170 GEOLOGY OF THE SECOND DISTRICT. 



directly as far as they go, and with all the certainty and satisfaction of wider and more ex- 

 tended formations. 



I sliall begin at the southeast corner of my district, at the head of Lake Champlain, and 

 thence cross over to the St. Lawrence in the order of the counties. 



WARREN COUNTY. 



Warren county, with the exception of Essex, is the most hilly and broken in the Second 

 district. The hiils and mountains are frequently steep, presenting a large surface of naked 

 rock, or one that is only partially covered with soil and low sluaibs. Those who have stu- 

 died scenographic geology, would recognize at once the character of the predominant rocks, 

 and be led to refer them to the earliest era of the globe. The most elevated tracts rise to a 

 height of three thousand feet ; by far the greatest proportion, however, of hills and moun- 

 tains, are much less, varying from six to fifteen hundred feet. 



Warren county, together with the greater part of the Second district, has always without 

 doubt maintained a position above the level of the ocean ; for we find no remains of rocks 

 belonging to the sedimentary class, except in the lowest part of the district. The steep sides 

 of the hills and mountains have been exposed to the washing of torrents for long periods ; the 

 soil has had no opportunity to accumulate, but as soon as formed by the disintegration, has been 

 hurried down the steep declivities to the plains below. There are no soft and easily decomposa- 

 ble rocks which form a soil rapidly, as the slates and softer sandstones, but all are hard and im- 

 penetrable to moisture, except in the cleavages and natural joints. By the freezing of water 

 percolating into those seams, a division of the masses on a large scale is produced in the 

 first place ; these are subsequently reduced to pebbles by various atmospheric agents, and in 

 this way a slow accumulation of soil is effected. In no district of this character, therefore, 

 do we ever find full rounded hills, with gently sloping sides, possessing a susceptibility of 

 cultivation to their tops ; their outline or profile always remains sharp, and their sides steep, 

 and generally furnishing only a thin soil for the nourishment and support of vegetation. 



The four ranges of mountains which traverse the county. 



The county is traversed by parts of four ranges of mountains : On the east, the Black or 

 Tongue mountains occupy the eastern or southeastern corner ; in the middle, a belt about six 

 miles wide is occupied by the Luzerne range ; still farther northwest is a more elevated 

 range, of which Crane's mountain is the highest in the county, rising to an elevation of three 

 thousand feet above the plains of Warrensburgh. This mountain presents in profile the parts 

 of the liuman face, from any point upon the eastern side, but particularly so when seen from 



