178 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



John's river valley to the Connecticut in Dalton, crosses over the Con- 

 cord, Vt., ridge to the eastern line of the Passumpsic river basin, which 

 it follows around to Newark, Sheffield, and Cabot. From here the line 

 coincides with the west border of the Connecticut basin to Washington, 

 Vt.; thence it proceeds west of south directly to Proctorsville, Vt. Here 

 it turns back sharply to the south-west comer of Hartford, whence it 

 proceeds again nearly in a right line west of south to the Massachusetts 

 line in Halifax, Vt. This area comprises about 3,200 square miles, and 

 it is the best agricultural district east of the Green Mountains. 



Hinsdale and Vernon combined — the southern border towns of this 

 district — make a natural basin about seven miles in diameter. Hinsdale 

 is not over half a mile wide at its southern extremity. On the east bank 

 of the Connecticut, Foxden mountain bounds the district as far as the vil- 

 lage of Hinsdale. Here the Ashuelot has cut a deep, narrow chasm into 

 the range. The high land continues to the north, culminating along the 

 north town line, in Wantastiquit or Mine mountain, more than 1,000 

 feet above the Connecticut. The more eastern part of this mountainous 

 pile is called Daniel's, and East mountain, and Bear hill. A spur runs 

 down opposite Brattleborough village, about a mile and a half, close to the 

 river's bank. As seen from Brattleborough, Wantastiquit mountain is 

 rough and precipitous, barely giving a foothold for trees. 



On the Vernon side the range commences directly at the South Vernon 

 Railroad junction, and follows the state line westerly to its culmination 

 in the south-west corner of the town, perhaps 700 feet above the river. 

 Then it sweeps around, and pursues a northerly course into Brattle- 

 borough. 



Although one might fancy this basin an extinct volcanic crater, it was 

 not this resemblance which led a few persons, near the close of the 

 eighteenth century, to imagine Wantastiquit mountain an active volcano. 

 The supposed volcanic phenomena were described fully in the Transac- 

 tions of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Boston. Dr. 

 Timothy Dwight also visited the locahty in 1798, and seems to have 

 regarded the phenomena as "in a very humble degree volcanic." The 

 site of the supposed eruption is about one hundred and fifty feet below 

 the summit. A loud noise had been heard, and on this spot a black iron 

 ore, much like scoria, seemed to have been thrown about. From an 



