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PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



west range of the Blue Job mountain in Farmington, and the Blue hills 

 of Strafford ; a north west-south east ridge, at right angles to the last, 

 from Chesley mountain, in Farmington, to the west part of Rochester; 

 and the extensive basin of Isinglass river, fed by Round, Long, Nippo, 

 Stonehouse, and Ayer's ponds, in Barrington. 



A third subdivision may be represented by the Lamprey river basin, 

 including most of Northwood, Nottingham, Deerfield, and the vicinity of 

 the Concord & Portsmouth Railroad. The first three towns mentioned 

 show mountainous areas, as the Saddleback in the south part of North- 

 wood, and the double group of Pawtuccawa in the west part of Notting- 

 ham, edging into Deerfield. In the east part of Nottingham there is a 

 large marshy country tributary to Pawtuccawa pond. There is nothing 

 of much importance in the rest of the Lamprey valley. 



The fourth subdivision may be termed the Exeter river basin. This 

 crooked stream rises in Chester, and flows through parts of Raymond 

 and Fremont, where it is joined by another branch through Sandown, start- 

 ing in Chester, thence through Brentwood and Exeter, joining Great bay 

 between Newmarket and Stratham. After viewing the hills of Farming- 

 ton and Middleton, there is nothing in this subdivision worthy of note. 



The balance of this coast district may be called the Hampton division, 

 embracing, perhaps, the most square miles of territory possessed by any 

 of the five areas. It embraces three fourths of the land eastward from 

 the Boston & Maine Railroad. The land is low, but not marshy, except 

 along the shore line in Scab rook, Hampton Falls, and Hampton. The 

 northern portion is a promontory between the Great bay and the Atlantic 

 ocean. There is an extensive sea beach on it in Rye, with ledges on the 

 coast at Little Boar's Head, Frost's Point, and Newcastle. 



There is a peculiar class of drift hills observed in this area that do not 

 occur far back from the ocean. They may be from eighty to two hundred 

 feet above the adjoining lowland. They may be termed bowl-shaped or 

 elongated ridges, according to circumstances. I have searched in vain 

 for ledges about them, and have therefore concluded that they are entirely 

 composed of drift brought from the north. I have reason to believe 

 many of them exist in Rockingham county, a field that yet remains to be 

 fully explored. Signal examples are in Stratham, in the north middle dis- 

 trict, prominent on the map by reason of the absence of roads over it, 



