Hartwell.] 
422 
[April 20, 
Pearl Hill is situated from two and one half to three miles from 
the railroad station. As we approach, its steep sloping sides covered 
with pasturage are noticeable, and, at the summit, nine hundred 
and eighty feet high, the sharp outcrop of the strata is known as 
“The Peak.” The Peak is destitute of soil, hut just beyond it, 
owing to the grass and shrubbery, the outcrop is lost to view ; it 
reappears in bolder proportions further on. 
The carriage road leads along the eastern base of the hill ; a 
broad valley lies on the right, while on the left the cliffs rise to 
the height of one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five feet, 
either perpendicularly, or assuming the form of gigantic steps. 
Following the carriage road for three fourths of a mile we reach 
the top of a ridge at a place called “High Rock,” one of the two 
highest points of Pearl Hill, the other being about midway be- 
tween High Rock and The Peak. The one thousand foot con- 
tour line of the U. S. Geological Survey surrounds both. 
These points constitute the highest land in Fitchburg, with the 
exception of Brown Hill some three miles directly west and 
more than 1,180 feet high. 
The western side of Pearl Hill is far different from the precipi- 
tous eastern side. Its slopes conform to the angle of the dip, 
until they reach Falulah Brook, which is from three hundred and 
fifty to five hundred feet lower than the summit of Pearl Hill. 
What is true of the two sides of this hill is also true of the eastern 
and western sides of Mt. Vernon and Mt. Elam. 
Retracing our footsteps one fourth of the way from High Rock 
to The Peak, we can see from the roadway the boulder con- 
taining the pot-hole ; to the east is the valley three hundred and 
fifty feet lower than the highest points of Pearl Hill ; on the west 
is the debris from the ledge and the decay of leaves and trunks of 
trees, rising at the inclination which such debris assumes, so as to 
cover nearly half the altitude of the ledge : the length of this in- 
ch hundred feet. 
Above this debris the mica schist rises in three irregular steps. 
The rise and tread average about fifteen feet. The boulder lies 
fifty-five feet up this incline ; its length is fifteen feet, leaving 
thirty feet between it and the first step. 
In general form the boulder is pyramidal. From a triangular 
base, each side of which is almost six feet, it enlarges so as to 
have, six feet from the base, a lateral width of from eight to ten 
feet* the sides tapering to a point,, 
