20 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE 



The event occurred in the night and had no witnesses, but its 

 horrible rumble and grinding roar shook the earth and was dis- 

 tinctly heard and felt by the inmates of houses more than five 

 miles distant. Passaconaway — signifying Child of the Bear — 

 rises to a height of more than four thousand feet and is the high- 

 est summit of the Sandwich range. The writer has repeatedly 

 visited the locality and made himself familiar with the scene by 

 climbing for a prudent distance up the slippery bed of this huge 

 but unworked quarry. Viewed from the Swift river valley, com- 

 monly known as the " Great Interval," at a distance of some 

 four miles by an air-line, the picture is magnificent. The great 

 rock-fioor appears as steep as the sides of a church roof, but the 

 feat of climbing it has been successfully accomplished, and what 

 is more astonishing and apparently incredible, several persons 

 have ascended the summit by way of the "Birch Intervale Trail" 

 on the south or Tamworth side, and safely walked down the 

 slide to the foot. It is well that they walked ; to run would be 

 fatal, for once running there could be no stopping, and an at- 

 tempt to put on the brake by lying down would be simply a 

 changed mode of motion, as one would get about two miles of 

 roll, with an accompaniment of bumps better imagined than de- 

 scribed. In the exercise of an instinct quite common to many 

 of us, we have quite decided to go down in a sitting posture, with 

 a series of short hitches, which may consume time but will con- 

 tribute to our peace of mind. A number of ladies have climbed 

 Passaconaway, but none have made use of the rock-toboggan. 

 This is reserved for the new woman. 



Flowing from the east flank of Tri-Pyramid mountain and en- 

 tering the Swift river a mile or more west of the base of Passa- 

 conaway is Sabbaday brook. Two miles from its mouth may 

 be seen the finest waterfall in the White Mountains. It is a 

 right-angled fall, the first plunge being to the north, the second 

 to the east. At the foot of the upper fall is a large, bowl-shaped 

 basin, some twelve feet in diameter. At the foot of the lower 



