120 THE VENGEANCE OF UNCAS. 



deep and firm foundations upon the earth, occupying place and 

 not filling empty space ; Avith a wide hospitable-looking hall, 

 and a broad richly carved staircase, the very sight of which 

 brings one back to the days of the revolution, when the owner 

 of this fair domain was the honored friend of Washington. 



The country around abounds in fine views. Every variety 

 of scenery, from the rugged pile of lofty rocks clothed in gray 

 moss and covered with a scanty vegetation, to the soft green- 

 sward of the low-lying and sunny valley, is there found. But 

 perhaps the peculiar charm which belongs to the environs of 

 Norwich, may be found in the windings of its many rivers. It 

 is scarcely possible to look out upon any point of view without 

 beholding the flashing of water in the distance, or its glittering 

 flow beside you. Other places may have hills and valleys, 

 woodlands and meadows, but few spots can be found which 

 combine with these such exceeding picturesqueness of rock 

 and cliff, and such wealth of rushing waters, as the neighbor- 

 hood of Norwich. 



About a mile above the mouth of the Yantic is a scene of 

 surpassing beauty. The river which has heretofore glided on 

 in a quiet course through green meadows fringed with aquatic 

 plants and moisture-loving trees, suddenly pitches over a rocky 

 ledge into a narrow but deep ravine, that seems to have been 

 cleft by some convulsion of nature. Huge masses are piled 

 up directly in the path of the turbulent river ; and as the 

 waters strike and divide on all sides, the narrow bounds within 

 which they are confined compel them to go on flashing and 



