240 The Physical History of the Trias 



been forced out in places far distant from the main out- 

 bursts. 



5th. The line of mountains and bluffs, bordering the Trias 

 on the west, may be traced as has been said f from the Potomac 

 to the Hudson. It does not end here, however, but extends on 

 far to the northeast. An observer standing on the Hook 

 Mountains at Haverstraw, has a magnificent panorama spread 

 like a map before him, the view toward the north and west be- 

 ing limited by a great range of rounded and truncated moun- 

 tains. Starting far to the southwest, beyond the reach of vis- 

 ion, these highlands become more distinct and sharply out- 

 lined as their course is traced towards the Hudson, where the 

 great Dunderberg towers up, but a few miles away ; crossing- 

 the Hudson, the same line of headlands, with no change in its 

 topographical features, stretches away towards the northeast as 

 far as the eye can reach, becoming blue and misty in the dis- 

 tance. We know that the line of highlands on the left is 

 the old Triassic shore ; and it is impossible . to deny the fact 

 that the mountains to the east of the Hudson are but a contin- 

 uation of the same range, and must also have been washed by 

 the waters of the same estuary. If we wish to restore in 

 fancy that broad landscape as it appeared in Triassic days, we 

 have but to clothe those grey hills with a tropical growth of 

 ferns, cycads, and conifers, and replace the level country at our 

 feet with rolling turbid waters. I have but little doubt that 

 this ancient coast-line can be traced far to the northward 

 through Connecticut and Massachusetts, to where it must once 

 have been connected with the other coast east of the Connec- 

 ticut River. The banks of the streams that flow southward 

 from these highlands, if closely examined, should reward the ex- 

 plorer with the discovery of some remnants of the formation 

 which once covered this country ; patches of the variegated 

 conglomerate, especially, may be looked for just southward of 

 this Triassic coast-line. 



Before discussing the physical history of this formation, as 

 given in the translations we have made from the records on the 

 strata, we must pass to the consideration of the third great 



