136 TRACES OF ANCIENT GLACIERS 



But how is the region to the west, from which the glacier must have come ? We 

 see clearly that it is a mountainous region, and on consulting the Map of Massa- 

 chusetts, based upon trigonometrical surveys, we find several mountains in a south- 

 west, west, and northwest direction, high enough to have formed starting points 

 for a glacier. Winchell's Hill, in Granville, lies in a southwest direction, a little 

 over six miles distant, rising to the height of 1362 feet above the ocean, nearly 

 800 feet above the lowest of the glacier striae, and 500 above the highest; giving 

 a descent of nearly 100 feet in a mile. The same mountain extends nearly 

 through Granville of nearly the same height, and its northern extremity is distant 

 from the gorge in Russell only four or five miles. To the northwest of the spot, 

 near the middle of Blanford, six and a half miles distant, we find Dug Hill, 1622 

 feet above the ocean. More to the west, and eight and a half miles from the gorge, 

 Jackson's Hill, 1717 feet high: in the same direction, nearly 20 miles from the 

 gorge, we find the Becket Station of the Trigonometrical Survey, which is 2193 

 feet high. Still more to the right, 22 miles distant, is French's Hill, in Peru, 

 2339 feet high. Indeed, the country rises to the west over a space of 90°, for 

 nearly 20 miles : Hoosac mountain forming the culminating ridge ; and Little river 

 is one of the outlets through which glaciers, if they pressed downward from these 

 mountains, would find their way to the Connecticut valley. 



The inquiry, however, arose in my mind, whether these striae, on the south 

 slope of Middle Tekoa, were not the result of some modified form of the drift 

 agency. And on examination, I did find on the west side of the Connecticut 

 valley, that what I call drift striae, instead of running north and south, as they 

 usually do, turn southwesterly, south of Southampton, as much in some places, as 

 S. 65° W. I suspected at first, either that these markings were produced by the 

 glacier after it reached the Connecticut valley, or that the supposed glacier 

 scratches were the result of drift agency operating up hill. But when I found 

 that the stoss side of the glacier striae was the west side, and that of the drift 

 striae was the northeast, both these suppositions were shown to be untenable, and 

 I accounted for the southwest direction of the drift striae by the expansion to the 

 right, of the Connecticut valley south of Southampton. I think this the right 

 interpretation of the facts : but I could wish to give them further examination. 

 However they should be explained, it seems to me that they cannot invalidate the 

 conclusion respecting the former descent of a glacier down the valley of Little 

 river. 



Still further to settle this question, I determined to visit the tops of the moun- 

 tains north and west of the striated gorge, to ascertain the direction there of the 

 drift agency. The country is very wild for the heart of New England, and excur- 

 sions on foot can alone, in most cases, carry us to the summits. I first visited the 

 hills in the southwest part of Russell, forming the north side of Little river; and 

 there, about 1100 feet above the ocean, I found the rocks distinctly abraded and 

 embossed by a force from the north : yet the striae were mostly obliterated by the 

 disintegration of the surface of the coarse mica slate. This was obviously a case 

 of drift agency, and is so represented on the map. 



The next locality to which I would refer, is two miles northwest of East Gran- 



