r A R F OF THE U N I ITY or ILLINOIS 91 T. 4-1 F24.1 1689 The person charging this material is re- sponsible for its return on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons for disciplinary action and may result in dismissal from the University. University of Illinois Library L161— O-1096 SPECIAL NOTICES. FARRAR'S ANDROSCOGGIN LAKES ILLUSTRATED. A complete and reliable Guide to the entire Androscoggin Lakes Region, including OQUOSSOC (or Rangeley), MOOSELUCMAGUNTIC (or Great Lake), CUPSUPTIC, MOLECHUCKAMUCK (or Upper Richardson), WELOKENNEBACOOK (or Lower Richardson), and UMBAGOG. Also, Kennebago and Parmachenee Lakes, The Seven Ponds, the Connecticut Lakes, The Dead River Region, Dixville Notch, Grafton Notch, and the headwaters of the Connecticut, Androscoggin, Magalloway, Sandy and Dead Rivers. With a new and correct Large Map, 22x26 inches, of the entire region, and the latest revised Game and Game-Fish Laws of Maine and New Hampshire. Finely Illustrated with eighty choice engravings on wood. 368 paps, tiandsoniely bouod in clotli, $1.00. Mailed to any address on receipt of price by JAMAICA PUBLISHING COMPANY, JAMAICA PLAIN, MASS. SPECIAL NOTICES. FARRAR'S POCKET MAP OF THE Androscoggin Lakes Region, UMBAGOG, RANGELEY, RICHARDSON, PARMACHENEE, KENNEBAGO, AND CONNECTICUT LAKES, AND THE HEADWATERS OF THE ANDROSCOGGIN, DEAD, SANDY, MAGALLOWAY, DIAMOND, AND CONNECTICUT RIVERS, DIXVILLE NOTCH AND CAMBRIDGE, N. H. Mounted on cloth, neatly folded, and bound in durable cloth covers. Indispensable to the sportsman and Tourist visiting the Lakes. Pronounced by competent judges to be the best and most correct map of this country ever made. Liarge size, 22x26 inches. Price, $1.00. May be obtained at any bookstore, or will be sent by mail, postage paid, on receipt of price, by JAMAICA PUBLISHING COMPANY, JAMAICA PLAIN, MASS. FARRAR'S POCKET MAP OF MOOSEHEAD LAKE AND VICINITY NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. Printed on tough linen paper, and handsomely bound in cloth covers. Large size, 19x24 inches. Price, 50 cents. Every Tourist, Sportsman, Hunter, and Lumberman should have one of these maps. It includes the headwaters of the Kennebec, Penobscot, Aroostook and St. John Rivers, and their Principal Branches. Sent by mail, postpaid, to any address, on receipt of price, by JAMAICA PUBLISHING COMPANY, JAMAICA PLAIN, MASS. L KATAHDIN IliOX WORKS AND VICINITY, THE NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS, AND THE HEAD WATERS OF THE DEAD, KENNEHEC, PENOB- SCOT, AROOSTOOK, AND ST. JOHN RIVERS. WITH A NEW AND CORRECT MAP OF THE LAKE REGION, DRAWN AND PRINTED EXPRESSLY FOR THIS BOOK. ALSO CONTAINS THE -GAME AND FISH LAWS OF MAINE (AS REVISED BY THE LAST LEGISLATURE), RAILROAD, STEAMBOAT AND STAGE ROUTES, TIME TABLES, TABLE OF FARES, LIST OF HOTELS, PRICES OF BOARD, AND OTHER VALUABLE INFORMATION FOR THE SPORTSMAN, TOURIST, OR PLEASURE-SEEKER. BY CAPT. CHARLES A. J. FARRAR, AUTHOR OF ''ANDROSCOGGIN LAKES." ILLUSTRATHO, CAMP LIFE IN THE WILDERNESS," " THE LAKE AND FOREST SERIES," FROM LAKE TO LAKE," ETC. BOSTON: LEE ANTD SHEPARD. JAMAICA PUBLISHING COMPANY, Jamaica Plain, Mass. 1889. Copyright, 1889, Charles A. J. Farrar. The illustrations in this book have been engraved and reproduced from original drawings and stereoscopic views made at the places represented, by the best artists in their respective lines of business that could be procured. C. J. PETERS & SON, Typographers and Electrotypers, 145 High Street, Boston. Press of Berwick and Smith, Boston. PREFACE. IN presenting the ninth edition of Moosehead Lake and Tim North Maine Wilderness to the reading public, the author gratefully acknowledges the kind reception of the other eight editions. The encomiums from private individuals, and the encouraging words of appreciation from the press, have awakened in him the desire to make the work as nearly perfect as jiossible, and to that end he has given the rewriting and revision of the book this year more careful attention than ever before, and the present edition is an improvement over former ones in many respects ; and he hopes to keep the work up to its present high standard o*f excellence. The author has endeavored to make this volume pleasant and interesting, — a welcome addition to the family librar}', as well as to that of the sportsman ; and, while reliable and instructive, he has tried to impart information without the dry paragraphing common to most guide-books. By means of our little book thousands have become acquamted with the Moosehead Lake Region in the past ten years that had never heard of or visited it before ; and we hope that through its influence thousands more may visit this beautiful summer resort, where everything combines towards one's pleasure and health. The building of the International Railway of Maine (Canadian Pacific) from Lake Megantic via Moosehead Lake to Mattawam- keag, not only gives a new all-rail route to Moosehead Lake, 8 PREFACE. but has opened up hundreds of choice phiees for the sportsman and tourist along its line in Maine that were formerly only accessible by long and tiresome travelling by stage. Before the coming of another year the Dexter Branch of the Maine Central will have been extended to a junction with the Bangor and Piscataquis at Dover, cutting off over sixty miles of the distance between Boston and Greenville, enablmg those visitors who are pressed for time to leave Boston in the morning, and sleep at night of the same day under the hospitable roof of the Mount Kineo House. It is the desire of the author