What counties does it run through?

Which way does it run after it comes into Massachusetts ?

Into what do Nashua and Concord rivers run?

Into what does Charles river run?

Into what does Taunton river run?

Where is the Housatonic?

How far up the Connecticut do boats pass?

LETTER XV.

THE eastern part of Massachusetts, where it comes near the sea, is pretty smooth and level. The hills are not steep and sharp, but round and swelling. In the southeastern part of the State, the counties of Bristol, Plymouth, and Barnstable are flat. But Worcester county and all the counties west of it, are hilly; and there are some pretty high mountains. Berkshire county is more hilly than the rest, and has many mountains.

I shall not mention all the mountains in Massachusetts; but I will tell you something about the most important ones. These are Wachusett, Mount Holyoke, Mount Tom, Mount Toby, the Hoosack mountains and Saddle mountain.

Wachusett mountain is in Princeton, in the county of Worcester. The top of it is nearly half a mile up in the air.

A mountain which is

half a mile high, is a pretty high mountain. Around the bottom of Wachusett, and some way up the sides of it, the land is good pasturage, and the trees where they have not been cut off, are large. But as you go up the mountain, the trees are smaller and smaller, till they become small shrubs or bushes. The top of the mountain is a ledge of rocks.

Trees become smaller and smaller as you go up a mountain, because the air becomes colder and colder. The higher a mountain is, the colder it is on the top of it; and some mountains are so high, that the snow remains on their tops all the summer. But there are no such mountains in Massachusetts. Mount Holyoke, and Mount Tom are in the county of Hampshire. Mount Holyoke is in Hadley, on the east side of Connecticut river, five miles distant from Mount Tom, which is in Northampton on the west side of the river. Mount Tom is the highest; but neither of them is half so high as Wachusett. They have trees growing upon them all the way up to their tops. From the top of Mount Holyoke is a delightful prospect. One can see a great ways up and down Connecticut river. The rich meadows, and green woods, and pleasant towns, look very beautifully. There is a road to the top of Mount

Holyoke, and a great many people go up to enjoy the prospect. Mount Toby is in Franklin county, in the towns of Sunderland and Leverett; it is about as high as Mount Holyoke.

The Hoosack mountains are a long chain of hills running north and south through Berkshire county. Some of the highest of them are almost as high as Wachusett. The Saddle mountain is in the town of Adams, in the northwest corner of the State. It has two peaks or high points, and is shaped like a saddle. It is said to be the highest land in Massachusetts.

What is said concerning the eastern part of the State?
Concerning the counties of Bristol, Plymouth, and Barnstable ?
Concerning the western counties? Concerning Berkshire?

How high is Wachusett, and what si said of it?
What is said of Mount Holyoke? Mount Tom?
Of the Hoosack mountains?

Which is the highest land in Massachusetts ?

LETTER XVI.

I SUPPOSE you would like to know something about the different kinds of land in Massachusetts. Some land is very rich, and bears a great deal of hay, or corn, or potatoes, or whatever the owner plants, or sows; and some land is so poor, it will bear scarcely anything. That part of Massachusetts, which

you,

is

is near the sea, I have already told pretty level and smooth; much of the land is good for grass, and grain, but a good deal of it is very sandy. Sandy land is always poor.

Along the sea-shore there is a sort of land, called salt marsh. A great many acres of it often lie together; it is perfectly flat and smooth, and is so low, that the salt water often flows over it. This land is never ploughed, but it bares a great deal of grass, which the farmers mow down, and make into hay. The grass is so often wet by the salt water, that the hay made of it has a salt taste.

Back from the sea the country is rougher, but the land is generally more fertile than the land near the sea. When the land lies in large round swells, as they are called, the tops and sides of the swells are commonly warm and good land; while the land in the vallies, between the swells, is often cold and poor. But when a considerable river runs through a valley, the land on one or both sides of it, is often of the very best kind. This land is called interval or meadow, and there is a great dael of it on the banks of rivers in Massachusetts. Nearly all the rivers have more or less of it. On the banks of the Connecticut there are many thousands of acres. It bears a great

deal of grass and grain, and is very easy to plough and hoe. There is not a stone in it. It is a delightful sight to see many hundred acres of this meadow lying together. It is level and smooth, and in the summer is covered with grass and corn and other growth while here and there stands a great elm or other beautiful tree, in the field or beside the river.

There is another kind of meadow very different from this interval land. It is found upon brooks and in low places, and bears a tolerable kind of grass, but is so moist, that it is seldom ploughed.

There is another kind of land still different, which is sometimes called meadow, but which is properly called swamp. It is very wet and muddy, and bears very coarse, poor grass. This land, however, may be made very good by digging ditches in it, and letting the water drain out.

In many wet and low places there is a very curious sort of meadow, called peat meadow. The grass that grows on it is not worth much; but the soil of the meadow is a sort of substance called peat, which, when dried, is good to burn. It is cut up in long pieces, and placed in the sun to dry. It is black, and appears to be a great