Geology of Seneca County. 63 



Such hills as exist scarcely rise more than 100 feet above the 

 level country anywhere in this county, and their forms are so 

 flattened that they make little impression on the eye. There is 

 an exception to this at the southern border of the county, vrhere 

 the topography changes ; great flat hills rise several hundred feet 

 above the table land, v^ith fine valleys, leading south to a series of 

 interlacing valleys, which characterize the country back of Burdett, 

 and are repeated east and west beyond the lakes, adding greatly 

 to the picturesque beauty of Schuyler and Tompkins counties. 



Figure 2. 



The sketch (fig. 2) represents the east side of Seneca lake, 

 southern half. It was taken from a hig'h point above Watkins 

 village. The apparent point of land on the left is formed by the 

 descent of Lodi and Ovid townships to the lake. Three or four 

 long hills, from 400 to 600 feet high, are seen occupying the 

 plateau ; their valleys are high above Seneca lake, and do not 

 communicate with it as valleys, but send their streams down the 

 steep lakeside in thread-like gorges, too small to be drawn here. 

 The hill farthest to the left projects (as just stated) into Seneca 

 county under the name of Prospect, formerly Butcher's, Hill. 



Collectively, these large hills indicate a second lift in the level 

 of the plateau. The formation continues to be Portage. The 

 flatness of their summits is characteristic. Prospect Hill com- 

 prises about one-third of a mile of ascent on each side (E-W), 

 with half a mile of almost dead level on top, the outlines being 

 essentially formed of rock. The hill is a type of the southern 

 half of the county, which is like a house-roof, flat over the top and 

 pitching rapidly toward the eaves. The lakeward slopes each 

 way occupy two miles or less of the breadth of the county. 

 They are in many places subdivided into several terraces or steps, 

 each with a nearly perfect level surmounting a short rise. 



