Chapter I. 
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 
1 -LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES. 
TjVN general terms the Adirondack Wilderness may be said to em- 
4 a brace that portion of New York State lying to the north of 
the Mohawk Valley, and included between Lake Champlain on the 
east and the valley of the Black River on the west. These limits, 
however, include much territory not properly belonging to the 
region under consideration, for its boundaries are more or less 
irregular, and in many places fall short of the limits above defined. 
The Adirondacks proper, or the area to which the subject matter of 
this paper is restricted, can be stated, with sufficient exactness, to 
lie between parallels 43 0 i 5 ' and 44 0 45' north latitude, hence meas- 
uring about an hundred and twenty miles (193,121 metres) in a north 
and south direction. 
The transverse diameter of the region is approximately of equal 
extent. A large area on its western border is well known by the 
name of “ Brown’s Tract,” and the whole territory is frequently 
spoken of as the “ North Woods.” It covers more or less exten- 
sive portions of twelve counties, namely : St. Lawrence, Franklin, 
Clinton, Lewis, Herkimer, Hamilton, Essex, Warren, Oneida, Ful- 
ton, Saratoga, and Washington. 
2. -GEOLOGICAL HISTORY. 
From a geological stand-point, the Adirondacks are interesting as 
constituting one of the few islands that rose above the level of 
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