in this volume not only to give a correct description of the country to which he invites the atten- tion of the travelling public, but also to thoroughly j^ost them up in all the details of route, expense, hotels, and other little matters that one so anxiously inquires about, when contemplat- ing a first visit to a strange place. While he is not egotistical enough to declare that he has wholly succeeded in his wishes, he is certain that for any person making a first trip to Moosehead Lake the book will prove in- valuable, and that it will even be read with interest by the older habitues of this noted locality. This ninth edition has been rewritten and carefully revised- About eighty pages of new reading-matter have been added, also forty-five illustrations. It is the author's intention to have the book keep pace with and faithfully chronicle all changes and improvements in the entire Moosehead Lake Region. With the promise that any mistakes, omissions, or errors, that occur in the present volume, will be carefully corrected in the next edition, he calls the attention of his readers to the follow- ing chapters, hoping they may find much of interest. CHARLES A. J. FARRAR. RocKviEw, Jamaica Plain, May 1, 1889. CONTENTS. I. Rail and Steamboat Routes from Boston and Portland TO Moosehead Lake 13 II. Canadian Pacific Route (International Railway of Maine) from Canada to Moosehead Lake and Matta- WAMKEAG 35 III. From Milo Junction to Brownville and Katahdin Iron- Works. — Fishing Resorts in the Vicinity. — The Gulf and its Surroundings 45 IV. MoNSON and Vicinity. — a Pleasant Summer Resort for the Tourist and Fisherman 56 V. Greenville and its Attractions 09 VI. Up the Lake. — From Greenville to Mount Kineo ... 82 VII. Kineo, its Legend, Hotel, Sights, Fishing, etc 93 VIII. Two Routes from Boston to Moos>:head Lake via the Forks of the Kennebec and Moose River. — First Route via Oakland, Solon, and Bingha:m 122 IX. From Kineo to the Head of the Lake 152 X. Camping Out 102 XI. The Head of the Lake and its Surroundings. — Where to go. — What to See. — Fishing, Hunting, etc 173 XII. Tours beyond Moosehead. — Down the West Branch . . 181 XIII. The Ascent OF Mount Ktaadn.— Four Different Accounts 203 XIV. Down the West Branch, concluded 239 XV. Tours Beyond Moosehead. — Down the East Branch of THE Penobscot.— Up the North Branch of the Penob- scot 243 XVI. Tours Beyond Moosehead. —The Allagash Waters.— Aroostook River Route. — Down the St. John River . 257 XVII. Game Laws of Maine, as aimended 269 XVIII. Game-Fish Laws of Maine, as AMENDED 273 XIX. List of Hotels, Acco3imodations, Rates, etc 283 XX. Table of Fares 285 9 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Face in the Rock and Jaws of the Gulf Frontispiece Initial Letter, S 13 Union Station, Portland li Salmon Fishing, Bangor 27 Tail piece, Trout 34^ Initial Letter, T 35 Long Pond Outlet, Moose River 37 Map of Moosehead Lake 41 Initial Letter, C 45 Billings' Falls, West Branch Pleasant River, Me 51 Initial Letter, M 56 Lake Hebron Hotel, Monson, Me 57 Lake Hebron, looking West 61 Lake Onaway and Boarstone Mountain 65 Initial Letter, T 61> Lake House, Greenville, Me 71 Squaw Mountain 75 Little Squaw Mountain 75 Moosehead Lake, from Indian Hill 77 Tail-piece, Birch Canoes 81 Initial Letter, A 82 Mount Kineo House, Moosehead Lake 85 Cedar Beach, North of Mount Kineo 8^ Tail-piece, Camping Out 92 Initial Letter, M 9^ View from Piazza of Mount Kineo House, looking West 97 Looking up Moose River 104 Socatean Falls 107 View from Mount Kineo Ill Inspection of a Day's Fishing 117 Tail-piece, Trout Brook 121 Initial Letter, O 122 Hotel Heselton, Skowhegan, Me 12» Morrill's Camp, Moxie Pond 135 The Forks of the Kennebec 139 Rapids on Moose River, Outlet of Brassau Lake 145 Mount Kineo from Mouth of Moose River 149 11 12 LIST OF ILLUSTKATIONS. , . . , PAGE Initial Letter, S 252 Mount Kineo from North Bay 153 Ox-liailroad Train leaving tlie Station 157 Indian Camp at JS'ortli-east Carry » IgQ Tail-piece, Up the Kapius ! 101 Initial Letter, 1* * 162 Camp at Head of Lake , . . , **.'** ' 165 Landing the Canoes , • • • ^^^^ Tail-piece, Logging Camp ,*!!** Initial Letter, VV *.!*.''.**' 173 The Camper-Out ' * * ' 175 Initial Letter, 11 !!!!!! 18^ Mouth of Pine Stream 184 A Trapper's Camp ^ 187 liipogenus Lake 191 Head of liipogenus Falls 191 Mount Ktaadn from Ripogenus Falls 191 View from the Clitf, Ripogenus Falls 193 The Big Heater, Ripogenus Falls 193 Views in Ripogenus Falls . 195 Under the Cliffs, Ripogenus Falls 197 Mount Ktaadn from Aboljackarmegas Falls 201 Initial Letter, T 203 Camp at the Foot of the Slide 204 I^ead of Slide, Looking up 205 Head of Slide, Looking down 205 Lake Basin from Monument Cliff 207 Gorge, looking down towards Basin - . 