t growth. In the narrow portion of this clove are
ice caves, where ice may be found at all seasons of the year, and whence
issue cooling winds appreciable in the warmest summer days.

The West Kill, or Bushnell Clove, is said to be still finer and more
alpine than the Stony Clove. The last-mentioned gap and that of the
Plattekill join the main or Kauterskill Clove between Tannersville and
Hunter, while the Bushnell Clove does not intersect the valley of the
Schoharie until the West Kill flows into that stream near the charming
village of Lexington, six miles south, a little west of Prattsville.

These geographical details may seem uninteresting, but if the writer had
possessed them eight years ago, when first making the near acquaintance
of the Catskills, many a mystification might have been avoided, and many
a pleasant excursion, now only known to the fancy, have been found
practicable. One great attraction of the Catskills is, that the greater
number of the spots chiefly interesting are within walking or driving
distance from the chief points of sojourn. Visitors in general confine
themselves to the Mountain House and its immediate vicinity, and hence
see but little of the beauties hidden among the cliffs and ravines of
the inner peaks. The view from the Mountain House plateau is extensive,
but tame and monotonous in character; the horizon is not interesting,
and the cloud scenery is far more impressive than that of the land
beneath. The views from the very easily ascended North or South
Mountains, where, in addition to the river valley, the eye embraces the
lakes, the opening of the Clove, and the distant mountains toward
Lexington, are far superior. Clum's Hill, a terraced eminence, visible
from many points among the Catskills, and the Parker Mountain, east of
Tannersville, both offer peculiar and interesting prospects; but the
king of views is that obtained from the cliffs of the South Mountain
overhanging the Clove. This vista has furnished sketches for two
remarkable pictures painted by that rare artist and genuine son of
Helios, S. R. Gifford. Looking toward the west is the rolling plateau of
the Clove, with the far-away mountains beyond Hunter, the Parker and
North Mountains, the openings to the Stony and Plattekill Cloves, Clum's
Hill, and the silver thread of Haines's Fall. At the foot of the cliffs,
more than a thousand feet below, lie Brockett's (classic ground for
artists), the Clove road, Moore's Bridge,