108 



Mine," a low horizontal cavity, from 4 to 6 feet high, 50 to 60 

 feet long and 15 feet deep. There is a vein of iron pyrites, de- 

 composing into 3^ellow oxid of iron and gypsum; also white cop- 

 peras and acicular crystals of Epsom salts. Further eastward we 

 climbed the ladder to the top of the cliffs and lunched and rested 

 on Hanging or Table Rock, at the brow of Mine Lot Fall. Here 

 is a grand view of a "widespread level country, a true basin 

 of the Hudson and the Mohawk — a deep valley more than sixty 

 miles in width, bounded by distant mountain chains. . . . 

 You can see nearest, the deep savage valley, with shades predomi- 

 nating, mountain-walled; checkered fields and woods beyond in 

 vast prospective"; distant farms and villages; "last, the blue, 

 ragged outline of the northern granite mountains. ..." 



Later in the afternoon we wandered eastward through the 

 woods, and from the ruined tower on the edge of the cliff, which 

 Verplanck Colvin in 1869 likens to an old feudal watch-tower, a 

 fine view of the eastern amphitheater was enjoyed. This tower 

 was built by an Albanian many years ago and formerly had an 

 outside platform; but is now being slowly destroyed by vandals. 

 Continuing eastward and crossing the stream which flows down 

 through Glen Doon, we came to the summer cottages on East 

 Cliff. If the air is right one can converse across the gulf between 

 this cliff and the Indian Ladder road, a distance of over half a 

 mile. At other times one can hear speech; but cannot con- 

 verse. There are many fossils in the rocks here, but the most 

 abundant of the Upper Silurian fossils is the shell Pentamerus 

 galeatus. 



Late in the afternoon we descended the ravine of Glen Doon, 

 also known as Mosquito Hollow, a stream bed of boulders, which 

 half a mile below let us out into pastures of goldenrod. Along 

 the upper part of the ravine the immense rocks are covered with 

 ferns and mosses, but near the lowlands is a stratum of Hudson 

 River shale, and we found a little standing water. There is 

 much decayed wood in the ravine, and it is probably a good place 

 for fungi in a favorable season. 



Many berries were ripe: wild gooseberries, high-bush black- 

 berries, red raspberries, running dewberries, purple-flowering 



