thence along the height of land bordering the Neversink river till the headwaters are reached near the north boundary line of the town of Denning, in Ulster county. The divide between this water-shed and that of the Mongaup river follows a line nearly parallel with that between the Neversink river and Rondout creek, but reaches its highest point considerably south of the headwaters of the Neversink, this point being near the north-east corner of the town of Liberty, in Sullivan county.

From this water-shed to that of the two branches of the Callicoon creek the intervening distance is divided into several small watersheds, all south of the south line of the Hardenburgh Patent, with the single exception of that of Ten mile creek, which extends north to about opposite the center of the east line of the town of Delaware, Sullivan county. These last are all directly tributary to the Delaware river. The water-shed of the two branches of the Callicoon creek includes a section embracing the towns of Delaware, Callicoon and the west one-third of the town of Liberty, both branches of the creek rising within a few miles of each other near the south line of the town of Rockland, Sullivan county. A moun tain ridge starts at the junction of the Beaver kill with the east branch of the Delaware river and marks the southern boundary of a watershed; another ridge starts from near the same place, and, bearing to the north-east, passes into the south-western portion of the town of Hardenburgh; another ridge starts from the summit near Parksville, in the town of Liberty, Sullivan county, and joins the second ridge in the town of Hardenburgh, near Tunis lake. The territory embraced within these limits is the watershed of the Beaver kill and its main branch, the Willewemoc. The east branch of the Delaware river has for a watershed the territory included between the north bounds of the Beaver kill water-shed, the east bounds of the Esopus creek and Schoharie creek water-sheds, and the crown of the ridge between the east branch of the Delaware river proper. The water supply in the streams and rivers is subject to the same fluctuations observed in other sections which have been partially denuded of their original timber growth and have been more or less wasted by the action of fire. Those who depend on the water in the streams to drive the machinery of their mills and factories begin to appreciate the fact that the available summer supply is steadily on the decrease. In conversation with manufac

turers in various parts of this region and with people who have been long resident on the banks of the streams or in their immediate Vicinity, I have heard convincing testimony as to this failure through the dry season. At a large chair factory at Chichesterville, on the Stony Clove creek, one of the officers of the company informed me that twenty-five years ago, when they first located in the place, their factory could be run entirely by water-power; now, and for several years past, they have been obliged to supplement it by the use of steam, the water having dwindled away to such an extent as to furnish through the summer months only one-half the power it formerly did. He likewise complained of being troubled with floods in the spring and fall and, naturally enough, concluded his whole trouble came from cutting off the timber on the watershed of the stream, particularly at its source, and also from allowing disastrous fires to burn up the muck-soil and leaf-inold, so that nothing remained on the surface to hold back the water of rain storms, which, rushing off from a denuded and steep water-shed, caused the sudden and damaging floods in the stream. Another manufacturer, in the town of Wawarsing, Ulster county, whose factory is located on the Vernooy creek, a branch of the Rondout creek, who uses water-power from eight to nine months in the year, has used steampower in connection with this since 1863, when the summer supply began to fail. Previous to that he used water-power the year round. He attributes the change in the supply to cutting off the timber on some swampy pieces of land, which were filled with standing water while the timber grew there, but which dried out after it was cut down and has been dry through the summer months ever since. Examples could be multiplied all through and around this region, but inasmuch as all seem to be agreed as to the cause of the decrease of the water-supply in the dry seasons and invariably attribute it to cutting off the timber-growth, there is little need of repeating or recording them.

The Catskill region abounds in streams of large volume and rapid descent, furnishing power to a large number of manufacturing concerns, which draw their raw material, in most part, from the forests which clothe the mountains. A continuation of these industries depends, to a large extent, on the continuance of the water supply, and that in turn depends upon a judicious management of the forests, of keeping out fires and allowing such sections as have once

been cut over to grow up with a new forest covering. At Chichesterville a stream comes out of a clove to the west of the main stream. The water-shed of this stream was cut clean of its timber several years ago, since which time it has grown up pretty well with small stuff, and the summer flow of this stream is greater than that of the main stream, which is a convincing fact in regard to the action of vegetation on the retention and delivery of the rain-fall.

The Hudson river receives the waters of four large and important streams, which find their rise in the Catskill mountains. The Schoharie creek, made up of the combined flow of the East kill, West kill, Batavia kill and the Manor kill, flows down a steep and rugged valley, takes almost a due north course, and finally empties. into the Mohawk river at Fort Hunter, in Montgomery county. This stream in the mountain regions furnishes water power for numerous manufactures, and in early times, before the hemlock timber was all cut off, many tanners prosecuted a thriving and lucrative business by aid of its water power. The valley is occupied for the greater part of its length as a farming section and through the towns of Hunter and Lexington, in Greene county, a large summer population finds accommodation in the many large hotels and boarding-houses scattered along its banks. Indeed so much attention is paid to the business of entertaining summer boarders that the farms show many signs of neglect. The land along the stream is for the most part poor and stony and the sides of the valley steep and very abrupt in places. The remaining three of the four streams going to the Hudson river reach it direct. Of these the Catskill is the furthest north; the stream proper rises in Schoharie county and flows in a south-easterly direction, being re-enforced first by the Potuck creek, coming from Albany county, and second by the Kaaterskill, rising in the town of Hunter, Greene county. It reaches the Hudson river at Catskill village, through which it flows. Comparatively little manufacturing is. done on this creek or its branches.

