Miscellaneous Notices of Mountain Scenery, ^c, 229 



two to ten rods in width ; and on either side are large quan= 

 tities of flood wood piled up very high ; and from fifteen to 

 twenty rods of the lower part it is blocked up across the 

 channel in every direction ; some of the trees are standing 

 on their tops, and generally stripped of roots, branches and 

 bark, and broken into many pieces. The pile in some places 

 is ten feet high. Much of the timber is apparently buried 

 several feet in sand and mud. One large birch tree was 

 broken off square, measuring three feet nine inches where 

 it was broken. One black ash was literally pounded into a 

 broom, whose brush is seven feet long. The whole distance 

 of these ravages, is a mile and a half, and the quantity of 

 land thus suddenly metamorphosed into a barren waste, is 

 twenty five acres. The force of water must have been very 

 great, at which, we cannot wonder, when we consider its 

 probable depth. In some places, from appearances, it must 

 have been thirty feet high. Some of the trees on the sides 

 of the channel were barked thirty or forty feet high, and 

 there was mud on them at that height. T. B. 



When this statement appeared, finding it diflicult to con- 

 ceive how, in those circumstances, causes adequate to the pro- 

 duction of such effects could be put into operation — 1 re- 

 solved, should opportunity offer, to see for myself. Such an 

 one presented itself in the month of May last. Accordingly, 

 on a fine morning in company with a single companion, I 

 started from a place in Fayston, distant about seven miles 

 from the slide, eager to behold this scene of desolation, and 

 enjoy a ramble on the Green Mountains. Three or fijur of 

 the last miles, lay through an entire forest, and our only guide 

 was Mill Brook, which came dashing down through the 

 wilderness. During our ascent we found a number of streams 

 emptying into this, but the marks of the flood were so evi- 

 dent, that we had no difficulty in deciding which to follow. 

 The indications continued to grow more distinct as we ad- 

 vanced — till, what for hours we had so eagerly looked for, 

 broke upon our view ; and we emerged from the forest into 

 an astonishing scene of devastation. For a time, I could 

 not credit my own eyes ; and while standing in the midst of 

 this desolation, found it almost impossible to bring my im- 

 agination up to the conception, that a physical force could 

 be accumulated in that place sufficient to accomplish the 

 wonders with which I was surrounded. 



I would here remark, that the statements of " T. B." as 