207 Lake Millinocket 213 Mountain Brook 217 The Tableland, Mount Ktaadn 224 The Summit, Mount Ktaadn 224 Foot of South-west Slide, Mount Ktaadn 235 Mount Ktaadn from Katepskonegan Lake 240 Mount Ktaadn from Ambajejus Lake 240 Initial Letter, I 243 Head of a Maine Moose 255 Initial Letter, O 257 Tail-piece, Ready for Home . . , 281 Moosehead 282 Tail-piece, The End of it All 287 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. CHAPTER 1. RAIL AND STEA3IBOAT ROUTES FROM BOSTON AND PORTLAND TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE. ELECTING Boston as our starting-point, the most direct route is by night train to Bangor. This train, known as ^' The Pullman," leaves the Eastern Depot, Causeway, foot of Friend Street, at 7.00 p.m., running over the Eastern Division of the Boston & Maine Railroad to Portland, thence over the Maine Central Rail- road to Bangor, arriving the following morning about 6.00 o'clock, giving ample time before the departure of the other train to take breakfast at the saloon in the depot, first-class in every respect, or at one of the hotels in the city. Baggage is checked from Boston to Greenville. The Pullman car-fare for a so-called, but not in reality, double berth between Boston and Bangor is $2.00; for a section, $4.00. If you prefer to leave Boston in the morning, which the greater part of the visitors to Moosehead do, you take the 9.00 o'clock train from the Eastern Depot, running over the Eastern Division, making comparatively few stops along the route, arriving in Portland at 12.35 P.M., having ample time to secure a first-class dinner at the fine saloon in the Grand Union Station before the train leaves for Bangor. A Pullman parlor car accompanies this train; and a seat from Boston to Bangor will cost you $1.00. Or, if you have any preference, you can take the 8.30 a.m. train from the Boston & Maine Depot, Haymarket Square, running over the AYestern Division, arriv- ing in Portland at 12.20 p.m., and, landing in the Union Depot, take 13 14 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE dinner, then continue your journey by the Maine Central. If you are making your first trip to Mooseliead, by going east over one route, and coming back by the other, which you can do on the same ticket, and without additional expense, you see a good deal more of the country, and the scenery by both routes is very attractive. This you can also do on the Maine Central between Portland and Waterville; and the views either way are charming. One can also leave Boston at 7.00 p.m. each evening from India Wharf, by one of the fine boats of the Portland Steam Packet Com- NEW UNION STATK^N, PORTLAND, ME. pany, and arrive in Portland the next morning in ample season to take the morning train to Bangor, arriving there at noon, and at Moose- head Lake early in the evening. To those who are not rushed for time, this is a very desirable way of making the trip. Should you feel disposed to stop in Portland a few days, you wall find in the city and its suburbs much to interest and attract the stranger. Its colonial history dates back to the earliest settlement of this coun- try, and its public buildings, streets, and promenades are worthy more than casual notice. Its harbor is one of the most delightful along the entire New England coast; and the beautiful islands in Casco Bay, AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 15 many of wliich can be reached hourly by the excursion steamers, are well worth a visit. Gushing' s Island, the gem of them all, standing at the entrance of Portland Harbor, commands more beautiful and entrancing views than any other spot we have ever visited. To see all of interest on the island, at least a night and day should be passed there, and the best of accommodations, at reasonable prices, can be found at the charming new Ottawa House, standing on high land, commanding views both seaward and inland that have given this house a world-wide reputation as a summer home. The manager is Mr. M. S. Gibson, also proprietor of the Preble House, which stands at the head of the hotels in Portland. The Preble occupies a very pleasant location on Congress Street, and horse-cars from all railroad stations and all steamboat wharves pass its doors. Connnercial travellers are generally conceded to be the best judges of hotels there are, living in them as they do the most of their time, and several have told me within a year that the Preble was the best conducted and most satis- factory hotel in Portland to stop at, and they had emphasized their opinion by leaving houses where they had stopped for years, and mak- ing the Preble their home when in Portland. Surely no stronger indorsement of a hotel can be made. The Preble House itself is in- teresting to strangers from the fact that it was formerly the mansion of Commodore Preble, and another noteworthy building, the Long- fellow House, where the poet lived from a few years after his birth, adjoins it on the south. At 1.20 P.M. we resume our journey over the Maine Central, — one of the best managed railroad properties in Xew England, — and, speeding swiftly along, you soon approach the station of Woodford's (in Deering), a suburb of Portland, three miles away, and, glancing backward to the right, obtain for a few moments a fine view of the greater part of the city, sweeping up from Back Cove to the tops of the hills, and down to the harbor, on the north end of the peninsula. As the train winds around the base of Rocky Hill the city quickly disappears from your gaze, and we turn our eyes ahead to learn, if possible, why the train has stopped, and find that we are about to cross the tracks of the Portland & Rochester Railroad. The laws of Maine require that every train shall come to a dead stop at all cross- ings; and our engineer having shown his respect for the law, — and a very wise one we consider it, — pulls ahead, and a moment later the train stops at Westbrook Junction (Deering), four miles from Port- land. The Westbrook Seminary and Female College, which offers 16 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE fine educational advantages to its students, and Evergreen Cemetery, containing three hundred acres, the grounds being kept with great care, are but a short distance from tlie station. Again we start, and, leaving the suburban homes of Portland behind us, run down the