Mount Toby. 



83 



cipal street. The meadows, a little beyond, are one of the most ver- 

 dant and fertile spots in New England. Upon the whole, this view 

 is one of the most perfect pictures of rural peace and happiness that 

 can be imagined. 



Mount Toby. 



This is a sandstone mountain of not less elevation than Mount Tom ; 

 and it is separated from Sugar Loaf by Connecticut river, lying partly 

 in Sunderland and partly in Leverett. It is separated by a deep val- 

 ley from the primitive mountains near it on the east. It is a noble 

 mountain, and as yet, is almost covered by forests. The view from 

 its summit is commanding, but it embraces no objects of peculiar and 

 special interest. 



It has frequently been stated, and that too by very respectable au- 

 thority, that the ridges forming East and West Rock, Holyoke, Toby, 

 &c. are a part of the broad mountain ranges, which, commencing at 

 Long Island Sound, rise gradually towards the north into the Hoosic 

 and Green Mountains on the west side of Connecticut river, and into 

 Monadnoc and the White Mountains on the east side. But a slight 

 knowledge of the geological character of these mountains, is sufficient 

 to show that the trap and conglomerate ridges along the Connecti- 

 cut, differ, toto coelo, from the primary ranges on either side. And a 

 slight examination of the topography of these mountains, shows that 

 the former are uniformly separated by deep vallies from the latter, and 

 have no geographical connection except proximity. 



What a pity it is, that so many of the most interesting mountains 

 and hills in Massachusetts have got attached to them such uncouth 

 and vulgar names ! How must the poets lines 



scramble up and down 



On disproportioned legs, like Kangaroo, 



if such words as Saddle Mountain, Rattle Snake Hill, Bear Town 

 Mountain, Mount Tom, Mount Toby, Sugar Loaf, Blue Mountains 

 and Deerfield Mountain, be introduced. Holyoke, Taconic, Hoosic 

 and Wachusett, are more tolerable; though most of them have an 

 Indian origin. It would have been fortunate, if our forefathers 

 had not attempted in any case to supersede the aboriginal desig- 

 nations. For what mountain can ever become an object of much re- 

 gard and attachment, if its beauties and sublimities, cannot be intro- 

 duced into a nation's poetry, without producing the most ridiculous 

 associations ! Fortunately, there are some summits in the State yet 



