METEORIC RIVERS OR WATERFALLS. 391 



pieces. The pile, in some places, is ten feet high. Much 

 of the timber is apparently buried several feet in sand and 

 mud. One large birch tree was broken off square, measur- 

 ing three feet nine inches where it was broken. One black 

 ash was literally pounded into a broom, whose brush is 

 seven feet long. The whole distance of these ravages is a 

 mile and half, and the quantity of land thus suddenly met- 

 amorphosed into a barren waste, is twenty- five acres. The 

 force of water must have been very great, at which, we 

 cannot wonder, when we consider its probable depth. In 

 some places, from appearances, it must have been thirty feet 

 high. Some of the trees on the sides of the channel, were 

 barked thirty or forty feet high, and there was mud on them 

 at that height. T. B. 



When this statement appeared, finding it difficult to con- 

 ceive how, in those circumstances, causes adequate to the 

 production of such effects could be put into operation, I 

 resolved, should opportunity offer, to see for myself. Such 

 an one presented itself in the month of May last. Accord- 

 ingly, on a fine morning, in company with a single compan- 

 ion, I started from a place in Fayston, distant about seven 

 miles from the slide, eager to behold this scene of desola- 

 tion, and enjoy a ramble on the Green Mountains. Three 

 or four of the last miles, lay through an entire forest, and 

 our only guide was Mill Brook, which came dashing down 

 through the wilderness. During our ascent, we found a 

 number of streams emptying into this; but the marks of 

 the flood were so evident, that we had no difficulty in de- 

 ciding which to follow. The indications continued to grow 

 more distinct as we advanced, till what for hours we had 

 so eagerly looked for, broke upon our view ; and we emerged 

 from the forest into an astonishing scene of devastation. 

 For a time, 1 could not credit my own eyes; and while 

 standing in the midst of this desolation, found it almost im- 



