94 Mr. Pierce on the Catskill Mountains. 



Copperhead serpents inhabit the lower parts of ravines 

 and eastern face of the mountain, but are not found on the 

 summit. 



The black, water, striped, and milk snakes are among the 

 harmless reptiles. 



The Catskill mountains, in wild grandeur and romantic 

 beauty, can compare with the highlands of Scotland, without 

 presenting their barren heath-covered aspect, being from the 

 base to the summit thickly covered by forests. 



The eastern face of the mountain, though steep and pre- 

 cipitous, supports an almost impenetrable forest. The ledg- 

 es form natural terraces that arrest the vegetable mould. 



In the valleys and gradually declining mountain surface 

 of the interior, trees of great size appear, indicating a consid- 

 erable depth of good soil. 



Gradations of elevation on the mountain are in some de- 

 gree marked by a change of vegetation both as it respects 

 the species and periods of blossoming, and the maturity of 

 fruit* The lower districts and the warm southern exposure 

 of ravines, exhibit trees and plants common in the river 

 valley — oak, chesnut, soft and hard maple, ash, and cher- 

 ry, mingled with a few evergreens. On the peaks, on the 

 cold northern sides of ranges, in moist shaded ravines and 

 elevated valleys, the trees and plants of the green moun- 

 tains and northern parts of New-England occur. You there 

 see thick groves of hemlock; spruce, balsam fir and pitch 

 pine, mingled with hard maple, beach, white and black birch, 

 and cherry. The white pine is not observed on the east- 

 ern range of the Catskill mountains but is found in the valley 

 of the Schoharie and adjacent hills of moderate elevation. 



Among the mountain shrubs, the black!>erry, thimbleber- 

 ry, gooseberry, and moose-bush, are noticed ; the whortle- 

 berry is very abundant on the rocky summits, and is the fa- 

 vorite food of bears. The plants of the mountain blossom 

 much later than those of the valley, and a botanist can collect 

 plants of different latitudes, or which blossom at diiFerent 

 periods in one day's research. 



There are three descriptions of rocks on the Catskill 

 mountains common to the whole chai)i, and which alternate 

 with each other, viz. red sandstone, gray wacke, slate and 

 puddingstone. The sandstone iS of a fine texture, highly 

 colored bv oxide of iron and contains much aluraine. It is 



