-^ 



Portland and its Vicinity. 335 



from all the facts in the case, I presume that Its general 

 course was nearly southeast. I am aware that some 

 writers, who profess to be acquainted with our geology, 

 speak of the occurrence of this northerly current as a 

 gratuitous assumption ; probably, because it does not 

 accord with their preconceived opinions, or perhaps their 

 prejudices. But until they can hide from view those 

 vast accumulations of detritus, which many parts of our 

 country contain, and which are uniformly found south- 

 easterly IjTom their parent beds ; until they can convert 

 the primary boulders of our great western prairies into 

 secondary rocks ; until they can obliterate those grooves 

 and scorings, of which hundreds of examples exist in 

 every part of New England at least, unprejudiced ob- 

 servers will certainly infer that a mighty debacle of water 

 must formerly have rushed over this continent. No 

 causes now in action, no drainings of former inland seas, 

 will satisfactorily explain the phenomena of our dilu- 

 vium- For the highest portions of New England at 

 least, were swept over by the mighty wave. Nor could 

 this deluge have happened before our present mountains 

 were elevated. For in no instance out of the hundreds 

 of diluvial grooves which I have examined, have I seen 

 the least evidence of any change of level in the rocks 

 containing them, since they were made ; and had there 



chan 



rocks 



been elevated more than others. But in every case, the 

 entire surface, often several rods in extent, is as even 

 as are the rocks in the bottom of a river, that have been 

 smoothed and furrowed by the flood of a previous win- 

 — a decisive proof that no essential chan£re of level 



ter;— a ded 

 has occurred 



