98 Topographical Sketch of the State of Netv York. 



cral ridges, crossed by the same section, is 1700 feet. And as 

 these elevations are the lowest notches near the line of the survey r 

 they may be considered as being but little higher than the general 

 elevation of the surface of the country. 



The second division of the mountain district of the state, or 

 that on the north side of the Mohawk and Oneida valley, and be- 

 tween Lake Ontario and ChampJain, has not been as minutely 

 explored by topographical surveys for roads and canals, as the di- 

 vision we have already described ; but the surface is known to be 

 traversed, in a northeast direction, by at least five or six parallel 

 ridges. The position of the principal one of these, beginning in 

 Oneida county, may be traced on the map, between the heads of 

 streams flowing to the right and left of its course through the mid- 

 dle of Herkimer and Hamilton counties, and the northern part of 

 Essex, near the sources of the Hudson. The lowest pass across 

 this ridge, between the valley of the Black river and the head wa- 

 ters of the Mohawk, is shown in table No. 4, and is elevated 1135 

 feet above the level of tide water. The lowest notch between 

 West Canada creek and the Black river, is elevated 1226 feet, and 

 between Fish creek and Salmon river, near where the ridge com- 

 mences, the pass is 659* feet high. One of the peaks of this 

 ridge, called the White Face, rises to the height of 2686 feet ; 

 and the general elevation of the country in the middle part of 

 Hamilton county, has been estimated at from 1800 to 2000 feet 

 above the level of the ocean. 



The mountains of this section are often described as an isolated 

 group, entirely disconnected from the Appalachian system, which 

 is generally considered as terminating in New-York, at the valley 

 of the Mohawk river and Oneida lake. But when we view their 

 relative positions, and the general direction of their several ridges, 

 we must at once be convinced that they are, with all the other 

 mountains in this state, only a part of the great chain which tra- 

 verses the United States from Alabama to Maine. Indeed, the ex- 

 istence of a separate mountain group in any part of our national 

 territory, has been reasonably doubted ; and, strictly speaking, 

 such a phenomenon is perhaps not to be found on the surface of 

 the globe. 



The third division, or that portion of the state on the east side 

 the ridge which has been described as continuing distinct from the 



