260 ARTHUR C. VEATCH 



was first settled. This pond was called " The Lake " by the early 

 settlers. For this reason this division may be termed Lake 

 Plain, although the lake is a result and not a cause of the plain. 



These three plains so merge into one another that it is impos- 

 sible to tell where one begins and the other ends. The average 

 level of the plain above low water in the Ohio at Rockport is 

 about thirty-five feet. The difference in levels of all three is 

 very slight, not being over twenty feet, except where trenched 

 by modern channels. The surface is so nearly level that large 

 portions of this county either are or were swampy. 



The hill region occupies all land not occupied by the plains 

 above outlined. It will be seen from the location and intercon- 

 nection of these plains that the south part of the hill land is 

 completely cut off from the north or main upland, and stands as 

 a roughly triangular tract, with channels or low plains on every 

 side. 



This region is characterized by a great number of hills rising 

 on an average from forty to sixty feet above the plain. The 

 highest part of the triangular hill land is in Rockport, near the 

 junction of Lake and River plains, where the hills rise iio feet 

 above the plain. The next highest is at the junction of Pigeon 

 and River plains, where the hills reach the height of ninety feet; 

 the bordering hills being in general higher than those in the 

 interior and the hills on the south and east higher than those on 

 the west. 



The northern portion of the hill land is higher and more 

 irregular. The highest point measured is about four miles north 

 of Rockport, where one of the "Knobs" rises 240 feet above the 

 general level of the plain, or 275 feet above the Ohio River at 

 Rockport. 



The loess. — The hills bordering the plains in the triangular 

 hill land are all covered with loess. The southern border of the 

 northern portion of the hill land is covered from Grandview as 

 far as the point where Lake and Pigeon plains meet. From this 

 point the loess follows the terrace mentioned above northwest- 

 ward. 



