beech, birch, and maple, with some butternut and walnut trees. The
vigorous growth of the primeval forest indicated the strength and
richness of the soil which has since been turned to such profitable use
by the farmers. The houses in which the people live are all substantial,
convenient, and, in many cases, beautiful, being surrounded by neatly
kept grounds and well-tilled land.

In a hilly country such as this is, springs and brooks of course abound.
The height of land upon which Princeton is situated is a watershed
between the Connecticut and Merrimack Rivers, and of the three beautiful
brooks having their source in the township, one, Wachusett Brook, runs
into Ware River, and thence to the Connecticut, while the other two,
East Wachusett and Keyes Brooks, get to the Merrimack by Still River and
the Nashua.

Mention has been made of Wachusett Lake. Properly speaking, this cannot
perhaps be considered as being in Princeton, inasmuch as about four
fifths of its surface lie in the adjoining township of Westminster.
Besides Wachusett Lake there is another called Quinnepoxet, which lies
in the southwestern part of the township, a small portion of it being in
Holden. It is smaller than its northern neighbor, covering only about
seventy acres, but it is a very charming sheet of water.

A brief account of the geology of this region may perhaps prove
interesting. In the eastern portion of Princeton the underlying rock is
a kind of micaceous schist, and in the western is granitic gneiss. The
gneiss abounds in sulphuret of iron, and for this reason is peculiarly
liable to undergo disintegration; hence the excellent character of the
soil in this portion of Worcester County where naked rock is seldom seen
in place, except in case of the summits of the hills scattered here and