202 
[Assembly 
in the heart of this district, is a matter of great interest to the public, 
forming the nucleus of a great establishment, which will in a few years 
change the entire character of this region.. Anticipating such a result, 
I was early induced to give topographical observations a prominent place 
in my labors; and I have been urged on by the consideration that this 
field is the great water shed from which flows in all directions, the 
waters of one-half of the State, and that it embraces a range of moun- 
tains whose peaks overtop by some 2,000 feet the great Catskills, widely 
famed as the Alps of New-York.* , 
Besides the importance of possessing correct geographical and geo- 
logical maps, considerations connected with science in general have had 
their influence in directing my attention to the topographical features of 
the section committed to my charge. These in their aggregate, it is 
believed, will overbalance any loss which the geological survey will 
sustain in consequence of a partial diversion of labor in this particular. 
It will be unnecessary, as I conceive, to give a detailed account of 
the measures adopted to accomplish this object. I deem it sufficient to 
say that I have been able to determine the position of the highest 
mountains in Essex, Warren and Hamilton counties, together with the 
course or bearing of the Northern Highlands, the zone or belt which 
they traverse, and the points at which the subordinate and primary 
range terminate. 
To obtain my results, I have been obliged to travel over more terri- 
tory than would have been required to have completed the necessary 
geological observations; hence my labors have increased; but that no 
lack of service might appear at the close of the survey, I have felt the 
necessity of improving every favorable moment for observation. 
In selecting the subjects of discussion for the third annual report of 
my district, I have determined to confine myself to a few topics, and 
mostly to those of a practical kind, or to those most useful to the pro- 
ducing classes of community; though it is difficult to avoid the discus- 
sions of theoretical points when they appear in connexion with economi- 
cal geology; and besides, it is often the case that those very points are 
of more value than the insulated facts from which they are inferred, 
* In a report to the Legislature this present session, Mr. E. F, Johnson, the engineer of the 
Ogdensburgh and Champlain rail-road questions the accuracy of the measurements of Mount 
Marcy. In reply to his suggestion, I shall merely remark that it is quite doubtful whether 
the mountain in question is distinguishable from those of the same group, especially by one 
who has never visited the interior of this section; and if visible, his measurement is not enti- 
tled to coiisideration except as a very imperfect approximation^ 