so-called ''Falmouth Grade," and notice on the summit of a hill to the left Black Strap Monument, one of the landmarks, of which there are many in the State, erected by the United States Coast Survey a few years ago. Crossing the Presumpscot River, the outlet of Sebago Lake, the source of Portland's water supply, we enjoy, while the train flies across the iron bridge, several picturesque views about us. Through a rolling country our iron horse dashes swiftly, until eight miles from Portland we stop at the station of West Falmouth,, accommodating the travel of Falmouth Foreside, a mile and a half distant, a locality where boarding-houses and summer cottages are filled each season by the wealthy people of Portland and strangers from afar. The next station is Cuniberland Junction, eleven miles- from Portland, where the Maine Central road divides, one route run- ning to Brunswick and following the Kennebec River, the other by way of Lewiston and Lake Maranacook, both divisions uniting at Waterville. The buildings seen on the right of the station are sweet- corn packing establishments, which business has grown to be one of the largest industries of Maine. Evidently the citizens of the Pine Tree State think that the other people in the world are '' too fresh," or they would not take such active measures to "corn" them. A short distance from the station is the thriving and thickly settled vil- lage of Cumberland Centre. Taking the right-hand track the train rushes onward through a prosperous farming region, crossing Royal River over a fine iron bridge, and stopping a moment before crossing the tracks of the Grand Trunk Railway, is a couple of minutes later at the station of Yarmouth Junction, fifteen miles from Portland. The village of Yarmouth is half a mile distant to the right. The mills of the Forest Fibre Company, which are in sight on the right, and a corn-packing establishment furnish a large part of the business of the place. The town extends to the sea-coast, and formerly considerable ship-building was carried on along the shore. It was settled about fifty years later than Boston, in 1683, but was afterward entirely destroyed. Again in motion, we flit rapidly across the farms that lie in our path^ making our next stop at Freeport, twenty-one miles from Portland. This is a lively farming town containing a populous village clustered around the station, which has grown up in the last decade of years; AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 17 and the large new shoe factory and other industries in this vicinity add greatly to the prosperity of the community. Its territory stretches easterly to Casco Bay; and this portion was once famous for its ship- building. A small steamer plies daily between Portland and Freeport, and the sail in summer is charming, lint the conductor signals the engineer to " go ahead," and we scramble on the train just as it begins to move, resuming our seats and our observations from the windows, catching glimpses of well-cultivated fields, rich pastures, and pleasing bits of forest, whose inviting shade almost tempts one to halt, and shortly dash by Hillside, a small station on the left, twenty-five miles from Portland, too modest and unassuming to care for especial men- tion, and soon after reach the large depot in Brunswick, twenty-nine jniles from the Forest City, where the train stops. The tall iron col- nnm on the hill to the left, which attracted your attention as we approached the station, is the large iron stand-pipe of the Pejepscot Water Company, and is seventy-five feet high. Brunswick is quite an important railroad centre, branches of the Maine Central extending from here to Farmiiigton, Lewiston, and Bath. There is a first-class dining-room in the depot, under the same popular management as those in the Union Depots at Portland and Bangor. Brunswick is well known as the seat of Bowdoin College, one of the oldest in New England, dating back to 1794, its name perpetuating that of one of the Massachusetts governors, James Bowdoin. The town has a popu- lation of six thousand or more souls, and occupies a level plain once •covered with huge pines, near the junction of the Kennebec and An- droscoggin Rivers, forming Merry Meeting Bay, and from which these two restless and turbulent streams flow as one to the broad ocean. It is said to form part of the ancient Pejepscot Purchase, the deed bearing date of July 7, 1G84, and which six Indian Sagamores, with names a yard and a half long, signed with totems or seals quaint and curious, conveying to the early settlers the region in the vicinity of and now occupied by the towns of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell. The Androscoggin River, which rises in the well-known lake region of that name, furnishes abundant water power to the town of Bruns- ^vick, and is responsible for the birth of the huge manufactories of the Cabot Company and others. The large cotton mill contains forty- 'seven thousand spindles, and employs seven hundred and twenty-five working people, — almost enough for a regiment. The river above the mills is a mass of foaming rapids, whose tireless flow has partially worn away the gi-anite ledges along the banks; and the old Indian 18 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE title of Pejepscot," signifying " where angry waters gush," aptly applies to the river at this point. Directly after the train pulls out from the station the main street of the town is crossed. It extends from the falls at the lower end of the village to the sea-shore at Maquoit, a