SCENOGRAPHICAL GEOLOGY. 629 



we were now toiling, appears to consist entirely of loose angular blocks of granite, 

 dislodged by the frost, and covered with a deep matting of rich green moss, in which 

 we sink to the ankles, and through which we not unfrequently break into some crevice 

 up to the middle. For about two hours we work doggedly up this apparently intermin- 

 able slope, — keeping the brook always in hearing, in order not to get beyond our supply 

 of water for the night, — stumbling now into some hidden chamber beneath the moss, 

 now lifting ourselves up by the friendly branches of spruce and pine, now sinking 

 exhausted into the soft green bed beneath our feet, now winding around some fallen 

 tree, still up, up, up we go, panting and straining, with every muscle called into play 

 and every drop of blood in vigorous motion, till the distant mountains begin to lift 

 their blue heads above the decreasing trees ; till exhausted nature calls loudly for rest, 

 and the small rill trickling beneath our feet is all that remains of our brook. * * 



Daylight found us ready for the final pull, which should place us on the summit of 

 Carrigain. Despatching our breakfast, and taking nothing but note-book and compass, 

 we move slowly up, threading our way sometimes on foot, sometimes on our hands and 

 knees, among the scrub spruces, and sometimes upon the rough, gray blocks of granite 

 that strew the mountain side, till a shout from the guide sends new vigor into our 

 muscles ; and one more lusty pull, and a rough scramble through the bushes and over 

 the rocks, and we stand upon a narrow ridge, from which the great slopes sweep down 

 in one unbroken descent to the green carpet of forest spread out like a map beneath. 



While we had been engaged in reaching this point, the clouds had not been idle. 

 Indeed, they were a little ahead of us ; and when we arrived upon the summit, we 

 ifound tlie mountain mists creeping slowly in upon us, and one by one wiping out the 

 great ranges that surrounded us. This was not pleasant ; but we had come too far to 

 give up the view from Mt. Carrigain, and, making a good fire, we sat down and awaited 

 better times. Fortunately, they were not long coming ; and, when we least expected 

 it, a rift in the vapors showed the wide ring of the distant horizon, and the surging 

 swell of the vast landscape around us. 



Directly opposite to Mt. Carrigain upon the east rises a noble summit, scarred with 

 tremendous slides, and forming with Carrigain a notch not inferior in depth or abrupt- 

 ness to the White Mountain Notch itself. [See view of Carrigain Notch, p. 596.] 

 This fine summit we named Mt. Lowell, in honor of one of the oldest and most enthu- 

 siastic among White Mountain explorers,— Abner Lowell, Esq., of Portland. The 

 slopes of these two mountains in Carrigain Notch are more imposing, both on account 

 of their exceeding steepness and of their great height, than any others yet described 

 in the White Mountains. The distant view, too, in every direction, is full of interest. 

 Ranges and notches, huge mountains and broad valleys, never seen from the points 

 commonly visited in this region, are spread all around. From its central position a 

 better idea of the arrangement of the White and Franconia mountains is had than 

 from any other point, perhaps, in the whole group. To the east we see Washington, 

 Monroe, Franklin, Pleasant, Clinton, Jackson, Webster, Resolution, Giant's Stairs, 

 Crawford, the Carter mountains, Doublehead, Pequawket, and the lower summits of 



