TOPOGRAPHY. 653 



and west, for several miles, until it attains an elevation at the west 

 mound of 1,151 feet. This, however, is an extreme case, and, in fact, the 

 only marked exception to its general level. In the town of Mount 

 Hope, a slight decrease of elevation commences, and continues to the 

 western end of the divide, where the elevation is about 430 feet, at a 

 point within a mile of both the Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers. 

 There are, also, two main branches or subdivisions of the watershed; 

 of these, the western is the ridge which separates the waters that flow 

 into the Platfce and Fever rivers, from those which flow into the Peca- 

 tonica. It leaves the main divide in the town of Wingville, and pas- 

 sing through the townships of Belmont and Shullsburg, in a south- 

 easterly direction, passes out of the state in the town of Montieello. 

 This ridge is not so conspicuous as the main watershed, eithei for 

 the directness of its course, or the uniformity of its elevation. The 

 most conspicuous points on it are the Platte Mounds, which appear 

 from a distance to be very high, but are in reality only relatively so, 

 their actual elevation being only about seven hundred feet above 

 Lake Michigan. The ridge appears to slope somewhat, in its ap- 

 proach to Illinois, its average elevation there being about 500 feet. 



The easterly subdivision is that which separates the waters of the 

 Pecatonica and Sugar rivers. It may be said to begin at the Blue 

 Mounds, or a couple, of miles east of them, and pursuing quite a de- 

 vious course through the .townships of Primrose, Washington and 

 Monroe, it crosses the state line in the town of Jefferson. This ridge 

 is characterized by a much greater want of uniformity in its general 

 course, and by its very irregular elevation. It is much narrower than 

 either of the others, more abrupt in its slopes, and contains quite a 

 large number of hills and low places, especially in the towns of Prim- 

 rose, Perry, York, and New (llarus, in which towns the streams head 

 within comparatively short distances of each other, on opposite sides 

 of the watershed. 



These are the principal elevations of the country affecting the drain- 

 age; there are, of course, many minor ones, such as the divides be- 

 t\veen the Grant and Platte rivers, or the several branches of the Pec- 

 atonica; they are, however, merely subordinate ridges, and are but 

 the details of the general plan. 



Streams. Having thus given a general outline view of the sys- 

 tem of watersheds, a few remarks on the rivers and drainage of the 

 Lead region are necessary to supplement them. As a preliminary 

 remark, it is well to bear in mind, that their present situation was 

 probably never modified or influenced by drift or glacial agencies; the 

 evidence being insufficient to prove that there ever was any drift de- 



