Country watered by the Mohawk, 8V. i 



from Schenectady, and about 40 above the Little- 

 Falls. \ 



At the last-mentioned place, there have been un- 

 doubtedly great changes In nature. The mountain, 

 which comes down on each side of the river, shows 

 evident marks of the water having fallen over the 

 strait in a different place from the present falls. The 

 rock is excavated, in many places, nearly a mile be- 

 low the present falls, from twenty to forty feet above 

 the highest water. These excavations are of a nature 

 not to be mistaken, as they are worn smooth, even, 

 and circular, and capacious enough to contain many 

 hogsheads. If I was to hazard a conjecture, I should 

 say, that I believed the country west of the Little - 

 Falls, from five to fifteen or twenty miles on each side 

 of the Mohawk-River, has once been a lake. I am 

 confirmed in this opinion by the appearance of the 

 hills, the quarries of lime-stone, composed of shells, 

 &c. ; and even the loose stones in the fields have the 

 appearance of having been washed with water, and 

 many of them are made of shells and other substan- 

 ces, which are petrified, and remain entire. -The 

 face of the country, for a considerable distance, is le- 

 vel, and the flat-lands, particularly on the Mohawk- 

 River and Wood- Creek, are made by the washing of 

 the adjacent ground. We find trees, leaves, and 

 other vegetable substances, from five to ten feet be- 

 low the surface, and at considerable distance from the 

 channel of the streams. I know of many instances 

 where those logs have been found several feet lower 

 than the bed of the Mohawk, or Wood-Creek. 



