266 SURFACE GEOLOGY, 



form, rests slanting against the hill-side, so as to make a natural shed for 

 the cattle. 



Churchill rock received its name sixty years since, from the circum- 

 stance that a lunatic of that name escaped from his keepers, and was 

 discovered on top of this boulder. It will be seen that the rock is 

 divided by a crevice, originally a joint, providing a space usually a few 

 inches in width. Mr. Churchill must have crawled up through this nar- 

 row opening, doing, like other persons in his condition, what seems 

 almost impossible. It was found necessary to fell a tree upon the rock 

 to insure for the man a safe descent. The base of the stone is below 

 the feet of Gov. Prcscott, as represented in the heliotype, who stands 

 the lowest down of the four persons seen in front. The top is midway 

 of a pine tree with a trunk nearly two feet in diameter, and was thought, 

 by some on the ground, to be 80 feet high. 



Chase rock is well shown in another heliotype, with a profile view upon 

 its summit of Erastus H. Chase, the proprietor of all these large boul- 

 ders. Fifty years had elapsed since he climbed the boulder before. He 

 took great enjoyment when a lad in climbing this rock. It is much more 

 narrow when viewed from either end. 



On passing nearly to Round pond, almost three quarters of a mile 

 from the Pawtuckaway notch, we reach Ballad rock, so named from a 

 preacher who used one of the projections for a pulpit in the early history 

 of the town. A heliotype sketch of this is presented, showing two or 

 three of the constituent boulders of this moraine, for it is a terminal pile 

 of rubbish. It may have collected behind a ledge, though it is not always 

 easy to separate ledges from boulders in this vicinity. The largest stone 

 is 60 feet long and 40 feet wide, and ovoid in shape. The moraine itself 

 is 150 feet wide and over 100 feet high. Five or six of the large boul- 

 ders in it are readily discernible to the visitor. The view is somewhat 

 defective, because of the difficulty of obtaining a good light in the forest 

 late in the afternoon. This moraine is really more remarkable than the 

 single large boulders, because it is composed of several pieces, each as 

 large as Chase, if not Churchill rock. The ridge extends to the pond, 

 and its base is crossed by the road. 



We find, therefore, in this short distance of three quarters of a mile, 

 certainly a dozen boulders, each exceeding 25,000 cubic feet in dimen- 



