FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 391 



The extreme headwaters of Hudson River in Essex county drain from the 

 southern slope of the highest mountains of the State, viz.: Mount Marcy, 5,344 feet; 

 Mount Mclntyre, 5,112 feet; Mount Skylight, 4,920 feet; Nipple Top, 4,620 feet; 

 Dix Mountain, 4,842. This is a wild, uninhabited region of mountains, forests and 

 lakes. The branches of Hudson to the west, Cedar and Indian Rivers, etc., drain a 

 nearly equally wild, very sparsely inhabited country, but of somewhat less altitude, 

 Snowy Mountain, the principal peak of the Indian Lake region, being somewhat over 

 4,000 feet above tide. 



The upper Hudson valley may be considered as beginning at the mouth of 

 Mohawk, tidewater having, previous to the construction of Troy dam, reached that 

 point. The catchment area above the mouth of Mohawk is 4,627 square miles, and 

 above Glens Falls, where the upper valley may more properly be taken to begin, it is- 

 2,800 square miles. 



The main tributaries of Hudson above Mohawk are Hoosic, with a drainage area 

 of 711 square miles; Batten Kill, 438 square miles; Sacundaga, 1,057 square miles;, 

 Schroon, 5 70 square miles. Very little is known as to the rainfall of upper Hudson area 

 from observations taken within the basin, the following being the only stations actually 

 within the catchment area, and these are all in the southern part, South Hartford and 

 Gloversville being just on the boundary: 



Glens Falls. — Elevation, 340 feet above tide; average rainfall for twenty years, 37.76 inches. 



Kings Station. — Elevation, 588 feet; average rainfall for eight years, 45.24 inches. 



South Hartford. — Elevation 500 feet; average rainfall for thirteen years, 40.65 inches. 



Gloversville. — Elevation, 850 feet; average rainfall for six years, 46.10 inches. 



Keene Valley (a short distance north of the north end of the upper Hudson catchment 

 area). — Elevation, 1,000 feet; average rainfall for eighteen years, 35.93 inches. 



Saranac Lake (also a short distance north of the Hudson catchment area). — Elevation, 

 1,540 feet; average rainfall for six years, 37.90 inches. 



Waterford (near Troy). — Elevation, 50 feet; average rainfall for four years, given as 36.62 

 inches. 



Albany. — Elevation, 97 feet; average rainfall for seventy-three years, 39.38 inches. 



In discussing questions relating to rainfall in upper Hudson catchment area, it has 

 been the author's custom to take as best applying to the entire basin the rainfall of 

 Northern Plateau as used by the State Meteorological Bureau, the stations included 

 therein being Elizabethtown, Keene Valley, Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Gloversville, 

 Little Falls, North Lake, Lowville, Number Four and Kings Station. The monthly 

 means derived from taking the averages at all these stations is considered to give 

 a very close approximation to the mean monthly rainfall of upper Hudson area. 

 The figures for the eleven year period from 1888 to 1898, inclusive, may be found 

 in the author's paper, Data of Stream Flow in Relation to Forests. 



