MOUNTAINS.

believed to control with absolute authority. The savages, therefore, never attempted to ascend the summit, deeming the attempt perilous, and success impossible. But they frequented the defiles and environs of the mountains, and of course propagated many extravagant descriptions of their appearance; declaring, among other things equally credible, that they had seen carbuncles at immense heights, which, in the darkness of night, shone with the most brilliant and dazzling splendor.

President Alden states, that the White Mountains were called, by one of the eastern tribes, Waumbekketmethna; Waumbekket signifies white, and methna, mountains.

For directions from the east, the south, and the west, to this magnificent exhibition of Almighty power, see Hayward's Book of Reference.

These mountains are the highest in New England; and, if we except the Rocky Mountains, whose height has not been ascertained, they are the most lofty of any in the United States. Their great elevation has always rendered them exceedingly interesting, both to the aboriginal inhabitants and to our ancestors. They were visited by Neal, Jocelyn, and Field, as early as 1632: they gave romantic accounts of their adventures, and of the extent and sublimity of the mountains. They called them the CRYSTAL HILLS.

Since that time this mountainous region has been repeatedly explored, by hunters and men of science.

Although these mountains are sixty-five miles distant from the ocean, their snow white summits are distinctly visible, in good weather, more than fifty miles from shore. Their appearance, at that distance, is that of a silvery cloud skirting the horizon.

The names here given are those generally appropriated to the different summits. Mount Washington is known by its superior elevation, and by its being the southern of the three highest peaks. Mount Adams is known by its sharp terminating peak, and being the second north of Washington. Jefferson is situated between these two. Madison is the eastern peak of the range. Monroe is the first to the south of Washington. Franklin is the second south, and is known by its level surface. La Fayette is known by its conical shape, and being the third south of Washington. The ascent to the summits of these mountains, though fatiguing, is not dangerous; and the visitant is richly rewarded for his labor and curiosity. In passing from the Notch to the highest summit, the traveller crosses the summits of Mounts La Fayette, Franklin, and Monroe. In accomplishing this, he must pass through a forest, and cross several ravines. These are neither wide nor deep, nor are they discovered at a great distance; for the trees fill them up exactly even with the mountain on each side; and their branches interlock with each other in such a manner, that it is very difficult to pass through them, and they are so stiff and thick as almost to support a man's weight. Mount Lafayette is easily ascended. Its top, to the extent of five or six acres, is smooth, and gradually slopes away in every direction from its centre. It even has a verdant appearance, as it is everywhere covered with short grass, which grows in little tufts, to the height of four or five inches. Among these tufts, moun