vfNew Hampshire. 41 



frf the year. In summer, their remote appearance is blue, like 

 that of other distant objects. 



In the middle and lower parts of the mountain, the character 

 of micaceous slate, which in the course we took appeared to be 

 the predominant constituent of the mountain, is more perfectly 

 formed. The strata are remarkably smooth and even, and their 

 fissure presents the most brilliant silvery lustre. The bed of the 

 cascade at New River was principally of this material, inter- 

 sected by thick veins of quartz, in which were contained large 

 crystals of schorl. The pebbles in the streams were chiefly of 

 micaceous slate, and occasionally of gneiss, of granite, and of 

 pure white quartz. We also met with hornblende containing 

 traces of carbonate of lime. 



The object of most of our party being botanical, and our course 

 generally rapid, the observations and collections we were able 

 to make in mineralogy were necessarily limited. George Gibbs, 

 Esq. who has twice ascended the mountain on different sides, 

 with a view to the examination of its geology, has favoured me 

 with the following remarks made by liim at the time. — In some 

 places where the geology of the mountain was exposed, he found 

 the lower strata of greenstone and greenstone slate, with some 

 granite. Higher up, granite and gneiss prevailed. The green- 

 stone is fine-grained, containing pyrites. The greenstone slate 

 contains actinote. The granite contains emerald, tourmaline, 

 white quartz and feldspai-, white and reddish mica, and garnets 

 of different sizes. The granite is distinctly stratified. The 

 strata of these rocks are from six inches to many feet in thick- 

 ness, the granite beiiig thickest, generally two or three feet. 

 The dip of the strata "is small and // om the mountain. The 

 rock, on the summit and for some hundred feet beiow, was gneiss, 

 afterwards granite prevailed. Near the Notch Col. Gibbs ob- 

 served rocks of coarse reddish jasper and porphyry, and obtained 

 from the inhabitants specimens of fluor spar and magnetic iron 

 ore. 



Plavts. 



The vegetation of the Wliite Hills has been divided with pro- 

 priety into three zones. 1. That of the common forest trees ; 

 1. thatof dwarf evergreens; and, 3. that uf alpine plants. 



The woods which extend from the base r.p the sides to the 

 height of about 4,000 feet from the sea, consist of the rock- 

 maple {Acer sacchurmam), which is tlie most abundant tree, the 

 red maple [Acer rubrum), the silver fir {Pinus l>ulsamea),the 

 hemlock {Pi?ius Canaderim), the hhxck and white spruce [Pintts 

 nigra & alba), the white pine {Pinus Slrobvs), the beech (''«- 

 gus ferruginca), the black, yellow, and wliil.c birch {Belitla 



