204 Bog-Trotting for Orchids 



remains of the whale and mastodon have been found. 

 A fossil whale was found in Charlotte, Vermont, sixty 

 feet above the level of the lake and one hundred and 

 fifty feet above sea level. In Swanton, in a ledge of 

 rock blasted through for railroad purposes, a large de- 

 posit of fossil marine shells was found. Also fossil 

 bones of the elephant were found in Brattleboro. 



Beyond the Howling Swamp, an interesting gla- 

 cial hill rises, dividing the swamp from the broader 

 valley of Ball Brook beyond. The lower south- 

 ern brow of this hill had been eroded by the cur-^ 

 rents formerly flowing over the ridge when a larger 

 lake existed here. From the summit of this hill, one 

 becomes conscious that not so long ago wide waters 

 spread about. Two currents are evident, — one from 

 the glaciated Dome, flowing westward, and one from 

 the ice-capped heights of Mount Anthony, southeast- 

 ward; the two currents mingling and rushing westward 

 over the Glebe toward Pownal Centre and the natural 

 dam at Gregor Rocks, toward the Hudson Valley and 

 the sea. Slowly — as the dam in the valley broke away 

 and let the ice-currents out — the mountain lakes were 

 drained off, and left these bare, round hills and deep, 

 swampy hollows, where as soon as the climates grew 

 temperate, forests of evergreens sprang up and flowers 

 bloomed. Northward, toward Bennington, as far as 

 the eye can see, one discerns a chain of rounded wooded 

 hills and intervening swamps. 



On my way homeward, I stopped at the Swamp of 

 Oracles, and decided to climb up the sides of the ravine 



