SUB-BASINS. 139 



Frederick Smith, Esq., the gentleman who superintended the construction of the reser- 

 voir on Pearl street, informs me that at the depth of 13 feet he encountered a tree which 

 he estimates was about forty inches in diameter, and extended quite across the excavation, 

 40 feet square. 



Mr. Pickering has kindly presented the ancient copper coin (?)* to me, to be placed 

 in the State collection at Montpelier, where it will be exhibited with the fossil wood, 

 seeds, &c., found in connection with it. 



Respectfully yours, 



ALBERT D. HAGER. 



Keturning to the terraces in the first basin on the Winooski River, we will notice those about the gorge 

 near Winooski village. No terraces can exist where these rocks are found, but the rocks did not constitute 

 a barrier high enough to separate the terraces into two basins, because the highest terrace is higher than 

 the rocks; and if our view of its formation be correct, it once covered these rocks. But we have thought the 

 division into sub-basins very appropriate, because this rock is a complete barrier between the lower terraces 

 west and east of it. The gorge itself is described in another part of the Report. 



The highest terraces in the second sub-basin from Penniman's limekiln to Richmond have already been 

 described. East of Penniman's limekiln the meadow expands, and is of a triangular shape owing to 

 a bend in the river. Several terraces are found upon the south side of this triangle. Near Painesville 

 there are found Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6, the latter being insulated on No. 4 near the railroad junction. The 

 rest of the basin nearly to Richmond, west town line, has no terraces except the meadow which is composed 

 of clay, and No. 4, already described, composed in its upper part of sand. It is along this beautiful 

 valley that the Vt. Central Railroad runs, and it is a very advantageous route for a railroad. 



At Richmond, near the west line of the town, is the limit of the second sub-basin, for here we find ledges 

 of rock showing themselves, and intercepting the terraces upon the north side. 



The third sub-basin extends from Richmond to Jonesville, the limit of the first basin. 



At Richmond, just west of the village, there is a curious enlargement of the meadow nearly into the shape 

 of a semicircle. It extends north of the river for more than a mile. It is upon a small stream, too 

 insignificant to receive a name upon the county map, it being only two miles long. East of the meadow 

 there is a tongue of terraces, extending nearly to Winooski River, upon the second of wjiich is located the 

 village of Richmond. Five large terraces, mostly of sand, compose this tongue. Still farther east the 

 meadow expands to the north like the semicircular plain west of Richmond, but is of less width ; and this 

 expansion is situated west of a tributary stream, without name, which is about four miles long. The 

 arrangement is represented upon Plate V, Fig. 3. A third expansion of the meadow, still smaller, is seen 

 at Jonesville. Besides the meadow, there are two small terraces on the north side. On the south side 

 of the Winooski the terraces are compressed laterally, and the fourth terrace is the most common. In 

 Jonesville at the mouth of Huntington River, there are four terraces in succession on the tongue of land 

 between the Huntington and Winooski Rivers. 



At Jonesville we arrive at ledges of talcose schist which are beautifully striated, and have formed 

 a decided barrier to the first basin. The embossed rocks have taken to themselves the whole vallev. 

 From Jonesville to Waterbury, the terraces are generally narrow, though often quite high. This region is 

 an excavation across the back bone of the Green Mountains. Hence as the exertions of the currents have 

 been mostly devoted to wearing away the solid rock, we should not expect to find many terraces, although 

 the excavation was principally made before the drift period. At intervals in this cut there are some very 

 high terraces. We noticed respecting some of them, that at certain points where a ledge projected towards 

 the river, thereby narrowing the valley, the highest terraces and greatest accumulations were found. Some 

 of them must have been 200 feet high. Two cases were noticed in particular, at two extensive excavations 



* The figures were not raised, but coarsely engraved in the copper, and this evidently was never milled like common coin. 



