The hillsides have suffered I'rom washing by heavy rains, but yield abundant crops to good cultivation. About the hill-tops and along the .summits of the ridges the rocks generally crop out, so that these localities are mostly left to be covered with forest growths, adding greatly to the beauty of the scenery. In many places in the county there are peat swam2>s, where ancient lakes have been tilled with the accumulation of vegetable matter and the growth of sphagnum moss. Tliis peat, when pressed and dried, makes excellent fuel. The great differences in elevation and exposure, together with the variety of soils, cause a remarkably large flora. In round numbers, about twelve hundred flowering plants and fifty varieties of ferns have been found here.

The surface of the county has been much affected by glacial action and drift deposits. Croton Point, on the Hudson, and other places in the county show evidences of glacial moraines. Deep stria* and lighter scratches still remain upon many exposed rock surfiices and others have been smoothly polished. Immense numbers of boulders are scattered over the surface. The most of these are of granite, brought from Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Some are of conglomerate from across the Hudson River and others have great numbers of shell fossils.

THE INDIANS.

A remarkable boulder is found in Soiners. It stands on the hill directly northeast of Muscoot Mountain in the southwestern part of Somers, and from its top can be seen the blue hills of Long Island across the sound, the northern elevations of Dutchess County and the distant lands of Connecticut. To the west it overlooks Yorktown and Cortlandt. One side of this curious rock has the appearance of an Indian's face. It is an immense mass of red granite, said to be the only specimen in the county, and is perched upon three lime-stone points, two feet or more above the surface of the ground, and four hundred feet above the Muscoot Valley.