Mountains. EE. Kayaderosseras. HH. Clinton. m. Luzerne. Rivers. C. Hudson. e. Jessup's Creek. f. Schroon Branch.

Lakes. X. George. 1. Schroon. d. Brant.

BOUNDARIES. North by Essex; East by Washington; South by Saratoga, and West by Hamilton county.

SURFACE. This county, with the exception of a small portion on the south, has a very elevated and rugged surface. The Luzerne or Palmertown range of mountains traverses the eastern section, the Kayaderosseras the central, and the Clinton range the western portion of the county. Many of their summits attain an altitude of from 800 to 1200 feet. The towns of Warrensburgh and Luzerne, are comparatively level.

RIVERS. The Hudson, Schroon Branch and Jessup's creek, are the principal streams. They have a southerly direction through the county.

FALLS. Hadley, Jessup's, and Glen's falls, are on the Hudson. LAKES. Lake George, which has already been described, and Schroon lake are the most important.

CLIMATE. Cold but healthy.

GEOLOGY AND MINERALS. With the exception of a small bed of Trenton limestone, in the valleys in the southeast part of the county, the whole county is primitive-composed of gneiss, with some hypersthene, granite and primitive limestone. Serpentine is also found in veins between the predominant rocks.

Iron is considerably abundant. The magnetic ore is frequent, but does not occur in large masses; porcelain clay, black marble of very fine quality, (from the vicinity of Glen's Falls,) verd antique, black lead or graphite, and peat, are the most important of the useful minerals. Besides these, fluor, zircon, pyrites, massive feldspar, tourmaline, rutile, rhomb spar, quartz crystals of great beauty, nd calcareous spar occur in several localities.

SOIL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. The soil of the greater part of the county is sterile. Some fertile land, however, is found in the narrow valleys, and in the level portions above mentioned. A heavy growth of timber covers its hills, consisting of pine, spruce, fir, cedar, oak, maple, beech, elm and ash.

PURSUITS. Agriculture is the leading pursuit; but the settlements are sparse, and in many sections the gigantic timber is not yet felled. Many of the inhabitants are engaged in preparing lumber for market. The county seems to be very well adapted to grazing; corn, oats and potatoes also succeed well.

The manufactures are those common to a new country; lumber, leather, potash, flour and fulled cloths. At Glen's Falls, marble is also largely manufactured. The quantity of lumber sent to market from this county is very great.

The commerce of the county is mostly confined to the transportation of its own productions to market, by the Champlain canal.

THE STAPLES are lumber, corn, potatoes, oats, butter and wool.

SCHOOLS. In 1846, there were 115 district schools, sustained an average period of six months each, and at an expense for teachers wages of $4869. The number of scholars was 4993, and of volumes in the school libraries 7951. There were eleven private schools, with 525 scholars, and one academy, with ninety-five pupils.

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Friends, Universalists, and Episcopalians. The whole number of churches is twenty-eight, of clergymen, thirty-four. HISTORY. In the French war of 1754-63, a number of interesting events occured in this county.

In August, 1755, General Johnson, (afterwards Sir William,) led a force of about 5000 troops, including 1000 Indians, under the command of Hendrick, the celebrated Mohawk chieftain, to attack Crown Point. About the last of the month he encamped at the south end of Lake George, and made preparations to convey his troops, by water, to the foot of the Lake. The Baron Dieskau, the commander of the French forces, meantime, had descended the lake in search of his antagonist. On the 8th of September, General Johnson received intelligence of his approach, and despatched Colonel Williams, with 1200 men, to attack him.

Taking advantage of the dense forests, Dieskau had formed his troops in a crescent, and Williams erelong found himself surrounded by the enemy. He soon fell, as did Hendrick, both fighting with the utmost bravery. Lieutenant Colonel Whiting, of New Haven, Connecticut, the second in command, ordered a retreat, which he conducted with such skill and intrepidity, that his troops returned to the camp without disorder, and took their places in the ranks.

Dieskau pressed on in pursuit, but halting his men, to arrange them for the onset upon the English camp, the English forces recovered their firmness and awaited his attack without disorder. The Indians, in the employ of the French, were soon driven off by the cannon, and fled.

