Massachusetts -- Periodicals; New England -- Periodicals
There are three rather lofty and extensive ranges of hills crossing
Massachusetts. The most western of the three is the Taconic range, which
is upon the very border of the State. East of this, across a valley
several miles wide, is the Hoosac range, which occupies eastern
Berkshire and the territory between this almost Alpine county and the
winding Connecticut. Still east of this is the hilly belt of country
comprising eastern Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden Counties, and the
whole of Worcester County, to which range no particular name has been
given. The Hoosac and Taconic ranges may be considered as a portion of
the great Appalachian system of eastern North America, of which the
Green Mountains of Vermont are a continuation; while the third hilly
belt may be regarded as a side-show, so to speak, to the main exhibition
of nature's mighty upheavals. In this belt Wachusett is by far the
grandest elevation, and Worcester County may well be proud of the
majestic pile in her midst; but as it has been so recently described in
the BAY STATE MONTHLY, nothing need be said of it in this paper.
Scenery, in order to be truly mountainous, must present to the
spectator's eye towering peaks, bristling crags and beetling cliffs,
overhanging deep ravines and foaming torrents. Such objects rivet the
attention and produce a feeling of deep awe and reverence as one gazes
upon them and endeavors to contemplate the mighty forces of nature that
gave them being. Taking the word in this sense it may truly be said that
the scenery of Berkshire County closely approximates to mountainous. In
other parts of the State the isolated hills generally present a rounded
outline, and with a few exceptions do not inspire those strong emotions
which one must necessarily experience while standing like a pigmy among
the piled-up, craggy hills of northern Berkshire. Here is found the most
lofty elevation in the State--Saddle Mountain--whose summit is three
thousand six hundred feet above tide water. Its name originated from the
alleged resemblance of its top to a saddle, and is certainly neither
poetical nor romantic.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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