108 Geology of Deerficld, 8fC. 



On the margin of these meadows, at considerable elevation^ 

 numerous small conical excavations ay)pear. On digging belovr 

 the surface, stones are found calcined by fire. These are 

 probably the spots where Indian wigwams formerly stood. 

 Many vestiges of the aboriginals are frequently found in 

 Deerfield, such as beads, stone pots, mortars, pipes, axes, and 

 the barbs of arrows and pikes < Near the village they had a 

 burial-ground, where many skeletons have been uncovered. 

 A roll of human hair was lately found here, by Mr. J. C. Hoyt 

 of Deerfield, three-fourths of an inch in diameter, and three 

 inches long, closely tied by a string made of the hide of some 

 animal, which string was encircled by brass or copper clasps 

 greatly oxidized ; but the hair and string were in a good state 

 of preservation, though they must have lain there more than 

 a century. In the meadows, logs, leaves, butternuts, and wal- 

 nuts are found, undecayed, 16 feet below the surface; and 

 stumps of trees have been observed at that depth standing yet 

 firmly where they once grew. In the same meadows, a few 

 years since, several toads were dug up from 15 feet below the 

 surface, aud three feet in gravel. They soon recovered from 

 a torptd state, and hopped away. 



The small range of hills beginning at the south line of Deer- 

 field, and terminating in Gill, deserves description. At its 

 commencement on the south, a conical hill, called Sugar Loaf, 

 of red conglomerate, rises abruptly from the plain 600 feet. 

 The appearance of this hill, as you come from the south, is 

 picturesque, and it is an interesting feature of the country. 

 The range becomes higher for three miles, where, at its 

 greatest elevation, it is 730 feet above the bed of Deerfield 

 river. The west side of the mountain is precipitous, and in 

 some places naked. The ascent on the other side is gentle. 



Both sides of this hill are sandstone and puddingstone, fre- 

 quently alternating : though these are most extensive on the 

 west side, and as we rise the puddingstone predominates. The 

 strata dip to the east about 10 degrees. Near the centre of 

 this range is a ridge of greenstone, with a mural face on the 

 west, and amorphous masses lying at the base, halfway up to 



