Geology, ^c. of the Connecticut. 7 



which is twenty miles distant; and by an optical deception,* 

 It seems to ascend the whole extent, about as much as it in 

 reality descends ; appearing at the farther extremity, to 

 be nearly on a level with the eye. Many pleasant villages 

 are visible along the river ; among which, as most striking, 

 may be named Windsor, East-Windsor, Springfield, West- 

 Springfield, andSouth-Hadley and Granby, almost beneath 

 the eye : and these, with the many spires of other villages 

 just visible above the trees, and the alternate patches of cul- 

 tivated and uncultivated ground, checkering the plain, give 

 a liveliness and interest to the commanding landscape. 



I sat down on this eminence, on a clear summer day, with 

 a telescope whose power was 40 ; and after the first thrill 

 of admiration, produced by the general view of the scene 

 around me had subsided, I began to examine, one by one, the 

 objects before me through the glass. The hour divisions 

 and indices, on the dial plate of Northampton meeting 

 house, were a? distinct as those on my watch in my hand ; — 

 and I presume an acquaintance might easily have been re- 

 cognized in the streets of that place. The divisions, &c. 

 on the dial plate of South-Hadley meeting house, five miles 

 distant, were also very distinct. By moving the telescope 

 slowly over the distant landscape, many spires of village 

 churches, that were unnoticed by the naked eye, passed 

 over its field ; and, with little effort, I numbered twenty- 

 four. 



It is a general opinion that East and West Rock are visi- 

 ble from Holyoke. But I am satisfied that the two perpen- 

 dicular bluflfs appearing in that direction, are those between 

 Berlin and Meriden ; and that these conceal the New-Ha- 

 ven eminences. On turning the telescope, however, so as 

 to point between the two precipices that are visible, 1 per- 

 ceived, near the horizon, a low range of hills, about as dis- 

 tinct as the belts of Jupiter; which, I have little doubt^ 

 were a part of Long Island. 



Suppose, next, that the man, who visits Holyoke, is a 

 geologist. He has reached an interesting spot, if he look 

 no farther than the naked trap on which he stands. But he 

 will find his attention, on first visiting this pinnacle, irre- 



^ Explained by th« commoD priaciplet of perspectire. 



