S5 



descript animal it becomes more interesting, 

 to those in particular who are disposed to 

 think on the subject; whether its extirpation 

 be attributed to the power of man, the preva- 

 lence of famine, or the violent and sudden ir- 

 ruption of water. There are many facts to sup- 

 port this latter opinion, which I confess myself 

 disposed to adopt. 



Orange and Ulster counties in the state of 

 New York, are situated westward of the Hud- 

 son and northward of West Point ; from the 

 Shawangunk mountain, which is a long ridge 

 east of the blue mountains, they appear as an 

 immense plain, bounded on every side by stu- 

 pendous mountains, the situation of which cer- 

 tainly tend to confirm the authenticity of an In- 

 dian tradition, which states them formerly to 

 have been the boundaries of a great lake ; and 

 it would now be a lake if the high mountains on 

 each side of the Hudson near West Point were 

 united, as probably they may have been. It is 

 a fact? that all over the country, the stones, 

 which in a curious manner are strewed over the 

 ground, from the largest to the smallest, have 

 been worn round by long- continued friction, as 

 if by the agitation of water; more particularly 

 in the lowest and flat situations, where the stones 



