124 HISTORY OK THE COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER. 



also accounted prophetical birds. When Hying in flocks, they were watch- 

 ed by the Romans in trembling; for if they passed on the right hand, 

 they boded good; if on the left, evil. The flight of a crow over a house 

 three limes in succession, with a croak each time, was sure to be followed 

 by a death in the family. An old writer was so profoundly convinced of 

 the prophetical powers of this lover of corn, that he expresses the belief 

 "that God showeth his privy counsayjes to crowes." The ravens have 

 long ago disappeared from their favorite haunts, amid the rocky ledges, 

 and gone west in quest of more abundant game. The " Devil's den " is a 

 dark cavern at the base of the " Raven's rock," while below is a placid 

 stream called " Stillwater." Stony Hill brook (which rises in Marshall's 

 swamp) unites with the Cisqua, or Beaver Dam river, near the residence 

 of Phineas Lounsbury. 



The Stony Hill lands, soon after the Revolution, were divided into 

 so-called wood lots, and granted by the State to Generals Philip Van 

 Cortlandt and Van Renssellaer, for services rendered during the war. 

 rnor John Jay and Dr. Peter Fleming, both of Bedford, also pur- 

 chased some of them. The mountains are now occupied with charcoal 

 pits and forsaken huts, and frequented by occasional trappers. About 

 seventy years ago one Samuel Brown was killed by a large fox trap. 



On the property of Lewis Green, and almost under the shadow of the 

 Stony Hills, is an ancient burying ground, where the native Indians are 

 said to have interred their dead long before it was used by the white set- 

 tlers, more than one hundred years ago. Nothing, however, but the 

 rudest kind of stones serve to mark the dwellings of the dead for two or 

 three generations. 



The Indians were in the habit of visiting this part of Poundridge, 

 down to a period as late as 1800. 



The late Jonathan Dibble, whose father David Dibble resided near 

 the farm of Mr. William Barnes, (on the South Salem road) when a boy 

 of ten years old fed twelve Indians who were " going down to salt " 

 (salt water) under the black walnut tree, still standing just above the 

 Brie) House. 



Boutonville is a hamlet in the north corner of Poundridge, near the 

 outlet and junction of the Peppeneghak, or Cross River, with the 

 Waccabuc Stream. Here is a Post Office, Grist Mill, and several 

 dwellings. 



Upon the north-east side of the town was formerly a singular chain 

 of ponds, the h: which was Lake Peppeneghak or Cross Pond, 



(supplied by several springs from the hills) and has its outlet in Cross 

 River. The others were RowidPond, the Middle- Pond, and the Low- 



