CATSKILL GROUP. 197 



village of Madison. This is a sliort, and interesting route, but not so favoraljle for collecting 

 fossils. The second route, tliat of tlie Schoharie creek, begins at Schoharie Courl-house, 

 and follows it up to Gilboa, Prattsville, Lexington, Hunter, and then to the Catskill 

 Mountain House. The wlioh- New-York s_vstem is traversed by this route, and it h'ads up 

 a beautiful valley, on the siih's of wliich the strata are finely exposed in receding terraces or 

 steep escarpments. Beautiful cascades and splendid scenery gratify the sight at every turn ; 

 while to the geologist the succession and stratigraphical arrangement is so clear and satis- 

 factory, that all doubts are dispelled. The advantages of this route arc decisive, in con- 

 sequence of the fine field at Sciioharie, where the succession is over a complete division of 

 the Helderbcrg rocks : the Erie division is full and complete also, and may be observed first 

 in the rounded hills about Schoharie village, dipping in the direction of the route up the 

 creek ; and the succeeding members slowlj^ follow each other, till, finally, at Gilboa, the 

 Catskill rocks are found at tlie base of tlie higli ranges whicli have hedged in tlic creek 

 for twenty-five miles. The route will be completed by descending on the eastern side by 

 the steep road of the Mountain House, which leads over the belts of the disturbed rocks 

 that have been already noticed. . 



Thickness of the- Catskill division of the J\''eiv-Yoi-k rocks. The strata rise horizontally, 

 or nearly so, from Gilboa to Concsville. The latter place is the highest travelled point be- 

 tween the former place and Catskill. It is twelve hundred feet above Gilboa, or two 

 thousand feet above tide. The mountains rise over one thousand feet above Conesville. 

 The rocks belonging to the Catskill division are between eighteen hundred and two thou- 

 sand feet thick. 



Illustrative views. The clefts through the mountain ridges furnish an exceedingly rich 

 scenery. We have selected the Platerskill clove for this purpose, although it is in no 

 respect superior to several landscapes of tlie same region (PI. xix. and Fig. 7). The 

 panoramic view is taken from the ridge east of Catskill, on the 02)posite side of the river. 

 The general appearance of stratification is intended to be exhibited. It was more particu- 

 larly designed to illustrate the denudation of the mountain, and the deep cuts which were 

 made in the drift era : it is an accurate representation of the north face or slope. The 

 fii'st view, the Platerskill clove, looks down upon the valley of the Hudson, over the fine 

 flourishing village of Saugerties. The river appears in clear weather like a silver band 

 winding through a high plane, beyond which the laconic hills seem to rise in even slopes, 

 till far in the horizon the whole country becomes dim and lost in air. The view from 

 the Catskill Mountain House is still more extensive, as it is not shut in on either side by 

 towering peaks. It is here the world becomes a world ; it is liere man becomes a man, 

 and physical nature speaks a lesson full of rich and precious truths. 



The sectional illustrations of the relations of the rocks described in the foregoing pages, 

 may be found on PI. xxi., sections 3 and 5. 