Dieskau led up the main body of his troops, but in vain ; they were repulsed again and again, and after an obstinate action of five hours, the English, leaping over the breastwork, engaged the French hand to hand, and soon put them to flight. Dieskau was mortally wounded and taken prisoner. The loss of the French was very severe. The British commander, General Johnson, was wounded in the early part of the conflict, and resigned the command to General Lyman.

For this success, the first which had attended the English arms during the war, General Johnson was rewarded with a baronetcy and a donation of £5000.

The day following the battle. a detach ent from Fort Edward attacked the fugitives of Dieskau's army, on French mountain, and killed the greater part of them.

Sir William did not proceed after this vi t y to Crown Point, which if attacked might have been easily carried, but satisfied himself with erecting and fortifying Fort William Henry at the head of Lake George.

In August, 1757, this fort was taken by the Marquis de Montcalm, the commander of the French forces. Colonel Monroe, who commanded the garrison, made a brave resistance, but the failure of General Webb to send him reinforcements, and the want of ammunition, at length compelled him to capitulate, which he did on the most honorable terms.

No sooner, however, had the French obtained possession of the fort, than the terms of capitulation were most shamefully broken; the Indians rushed upon the defenceless troops, and plundered and murdered them without resistance. Montcalm had promised an escort, but it was withheld, and they were compelled to flee, as best they might, from the murderous assaults of savages thirsting for blood. The wounded and the women and children were the first to fall victims to their barbarity, but the more able-bodied did not escape. It was computed that nearly 1500 were thus butchered.

The fort was destroyed by Montcalm. Fort George was erected as a substitute for it, on a more commanding site, but was never the scene of any important action. Burgoyne deposited most of his stores here in 1777.

Many interesting incidents also occurred during the French war, along the shores of the Horicon lake. At Sabbath-day Point, in 1756, a party of Provincial troops defeated a force of French and Indians, who attacked them. Here, too, Lord Amherst, with his army, stopped on a Sabbath morning for refreshment.

Rogers Rock, is noted as the place where that bold and fearless partizan eluded the pursuit of the Indians, and gave them the impression that he had escaped down the face of the precipice.

The name of Pierson's Island, marks the spot where English prisoners were confined during the French war. Howe's Point, the spot where that brave and much lamented young nobleman landed, immediately previous to the battle of Ticonderoga, in which he was slain.

The first settlement in the county was made about 1770, at Luzerne and Queensburgh. Johnsburgh was settled in 1790. The Jessup patent, in the southern part of the county, com

prised 40,000 acres of land. It was granted in 1774, to a large company. The town of Caldwell was founded by Mr. James Caldwell, a large landed proprietor. In most parts of the county the population is sparse.

VILLAGES. CALDWELL, the shire town of the county, is delightfully situated on the southern extremity of Lake George. It abounds with interesting associations connected with the early history of this county. Population 300.

Bia dy Pond, a short distance southeast of the village, commemorates by its name the bloody conflict of September 6th, 1755. The bodies of nearly 1000 of the slain, mostly Frenchmen, were thrown into it.

Glen's Falls, located on the north bank of the Hudson, in the town of Queensburgh, was incorporated in 1839. It is largely engaged in the manufacture of marble, lime, and lumber. The marble is found on both sides of the river, and is highly prized for the beauty of its color, (black) and its freedom from flaws. The falls at this place have a total descent of fifty feet, affording great hydraulic power, and presenting a picturesque and beautiful landscape. A bridge 600 feet in length crosses the river just above the falls. The navigable feeder of the Champlain canal passes through the village. Here is an incorporated academy, and a female seminary. Population 2500.

Chester, in the town of the same name, is a pleasant village, situated in the midst of a fertile country. The "Stone Bridge" in the northern part of the town of Chester, is a great natural curiosity. The stream which it crosses, enters the county from Essex, about thirty rods above the bridge, where it falls over a rocky precipice into a natural basin; thence, turning to the east, it divides into two branches; the northern passing under an arch of granite forty feet high and about eighty feet chord, diminishing in size as the stream descends; this branch may be followed 156 feet from the entrance; the southern and larger branch forces its way through the rock, by a passage which is explored with great difficulty, being at times narrow and confined, and at others opening into caverns of great depth, and thirty or forty feet in diameter. At the distance of 247 feet from the entrance, the two streams, having united during their subterranean passage, again make their appearance, beneath a precipice fiftyfour feet high, which terminates the bridge. The arch on this side is five feet high and ten wide.