12 



tain road, the valley opens, into a kind of a bottom 

 terminates & surrounded by hills & the river 

 which keeps now close to the main ridge receives 

 several large creeks coining from all directions. 

 In this bottom is the house of Mr. Howser where 

 I but up at ; it is called G. miles to Dills's feriw, 

 from where I began my description. 



Jim. 4. This day I made some small excur- 

 sions about the nighborhood of Mr. Howsers — 

 Having been pretty much fatigued yesterday, & 

 intending to go to Minisinks to morrow, I dit 

 not do much ; but even the little I was about 

 convinced me more & more that this were not a 

 place for new discoveries. The Ideas which I 

 have allways formed about the valleys beyond 

 the blue ridge of having been large rivers or 

 lakes, still I come with more proofs to my mind ; 

 the water gap, which probably has been a large 

 cascade in former ages, & the country behind it, 

 have so much weight in this conjecture as any I 

 know ; a well which old Mr. Howser dug about 

 40. feet deep, the house standing on an elevated 

 spot may be 80 or 100 feet above the river was 

 found to be entirely river sand, which still can 

 be seen on the bank raised therewith. 



Jun. 5. This morning I set out on an excur- 

 sion up the River, I had to call on a man who 

 took my trunk from Easton here, who had told 

 me, that in his nighborhood there was a very 

 rich valley ; I went through it, to his house 

 about 8. m. from Howsers, but observed nothing 

 materially new ; a species of Kanunculus with 

 very long limber branches, which I suppose to 

 be the It. repens & a Viola like the debilis of 



