bably extinct. The man that can be guilty of such an act, is not worthy to breathe American air, much less to enjoy American citizenship. "Procul! procul! este profani!"

The following extracts from the earliest history of Long Island ever written, are worthy of a place in this connection. They are taken from "A Brief Description of New-York, formerly called New Amsterdam;" by DANIEL DENTON, of Hempstead, published in London, 1670.

"The greatest part of the Island is very full of timber, as Oaks-white and red, Walnut-trees, Chestnut-trees, which yield stores of Mast for swine, &c.

"For wild beasts, there is Deer, Bear, Wolves, Foxes. Racoons, Otters, Musquashes and Skunks. Wild fowl, there is great store of, as Turkeys, Heath hens, Quails, Partridges, Pigeons, Cranes, Geese of several sorts, Brants, Widgeons, Teal, and divers others.

"Upon the south side of Long Island in the winter, lie store of Whales and Grampusses, which the inhabitants begin with small boats to make a trade, catching to their no small benefit. Also, an innumerable multitude of seals, which make an excellent oyle; they lie all the winter upon some broken Marshes and Beaches, or bars of sand before mentioned, and might be easily got were there some skilful men would undertake it."

It is scarcely necessary to say that the taking of a whale, on the south side of the island, is now a rare occurrence; and still more rarely, is a wandering seal seen on the shore.

There have been, and still are, some venomous reptiles on the island. Of these the principal are the ratile-snake, and the pilot, or copper-headed adder. The former is confined to a few localities, while the latter is to be found in almost every part. The famous sachem or hoop-snake, of which tradition has handed down many hideous accounts, is still in exist ence, though not frequently met with. One has been killed the present season, in the forest south of Riverhead, and another last year, on the line of the railroad, in the town of Islip. It is said to grow to a large size, (10 or 12 feet in length) and is furnished with a shorp horn, on the end of its tail, with which it "does battle." Its taking its tail in its mouth and rolling like a hoop, upon its adversary, till within striking dis tance, is believed to be fabulous; though it is, without doubt, a dangerous animal to approach. The victor of one of those recently killed, tells, of course, a "big story" of the rencoun ter, which it is needless to repeat. Its haunts are confined to the most dense forests and swamps. The south beach, particularly the eastern part of it, opposite Brookhaven, is the resort of immense numbers of speckled adders, hundreds of which have been killed in a single season. They are, how ever, regarded with little apprehension.

SECTION IV.

Its waters-inland and adjacent; promontories, &c.

From the situation of Long Island, in the midst of the briny ocean, and the general description of its territory already given, it is seen that large portions of it are elevated far above the nether springs; while other parts consist of vast sandy plains, that are incapable of holding water. It might hence be supposed, that there must be a remarkable deficiency of this important element of animal and vegetable life. But this would be a very mistaken conclusion. The island, as a whole, is remarkably well-watered; and there are facts in this connection which are worthy of more attentive investigation by the geologist and the philosopher, than they have hitherto received.

Not only do we find perennial springs, boiling up from the sand in almost every part of its shores, both above and below high-water mark, and of such a low temperature, as to make your teeth ache while you drink; but its elevated high-lands, and even its sandy forests, abound with extensive swamps and ponds, which send forth copious streams, clear, cold and sparkling, into the adjacent bays. These streams, under the names of creeks and brooks, abound particularly on the south side, which, it has been seen, is by far the most sandy. In travelling on this side of the island, from Gravesend to Canoe Place, you necessarily cross one of these streams almost every mile, till you have counted some sixty or seventy on your journey; and wherever you may have previously journeyed, you cannot fail to acknowledge, that you never beheld such clear and sparkling brooks before.

Similar facts are observable on the north side, though not perhaps as numerous. The northern part of the town of Huntington is worthy of special notice. In this region, are some of the most elevated portions of the island, and the hills extend continuously to a greater distance into the interior, than any where else. Besides the great back-bone, which here, as in other towns, runs east and west, there are within the limits of this town, two or three distinct spurs or ribs, running north and south more than half way across the island. On this whole tract of elevated land, there are numerous springs, streams and swamps. Several of these emptying on the north

ern shore, furnish sufficient water for as many mill-seats. At Great Cow harbour is an overshot mill, supplied by springs, with an aqueduct passing over the public highway, having a fall of 30 feet. At the head of Cold Spring Harbour is a large mill-pond, supplied by a stream proceeding from springs nearly 2 miles through a swamp; the water of which, after supplying a factory, is conveyed by a canal nearly half a mile; where it abundantly supplies an overshot flouringmill with a fall of 20 feet above tide water. This mill is situated directly on the shore of the Harbour, accessible by sloops at high water, but the fall is so great that its operations are not obstructed by the tide.

Proceeding south from the village of Huntington, you immediately ascend to an extensive tract of table land, spread out between the ridges of hills before mentioned, which is from 50 to 100 feet above the ocean. On this tract, at the distance of 3 miles from the village is a settlement which has long borne the name of Long Swamp. from a large tract of springy ground in the vicinity. Here are numerous springs of pure cold water. And in this neighbourhood, whoever has not a living spring at his own door, needs only to dig a few feet, to furnish himself with a good well of water; while in many other places on this same range of table-land, at a few miles distance they are obliged to dig 100 feet to obtain water.

