106 



GAZETTEER OP VERMONT. 



Part III. 



mile in diameter. No stream supplies it, 

 but a small rivulet passes from it, tumb- 

 ling from one rock to another in its rug- 

 ged course, until, after passing half a 

 mile, it empties into the largest Ludlow 

 pond. The only fish it contains is that 

 commonly called the horn pout. Tliere 

 is anotlier large collection of water in the 

 western part of the town, and several ex- 

 tensive bogs upon both sides of the river, 

 now presenting only a surface of mud, 

 covered many feet deep with moss, but 

 evidentl}' once the bed of mountain ponds. 

 These bogs afford the botanist many rare 

 and curious varieties of shrubs and flow- 

 ers. The soil upon the river is alluvial, 

 and throughout the town is fertile, and 

 well adapted for grazing and cultivation. 

 The timber is mostly hard w'ood, the va- 

 rieties of maple, beech, birch and ash. 

 Thedeclivit}' of Centre mountain abounds 

 in spruce and hemlock, and the two high- 

 est of tile table lands in town were found 

 at its first settlement heavily wooded with 

 a growth of pine of the largest size. The 

 prevailing rock is mica slate, and, imbed- 

 ded in masses, or forming independent 

 boulders, are found the white, ferrugi- 

 nous and smoky quartz, black and green 

 hornblende, and steatite, with localities 

 of ligniform asbestos, its strands from 12 

 to 24 inches in length, plumbago, galena, 

 and garnet. In the western part of the 

 town, are quarries of the carbonate min- 

 gled with the sulphate of lime, and con- 

 taining beautiful specimens of calcareous 

 spar. In the eastern border is a lofty 

 range of serpentine, containing the harder 

 varieties of asbestos, talc and hornstone, 

 and forming, near the line of Cavendish, 

 that most beautiful variety of marble 

 known b}^ the name of the verd antique. 

 Limestone and serpentine mingle, and 

 produce every possible shade of green, 

 from the lightest grass to an almost per- 

 fect black, and these shades running into 

 each other in a most pleasing and appar- 

 ently never ending variety. By the per- 

 severance and energy of Mr. I. Hills, 

 quarries have been opened, and tables, 

 fire-places, and other articles produced 

 which bid fair to rival the productions of 

 any state. This range of serpentine un- 

 doubtedly once formed the eastern barrier 

 of a large body of water, whose waves 

 rolled over the central part of Ludlow, 

 and all that portion of Plymouth extend- 

 in o- from the line of Ludlow to the source 

 of Black river. That such a collection of 

 water once existed, and that it was 

 drained by the wearing away of the ser- 

 pentine range through a long course of 

 years is evident from traces of the action 

 of water upon the rocks, many feet above 



their present level in the bed of the 

 stream, and from the successive tiers of 

 alluvial table lands, which, at different 

 heights, and successively increasing dis- 

 tances from the river, now furnish the 

 most fertile land in the town. In the 

 southern part of the village is a curious 

 elevation of earth, whose formation can 

 only be accounted for by supposing that 

 at this point two streams once mingled 

 their waters in the lake, forming an eddy, 

 and depositing the gravel and soil which 

 the fall and spring rains would loosen 

 from the surrounding hills. And, in fact, 

 the conformation of the country about 

 shows that once a stream came from the 

 northwest, in what is now the channel of 

 Black river, and another from the south, 

 between the range of "Centre" and 

 " South mountains" and " Bear hill," in 

 wliat is now the channel of " Jewell 

 brook" so called, and mingled their wa- 

 ters at this very point. This elevation, 

 called in common parlance the " Hog 

 back," is about 75 feet in height, 40 rods 

 in length from east to west, and with just 

 thickness enough from north to south to 

 admit a narrow foot path upon its sum- 

 mit, and as steep as the earth and stones 

 will lie, while on every side it stands per- 

 fectly detached from the neighboring 

 hills, and surrounded by alluvial flats. 

 Its composition is earth, pebbles, and 

 small stones, all rounded evidently by the 

 action of water, and without any of the 

 angular points and sharp corners found 

 on stones freshly detached from their na- 

 tive ledge, and arranged in regular strata 

 consisting of alternate layers of earth, 

 sand and pebbles, dipping at an angle 

 corresponding with the sides of the hill. 

 Below Duttonsville, in Cavendish, three 

 miles below the point where the serpen- 

 tine range crosses the stream, is anoth- 

 er of those rocky barriers which once 

 dammed up the waters of Black river. 

 The water has there worn its bed an hun- 

 dred feet deep through cliffs of mica slate, 

 for nearly a mile, leaving traces of its 

 tremendous effort in the huge and dis- 

 jointed masses of rock, the ragged and 

 overhanging cliffs which present them- 

 selves upon both sides of its channel 

 throughout the whole course: — while, 

 commencing at the head of the present 

 rapids, and passing off southerly through 

 a portion of Chester into Springfield, 

 through what is now the gulf road, to the 

 latter town, are traces of the ancient bed 

 of the river, consisting of cliffs and large 

 masses of stone, worn deep in various 

 places, and presenting large and numer- 

 ous cavities, evidently the result of the 

 action of pebbles whirled by the eddies of 



