New Hampshire As It Is . oarse mica slate. No minerals of muchvalue or rarity have been found here, and no evidencesof volcanic action have been discovered. It is altogetherprobable that the mountains have for ages exhibited thesame unvarying appearance. The sides of the mountains, as well as most of the sur-rounding country, are thickly covered with trees, which inautumn present a most beautifully variegated summits of the higher elevations are destitute of vege-tation, excepting a few mosses and plants of alpine spe-cies. For eight or ten months in the year they are coveredwit
New Hampshire As It Is . oarse mica slate. No minerals of muchvalue or rarity have been found here, and no evidencesof volcanic action have been discovered. It is altogetherprobable that the mountains have for ages exhibited thesame unvarying appearance. The sides of the mountains, as well as most of the sur-rounding country, are thickly covered with trees, which inautumn present a most beautifully variegated summits of the higher elevations are destitute of vege-tation, excepting a few mosses and plants of alpine spe-cies. For eight or ten months in the year they are coveredwith snow, giving them that bright and dazzling appearancefrom which they derive their name. , Many of the finest rivers of New England originateamong these highlands. The Saco flows from the east sideof the mountains, the tributaries of the Androscogginfrom the north, the Ammonoosuc and other branches of theConnecticut from the west, and the Pemigewasset from thesouth. The fountain of the latter is near that of the Saco. #. THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. 473 The height of the mountains has been variously estimat-ed. The Rev. Dr. Cutler, who, with several others, visitedthe mountains and made a series of observations in 1784,fixed the height of Mount Washington at 10,000 feet,which Dr. Belknap supposed would prove too low an esti-mate. Other and later computations have given resultsmuch less than this. Dr. Jackson, while engaged in thegeological survey of the state, made a series of observa-tions under favorable circumstances, from which he calcu-lated it to be 6226 feet above the high water mark inPortsmouth Harbor. The height of several of the othersummits is estimated as follows : Mount Adams, 5759 feet;Mount Jefferson, 5657 ; Mount Madison, 5415 ; MountMonroe, 5349 ; Mount Franklin, 4850; Mount Pleasant,4715. Of these Mount Washington is easily known by its su-perior elevation, and by its being the southern of the threehighest summits. Mount Adams is known by its sharp ter-minating peak
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