138 Account of a Remarkable Storm. 
great violence, and produced ravages not less remarkable. 
On the west side of the Kaaterskill, about three and a half 
niles from the town, a small brook empties into that stream. 
This brook is usually from one to two feet in width, and does 
not contain more water than might pass through a cylindrical 
tube of six or eight inches in diameter. The distance from 
the source of the brook to its mouth is about three quarters 
of amile. The country bordering it is hilly. In the after- 
noon and evening of the storm the brook was enlarged to a 
surprising extent. For halfa mile from its mouth upwards, 
it became from two to four rods in width, except in certain 
places, where it was six, eight, and ten rods wide. In some 
places it was twenty feet deep. The quantity of earth, and 
stones, and rocks in rolled masses, washed out of the banks, 
during the afternoon, was prodigiously great. It has been 
estimated by several judicious persons, to exceed a hundred 
thousand tons. 'The average width of the ravine, I estima- 
ted to be four or five rods. I am not confident of the ex- 
actness of these estimates, nor are they intended to be very 
exact particularly as relatesto the quantity. In some places, 
huge rocks washed out of the banks, have been heaped up 
by the waters, to the height of from ten to fifteen feet, and 
several rods in width. A considerable number of these 
rocks are estimated to weigh from six to ten tons each. I 
measured one, which was ten feet in length, seven feet in 
breadth, and eighteen inches in thickness. This rock, 
which is a mass of compact carbonate of lime, is almost 
wholly made up of organic remains.* Several others are 
considerably larger. ‘To strangers examining this ground 
hereafter, it may be satisfactory to know that, before the 
rain commenced, all the ground from the mouth of the 
brook upwards, to the place where the banks become steep 
and high, and the-ravine suddenly narrower, was level, and 
covered with agood bed of soil, well turfed over, with a few 
forest trees interspersed. ‘The trees and soil have all dis- 
appeared, and huge rocks, and smaller stones, now occupy 
* [ visited this ground Sept. 1, 1820, in company with James Pearce, Esq. 
of New-York, (now of Catskill.) During our rambles up and down the ra- 
vine, Mr. P. discovered a smaller mass of organic remains, having an argil- 
laceous base, and containing superb specimens of Orthoeerites, madreposes, 
tubipores, pectinites, terebratulas, &c. He also discovered in the western 
bank a bed of good marl. 
