90 



FRACTURED LEDGES. 



powerful agency, was pointed out to us by B. F. Winslow, Esq., of that place. It is on 

 the east side of Furnace River, say a mile or so northeast of the Iron Works on that 

 stream, a little east of the road leading to North Chittenden. The north end of a hill, or 

 mountain, called, we think, East Peak, is here exposed ; so that either water or ice com- 

 ing from the north, or northeast, down Furnace Kiver, would strike with full force against 

 this projection of the mountain. A few hundred feet above the stream, a little higher 

 than the modified drift rises, several ledges are laid bare, concerning which one doubts at 

 first whether they be rocks in place, or enormous bowlders, piled upon one another. 

 Examination discovers both bowlders and ledges. Those most northerly are distinct 

 boAvlders, often of gigantic size. But proceeding southerly, although the surfaces exposed 

 are embossed, yet from their size we begin to doubt whether they are not bosses of the 

 ledge : and a little farther we reach distinct ledges. We become satisfied at length, that 

 some powerful agency has impinged against this hill from the north, tearing up the rock 

 as far as it was able, but not able to remove the whole hill. The rock is an aggregate of 

 mica and quartz, almost entirely destitute of stratification or foliation, and is probably a 

 metamorphosed sandstone, having the aspect of a dark-colored granite. It would stand a 

 crushing agency as well as any rock we have ever seen. We give in Fig. 38 an imperfect 

 sketch of the lower and most disturbed portions of these ledges, as we look upon them 

 from a station where we can see the bowlders on the left and the solid ledges on the right. 



FIG. 38. 



The drift agency from the north or northwest, might have done this work. But the 

 inquiry was excited, whether a glacier did not once descend Furnace River. If so, it 

 would explain the phenomena equally well. We regret that want of time prevented us 

 from searching for traces of a glacier along the river. 



THE ICEBERG THEORY OF DRIFT. 



It may be well to pause here to point out the leading features of the manner in which 

 drift and its subsequent modifications have been produced, according to the views which 

 we have been led to adopt. 



All geologists we believe consider ice and water to have been 



