-1830] WRITINGS OF JOSEPH HENRY. 21 



estimated at from 1800 to 2000 feet above the level of the 

 ocean. 



The mountains of this section are often described as an 

 isolated group, entirely disconnected from the Appalachian 

 system, which is generally considered as terminating in New- 

 York, at the valley of the Mohawk river and Oneida lake. 

 But when we view their relative positions, and the general 

 direction of their several ridges, we must at once be con- 

 vinced that they are, with all the other mountains in this 

 state, only a part of the great chain which traverses the 

 United States from Alabama to Maine. Indeed, the exist- 

 ence of a separate mountain group in any part of our na- 

 tional territory, has been reasonably doubted; and, strictly 

 speaking, such a phenomenon is perhaps not to be found on 

 the surface of the globe. 



The third division, or that portion of the state on the east 

 side of the Hudson, is situated principally on the western 

 acclivity of the ridge which has been described as continu- 

 ing distinct from the other subordinate ridges of the moun- 

 tain system, and crossing the Hudson in the vicinity of 

 AVest-Point, forming the Highlands of the river, and after- 

 wards the dividing ridge between the Hudson and the Con- 

 necticut. The crest of this ridge passes to the north, on the 

 east side of the boundary of New- York, in New-England, 

 and has a mean elevation of more than 2000 feet. One of 

 the lowest notches yet explored, is at Washington summit, 

 in Massachusetts, on the route of the contemplated rail-way 

 from Boston to Albany, and is elevated 1480 feet above the 

 level of tide water in Boston harbor. This mountain range 

 is known by various names in different parts of its course : 

 before it crosses the Hudson, it is called the Blue Ridge; in 

 Massachusetts and Connecticut, the Taghonnuc Range; and 

 in Vermont, the Green Mountains. But as it lies princi- 

 pally without this state, a more particular description would 

 be foreign to our purpose. 



From the foregoing sketch, the truth of our remark must 

 be evident, that the whole surface of the state of New- York 

 is a mountain tract of country, indented in several places 



