162 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



southerly gales. A breaking wave rarely throws spray as high as 

 the top of the cliff. Where the lake bottom, just off the foot of 

 the cliff, can be seen at low water, it is found to consist mainly 

 of bare bed rock. Pebbles as abrading tools can rarely be used 

 against this wall and the water here never picks up enough sedi- 

 ment to become in the least discolored. 



Pilate 3 presents a view of a portion of a cliff about a mile distant 

 from that shown in plate i and on the opposite or west side of the 

 island. Here the wall faces west by south. A few of the caves 

 developed on easterly running joints have somewhat the appear- 

 ance of bedding or pebble-eroded caverns. It may easily be seen 

 that the influence of the bedding in their formation was slight, for 

 the lower portion of the cliff does not differ enough from the upper 

 in character to make it a very effective factor. Neither can we 

 very seriously entertain the idea that they were pebble-cut, for the 

 water near their mouths is now too deep to- allow waves the use of 

 any visible abrading materials. Waves can break against these 

 cliffs only during westerly winds. The nearness of the mainland 

 prevents a very heavy sea and westerly winds in this region are of 

 short duration. A little to the left of the region here shown the 

 cliff face turns easterly and there, on southerly running joints we 

 find the typical wedge-S'haped forms like those shown in plate i. 

 A little to' the left of the center of plate 3 is a cave opening that 

 reaches nearly to' the top of the cliff, the cave here developing on 

 a southerly running joint or fissure. This cave has maintained 

 much of its wedgelike character and the influence of neither weaker 

 bedding nor pebble-cutting is at all apparent in the outlines of its 

 mouth. In their earlier stages all of these caves were no doubt de- 

 veloped through the same agencies. A very large part of the present 

 difference between the caves shown in plate 1 and those shown in 

 plate 3 may be due to the effects of glaciation acting on the latter. 

 We may note that southerly facing cliffs would be in a measure 

 protected from strong glacial action while westerly facing cliffs 

 would receive no protection from a planing action which would cut 

 across their cave mouths. The form, of the most distant large 

 cavern on plate 3, the shape of the cliff face just south of it, and the 

 stranded boulder removed from this wall, all suggest glaciation as a 

 modifying agent. Additional evidence to' this effect will be pre- 

 sented. 



Near the cliff shown in plate 1 is a small island called Spoon 

 island which is separated from Valcour island by a narrow glaciated 

 channel. A portion of its west wall as it appeared October 2, i< 



