136 VIEW NEAR TIOGA POINT. 



the village of Athens stands, is a peninsular tract of land, formed 

 by two rivers, the Chemung and the Susquehanna, which unite 

 their waters about a mile below the village. Athens is a small, 

 though rather pretty village, promising to become, however, a 

 place of considerable importance, should the North Branch 

 Canal and its continuation, the Chemung, ever be completed. 

 The country around is broken, and on each side of the Susque- 

 hanna hills rise to the height of five or six hundred feet. From 

 the summit of the highest, on the eastern side of the Susque- 

 hanna, the prospect is a glorious one. The courses of the two 

 rivers can be traced for miles, winding among the hills and 

 forests, sometimes lost apparently for ever, and then again 

 appearing in the dim distance, at intervals brief yet beautiful. 

 Below the spectator's feet the two streams unite their clear and 

 rapid waters, while every house in the village of Athens, and 

 every tree on the farm of Mr. Welles, the owner of the beau- 

 tiful peninsula, can be distinctly seen. Away to the north 

 stretches a beautiful undulating country, with here a village and 

 there a farm-house, while in the middle distance is noticed an 

 isolated hill of a nearly square shape, rising some two hundred 

 feet above the general level, and said to have once been fortified. 

 It is known by the name of Spanish Hill, though whence this 

 term is derived is now impossible to decide. 



From the spot whence this view was taken, the hills around 

 Tioga Point are conspicuous in the distance. 



