218 GEOLOGY OF THE SECOND DISTRICT. 



or venture to act under the impression tliat they have sufficient nerve to balance themselves 

 over such an abyss, where all objects below become indistinct, and nothing remains on which 

 to rest the eye, and thus give certainty and precision to the movements of the muscles con- 

 cerned in maintaining the equilibrium of the body. 



The geological facts revealed in this great exposure of rocks, do not differ materially from 

 those Nvhich are exhibited on all sides in this region. We are taught, however, something of 

 the dynamics of geology, and of the inconceivable powers of those agents once active beneath 

 the crust of the earth ; for this immense mass has not only been elevated, but broken from 

 one once continuous with it, and probably we see only a small part of that which has been 

 thus broken and elevated. The whole rock exposed is the hypersthene ; and on examining 

 the surface as far as possible, only a few mineral substances were found. I have not observed 

 trap dykes any where in the face of this wall, but the whole is very uniform in kind and 

 texture. 



In conclusion, I remark that I should not have occupied so much space for the purpose of 

 describing merely a natural curiosity, were it not for the fact that probably in this country 

 there is no object of the kind on a scale so vast and imposing as this. We look upon the 

 Falls of Niagara with awe, and a feeling of our insignificance ; but much more are we 

 impressed with the great and tlie sublime, in the view of the simple naked rock of the Adi- 

 rondack Pass. 



Some of the most important mowitains considei-ed separately from the ranges of which they 



form a part. 



Mount Marcjr, which is the highest of the eminences in the State, is situated in the south- 

 west corner of Keene, adjacent to the townships of Newcomb and Moriah. Its height is 

 upwards of five thousand four hundred feet. For six or eight hundred feet beneath the 

 summit, there are no trees. In the progress of ascending it, it will be observed that the vege- 

 tation gradually changes ; the trees becoming dwarfish towards the summit, till finally all 

 disappear. The Canada balsam, or fir, is the last ; and in maintaining itself against the 

 elements, it dwindles from a stately tree to a small vine-like shrub of six and eight inches in 

 length. In this state, it loses almost its representative character ; it ceases to reproduce 

 itself from seed, and the noble ascending axis becomes a prostrate feeble trunk, unable to 

 support itself in a vertical position. 



This mountain extends about ten miles due north ; lying, as has been before observed, 

 obliquely to the main axis of the chain. This disposition or arrangement of the different parts 

 of a chain is very clearly seen by comparing it with two other mountains in this region ; thus 

 Mount McMartin and Mount Mclntyre lie in parallel lines with it, each of them extending 

 from their main peaks due north and south, and each too losing themselves in those prolonga- 

 tions ; while in the northeast and southwest directions, the range is still continued. 



Though there is nothing worthy of a particular description in these mountains, aside from 

 their height, yet their relative position deserves a passing notice. The three mountains 

 already mentioned lie due east and west of each other, at equal distances ; Mount Marcy 



