12 
GEOLOGY OF THE SECOND DISTRICT. 
even an outlier is to be seen which would go to show the gradual extinction of the force 
which upheaved them ; the whole force seems to have been concentrated upon the space be¬ 
tween the Champlain and the St. Lawrence. We have indubitable evidence of this mighty 
and concentrated force in the magnificent cliffs and precipices, which are continually arrest¬ 
ing the attention of travellers. 
To the southwest of Racket lake, this broken range appears to assume an east and west 
direction, and to consist of two parallel ranges, forming between them an important valley, in 
which are situated the Fulton chain of lakes, and through which there is a feasible route for a 
road by which to gain the table land of the Racket, and thence any point on Lake Champlain. 
As I have already remarked, the western and northwestern slope to the St. Lawrence is 
long and not abrupt, as may be proved by the sluggish movements of the rivers which take 
their rise upon this table land, some of which are beatable for long distances. The country, 
it is true, is somewhat broken by ridges of a limited extent, but the characters are materially 
changed from what they are upon the eastern and northeastern slope. 
Before I close my account of the mountain ranges of the north, it is necessary to notice 
one feature which they all present. I am not prepared to say whether this is peculiar or re¬ 
markable ; it is, however, interesting, and is worthy of attention. 
The fact which I wish to present is, that the mountain ranges do not present a uniform, 
unbroken ridge, but are made up of subordinate short ridges, whose axes are oblique to the 
axis of the main range in which they are situated. The axes may be called the major and 
minor axes of the range; the former lies in the principal direction which the range pursues, 
which is from the southwest to the northeast; the latter in the direction of the short inter¬ 
rupted ridges, which is from the southeast to the northwest. I shall not attempt to explain 
the mode by which such an arrangement was produced, though it is unquestionably due to the 
mode and direction by which the elevating force operated at the time of the uplift. 
I may remark, however, that it is to this peculiarity that the difficulty arises in determining 
the range to which many of the mountains belong, or in attempting to reduce to order the 
several chains which traverse this portion of the State. 
Valleys .—The Second Geological District is penetrated by a few valleys only, and these are 
long and narrow; and as in all mountainous districts, so in this, they partake of the nature of 
gorges, having abrupt sides and very little width. Their number and direction may be determined 
by the rivers laid down upon the map. The valley of the Hudson river is the longest and 
most important; the Schroon branch runs through it; and although it is high for a valley of its 
length, yet it presents an accumulation of diluvial gravel and rounded pebbles throughout its 
entire length, a hundred feet or more above the banks of the river. Another valley extending 
from Corinth to the head of Lake George, connects the plains of Saratoga with the valley of 
this lake and Lake Champlain. 
But the valleys to which allusion has already been made, require a more detailed account. 
I refer to those which surround the Second Geological District. They contain a great extent 
of arable lands, and receive the drainage of from eight to ten thousand square miles, princi- 
