628 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



in the south-east part of the state below the level of the 500-feet con- 

 tour line. Where the work of transportation has been mainly effected 

 by water, the sand is often left in one district, while the more fertile 

 ingredients have been segregated from it, and deposited in alluvial 

 meadows. 



The Ascent of Mt. Carrigain. This mountain being practically un- 

 known to tourists, I will reproduce, from our second annual report, a 

 brief sketch of its ascent, by Prof. G. L. Vose. The results of another 

 trip in 1874, by G. F. Morse, are given graphically in the atlas. The 

 completion of the railroad through the Notch will now bring this moun- 

 tain into notice. 



Mt. Carrigain stands almost exactly in the centre of the vast group of the White 

 and Franconia mountains, and, rising as it does to a height of nearly 5000 feet, is a 

 marked feature in the landscape from almost every point of view. Conversely, the 

 view from Carrigain must embrace the whole mountain mass, and must sweep around 

 over all the principal summits. 



The morning was bright and clear, and promised good weather for the ascent. 

 Leaving our hotel directly after breakfast, we drove to Lawrence's farm, and, sending 

 back our team, strapped our packs upon our backs, bid good-by to civilization and our 

 paper collars, and took to the woods, following up the north bank of Sawyer's river. 

 A walk of a little more than an hour brought us to Duck Pond stream, a tributary of 

 the river from the north. Crossing this brook, we continued in a north-westerly direc- 

 tion for an hour and a half, when we struck Carrigain brook, the second tributary from 

 the mouth of Sawyer's river. This brook has its rise both upon Mt. Carrigain and in 

 the deep notch east of it, and thus leads by its west fork directly to the top of the 

 mountain. Proceeding up the brook for an hour, we stopped at the foot of the ascent, 

 which was now directly in front of us, to dine ; and, after a short rest, commenced the 

 climb, following the bed of the stream, which tumbles down the steep eastern slope of 

 the mountain. 



The summit of Carrigain is 4800 feet above the sea ; the base of the mountain is 

 probably about 1200 feet in height, thus leaving,36oo feet from the summit to the level 

 of Carrigain brook, at least 3000 of which is in one almost unbroken slope, so steep as 

 to require the constant use of both arms and legs in its ascent. The west fork of the 

 brook leaps down for a great height over broad steps of granite ; and this gigantic 

 flight of stairs aifords for a considerable distance the best means of ascent. The bed 

 of this brook we named for our guide,— who was the first to ascend,— Cobb's Stairs. 

 We kept the stream for about 1000 feet of vertical ascent, at which point it became so 

 abrupt that we were forced to abandon it for the wooded slopes, where the foothold 

 was better, and the trees offered us the assistance we needed for dragging up the con- 

 stantly increasing weight of our bodies. The surface of the magniiicent slope, up which 



