176 Notice of the White Mountains. 
a considerable fire with materials from a dry forest of dwarf 
spruce and: birch, destroyed by fire or frost. The bodies 
and antling branches were bleached white in the lapse of 
time, and resembled the horns of moose, or coral groves. 
Within a few feet of our station, there was a bank of snow 
six feet in thickness, and several rods square. Though in 
the valley it was remarked-as the warmest night in the 
season, we experienced much inconvenience from cold on 
our bleak elevation. ‘The moon and stars moved through a 
cloudless dark blue sky, and shone in this pure atmos- 
phere with uncommon splendour, rendering the white 
rocks and banks of snow very conspicuous. Tye 
We ascended Mount Washington, the highest point of 
the range, at an early morning hour. The rise was at first 
gradual and easy—grass and moss were mingled with rocks 
—but the sides of the cone soon became steep, and entire- 
ly divested of verdure—we were above the region of vege- 
tation. Rocks in situ were rarely seen, but the surface 
was covered with detached stones, generally in tabular 
forms, and resting firmly. Our progress, though toilsome, 
wassafe. We attained the summit about sunrise—its ele- 
vation above the sea, as calculated by Captain Partridge, 
is six thousand two hundred and thirty-four feet. The 
sun rose in aclear sky, and shed a yellow light on the 
bald peaks, and soon illuminated the rocky ravines. 
The view from Mount Washington, in extent and gran- 
deur, much surpasses the prospects exhibited from the 
Catskill, Highland, Taconic, and Holyoke mountains, 
and differs from them greatly in the objects presented. — 
From those elevated ranges, a large portion of the country 
in view appears like an immense plain under high cultiva- 
tion, adorned with cities, villages, and navigable streams. 
‘From Mount Washington, the region distinctly seen, 
with few exceptions, is a wilderness. On all sides, moun- 
tains rise above mountains, crowned by numerous peaks, 
resembling the lofty broken waves of a tempestuous ocean. 
The adjacent elevations present short ridges, waving with 
prominent eminences, and separated by deep ravines. — 
Some of these ridges, for a considerable distance, exhibit, 
bare rocks resembling banks of snow. The ravines and 
sides of the mountains are generally covered with forests 
that often have well defined limits, passing at once froma 
