BIRCH BROWSINGS. 181 



skirting the base of the Catskills, which from a point 

 near Saugerties sweep inland ; after a drive of a few 

 hours you are within the shadow of a high, bold 

 mountain, which forms a sort of but-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 Hudson, 

 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 Pennsylvania, a dis- 

 tance 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 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 Callikoon. 

 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 fa- 

 mous trout streams, from twelve to fifteen miles long 

 find their way into the Delaware. 



