HISTORY OF VERMONT. 47 



the quantity of water, he. Their channels have 

 been formed two ways, by the wearin,^ -'^^'■^ y of 

 tlie ground in some pl.ces, and by forming or 

 raising the intervale lands in others ; but most 

 generally the channels of our rivers have been 

 formed in bo^h these ways. In large stream*; 

 passing tfirough the intervales which -hey h. ve 

 formed, and moving with a gentle force, the 

 depth of the channels appear to have a sirnilari- 

 tv, or at least a resem.blance. The depth of ahe 

 channels in such siiUdLicns, in sundry places m 

 Connecticut river, OLiercreek and Onion river 

 is forty or fifty feet below that of the adjacent 

 banks. But the alteration in the depth of tlicse 

 channels, is so gradual and slow, that it has 

 scarcely been perceptible, since the first settle- 

 ment of the country by the English. 



It is not only in the chLcunels and intervales,, 

 which the rivers have form.ed, that their effects 

 are to be seen ; but their orerations are ako 

 risible, upon the stones and rocks.. The stones 

 which have been constantly washed by the 

 streams are always found to be smooth and 

 even ; and the rocks in many places, are not 

 only become smooth and slippery, but they are 

 much worn away by the constant running of 

 the water. There is anolher phenomenon ex- 

 tremely curious, derived from this cause ; in 

 several rivers, there are holes or cavities, wrought 

 into the solid body of large rocks, by the de- 

 scent, or circular motion of the water. At 

 Rockingham, there is a remarkable fall in Con- 

 necticut river, where the water passes over a 

 bar of solid rock ; and which it must have been 

 constaiitly passing over, ever since the river 



