WARREN COUNTY. 187 



immediately into liills on that side only which is favorable for their formation. Instances of 

 these ridges of which I am speaking, may be seen in Warrensburgh, on the land of Mr. 

 Richards : On one side, in this case, there is a large peat swamp, evidently at no distant 

 period a lake ; on the other, tliere is a smaller marsh, which was cut off from the larger by 

 this ridge of gravel. Another example exists at Caldwell, in the long and rather fiat ridge 

 which forms a part of the pathway leading from the village to the fort. The effect is observ- 

 able here, as in the one at Warrensburgh ; a portion of the lake is cut off by this barrier of 

 sand tlurown up by the waves. 



The third variety of sand hills is found in the debris which slowly washes from the moun- 

 tain side to the base. They are less conical, and are more in the form of terraces, but may 

 be distinguished from either of the preceding by the materials of which they are formed. The 

 latter I do not recognize so clearly in this county as in Essex ; the two former, however, are 

 not to be mistaken or overlooked. They all, however, have been confounded together under 

 the name of drift, whereas it is only the first variety that can properly be classed mider this 

 name ; for though the agency of water is required in each instance, yet in drift it is always 

 supposed that it must have been in motion sufficiently powerful to transport heavy materials. 

 As to the period of the drift, there is bvit little doubt that it was subsequent to the forma- 

 tion of the present vallej^s and hills, but anterior to the line of ridges spoken of under the 

 second variety of gravel and sand hills ; for it is highly probable that the cause which 

 produced the former, would have obliterated, or so much defaced the latter, that they could 

 not have been recognizable at the present time. Amidst the drift, in it and upon it, are the 

 h3rpersthene boulders ; and this leads me to remark, that the direction of it was from north to 

 south, as it is nearly due north that the rock from which these boulders were derived exists 

 in place. 



A feature which has resulted from the transportation of drift, consists in the frequent 

 depressions of surface below the level of the surrounding country. These depressions are 

 basin-shaped, and usually filled with water, forming ponds or smaller bodies of vi'ater witliout 

 an outlet. An example of one is furnished in Warrensburgh. 



The subject of drift has many inexplicable phenomena ; and it is frequently impossible to 

 furnish answers to many of the questions which constantly rise when passing over a country 

 like the one under consideration. Thus, in Athol there are several underground passages 

 worn in the primitive limestone, probably by currents of water running through fissures in 

 the rock. The mouths of these passages, or caves as they are usually called, are covered 

 over by drift. In one instance, a large rounded stone, partially filhng the mouth, was found, 

 over which the sand and gravel had accumulated. These caves are over one hundred feet 

 above the Hudson river at Athol. 



A question arises, whether the river, at a former period, formed these passages ; or were 

 they formed by the current transporting the drift ? Now it is more probable that the river was 

 the agent in this case, the country having since undergone a change in its level ; subsequently 

 tliese passages were obstructed by gravel, as we now find them. It is no uncommon thing 

 for underground passages to be formed by running water. We now find one extending by 



