94 Mr. Pierce on the Catskill Mountains. 
Copperhead serpents inhabit the lower parts of ravines 
and eastern face of the mountain, but are not found on the 
omit. 
‘The black, Pelee striped, and milk snakes are among the 
st ou reptil 
vatekill uate; in wild grandeur and romantic 
beauty, can compare with the highlands of Scotland, without 
presenting their barren heath-covered aspect, being from the 
base to the summit thickly covered by forests 
‘The eastern face of the mountain, though steep os pre- 
cipit ous, $ pports an forest. he le edg- 
es form netieal terraces that arrest the vegetable mould. 
In the eleyt and gradually declining mountain surface 
, trees of great size appear, indicating a consid- 
erable depth of s6ed soil. 
Gradations of elevation on the mountain are in some de- 
gree marked by a change of vegetation both as it respects 
the species and periods of blossoming, and the maturity of 
fruit. ‘The lower districts and the warm southern exposure 
of ravines, exhibit trees and plants common in the river 
vall pore chesnut, soft and hard "On ash, and cher- 
tains and northern a of New-England occur. You there 
see thick groves of hemlock; spruce, balsam fir and pitch 
pine, mingled with hard maple, beach, white and black birch, 
and cherry. e white pine is not observed on the east- 
ern range of the Catskill mountains but is found in the valley 
of the Schoharie and adjacent hills of moderate elevation. 
Among the mountain shrubs, the blackberry, thimbleber- 
ry, gooseberry, and moose-bush, are noticed ; the whortle- 
berry is very abundant on the rocky summits, ‘and is the fa- 
vorite food of bears. The plants of the mountain blossom 
much later than those of the valley, and a botanist can collect 
plants of different latitudes, or which ‘blossom at different 
periods in one day’s research. 
There are three descriptions of rocks on she Catskill 
mountains common to the whole ot; and which alternate 
with each other, viz. red sandstone, gray wacke, slate and 
puddingstone. The sandstone is a a fine texture, hi hly 
colored by oxide of iron and contains much alumine. It is 
