230 Miscellaneous Notices of Mountain Scenery, ^c. 



to distances, &c. may be relied on as correct — for I was told, 

 by one of the sixteen who visited the spot, (as above rela- 

 ted,) that they had a chain with them which was used in 

 making the measurements. 1 conversed with a number of 

 individuals in the vicinity, all of whom appeared to be well 

 acquainted with the facts and ready to communicate them. 

 The slide happened in the forenoon. The report was heard 

 at the distance of several miles, and by some was thought 

 to be an earthquake — by others, a clap of thunder; although 

 they could not account for its long continuance. I was 

 told, that it produced a very perceptible jar, similar to that 

 of a peal of thunder. Had not the mountain been en- 

 veloped in fog, perhaps some favored mortal might have 

 witnessed from an adjacent eminence, the appalling specta* 

 cle of rocks, and woods, and waters, roaring and rushing 

 in frightful confusion down this precipitous descent ! Vari- 

 ous conjectures were afloat with regard to it, but as the fog 

 vanished from the mountain, the true cause of the thunder- 

 ing and jarring was displayed to the view of the inhabitants 

 upon the distant hills ! It is visible from some of the adja- 

 cent towns, and has the appearance of a field recently 

 ploughed. Fortunately as it was a number of miles distant 

 from any human abode, wild beasts alone, were exposed to 

 its ravages. A similar occurrence took place a few years 

 since upon the same peak, but on a much smaller scale. 



In its whole course before reaching Mill Brook, it swept 

 through a dense forest, mostly of hemlock and spruce, and 

 took oflf the entire surface, and every thing which it contain- 

 ed. The ground appeared to be as free from roots as if it 

 had been tilled for fifty years. We observed some trees so 

 firmly rooted in the rocks, that they could not be drawn out, 

 which were pounded off upon a level with the surface of 

 the ground, as if they had been but slender reeds. At some 

 distance above the stream the mass parted, and left a few 

 rods square of timber standing — but soon united again — 

 and rushing on in all its tremendous power, struck obliquely 

 against the opposite bank of Mill Brook, with a concussion 

 that must have shaken the everlasting hills. This bank rises 

 very precipitously and forms the base of another peak, which 

 towers to a great height. At this place we judged the 

 width of the desolation to be twenty-five or thirty rods. As 

 the frightful moving mass now struck against an immovable 

 barrier, and its line of direction must be changed before 

 it could follow the course of the stream ; we should expect 



