, between Hartford and
Newhaven, at an elevation of not more than 200 feet above the level of
the sea. The ice is found in a narrow defile, which is hemmed in by
perpendicular sides of trap-rock, and displays a perfect chaos of fallen
blocks of stone. The defile is so narrow, that the sun's rays only reach
it for an hour in the course of the day; and even the trees and rocks,
and beds of leaves, protect the ice from any very material damage. Dr.
Silliman visited this defile on the 23rd July, 1821,[146] with Dr. Isaac
Hough, the keeper of a neighbouring inn, and found that the ice was only
partially visible, in consequence of the large collection of leaves
which lay on it: they sent a boy down with a hatchet, and he brought up
some large firm masses, one of which, weighing several pounds, they
carried twenty miles to Newhaven, where it did not entirely disappear
till the morning of the third day. Seven miles from Newhaven, in the
township of Branford, there is a similar collection of ice. In both of
these cases, the ice is mixed with a considerable quantity of leaves and
dirt.
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