At the West Hills, 2 miles south-west of Long Swamp, there are many springs, some of which furnish streams that run a considerable distance on the surface, and at length are lost in the earth. At Dix Hills, the Half-way-hollow-Hills, (just mid-way across the island,) and in various other parts of this elevated tract, the same peculiarity in regard to springs is found. Can these ridges of hills be the source of such a vast supply of water?

As we proceed eastward the highlands do not extend so far into the interior, if we except a succession of detached hills, which run for about 20 miles through the middle of the island; but the streams of water, if not more numerous, are greatly increased in size. Some of them are so large as to obtain the name of rivers.

*There is a story, that in replacing a trunk to one of these springs, some years ago, a bottle tightly corked, and bearing the marks of having long lain beneath the water, was dug up from the sand, which was supposed to have been deposited and forgotten by one of a former generation. Upon being opened, it was found full of milk, which was perfectly sweet. For the correctness of this story, the writer does not vouch.

In the south-east corner of Smithtown, a small stream takes its rise, which for some miles, bears the name of the Branch Brook. Proceeding westerly, it passes through a swampy region, called by the Indians, Hauppaugs, (which it is said means sweet waters,) receives large accessions from numerous springs and rivulets, and afterwards obtains the name of Nissequag River. Here, changing its course to the north, it empties into Nissequag, or Smithtown Harbour. On this stream and its tributaries, four mills have an abundant supply of water.

In the town of Brookhaven, near Middle Island, a stream rises, which is called the Connecticut River. Nor let it be supposed that this name has been filched from across the Sound, to give apparent consequence to a little brook. It is a veritable Indian name, belonging to this locality, which, with a slight variation of orthography, is to be found in the most ancient conveyances, on this part of the island. There are two streams, to which this name was applied by the aborigines, but as they differ considerably in size, the one is called a brook and the other a river. The former is in Islip. The latter is the stream in question. Its general course is southerly, and intersecting the railroad at Millville, empties into the Fire Place Bay; which is the eastern part of the Great South Bay. This also furnishes abundant water for several mill-seats, and has long been famous for its excellent trout; which, however, is not a peculiarity of this stream, as almost every brook on the island yields more or less of this kind of fish.

The village of Patchogue is probably one of the most favoured places on Long Island, in regard to water power, having within the distance of a mile and a half, 3 very considerable streams. The first, just at the western part of the vil lage, formerly called "Little Patchogue," has a fall of 8 feet, supplies a factory, driving 500 spindles, and other machinery connected therewith. Near the centre of the village is the "Great Patchogue," which takes its rise about 6 miles to the north. Nearly 4 miles from its source a dam is erected where a saw-mill and fulling mill are abundantly supplied. At the village, is another dam, with a fall of 10 feet, which is capa ble of driving a paper-mill, a cotton factory of 5 or 600 spindles, a small woollen mill, and a grist mill of four run of stones. One mile east of this, is "Swan Creek," which gives a head of water of 10 feet fall, and drives a flour mill, with 4 run of stones, a saw-mill, a thrashing machine, a clover-seed mill, and a cotton factory of 500 spindles. The owners add, that

"there is extra power enough to drive 1000 additional spindles." It is also stated, in relation to all these streams, that "they seldom fail of affording, the year round, about the same quantity of water-the gentle inclination and flatness of the country preserves them from being subject to be swelled by great freshets on the one hand; or very materially affected by severe droughts on the other."

But the largest and longest stream on the island is the PECONICK River. It rises in the eastern part of Brookhaven, not far from the centre of the island; and after running 12 or 15 miles in an easterly direction, receiving numerous tributary streams from swamps and ponds, it falls into the head of Peconick Bay, at Riverhead. It furnishes more numerous mill seats than any other single stream; and these are scattered along for the distance of 4 or 5 miles, with an aggregate fall of between 20 and 30 feet.

The Wading River, at the north east corner of Brookhaven, forming a boundary between it and Riverhead, though still bearing its ancient name, is now nothing more than a small brook, extending scarcely a quarter of a mile above the tide water, though it is said to have proceeded formerly, from a considerable distance up the adjacent valley, which has been gradually filled up with sand. This stream is fed with copious springs, and affords an unfailing supply of water to a mill pond, with a fall of 9 feet. Below the dam the stream meanders more than a mile through an extended meadow, which is sometimes overflowed with the tide, and thus discharges into the Sound.

There are a great many other brooks on the island, which, although not called rivers, furnish abundant water for mills, factories and other hydraulic machinery. And what is still more remarkable, streams of this description are found on both of the eastern branches, after they are divided into narrow strands by the Peconick Bay. On the northern branch there are two such brooks within 3 miles of Riverhead, which supply saw-mills. And on the southern branch, in proceeding from Riverhead to Canoe Place, the distance of only 9 miles, you cross 5 brooks; two of them especially clear, rapid and unfailing. Crossing the isthmus, which has been already described, and after entering upon the south-eastern peninsula, there are unfailing brooks on both shores, though they are not numerous, supplied by swamps or natural ponds. Three of these have been occupied as mill scats-one of them for the space of 200 years.