distance of three miles, and is. of a uniform width of two hundred feet the entire distance. This street was the old Indian trail over which the savages carried their canoes in their journeys between the river and the sea. It was origi- nally about two feet wide, but after the coming of the civilized and Christian white man was made a hundred times wider, so that the uncivilized and pagan red man could manage to keep in the road when he was overloaded with the white man's whiskey. Africa to-day is being civilized and Christianized by missionaries in the same manner that America was nearly three hundred years ago. Secure seats on the right-hand side of the car, as by so doing yon will obtain the more pleasing views to Augusta. Crossing the street before mentioned, you can see to the right the grounds and buildings of Bowdoin College, occupying the elevated plain beyond the church. Some of the most distinguished of our public men, in the past, have been graduates of Bowdoin. A short distance from the depot, the train crosses the laughing Androscoggin, that has quieted down since its fall above, over a substantial iron bridge, a trifle short of eight hun- dred feet long, giving a view on our left of the dam and factories clus- tered near it. Across the river we enter Topsham, and pass its station, thirty miles from Portland. About three miles beyond Topsham station, we first catch sight of a bright stream of tide-water, yet known by its Indian title, "Cathance," whose erratic course is almost con- stantly in sight until it empties into Merry Meeting Bay, a mile east of Bowdoinham station. The scenery along in this vicinity, although quiet, is pleasing and worthy of attention. Thirty-seven miles from Portland we pass the station of Bowdoinham, but no stop is made. The large, steam lumber mill, seen to the right of the train, is one of the principal industries of the village. Hurrying on, and giving a warning whistle to "clear the track," the train dashes by the small station of Harward's Road, and gradually approaches the Kennebec River, equally celebrated for its immense ice harvests in. winter, and its beautiful landscapes in summer. Dozens of immense houses for the storage of ice line its banks; and in many places where trees have impeded the views of the river, the Maine Central Railroad Company, ever mindful of everything that will contribute to the com- AND NOKTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 19 fort or pleasure of its patrons, has caused the obstructing growth to be cut away. At Richmond, forty-five miles from Portland, and one of the prettiest of the Kennebec towns, the train makes a few minutes' stop. Lumber and shoe manufacturing are the principal industries of the place, and give employment to a large number of people. It is a lovely ride between Richmond and Augusta in summer, tlie railroad following the Kennebec River, which is in sight nearly the entire distance. Every curve of the road and the river produces a new and attractive picture. Vessels of all sizes, tugs and excursion boats, sailing scows, and other river craft, add to the beauty of the scene, and the distant views of the towns and cities, as we approach them, give additional interest to the panorama. A large amount of lumber is manufactured along the river, and the building of vessels is carried on to some extent. Ice-cutting is the principal industry in winter, and thousands of tons are annually shipped each year, not only to other places in the United States, but also to foreign countries. The entire harvest is upwards of a million tons, and there is no better or purer ice put on the market. Leaving the station, we soon catch a glimpse to the right, near the Dresden Ferry, of an old barn standing alone on a point of land be- tw^een the railroad and the river, which marks the site of Fort Rich- mond, from wdiicli the town w^as named, built in 1719 as a defensive work, and also as a trading-post with the Indians. Looking back from this point, one can see Swan Island, once the headquarters of the Kennebec Indians. ''Yistas en Route" informs us that '^A short mile farther up the river, on the opposite bank, partly hidden by a curtain of pines, a large, square house may be seen, with an old- fashioned hip roof, and four stories high. This is one of the oldest buildings on the river. It was erected by the Plymouth Company in 1760 as a court-house for the new county of Lincoln, and also as a tavern. Its exterior remains unchanged, and the upper rooms, with their high fire-places, are the same as when juries met here to delib- erate a century and a quarter ago. Fort Shirley, first called Frankfort, erected in 1751-52, stood upon the point of land now occupied by the old court-house. Upon the right bank of the Kennebec are the towns of Dresden, Pittston, Randolph, and Chelsea, opposite their respective neighbors Richmond, Gardiner, Farmingdale, and Hallow"ell,to Augusta, which occupies both sides of the river. Kearly upon the boundary of the towns of Chelsea and Augusta, reached from the latter station, distance two miles, is situated the Togus National Home for Disabled 20 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE Yolunteer Soldiers, where fifteen hundred veterans of the Rebellion dwell, cared for by the government which they helped to sustain." Now we shoot by the small station of Iceboro, with its mammoth houses, said to be the largest in the world for the storage of solid water; Dresden, where the Methodists have their camp ground; and South Gardiner, with its immense