VALLEYS. 15 



formation of this valley may be stated thus : 1st, The primary rocks, which constituted the 

 floor of an ancient ocean of an unknown extent. Upon these were deposited the sandstones, 

 limestones and siiales of the Champlain group ; thus far the series of rocks appear to be 

 whole and perfect, or without breaks ; but after the completion of this group, tlie ocean 

 retired, and they became the surface rocks. Subsequent to this, an elevating force deranged 

 the horizontality of the masses, fracturing them extensively in the line of tlie present valley, 

 and raising them above the waters of the ocean. This line of elevation and of fracture runs 

 close upon the western shore, and merely breaks oif the western edges of the transition. In 

 the third place, we find a current or flood of waters to have swept through this valley, and to have 

 removed to a great distance the loose materials of the surface, and by their means to have worn 

 down and polished the surface of the rocks which were exposed. 4th, We find this valley 

 again occupied by an ocean, in which deposites were again accumulating, principally alumi- 

 nous or of clay, but mixed with calcareous matter in the middle portion and siliceous in the 

 upper. This state of things did not exist long, for the marine relics are few, and the forma- 

 tion deposited limited and thin, probably not exceeding one hundred feet. In its turn this forma- 

 tion was elevated, and became exposed to currents of water bearing along rocks and stones, 

 being in some places entirely swept away ; in others, only the sandy portion or the upper 

 part ; in others it remains entire, especially where it was protected by jutting rocks ; thus the 

 stifi" blue clay of the inferior portion, the yellow and brownish of the middle, and the sand 

 of the upper, all remain undisturbed. It is in the two last that we find the modern shells prin- 

 cipally near their junction. The last sweeping of this deluge of waters formed the present 

 boulder system ; and we find the latter always above the former, or post-tertiary. Such 

 have been the Vicissitudes of this beautiful valley : twice have the waters of the ocean reposed 

 upon its- bosom, and twice has it been swept, as it were, with the besom of destruction. For 

 a long period after the deposition of the Champlain gi'oup, it remained above the watery ele- 

 ment, or during the whole period required for the deposition of the New-York transition system, 

 the old red, the carboniferous, the secondary and the great tertiary ; after which, for a short 

 period, it was once more under the sway of Neptune, and the monsters of the deep once more 

 took possession, and the iceberg floated upon its waters. But this state was to be transient, 

 for it was already fitted for the abode of man ; the waste was to be reclaimed , the lime 

 had already come for man to assume the power, and erect his temples in the vale. How long 

 the present floor of this valley has existed, cannot be told with any exactness approaching to a 

 demonstration, but it is manifest that it is comparatively recent ; for the materials being soft, 

 would ere this have been entirely removed, and the beds destroyed, had they existed during the 

 epochs of the eocene tertiary, especially in those places where they are exposed to abrasion 

 by rains and floods. Even deep furrows are worn annually in the sands and clays, and they 

 are perceptibly diminishing in extent. 



St.- Lawrence Valley.— New -York may be said to be situated centrally in this great valley, 

 and to be placed in that position which commands the commerce and trade of the Ijetter por- 

 tion of this immense region. The Second Geological District, however, embraces only a 



