ESKERS IN THE VICINITY OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK. 221 



ford road may be obtained at the point where it makes this turn, its 

 base being but about 250 feet distant from the road. 



Swinging toward the southwest again from its westerly course 

 the esker pursues its meandering course for another half mile, its 

 narrow, hummocky crest, steep slopes, with numerous kettles on 

 either flank, being its distinguishing features. In one portion of its 

 course here it appears as if three or four kames had been tied to- 

 gether by short low ridges to form a part of the main ridge. From 

 the summit of any one of these a fine view may be had of a large 

 part of the esker and of practically the whole kame area. Near the 

 southern end of this southwesterly trending part of the esker the 

 ridge itself becomes inconspicuous and is bordered by a beautiful 

 little lake on the west. Turning toward the southeast it continues 

 onward for more than one-half a mile, preserving the same charac- 

 ters that distinguish the northern part of its course. As is the case 

 with the esker on the west side of the Mendon kame area this esker 

 terminates southward in an excellently developed esker fan that 

 spreads out and slopes southward gently with a rolling surface well 

 sprinkled with small rounded stones. 



An interesting feature in connection with this esker is that it is 

 in no place completely discontinuous throughout its whole course. 

 In one or two places it is only 5 feet above the adjacent swamp, yet 

 even here it does not lose its character as a distinct ridge. 



Its northern portion is nearly all forested, its southern portion, 

 is entirely so. 



Excavations occur in two places in the course of the esker. 

 Both are small and have not been worked recently. One about a 

 mile from the north end exhibits coarse gravel and many good sized 

 boulders. The stratification is poorly preserved. Near the south 

 end of the esker on its east slope occurs an old gravel pit. The mate- 

 rial is considerably finer than that found in the excavation near the 

 north end of the esker. In both excavations the material is almost 

 entirely local in character having been derived from formations 

 between the north end of the esker and Lake Ontario. 



Origin. Very few features observed in the study of this esker 

 throw light upon the way in which it originated. That part of its 

 course which appeared to be a succession of kames tied to each other 