steam-mills, — perfect hives of in- dustry, — where, by the magic of man's ingenuity, logs are changed into every conceivable form of lumber; and its pretty cottages, some of which during the summer season are occupied by persons from with- out the State; and then the hissing of the air-brakes announces a stop, and the train pulls up at Gardiner, fifty-six miles from Portland. During the portion of the year that the river is navigable, the fine, large steamers of the Boston and Kennebec Steamboat Company run between Gardiner and Boston; and if you happen to be on the train when one of these boats, with colors flying, is running down river, you can see a very pretty picture. The river is bridged at Gardiner, but a draw allows for the passage of small vessels and steamers to Augusta. A short distance from the station we cross the Cobbossee-Contee Stream, which furnishes the power for Gardiner's most important industries. In this vicinity formerly existed noted Indian encamp- ments. Dashing swiftly along by a number of large ice-houses, the train slips through the small village of Farmingdale, with only a whistle from the engineer, and a few miles farther on slows down at Hallo well, sixty miles from Portland, passing a neat, granite library building on the right, just before reaching the station. A bend of the river here allows a view to be had from the train of the entire water- front of the city. Both Gardiner and Hallowell are named after the early proprietors to whom the land was granted in old colonial days. The Maine Industrial School for girls is located here, also the large quarries from which is taken the famous Hallowell granite, largely used for monuments as well as buildings. A short run now brings us to Augusta, sixty-three miles from Portland, the capital of the State, and the head of tide-water on the Kennebec. Shortly before entering Augusta, on the opposite side of the river, may be seen an old build- ing, its roof pierced by three huge chimneys. This is all that is left of Fort Weston, erected by the Plymouth Company in 1754. It is one hundred feet long, and was designed for officers' quarters, barracks for the garrison, and for a storehouse. It is now used as a tenement- house, and is all that remains of the defensive works erected to pi'otect the settlements on the lower Kennebec during the last of the French AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 21 and Indian wars. Just below the city, on the opposite side of the river, stands the State Asylum for the Insane, and a little above it is the United States Arsenal. Augusta has a large manufacturing busi- ness, and contains several mills of various kinds. A huge dam, with a lock at the east end, extends across the river, just above tlie city, Cushnoc was the Indian name for Augusta, and it was a great rally- ing-place for the tribes. A movement is now being made to change the capital to Portland, and the good citizens of Augusta are much incensed thereat. From here to Waterville a seat on the left-hand side of the train is more desirable, it being next the river. Leaving fair Augusta, we cross the Kennebec over a splendid iron bridge, one thousand feet in length, obtaining fine views from each side, and then, entering the town of Yassalboro, follow the river, which is now on our left. At the farther end of the dam can be seen the mill of the Edwards Manufacturing Company. As we approach the station at Riverside, the train passes **Five Mile Island," so called, which divides the river for some distance. Shooting by the station at Riverside on our left, we cross Seven Mile Brook," and soon pass the Vassalboro station. This old town was settled about 1760 by a party of Cape-Codders, who deserted the barren sands and marshes of the Cape to establish homes in the fertile valley of the Kennebec. HiuTying on we reach Winslow, eighty miles from Portland, and, just after crossing the Sebasticook River, which here empties into the Kennebec, notice on a point of land to the left, formed by the junction of the two streams, old Fort Halifax, its location and appearance uncham^ed from the time when it was first erected by the Government of Massachusetts Bay as one of the defences of the valley. Beyond the old block-house we catch a distant view of Waterville, and the large cotton mills of the Lock wood Company, and, before entering the outskirts of the city, the Kennebec is crossed again over another fine iron bridge, eight hundred feet long, with rapids and falls flashing and roaring beneath us, and yet bearing the old Indian appellation, "Ticonic." The views here in either direction are picturesque and pleasing in the extreme. Across the bridge the river has whisked to our right again, and remains in sight but a short distance. As we enter the town its pleasant aspect — embowered by shade-trees — impresses us favorably, and the train shortly draws up at the station, and on the right we notice the grounds and buildings of Colby Univer- sity. The Coburn Classical Institute is also located here. The tAVO lines from Portland come together at Waterville, and continue as one 22 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE to Bangor. A branch runs from here to Skowhegan, nineteen miles distant. But the train, having been made up anew for its eastern flight, slowly leaves the depot, and, passing through the central portion of the city, which, by the way, is the youngest in Maine, its charter only dating from 1888, soon reaches the large sliops of the Maine Central Company, seen to the right, and a short distance be- yond