GLACIER 



85 



modified by the subsequent action of water upon their surfaces than those of the Alps ; 

 but their internal character seems to us to be the same. 



In descending the main branch of White River (see Map) we find evidence, even as 

 far down as Stockbriclge, that a glacier once descended the valley ; for the striae change 

 their direction in conformity with its direction, and although the course does not differ 

 much from some examples of drift in the same region upon the hills, yet the conformity of 

 the striation to the course of the valley, while it is quite different in the side valleys which 

 come in from the Green Mountains, looks more like a glacier or rather a system of glaciers. 

 On the South Branch similar stria3 occur, conforming even more strikingly to the sinuosi- 

 ties of the valley, and resulting probably from another glacier. In Granville, also, we 

 found similar striations, as the map shows. As we pass southerly out of the village of 

 Hancock, the mountains approach, and between them stands a hill of considerable height 

 which is beautifully rounded. This is precisely the spot where a descending glacier 

 would grate most powerfully upon the ledges beneath. 



We regret our inability, for want of time, to explore the branches of White River more 

 thoroughly for evidence of glacier action, which we doubt not will hereafter come to light. 



Another example of the traces of the action of ancient glaciers, not so striking, however, 

 as those already detailed, occurs on the Quechee River above Woodstock. In ascending 

 that stream above that village we meet, within a mile or so, accumulations of detritus on 

 the north bank, which we refer to moraines that have been subsequently considerably 

 modified by water. Several miles farther west we found a still more decided example, 

 just before reaching the village of Bridgewater. Here the detritus seems once to have 

 extended entirely across the valley, but has been worn away by the river on one side, as 

 we see in the vicinity of Chamouni in Savoy, where we are certain that glaciers were the 

 cause. The only difference seems to be that in Vermont water has subsequently produced 

 greater modification than in the Alps. 



FIG. 32. 



Traces of a Glacier on the Otta Quechee. 



In following up the south branch of Quechee River, which comes in from Plymouth, 

 we find the west and southwest sides of the mountains to be rounded, though the stria; 

 seemed to be mostly obliterated. On the more northerly branch of the river, at least as 

 far as the gold mine in Bridgewater, where an auriferous quartz vein has been worked, 



