The Geology of Hingham. 63 



road indeed runs through and over hillocks of kame material until 

 reaching' Prospect Street, where the surface becomes more level, and 

 so continues until near Whiting Street. 



The kame elevations of Hingham are by no means limited to the 

 ridges and the rounded hills that cover so large a portion of its sur- 

 face. They indeed present themselves sometimes in extensive de- 

 posits that can hardly be included under the head of either. One 

 such is of so marked a character, and has such remarkable propor- 

 tions, as may make particular mention of it desirable. This is to 

 he found southwest from Great Hill, bordering the south side of 

 Hobart Street, along which it extends irregularly. It may proper- 

 ly be designated as table land, being of a height varying from 30 

 to 50 feet, and having at top a flat surface. It measures in length 

 east and west about half a mile, and has a width of from 500 to 

 1000 feet. Its sides are very steep, and are thickly covered with 

 trees. At the south side of it is a large kettle-hole, which is par- 

 tially embraced in the kame limits by an extension of an arm from 

 the main body. As a sketch of the kame, however rough, will give 

 a better idea of its singular contour than any description, one is 

 presented on the map of the town. 



The country about this interesting kame is well worth the ob- 

 servation of those who would know of glacial phenomena in Hing- 

 ham. North is Great Hill, one of the large drumlins, or lenticular 

 hills, and south of it to High Street, and indeed far beyond, the 

 country is covered with kame ridges and hillocks of irregular size 

 and shape. 



The effect upon the surface of the town by the distribution of 

 kame material was much greater than that caused simply by its 

 deposit in hills, ridges, and other elevations, for it is likely that all 

 these contain scarcely one half the whole quantity resting over its 

 area. Temporary lakes formed by barriers of ice and other mat- 

 ter, together with the flow of the waters, undoubtedly led to such 

 spread of the gravel and sand as to result in the formation of 

 the extensive plains that form at different levels so large a por- 

 tion of the territory. This was not all, for great bodies of it were 

 deposited in such depressions of the general surface as to choke up 

 the water-courses. There is no doubt in the mind of the writer 

 that our principal stream, that of Weir River, pursued its way in 

 pre-glacial times through a very different channel from that it now 

 follows, and instead of turning east of north as it does at Hing- 

 ham Centre just before reaching Leavitt Street, and finally enter- 

 ing the sea between World's End and Hull, it discharged itself 

 directly into Hingham Harbor, which then was open to the spread 

 of its waters but a few hundred feet from where the river takes an 

 eastward course as mentioned. 



It is due to Prof. W. 0. Crosby to state that he suggested the 

 probability of this to the writer, and that subsequent examination 

 by both revealed to us that an extensive kame deposit here had 

 caused the river, which had flowed for some distance directly 

 north, to make the detour mentioned. 



