2 Geology, ifc. of the Connecticut. 



mountain ranges, will be known as mica slate, or gneiss, or 

 some other rock of a schistose structure. 



Such is in fact the aspect of the country along the Con- 

 necticut; and of course we here find a rich diversity of 

 scenery, so that not only the geologist, but the poet and the 

 painter, and every man of correct taste, will find an interest 

 in its beauties. My object at this time is to refer to a few of 

 the most interesting and romantic spots along this river, 

 annexing a short description to each ; in which I shall be 

 most particular concerning those with which I am most fa- 

 miliar. It is not in my power to describe these scenes with 

 the skill of the poet or the painter : But if I can succeed in 

 inducing the traveller to visit them, it will be to hjm a more 

 agreeable disappointment to have the reality exceed the des- 

 cription, than fall short of it. 



East and West Rock. 



The eminences thus named have long been celebrated, 

 and attract the attention of the visitor who first enters the 

 harbour or the city of New-Haven, as most singular features 

 in the landscape ; — the one lying north west and the other 

 north east, about two miles distant. They present their na- 

 ked fronts towards the city, nearly four hundred feet high, 

 of an iron rust colour ; the original dark brown aspect, be- 

 ing at East Rock principally destroyed by the stone quarry- 

 men, who have, with great boldness, undermined nearly the 

 whole of the front columns for the purposes of architecture. 

 In ascending these cliffs, we find them to be greenstone bas- 

 ed on sandstone.* But when the visitor reaches their top, 

 he will find his attention diverted from the rock on which 

 he stands, to the rich and varied prospect that stretches be- 

 neath his eye. New-Haven, with her long line of colleges 

 and elegant churches on the one side, and her extensive 

 wharf on the other, is an interesting object ; and suggests 

 to the mind a great variety of agreeable associations. 

 Beyond the city the spectator sees the harbour, grad- 

 ually widening outwards, till it is lost in Long Island 

 Sound ; and low in the horizon, he observes the gandy 



* Cactus opunticji L grows on these rocks as a native. 



