Turner's Falls. 99 



Gay Head. 



The most interesting spot on Martha's Vineyard is Gay Head ; 

 which constitutes the western extremity of this island, and consists of 

 clays and sands of various colours. Its height cannot be more than 

 150 feet; yet its variegated aspect, and the richness of its colors, 

 render it a striking and even splendid object, when seen from the ocean. 

 The clays are red, blue and white ; the sands, white and yellow; and 

 the lignite, black ; and each of these substances is abundant enough 

 to be seen several miles distant, arranged in general in inclined strata ; 

 though from being unequally worn away, apparently mixed without 

 much order. The top of the cliff is crowned by a light house, which 

 commands an extensive prospect. Scarcely a tree is to be seen on 

 this part of the island. It is owned and inhabited by the descendants 

 of the Indian tribes, that once possessed the whole island. It will be 

 seen in the subsequent part of my report, that this spot possesses pe- 

 culiar attractions for the geologist and mineralogist. During my last 

 visit to the spot, three days were fully occupied in interesting re- 

 searches. 



WATER FALLS. 



We have one or two water falls in Massachusetts of sufficient mag- 

 nitude to be denominated cataracts. And as we might expect in a 

 mountainous region, cascades are numerous. 



Turner's Falls. 



These exist in Connecticut river, near the point where the towns 

 of Montague, Gill, and Greenfield, meet. They are by far the most 

 interesting water fall in the State ; and I think I may safely say in 

 New England. At least, to my taste, the much broader sheet of wa- 

 ter, the higher perpendicular descent, and the equally romantic scen- 

 ery of the surrounding country, give to this cataract a much higher 

 interest, than is excited by a view of the more celebrated Bellow's 

 Falls on the same river in Walpole New Hampshire : and prob- 

 ably the latter are generally regarded as the most striking object of 

 this kind in New England. 



Above Turner's Falls the Connecticut for about three miles, pur- 

 sues a course nearly northwest, through a region scarcely yet dis- 

 turbed by cultivation ; and all this distance it is as placid as a moun- 

 tain lake, even to the verge of the cataract. Here an artificial dam 



