DETAILS OF SECTIONS. 25 



east and west direction, or at right angles to the course of the stream that made 

 the deposits. 



It was from such examples as this section exhibits that I first got the type of a 

 glacis terrace; but in passing subsequently through some of the higher valleys of 

 the Alps, I sometimes observed the terrace materials arranged so as to form one 

 continuous slope from the rocky side of the valley to the stream. I noticed this 

 most distinctly on the Eau Noire, in the pass of T&te Noire. Here the materials 

 were quite coarse, the fragments often large enough to be called boulders, though 

 I fancy most geologists would be puzzled to say just how large a pebble may be, or 

 how small a boulder. The same sort of terrace I saw in other places in the Alps, 

 and I have observed them in the mountainous parts of our own country, though 

 but seldom, and they were imperfect. They perhaps furnish a better type for the 

 glacis terrace than that already described. If, however, we regard the gentle slope 

 on one side as a characteristic of this terrace, then both the above descriptions of 

 terrace will belong to it. 



6. In the Basins extending from Bellows Falls to Wells River. 



The mountains at Bellows Falls crowd closer upon the river than at any place 

 south of this spot, except perhaps at Holyoke and Tom. Kilburn Peak, on the 

 east bank, rises almost perpendicularly, over 800 feet. On the west side, as at 

 Brattleborough, the mountains recede further, and have an escarpment less steep; 

 yet the rocks show themselves almost everywhere in the gorge, and form a ridge 

 which produces the falls. All the circumstances here are favorable to the formation 

 of terraces. Sections 30 and 31 are only a mile and a half south of the village of 

 Bellows Falls, and the highest terraces extend through the village into the sixth 

 basin. So remarkably are they grouped together here, that a distinct and separate 

 map seemed indispensable. (Plate VI., No. 1.) 



32. This section crosses Connecticut river directly through the village of Bellows 

 Falls and a few rods above the principal cataract. The heights are given from the 

 foot of the falls. The depression on the left was evidently once occupied by the 

 river when at a higher level. I regret that I was not able to measure all the 

 terraces — none, indeed, on the east side of the river; but I am not aware that they 

 are peculiarly instructive. 



It was my intention for a long time to continue to get the heights of terraces 

 through the whole course of Connecticut river, at least as frequently as they are 

 given above. But I began to be convinced that I had already measured enough 

 for all important purposes in relation to river terraces. The phenomena of beaches 

 arrested my attention more and more, and it seemed a very important point to 

 ascertain how high they could be found upon the sides of our mountains. To this 

 problem I addressed myself, both in this country and in Europe, and shall briefly 

 give the results. But something more needs first to be said concerning the terraces. 



As to those above Bellows Falls on Connecticut river, I have but little to state ; 

 for although I have passed over the region several times, it has been rapidly, and 

 I can only say that at least three terraces may be traced nearly all the way to 



