BIRCH BROWSINGS. 173 



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 traveller 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 mountain springs of this region. 

 The names of some of them are Mill Brook, Dry 

 Brook, Willewemack, Beaver Kill, Elk Bush Kill, 

 Panther Kill, Neversink, Big Ingin, and Collikoon. 

 Beaver Kill is the main outlet on the west. It joins 

 the Delaware in the wilds of Hancock. The Never- 

 sink lays open the region to the south, and also joins 

 the Delaware. To the east, various Kills unite with 

 the Big Ingin to form the Esopus, which flows into 

 the Hudson. Dry Brook and Mill Brook, both famous 

 trout streams, from twelve to fifteen miles long, find 

 their way into the Delaware. 



The east or Pepacton branch of the Delaware itself 

 takes its rise near here, in a deep pass between the 

 mountains. I have many times drunk at a copious 

 spring by the roadside, where the infant river first sees 

 the light. A few yards beyond, the water flows the 

 other way, directing its course through the Bear Kill 

 and Schoharie Kill into the Mohawk. 



Such game and wild animals as still linger in the 

 State, are found in this region. Bears occasionally 

 make havoc among the sheep. The clearings at the 



