WHITE MOUNTAINS. 49 
A brook defcends from the: mountain, and meanders 
through a meadow which was formerly a beaver-pond, 
and is furrounded by fteep, and on one fide, perpendicular 
rocks—a ftrikingly pi€turefque fcene! the rivulet glides 
along the weftern fide of the defile, (the eaftern being 
formed into a road) and tributary f{treams augment its 
waters, one of which is called the Flume, from the near 
refemblance it bears to the flume of a mill. The pafs be- 
tween the mountains widens as you defcend ; but for eight 
or ten miles they are fo near as only to leave room for the 
river and its intervals. In the courfe of this defcent you 
fee at immenfe heights, and in {pots perfe@ly inacceffible, 
feveral rocks, fome of a whitifh and fome of a reddith hue, 
whofe faces are polifhed by the continual trickling of wa- 
ter over them. Thefe, when incrufted with ice, béing 
open to the fouth and weit, are capable in the night of re- 
fleting the moon and ftar-beams to the wondering tra- 
veller, buried in the dark valley below; and thefe are fuf- 
ficient, by the help of imagination, to give rife to the 
fiction of carbuncles. 
We found no ftones of any higher quality than flint* ; 
no limeftone, though we tried the moft hkely with aqua 
fortis. It is faid there is a part of the mountain where the 
magnetic needle refufes to traverfe ; this may contain rock 
ore, but our guide could not find the place. It is alfo faid 
that a mineral, fuppofed to be lead ore, has been difcover- 
ed on the eaftern fide. One of the fprings which we met 
with in our afcent on that fide afforded a thick frothy feum 
and a faponaceous tafte. All fearches for fubterranean 
treafures in thefe mountains have as yet proved fruitlefs. 
The moft certain riches which they yield are the frefhets 
which bring down the foil to the intervals below, and form 
a fine mould, producing corn, grain and herbage in the 
moft luxuriant plenty. 
Defcription 
* Some fpecimens of rock-chryftal have been found lately by other perfons, but we did not 
hear of it till after our return. 
