MILL BEOOK. 121 



pile of gravel which blocked up the mouth of the " Proctorsville gulf," a deep gorge, the former 

 bed of Black Eiver. They are represented upon Fig. 63, the heights being given by the Aneroid Bar- 

 ometer. This section represents the highest terraces as fjg 6g 

 having the same level, which we should expect, if they ,2es im , 150 

 had been formed by the stopping up of the valley either 

 at Proctorsville or Cavendish. 



The valley widens at Proctorsville, forming a sub- 

 basin, and it is a beautiful situation for a village. Gov. 

 Fletcher, whose interest in the survey has not ceased 

 with his official duties as Chief Magistrate of the 



Commonwealth, and one of our geological company, Terraces on Blacker at Proctorsville. 



Mr. Hager, have shown their appreciation of Surface 

 Geology by selecting some of the terraces in this sub-basin for the sites of their dwellings. 



The fourth basin is at Ludlow. Those who pass through the village on the cars can hardly fail to notice 

 the regularity and beauty of these terraces, as the railroad passes upon the highest of them, showing the 

 whole of the valley and the village below. The highest terraces are very large, and are composed of fine 

 and coarse sand. At Tyson's Furnace one is struck with the evenness of the terraces, though they are not 

 very numerous. On the highest of them are found beds of kaolin and hematite of tertiary age. Like simi- 

 lar beds in other parts of the State, they underlie some accumulations of the alluvial formations. There 

 are very few terraces north of Plymouth Pond. The valley is mostly filled with moraine terraces and 

 glacial moraines. There is a good opportunity to examine the structure of such small terraces as are found 

 upon mountain torrents, at the gold washings east of Plymouth Pond. 



TERRACES UPON MILL BROOK. 



This stream rises in the northwest part of Eeading, and passes through Eeading, West Windsor and 

 Windsor, before reaching the Connecticut. It receives the drainage of the north side of Mt. Ascutney, and 

 by combining with the currents of the Connecticut at Windsor village has produced six small terraces on 

 its south bank, on the fifth terrace of Connecticut Eiver. They are very beautiful, and are represented 

 upon Plate IV, Fig. 3, which has already been noticed when speaking of the terraces on the Connecticut 

 at Windsor. 



If we were to dignify the different deposits of terraces upon Mill Brook as basins, we should mention at 

 least two ; first, the Windsor basin, which contains all the terraces that occur upon the river, for at least 

 two miles from Windsor court-house ; secondly, the Brownsville basin, which commences with the barrier 

 of rock limiting the first basin, and extends a little way beyond Brownsville in West Windsor. There are 

 generally about three terraces of coarse and fine gravel on both sides of the stream, over the whole of the 

 basin ; but for ten miles of the distance between Brownsville and Windsor there are no terraces. Beyond 

 Brownsville we have not examined the terraces, and presume that they do not deserve notice. We shall 

 pass by many other smaller tributaries of the Connecticut for similar reasons. 



Before reaching the Otta Quechee, a stream joins the Connecticut at Hartland, upon which there is a 

 small, very well marked basin, in the village of Hartland. Its position may be seen upon the Map of Con- 

 necticut Eiver, Plate III, where its first terrace is represented as the fourth terrace of the Connecticut, 

 and is somewhat spoon-shaped. Its second terrace is No. 5 of the latter river, and it is composed of coarse 

 gravel. 



It may be well to mention here, that the numerous small tributaries of the Connecticut, many of which 

 are of too little consequence to be placed upon the map, have been of great service in the formation of the 

 large lateral terraces of the principal stream. At their mouths, it is almost always the case that the larger 

 terraces are better developed than elsewhere, and when traveling along the banks of the Connecticut, we 

 have often been interested to notice how easily the position of small streams could be learned by this 

 superior development of the terraces at their mouths, which are thus really latcro-dclta terraces. Were 

 we to consider every occasional brook that springs into active existence at the close of each storm of rain, 

 9 



