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122 ADIT ADJUTANT for coaveying this valuable timber to market. So important has the pine upon these moun- tains become, that large sums have been ex- pended in removing the obstructions of the streams, and in opening new outlets to the lakes, by which in the spring freshets the logs could be run down. As may well be supposed, this mountain region offers little inducement to the permanent settler. Only along the wider bottoms of the Saranac and the Ausable, the fertile alluvial soil, the wash of the mountains, tempts to cultivation. About 40 years ago the discovery of enormous masses of magnetic iron ore in the very heart of the mountains led to the establishment of the village of Adirondack, in the township of Macomb, on the western border of Essex county, about 50 m. W. of Lake Champlain. Iron works were erected on a scale of considerable magnitude ; but the final result was that the distance from market, the scarcity of labor, and the difficulties of trans- portation made the enterprise unprofitable in spite of the excellence and abundance of the iron, and the works are now wholly aban- doned. Of late years the whole northern wil- derness of New York has come to be popu- larly known as the Adirondacks, and is much resorted to, not only by sportsmen, but by tourists of both sexes, for whose accommoda- tion taverns have been established at conve- nient distances. All travelling there is done by means of boats of small size and slight build, rowed by a single guide, and made so light that the craft can be lifted from the water and car- ried on the guide's shoulders from pond to pond or from stream to stream. Competent guides, steady, intelligent, and experienced men, can be hired at all the taverns, who will pro- vide boats, tents, and everything requisite for a trip. Each traveller should have a guide and a boat to himself, and the cost of their maintenance in the woods is not more than a dollar a week for each man of the party. The fare is chiefly trout and venison, of which there is generally an abundance to be procured. A good-sized valise or carpet-bag will hold all the clothes that one person needs for a two months' trip. There are several routes by which the Adirondacks can be reached, but the best and easiest from New York is that by Lake Champlain. The steamer from Whitehall will land the traveller at Port Kent, nearly opposite Burlington, Vt., where coaches are always waiting to take passengers, six miles, to Keeseville. Here conveyances for the wil- derness can always be had. ADIT (Lat. adit us, entrance), a horizontal passage made into mines for the purpose of draining them, and also for the extraction of their products at the lowest convenient level. In very mountainous regions adits often pre- sent the readiest means of access to the min- eral veins known to exist in the interior of precipitous hills. Enormous sums have been expended in the silver region of Mexico in these exploring adits. One of the most fa- mous adits in the world is that of Klausthal, in the Hartz, which is 6 miles long, and passes upward of 300 yards below the church of Klausthal. Its excavation lasted from the year 1777 till 1800, and cost about $330,000. The adit which drains the district of Gwenap, in Cornwall, is estimated with its branches to extend a distance of 30 miles; its mouth is in a valley near the sea, and from it are discharged the superficial waters of numerous mines, as also all the water pumped up in them to its level. One of the most extensive adits in the world was commenced in the beginning of the present cen- tury by the Austrian government, and is called by the name of Joseph II. Its mouth is in the banks of the river Gran, in Hungary, and it passes by the mines of Hodritz toward those of Schemnitz, about 10 miles. The object of its construction is partly to explore for new veins, and in part to drain mines already in operation. A work of similar magnitude has been undertaken in the Washoe mining district of Nevada, for the purpose of developing the Comstock lode. It is known as the Sutro tun- nel, and the plan was to commence at the Carson river, 150 feet above the stream, and to excavate a space of 12 by 14 feet to a dis- tance of 19,790 feet, when the lode would be cut at a depth of 1,898 feet below the outcrop. A cross tunnel was to be constructed along the ledge about 12,000 feet, to connect with all the mines, and four shafts were to be sunk for ven- tilation. A company for its construction re- ceived large privileges from congress in 1866, and afterward application was made for a gov- ernment subsidy. A commission was appoint- ed to examine the project, which early in 1872 reported unfavorably, estimating the cost at $4,418,329. The work was not then far ad- vanced, but has since been vigorously prosecu- ted both upon the main tunnel and the shafts. ADJUTANT, a staff officer attached to the commander or to the headquarters of larger or smaller bodies of troops. Generally, the commander of every military post, battalion, regiment, brigade, division, corps, army, or military department has an adjutant, or an adjutant general, with such assistants as the importance of the command may require. The duty of the adjutant is to assist his chief in the performance of his military duties, to make known his orders, to see to their execution, to receive reports, and to take care of the records and returns pertaining to the troops. He has therefore under his charge, to a great extent, the internal economy of the command to which he is attached. By authority of the com- mander, he regulates the rotation of duty among its component parts, and gives out the daily orders ; at the same time, he is a sort of clerk to his chief, carries on the correspondence with detachments and with the superior au- thorities, arranges the daily reports and returns into tabular form, and keeps the journal and statistical books of his body of troops. Larger bodies of troops now generally have a regular