4 



NATURAL HISTORY OF VERMONT. 



Chaf. Z 



MOCTBTAINS. 



RIVERS AND STREAMS. 



the intervening portions are so high and 

 steep as not to admit of roads being made 

 over them, with the exception of that por- 

 tion lying between tlie Lamoille and Slis- 

 fiisco. This part of the Green Mountains 

 presents some of the most lofty summits 

 in the state ; particularly the Nose and 

 Chin in Mansfield, and Camel's Hump in 

 Huntington. These, together with other 

 important mountains and summits in the 

 etate, are exhibited in the foregoing table 

 and cut, and will also be described in the 

 Gazetteer, under their respective names. 

 The sides, and, in most cases, the sum- 

 mits of the mountains in Vermont, are 

 covered with evergreens, such as spruce, 

 hemlock and fir. On this account the 

 French, being the first civilized people 

 who visited this part of the world, early 

 gave to them the name of Verd Mont, or 

 Green Mountain ; and when the inhabi- 

 tants of the New Hampshire Grants as- 

 sumed the powers of government, in 1777, 

 they adopted this name, contracted by the 

 omission of the letter d, for the name of 

 the new state. ^ 



* Tliis nnme is said to have lieen ailopted upon 

 tho rocominendation of Dr. Thomas Young — (see 

 part 2d, jiajjo lIlG.) The following account of Uio 

 christtniiig uf tho Green Mountains, is given hy tho 

 Rev. Samuel I'cters in his life of the Eev. Hugh 

 Teters, puhlished at Kew York in 1807. 



" Verd-JVIoiit was a name given to the Green 

 Mountains in October, 1763, by the Rev. Dr. 

 Peters, the first clergyman who paid a visit to the 

 30,000 settlers in that courilry, in the presence of 

 Col. Taplin, Col. Willes, Col. Peters, Judge Pe- 

 ters and many others, who were proprietors of a 

 large number of townships in that colony. The 

 CBremony was performed on tho lop of a rock 

 Btanding on a Jiigh mountain, tiien named Mount 

 Pisgah because it provided to the company a clear 

 eight of lake Cliamplain at tha west, and of Con- 

 necticut river at the east, and overlooked all the 

 trees and hills in the vast wilderness at the north 

 and south. The baptism was performed in the 

 following manner: Priest Peters stood on the 

 pinnacle of the rock, when he received a bottle of 

 spirits from Col. Taplin ; then haranguing the 

 company with a short history of the infant settle- 

 ment, and the prospect of its becoming an impreg- 

 nable barrier between the British colonies on the 

 south and the late colonies of the French on the 

 north, which might be returned to their late own- 

 ers for the sake of j^overning America by the dif- 

 ferent powers of Europe, he continued, ' We have 

 here met upon the rock Etain, standing on ]\lount 

 Pisgah.which makes a part oUhe ete.rlastins hiU,the 

 epineof Asia.Africaand America, holding together 

 the terrestrial ball, and dividing the Atlantic from 

 the Pacific ocean — to dedicate and consecrate this 

 extensive wilderness to God manifested in the 

 flesh, and to give it a new name worthy of the 

 Athenians and ancient Spartans, — which new 

 name is Verd Mont, in token that her mountains 

 and hills shall be ever green and shall never die.' 



Rivers and Streams. — The rivers and 

 streams lying within the state of Vermont 

 are very numerous, but small. They, in 

 most cases, originate among the Green 

 Mountains, and their courses are short 

 and generally rapid. Connecticut river 

 washes the whole eastern border of the 

 state, but belongs to New Hampshire, the 

 western margin of that stream forming 

 the boundary line between New Hamp- 

 shire and Vermont. The Connecticut re- 

 ceives the waters from 3,700 square miles 

 of our territory. It receives from Ver- 

 mont, besijfles numerous smaller streams, 

 the waters of the eleven following rivers, 

 viz : Wantasticook, or West, Saxton's, 

 Williams', Black, Ottaquechy, White, 

 Ompoinpanoosnc, Wait's, Wells', Pas- 

 sumpsic, and Nulhegan. Clyde, Barton 

 and Black river run northerly into Mem- 

 phremagog lake. Missisco, Lamoille, 

 Winooski and Poultney river and Otter 

 creek flow westerly into lake Champlain, 

 and the Battenkili and Hoosic westerly 

 into Hudson river. Deerfield river runs 

 southerly from Vermont and falls into the 

 Connecticut in Massachusetts ; and the 

 Coatacook and Pike river head in the 

 north part of the state and run northerly 

 into Canada, the former uniting with 

 Massuippi river at Lenoxville and the lat- 

 ter falling into the head of Missisco bay. 

 All these streams and many smaller ones 

 will be described in the Gazetteer under 

 their respective names. 



No country in the world is better sup- 

 plied with pure and wholesome water 

 than Vermont. There are scarcely any 

 farms in the state which are not well wa- 

 tered by springs, or brooks; and none, 

 with the exception of those upon tiie isl- 

 ands in lake Champlain, which are not in 

 the vicinity of one, or more, considerable 

 mill strer.m. But while Vermont is so 

 abundantly supplied with water, there is, 

 probably, no part of our country in which 

 so little stagnaiat water is found. I'he 

 waters of the lakes and ponds are usually 

 clear and transparent, and nearly all the 

 springs and streams are brisk and lively. 

 It is a common remark that the streams 

 in this state have diminished very much 

 in size, since the country began to be 

 cleared and settled, and it is doubtless 

 true to some extent. Many mills, which 



He then poured out tlie spirits and cast the bottle 

 upon the rock Etani." 



There in no dnuljt that the name Verd Mont had 

 been applied to this range of mountains long pre- 

 vious to the above transaction, (if, indeed, it ever 

 took place;) but we do not find that the name Fcrd 

 Mont, or Vfrmonl, was ever apjilied to the territory 

 generally known as the New Hampshire Grants, 

 previous to the declfiration of the independence of 

 the territory in January, 1777. 



