3^4 VERMONT. 



and 20 in height. In the spring of the year this room is full of 

 water. 



At Dorset there is an excavation into a solid marble rock. The 

 entrance, through a perpendicular ledge twenty feet in height, is 

 twelve feet broad and as many high. The descent makes an angle 

 of 25° with the horizon, and, alter a short passage, opens into a room 

 25 feet wide, 20 high, and 150 long, continuing the same declination. 

 At the further extremity, two narrow passages run off to an unknown 

 distance in the mountain. At the town of Danby, there is another 

 cave equally interesting, but it has not been completely explored. 



In 1783, part of Poultney river changed its bed. This river 

 empties into East bay. A little above its junction with East bay, 

 a ridge of land crosses in a northerly direction. The river running 

 a north-westerly course, on meeting the ridge, turned suddenly to 

 the north-east, and keeping that course about half a mile, turned 

 westerly, passing the ridge over a high ledge of rocks. For se- 

 veral years the river had gradually worn away the bank on the side 

 of the ridge, just in the bend where the river turned to the north- 

 east. In May, 1783, during a remarkable freshet, the river, at this 

 place, broke the ridge, and, meeting no rock, it wore a channel 60 

 teet deep, nearly to a level with the stream below ; leaving its former 

 channel and falls dry. The channel of the river above was lowered to 

 a great depth, so that the low meadow lands along the river, which 

 were before overflowed with every freshet, have now become a dry 

 plain. The earth thrown out of this prodigious chasm, filled East 

 bay for several miles ; but the force of the current has since removed 

 it, so as to render the bay again navigable. 



Similar changes appear to have taken place in other rivers. 

 Through the whole length of Vermont, Connecticut river has lower- 

 ed its cnannel from 80 to 100 feet. On the plain where Dartmouth 

 College stands, which is nearly 100 feet above the present bed of the 

 river, logs of timber have been dug up at the depth of 25 and 30 feet 

 below the surface. A singular discovery was made in digging a 

 well, in Burlington, on the Onion river, in the summer of 1786. 

 Tut earth, to the depth of fifty feet, was composed of a' fine river 

 sand. Twenty-five feet below the surface, a large number of frogs 

 were found in a torpid state. After being exposed for a short time 

 to the air, they shewed signs of life, and began to leap about, but 

 soon grew languid and died. 



About 4 years ago, some of the inhabitants of Glover and the adja- 

 cent towns, attempted to cut a channel from a large pond, whence 

 the Lamoille issues, running south into Lake Champlain, for the 

 purpose of increasing a mill-stream which issues from the same 

 pond, and also with a view of connecting it with a lesser pond, whence 

 Barton river issues, which runs north into Lake Memphremagog. 

 After digging, a few feet from the margin of the pond, through a 

 bed of gravel and earth extremely hard, they came to a bed of 

 quicksand, into which the water entered, through the new channel, 

 and in a few minutes formed a capacious gully or hole about 60 feet 

 deep. The waters of the pond rushed instantaneously towards the 

 increasing gulf with such impetuous force, that they loosened half 

 an acre of the opposing bank, covered with standing; trees, and then 

 with one tremendous crash, dashed it over a precipice towards the 

 north. A channel from ten to fifteen rods wide, and 150 feet deep, 

 Was washed in a few minutes, by the rushing torrent, and the whole 



