354 TRAVELS IN THE UNITED STATES : 
pleiely to answer the description given by the 
poets of the sacred groves; and it were im¬ 
possible to enter them without being struck 
with awe. 
About twenty miles before you come to 
Bethlehem, in going thither from Wilkesbarre, 
you cross the ridge of Blue Mountains at what 
is called the Wind Gap ; how it received that 
name I never could learn. This gap is nearly 
a mile wide, and it exhibits a tremendously wild 
and rugged scene. The road does not run at 
the bottom of the gap, but along the edge of 
the south mountain, about two-thirds of the 
way up. Above you on the right, nothing is. to 
be seen but broken rocks and trees, and on the 
left you look down a steep precipice. The 
rocks at the bottom of the precipice have every 
appearance, it is said (for we did not descend 
into it) of having been washed by water for 
ages; and from hence,it has been conjectured 
- that this must have been the original channel 
of the River Delaware, which now passes 
through the ridge, at a place about fifteen 
miles to the north-west. Whether this were 
the case or not it is impossible to determine at 
ibis day; but it is certain, from the appearance 
of the country on each side of the Delaware, 
that a great change has taken place in this 
quarter, in consequence of some vast inun¬ 
dation. 
