206 
BULLETIN OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
occupied by mixed woods in a country showing no hills or 
elevations of any kind. This character continues down to near 
the crossing of the railroad, when the stream become swifter and 
a little broken, with a wide bed and stony bottom which would 
give the canoeman much annoyance at low water. At the 
railroad, where the bed of the stream is 410 feet elevation by 
spirit level, the river has evidently begun to cut down into the 
plateau, for the banks here rise steeply some 30 feet which is the 
height of the railway bridge. Below, it continues of much the 
same character, though with some long quiet pretty pools, down 
to Upper Otter Brook, where, as so often along this river, is a 
charming open camp ground. 
Below Otter Brook, the river continues a series of quick- 
waters, with intermediate stillwaters, broken by occasional small 
rips, between banks usually of meadow but sometimes of low 
upland, though gradually some banks of sandstone in the form 
of low cliffs appear. Below McKinley Brook, the river is 
evidently cutting more deeply into the plateau, for the valley 
walls, at first low, gradually grow higher, and in places show 
marked cliffs. In this part the river seems to be cutting across 
a ridge, for below the North Branch the country falls off and 
continues lower to beyond Lower Otter Brook. In this part, 
the river is a very charming canoe stream, smooth and ever 
swift though with little fall. Here and there the bed of the 
river is composed of flat sand stone ledges, apparently indicating 
that this river is now cutting into its rock bed, and has not a 
bed of drift. Below Lower Otter Brook, the river becomes 
gradually shallower and more rocky and would give trouble to 
the canoeman at low water. Here the valley walls soon rise 
steeply, and the great burnt country is entered which extends 
for most of the distance to the mouth of the river, though the 
new growth is developed enough to give the country a rather 
pleasing park-like aspect in many places. The river now runs 
for some miles in a deep valley of steep walls, evidently a plateau 
cut 50 or 60 feet at least deep; and from the bare knolls an 
appearance can be seen as if this deeper and newer valley were 
cut below a more ancient and shallow trough valley, but of this 
