GEOLOGY OF THE WHITE MOUNTAIN DISTRICT. 21 3 



material being almost as firm as solid rock. The whole course thus far 

 mentioned is two hundred and forty-six rods, of a general fusiform out- 

 line, with the lower end curved to one side. The inclination of the debris 

 is often as much as forty-five degrees, perhaps higher for a dozen yards, 

 and generally somewhat less. The underlying ledges appear in two or 

 three i^laces, but do not exhibit any marks or scratches made by the slid- 

 ing mass. 



The curve at the bottom of the hill is nearly a right angle, and was 

 determined by the configuration of the land, for, directly in the way of 

 the slip, there is a low ridge covered by the universal forest. Were the 

 phenomenon a true slide, the materials would have been arrested by this 

 obstacle. But no more earth lies before this obstruction than along any 

 part of the two or three miles distance of the steepest descent below. 

 The forest must therefore have been torn up by a prodigious freshet, — 

 trees, earth, and rock-fragments mingling with the water, as if all a liquid 

 mass, winding through the curved valley of a stream, and excavating a 

 deeper channel below the turn in its direction. In a clearing of fifty acres 

 at the base of the mountain, called "Becky town," great piles of rubbish, 

 rocks, and trees accumulated, while only earth was transported further. 



For nearly two miles below the Elbow mentioned above, the current 

 descended rapidly, occasionally depositing gravel in protected nooks, 

 which, with their sloping surfaces, may be called terraces. Quite high 

 up is an interesting excavation in the form of a notch, where one side is 

 long, sloping gradually, and the other steep and short. Half-way down 

 the stream, — which may appropriately be termed Norway brook, on ac- 

 count of the name "Norian," at one time applied by us to the formations 

 traversed by it, — the water falls precipitately over a ledge of the dark lab- 

 radorite rock. Elsewhere the valley is like that of any mountain torrent. 



This locality is easily accessible. During the summer a stage runs 

 from Plymouth to Greeley's hotel in Waterville, a distance of twenty 

 miles. From Greeley's the first of the labradorite ledges is less than 

 two miles, over a well-defined foot-path, which passes near a picturesque 

 cataract. Mr. Greeley can direct visitors to these rocks. 



In following Mad river up from Greeley's saw-mill, no ledges appear 

 for a great distance. In the neighborhood of "Swaseytown," a small 

 clearing near the mouth of Norway brook, there are abundant outcrops 



