T- 



^\ 



& 

 ^ 



^ 

 lT 



208 



BULLETIN OF THE 



f.' 





the track of an enormous avalanche, which, in 1816,* swept over a course 

 of not less than four miles in length. A mile or more of the lower part 

 is now wholly grown up to forovst, hut the upper part, for a mile and 

 three fourtha, is still covered with loose fragments of rock and gravel, 

 upon which vegetation has not encroached, except along the sides. The 



East Slide is less than a mile long. 



The Tahle Land narrows on the west, and sends off a sliarp-ridged 

 spur that curves to the southwest. From West Peak there is a descent 

 northward and westward, into which the Tahle Land merges, down 

 to the level of 4,250 feet, — the lowest part of the central mountain, 

 termed the Saddle. Northward from this rises rattier gradually a 

 rounded summit 450 feet higher than the Saddle, or 4,700 feet above 

 the sea, and 515 feet lower than West Peak. Three fourths of a mile 

 farther northeast is a second summit, similar to the first, but slightly 

 lower, the two being separated by a moderate depression of tlic ridge. 

 A half-mde farther, in tlie same direction, follows a tliird rounded sum- 

 mit, perhaps seventy-five feet lower than the first. From the first and 

 second ziorthern summits run eastward two sharp and narrow spurs, 

 which include the iNorth Basin, so named to distinguish it from the Great 

 or South Easin. The northern face of this smaller basin is made up of 

 cliffs for the most part nearly vertical. From the second summit runs 

 west another long and flat-topped spur.* 



Beyond the Saddle, the mountain stretches some seven miles to the 

 northeast, and terminates in a knot of lower spurs, having in the main 



flattish tops and precipitous sides. 



The Great Basin, in its whole extent, forms an amphitheatre, which, 

 seen from above, strongly resembles an old volcanic crater. In the ab- 

 sence of trigonometrical measurements, its dimensions cannot be accu- 

 rately stated ; but they may be approximately given as from summit to 

 summit east and west two and a half miles, by a mile and a half from 

 north to soutli. Its most precipitous part, tlie southern lobe, measures 

 from its head to the Basin Pond about three fourths of a mile, and its 

 width is nearly the same. The smaller North Basin approaches in 

 shape the capital letter U, and is about a mile and a half long and half 

 as wide, fronting a little south of east. The larger basin has a narrow 

 gateway opening to the northeast. 



* Williamsou's History of Maine, Vol. I. p. 90. 



t In photograpliiiig the model, light fell upon the western spurs exactly in the 

 direction of their liiiigtli. Flooded thus with light, these jtarts have not enough of 

 shade to render them distinct. 



:i: 



^it^-::-^ 