Next in order is the Esopus creek, which for length, strengh and utility bears off the palm; manufacturing establishments of all description line its banks, and prosperous, thriving villages occur at frequent intervals. The branches of this stream are rather unimportant in size, and come in mostly from the north. The stream rises in the Big Indian hollow, in the town of Shandaken, Ulster

county, flows first northerly till the main valley is reached, then turns sharply toward the east, pursuing this course to Shandaken, where it gradually assumes a south-easterly course, following this direction to near the village of Stone Ridge, in the town of Marbletown, where it takes a sharp bend to the north-east and continues thus to the city of Kingston; here its course is again changed more to the north to near the village of Saugerties, where, turning due east, it finds its way to the Hudson. The main tributaries of this stream are the Saw kill, which joins it about three miles north of Kingston, and the Platte kill, which joins it at Glenerie, forming a part of the division line between the towns of Kingston and Saugerties. Following the Esopus, in order, comes the Rondout creek, taking its rise in the high mountains near the north-east corner of the town of Denning, Ulster county. Its course is first south-westerly, traversing a portion of the north-east corner of Sullivan county, then, turning a sharp corner, it passes out of Sullivan county, in a south-easterly course until its junction is made with the Sandburgh creek; here another sharp turn to the north-east is made, which course it pursues till it empties into the Hudson river at Rondout. This stream is re-enforced by the waters of the Shawangunk Kill and the Wall kill which drain the section lying south-east of the Shawangunk range of mountains.

Down the valley of the Rondout creek the Delaware and Hudson canal has been built, affording slack water navigation from the Hudson to the Delaware, and transportation for the cement manufactured through that and the adjoining valleys, and the coal used in burning it. This is the last of the large streams coming from the Catskill, whose waters go to the Hudson river; the water-shed of the Shawangunk kill being the Shawangunk range of mountains, which meeting the high ridge bordering the Neversink forms an impassable barrier, and caused the Delaware river at Port Jervis to make an abrupt turn toward the south. If this range had not existed, the Delaware river would have been a tributary of the Hudson, finding its outlet through the valley of the Rondout creek. The Shawangunk grit proved too much for the erosive effect of water, even when thrown against it in as great a volume as that of the Delaware. The remainder of the Catskill region is drained by the Delaware river, this embraces the western and south-western mountain regions, and includes the counties of Sullivan and Delaware.

Starting from the southern end of the north and south dividing ridge, the first stream of importance is the Mongaup river, which takes its rise near the village of Parksville in the town of Liberty, Sullivan county, flows in a southerly direction across the county, and enters the Delaware at Port Jervis. This is a stream of magnitude and importance, draining a long, narrow section of territory, mostly a wild and sparsely settled country, hilly and rolling in its nature.

In the town of Fremont two unimportant streams come to the river, one at Hankins and the other at Basket near the south-west corner of the town; both rise in the northern part of the town and flow in a south-westerly direction. They are known, respectively, as Hankins creek and Basket creek. Fremont is the south-western town of the county. Beyond this the east branch of the Delaware river joins the main stream. This branch rises near the north line of the town of Roxbury, Delaware county, follows a nearly due south course, being supplied from the east by the Batavia kill which drains the eastern side of the town of Roxbury; the Bush kill rising near the north bounds of the town of Halcott, Ulster county; Dry brook, rising near the south-east corner of the town of Hardenburgh, Ulster county, and joining the Bush kill at the village of Arkville, in the town of Middletown, Delaware county; and lastly, the Beaver kill, with its branch, the Willewemoc, which rises in the south-western portion of the town of Denning, Ulster county, crosses the north-west corner of the town of Neversink, Sullivan county, and thence flowing in a westerly course across the town of Rockland, Sullivan county, it joins the Beaver kill near the village of Westfield Flats in the south-western part of the town. The Beaver kill proper rises near the middle of the southerly boundary of the town of Hardenburgh, Ulster county, flows in a westerly direction and passes out of the town at the north-west corner, then runs in a south-westerly direction along the boundary line of the town of Rockland, in Sullivan county, to its junction with the Willewemoc. At this point it makes a sharp turn toward the west in the general course of the Willewemoc, to its junction with the east branch of the Delaware river. The Beaver kill, with its branch the Willewemoc, forms an important water power. Its sources are among the wildest and densest forests of this region, and not far from the headwaters of the Esopus creek and the Never