ESSEX COUNTY. 219 
being the most easterly, Mount McIntyre the westerly, and Mount McMartin the central one, 
and each distant from the other about six miles. A little farther west of Mount McIntyre, in 
Franklin county, is Mount Seward, but slightly removed to the north of this westerly line, 
and at an elevation of nearly five thousand feet. In the disposition of all these mountains, 
such a regularity could not have prevailed without an established law to govern the action of 
the internal forces. But these laws are among the hidden things in the natural world ; they 
are secrets which, like periodicity or periodical movements in the animal economy, evade the 
closest scrutiny of philosophy; and while they invite investigation, they seem to elude our 
grasp when almost within our reach. 
60 . 
I have here introduced a view of the Adirondack group, as seen from Newcomb, of which 
Mount Marcy is the highest and most conspicuous member. There is one feature which this 
sketch exhibits worthy of some notice : it is the diversity of the northern forests ; this feature 
is well exhibited in the drawing, and to those who are unaccustomed to scenes of the kind, it 
will be both novel and interesting. 
Nipple-top is an insulated mountain, nearly due north of Clear pond at Johnson’s, which 
is nine miles west of Pondsville post-office. Its appearance is really unique; the shape of 
the mountain is rather conical, and its top is surmounted by a remarkable projection. The 
ascent is steep upon all sides, but it is most accessible by following a stream which flows 
down its sides from near the summit upon the northeast side. A deep depression separates 
this mountain from the West-Moriah range. The space upon the top of the mountain is less 
than upon any one in the group ; it is merely a sharp ridge, less than sixteen feet in length. 