again, and for the last time, crosses the Kennebec River, over another fine iron bridge, six hundred feet in length. Steaming onv/ard, the train passes through the farming town of Benton, and along here we catch the last glimpses of the beautiful Kennebec, its silvery rapids rushing between numerous islands, impatient of any obstruction. Opposite the station at Benton, upon the farther side of the river, is the large and thriving village of Fairfield; and its lumber mills, which furnish the principal industry, may be seen from the cars. Passing the station of Clinton, a farming village from which a large amount of produce is shipped, the next stop is made at Burnham Junction, ninety-five miles from Portland, from where a branch runs to Belfast, an important seaport town, thirty-four miles from the main line. A few moments here, and on we dash, reaching the smart and rapidly growing town of Pittsfield next. As the train slacks up at the station, the Maine Central Institute, one of the preparatory schools in Maine, can be seen to the right. The village is located on the western bank of the Sebasticook River, which furnishes the power for several large woollen mills, and other manufactories. The Sebasticook and Moose- head Railroad extends north eight miles to Hartland, with Moosehead Lake as its objective point, — if it ever reaches it. Crossing the river, we dash on across a flat country, passing the sta- tion of Detroit, a more familiar name in the West, without obtaining a glimpse of the village which is hidden from our view, shortly arriv- ing at Newport, one hundred and ten miles from Portland. A branch extends from this point through Corinna to Dextei", and it is to be built to Dover the present year, there forming a junction with the Bangor and Piscataquis Railroad, making so short a cut to Moosehead Lake that the traveller leaving Boston in the morning may be able to arrive at the Mount Kineo House the same night. As we run away from Newport, we cross the Sebasticook River once more, and a charming lake of the same name may be seen to the left. A short ride carries us by the East Newport station, and in this vicinity the high hills of Plymouth and the noted Dixmont Mountains can be seen off to tlie right. Etna, Carmel, and Hermon Pond follow in rapid AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 23 succession, the latter one liundred and twenty-six miles from Port- land. There are several mills at this place, and a beautiful pond, stretching away to the right, from which the station is named. Moving onward once more, we soon pass Hermon Centre, and shortly after the Penobscot Iliver appears in sight, and we follow up its left bank till we reach the station in Bangor, at 6.30 p.m., one hundred and thirty-six miles from Portland, where we stop over night. You have a number of first-class hotels to choose from, the Bangor House being the largest and the most pleasantly located. Bangor, the metropolis of Eastern Maine, is one of the finest cities in the State, a,nd the distributing point for a vast extent of country. A large amount of business is done here, the principal industries being lumber- ing and manufacturing. Within a few years some attention has been paid to ice-harvesting, but the Penobscot will never be a very danger- ous rival of the Kennebec. In the new city of Brewer, on the opposite side of the river, quite a number of vessels and small steamers have been constructed, and more or less building is done in the yards there each year. A branch of the Maine Central extends to Mount Desert Ferry, another to Bucksport, and the main line stretches away east- ward to Yanceboro on the boundary of the State. Several different steamboat lines run from Bangor to Penobscot River and Bay towns, Rockland, Mount Desert, Boston, and New York. If the traveller bound to Moosehead Lake wishes to pay an extra fare for speed and luxury, he can start on the celebrated "Limited express" leaving Boston from Hay market Square Depot at 9.15 a.m., running over the Western Division to Portland, and via Danville Junction, Auburn, Lewiston, Lake Maranacook, and Water ville to Bangor, arriving at 5.30 P.M. This train is composed wholly of Pullman Vestibule Draw- ing-room and Dining Cars. It is put on about the 1st of July, and runs until the middle of September. Passengers by all day trains spend the night in Bangor, and proceed to the lake the next morning. BOSTON TO BANGOR BY STEA3IER. Embark on one of the Boston and Bangor Steamship Company's fine steamers leaving Boston from Foster's Wharf, 366 Atlantic Ave- nue, daily, except Sunday, during the summer season at 5.30 p.m., giving a beautiful sail down Boston Harbor and along the eastern coast of Massachusetts before darkness veils the scene. Forts Inde- pendence, Winthrop and Warren, Deer Island, Long Island, Nix's 24 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE Mate, and Boston Light, each excites interest in the minds of the passengers as they are successively passed. Minot's Ledge Light, the bold and rugged bhiffs of Nahant, Egg Kock Light, Baker's Island Lights, Norman's Woe, Thatcher's Island Lights, are all to be seen from the steamer. After passing Cape Ann and the Salvages, the course is more to the eastward, and Monhegan Island, off the coast of Maine, is reached about daylight. Passing this you notice next White- head Point, then Dix Island with its extensive granite quarries, Owl's Head, an old landmark, and other objects of interest. At Rockland the boat stops for the first time, and here connections are made with