596 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



precipitous southern slopes of the same mountains illustrate their primi- 

 tive character. Another sketch, showing the abruptness of the lee sides 

 of mountains, appears on page 12. Fig. 22, of Mt. Carter from Gorham, 

 may also illustrate the long slope on the north smoothed by the ice- 

 graver, while the south side is precipitous. The mass simply fell over 

 it, without making any impression. 



The nearest approach to a pinnacle in New Hampshire is Mt. Cho- 

 corua, shown in Figs. 31 and 61. But the back side of this sharp 

 summit is marked quite abundantly by the peculiar striations left by 

 the Drift. Hence, though one needs to stand on the summit to per- 

 ceive the difference between the stoss and lee sides, it is evident a long 

 spire was broken off when the ice went over Mt. Chocorua. 



A still more common ice-mark than the sculpturing of the ledges is 

 seen in the formation of the piles of rubbish transported from their 

 original locations in the solid ledges, and strewn broadcast over the hills 

 and plains. The local glaciers often transport blocks of stone upon their 

 backs; and in like manner our Drift has carried boulders scores and 

 hundreds of miles. But there is reason to believe that the principal 

 portion of the earth-mass known as hardpan, and the majority of the 

 accumulations seen in our walks, have been pushed along under the ice. 

 Consequently the arrangement of the rubbish is less orderly than in the 

 moraines of the smaller glaciers. The earth and stones have been 

 dumped over precipices, filled up holes, levelled over irregular surfaces 

 into plains, etc. This action has been very beneficial in preparing the 

 country to support forests and most agricultural products. But besides 

 the deposition of the hardpan, the materials have also been left in innu- 

 merable localities in the form of conical and ridged hills, straight, tortu- 

 ous, and irregular. Large boulders abound in many districts, often so 

 numerously as to render the smoothing of extensive fields by their re- 

 moval practically impossible. From a scenographic point of view, these 

 boulders are often attractive, as, for examples, the boulders in Bartlett 

 and Conway, shown by heliotypes in the next volume, Vessel rock in 

 Gilsum, Ordination rock in Tamworth, and others. A good example of 

 a number of blocks is the stereograph entitled "New Hampshire Cow- 

 Pasture," in Stratford. 



The surfaces smoothed by ice are readily distinguished from those 



