BIRCH BROWSINGS 



Catskills, which from a point near Sauger- 

 ties sweep inland ; after a drive of a few 

 hours you are within the shadow of a high, 

 bold mountain, which forms a sort of butt- 

 end to this part of the range, and which 

 is simply called High Point. To the east 

 and southeast it slopes down rapidly to the 

 plain, and looks defiance toward the Hud- 

 son, twenty miles distant ; in the rear of it, 

 and radiating from it west and northwest, 

 are numerous smaller ranges, backing up, 

 as it were, this haughty chief. 



From this point through to Pennsylva- 

 nia, a distance of nearly one hundred miles, 

 stretches the tract of which I speak. It is 

 a belt of country from twenty to thirty 

 miles wide, bleak and wild, and but sparsely 

 settled. The traveler on the New York and 

 Erie Railroad gets a glimpse of it. 



Many cold, rapid trout streams, which 

 flow to all points of the compass, have their 

 source in the small lakes and copious moun- 

 tain springs of this region. The names of 

 some of them are Mill Brook, Dry Brook, 

 Willewemack, Beaver Kill, P]lk Bush Kill, 

 Panther Kill, Neversink, Big Ingin, and 

 Callikoon. Beaver Kill is the main outlet 

 on the west. It joins the Delaware in the 



87 



