GLACIO-AQUEOUS ACTION IN NORTH AMERICA. 183 



nificent and truly Alpine scenery I was there permitted to 

 enjoy. 



I approached these mountains from the southeast ; following 

 up the valley of Saco river from near the limits of Maine. We 

 enter that valley at Conway, thirty miles distant from the highest 

 summit, called Mount Washington. Its sides are bounded by 

 high mountains, which gradually approach nearer and nearer, 

 till at the Notch, the river, here a mere brook, has cut a gorge of 

 only a few feet wide, through the loftiest ridge of the White 

 Mountains. Along the whole course of the valley, I noticed 

 rather fewer of the phenomena of drift than in most of the moun- 

 tain valleys of New England. The relics of a few imperfect 

 moraines were all that I saw ; and these were much more perfect 

 before I entered the valley. But I shall notice these more fully 

 in another place. 



The principal part of the White Mountains, I will not say all, 

 appears to me to consist of steep parallel ridges of granite and 

 mica slate, running about north-northeast and south-southwest, 

 with occasional spurs. The Notch already mentioned, is a 

 passage through the highest of these ridges ; and according to 

 Dr. C. T. Jackson, the road at that point is one thousand eight 

 hundred and twenty-nine feet above the ocean. This is the 

 proper place for all visiters, whether they wish to examine the 

 scenery or the geology of the mountain, to stop and accoutre 

 themselves for ascending on horseback to the summit of Wash- 

 ington, which is six or eight miles distant. There is another 

 route, several miles further to the west, which is traversed by 

 many. But they lose the greater part both of the pleasure and 

 the profit of the excursion. Starting from the Notch House, we 

 ascend the first peak upon the lofty ridge ; and this has received 

 the name of Mount Clinton ; and according to Capt. Partridge, 

 is four thousand six hundred and thirty feet above the ocean. 

 Between this eminence and Mount Washington, the highest point 

 in the range, ^ve pass along the crest of the narrow ridge, and 

 over three other peaks several hundred feet higher than the inter- 

 vening valleys. The one next to Clinton, is Mount Pleasant ; 

 the second, Mount Franklin; the third, Mount Monroe; and 



