N. The variations seem somewhat connected with 

 bends and other irregularities in the face of the great escarpment, 

 One of the observations (S. 55° W.) was made on the well-scratched 

 plateau on which the Hotel stands, about 120 feet above the lower 

 part of a gorge which here crosses the watershed towards the lakes. 

 in which the stream rises that, further down, forms the Falls of 

 Catskill. The other is at the bend of the road N. E. of the hotel, 

 near the head of the stream* In the lowest part of the gorge, on 

 the summit of the watershed, many square yards of smoothed rock 

 are exposed a little off the road ; and in this plateau numerous 

 main grooves are seen, passing across the hill, and nearly at right 

 angles to most of those observed during the ascent, seemingly 

 pointing to the fact that the icebergs, which striated the eastern 

 flanks of the mountains in a N. and S. direction, when the whole 

 was nearly submerged, here found a passage or strait, through 

 which they sometimes floated and grated the bottom in a direction 

 quite across that which they were forced to follow when passing 

 along the great escarpment that now faces the Hudson. 



Though the principal grooves run in the directions stated, many 

 minor striations, such as might be expected from floating ice, cross 

 them at various angles. 



From this point I made two excursions into the higher parts of 

 the range, in the hope of finding similar markings : but so dense 

 is the forest, that it took two hours to walk a mile : and though 

 in several places the rocks were exposed, they were too much 

 weather-worn to afford all the usual indications. Nevertheless the 

 rounded contours of all mountain-tops always impressed me with 

 the idea of glacial abrasion ; and if, as I believe, they were con* 

 toured and striated by floating ice, then the drift-sea of the Hudson 

 Valley was at least 3000 feet deep, — and probably more, if, as is 

 likely, the higher peaks were also submerged. Judging by the ge- 

 neral uniformity that seems to have prevailed over North America 

 in changes of level, it would probably be safe to infer that this 



