232 The Aineric<(n (ieohxjist. Octoljcr, i89r> 
yet no iloubt a ji,lacial stream at one time plunged into it, and 
the Eastport and Riverhead road seems to follow the old line 
of drainage. 
On the north sitle of the moraine there is a beautiful sheet 
of water known as Great pond, nearly as large as lake Ron- 
konkoma and similar in origin. This pond and Terrell's Hole 
were doubtless at one time connected. How this connection 
could have taken place without a change of level we are at 
present unable to explain, V)ut there is no evidence of oscilla- 
tion, at least siiice the Ice age. It would seem as if the ma- 
terial was taken out of TerrelTs Hole and dumped on the 
ridge near by to form Osborn's hill, which is said to be 293 
feet above sea level. 
It is a peculiar geographical feature of the island that the 
highest elevations rise along the line of these old watercourses. 
Dr. F. J. H. Merrill, in his paper on the "Geology of Long Is- 
land," has noted this fact, although he fails, we think, to un- 
derstand its true significance. After referring to some of the 
higher hills, he says : "From these instances it will be seen 
that the areas of high elevation bear a very marked geograph- 
ical relation to the deep indentations of the coast. That this 
relation is due to glacial action seems more than probable, 
and it can scarcely be an accidental coincidence that the 
highest hills on the island should be in line with the deepest 
bays on the northern coast and that the course of these bays 
should coincide with that of the glacier."* Dr. Merrill thinks 
that he sees in this phenomenon a confirmation of his ice-lobe 
theory, that is, he holds that the bay indentations have been 
plowed out by projecting spurs of ice, and that the higher ele- 
vations referred to are the result of lateral thrusts. A careful 
study of all the drift phenomena on the island will hardly 
bear out this interpretation. The present writer, in previous 
papers in the American Geologist and other publications, has 
tried to show that not only the principal morainic ridges, but 
also the kames and the so-called sea beaches along the south- 
ern coast of the island were affected by glacial currents. On 
the beach opposite Eastport and Moriches the pebbles washed 
out by the waves of the sea are the same in character as those 
we find in the banks along the Long Island railroad, or on the 
*Annals of the Now York Academv of Science, vol. iii. p. .360, Nov. 7; 
1884. 