the Knox and Lincoln Kailroad for Bath and all stations on the route; also with the fine steamer "Mount Desert" every morning, except Sunday, for South-west Harbor, North-east Harbor, and Bar Harbor; and with the new steamer "Blue Hill" on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, for North-west Harbor, Sedgwick, Brooklin, Blue Hill, Surry, and Ellswwth; also with steamer " City of Richmond" at Kockland, every Wednesday and Saturday, for Castine, MiUbridge, Jonesport, and Machiasport. Stages also leave Rockland and Camden for the surrounding towns, and small steamers and packets for adjacent islands. Pursuing her course up the western shore of the beautiful Penobscot Bay, the boat touches next at Camden, noted for its fine scenery, beautiful surroundings, and excellent fishing. The third stop is at Northport, the celebrated camp-ground, that is fast attaining a popularity as a summer resort. The next landing is at Belfast, where connections are made with the Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railroad for Burnham and intermediate towns, and with steamers for Castine and adjacent islands. Again the steamer ploughs the bright waters of the bay for a short time, halting next at Searsport. From here her course is laid for Fort Point, a charming watering place, the boat land^ ing here each trip during the summer season. Among the many picturesque spots which have sprung into prominence during recent years none offers stronger inducements as an attractive summer resort than Fort Point, a bold promontory at the head of Penobscot Bay, at the point where the waters of the majestic river unite with those of the outer harbor. The natural advantages at Fort Point are unsur- passed, combining grand views of bay and river, with all of the interesting features of each, and at the same time being in the imme- diate vicinity of charming inland scenery. Leaving Fort Point and the bay, the boat enters the river, the first landing being made at Bucksport, from which town there are stage connections to various points. AND NOKTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 25 ^V"interpo^t, the next stopping-place, is the terminus of the steamers of this Hne during the winter months, navigation higher up being ch)sed by ice. Under way again, we soon reach Hampden, and, after a short stay, haul in the gang-plank for the last time, the next landing being Bangor, where the boat arrives about noon. Passengers can take the afternoon train, arriving at Moosehead Lake and Mount Kineo the same evening. Returning, you can take the early train from Greenville, reaching Bangor in time to connect with one of the steamers of this line for Boston, where you arrive early the next morning. Before leaving Bangor we must speak of its salmon fishing, which within a few years has increased to such a,n extent as to now offer the best enjoyment of that sport of anyplace in New England; and the Penobscot can fairly rival the much vaunted and over-fished rivers of Canada. The fishing-grounds are only a mile from the best hotels in the city; and the sportsman is entirely free from the continual discom- fort and horrible torture of insects that he must endure on all Cana- dian rivers. The season of 1888 was the most successful at Bangor since fishing began at the pool, and a large number of sportsmen visited the city to enjoy the fine sport, and many of them were delighted with their luck. The fly-fishing season for salmon at the Bangor pool closed on Sat- urday, June 80, the last catches having been made on that date by Charles Barstow and J. H. Peavey; and the club-house closed on Thursday, July 5. There were lots of salmon in the river at the time of closing, but after the water became warm they refused all invita- tions to rise to a fly. The record of fish caught, which we give in this chapter, we are indebted to the Bangor Whig and Courier" for. This journal tried hard to keep a correct list, but found it impossible, as many fish were taken on the Bangor side of the river which were not reported at the club-house, and therefore not obtainable for record. The number of salmon successfully landed was no criterion by which to judge of the number of this noble fish in the river, as a far greater number took the fly, but were not brought to the gaff, either through defective tackle, or from not being properly hooked, or from unskilful handling, or other causes with which fishermen are familiar. This record, however, is the fullest and most accurate ever made, and the results as given will be of interest to all lovers of the rod and 26 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE line, and will no doubt tend to bring a larger numb 3r of sportsmen to Bangor the present season, Avlien, in consequence of ilie marked annual increase, the fishing will be even better than last year. During the last season the club-house and matters pertaining to it were under the efficient charge of Thomas F. Allen, Esq., and the manner in which he performed the duties of his position won for him many- deserved compliments. He was emphatically the right man in the right place; and it is hoped and expected that he will fill the position this year. The following are the names of the lucky fishermen, with Lhe nu:: - her and total weight of fish caught by each : — F. W. Ayer, 19, 339 pounds; A. Mitchell, Norwich, Conn., 12, 218 pounds; Charles Barstow, Boston, 8, 118 pounds; J. H. Peavey, 6, 104 pounds; T. F. Allen, 8, 116 pounds; George Libby, 5, 94 pounds; Edward Stetson, 5, 95 pounds; Dr. Elliot, Lawrence, Mass., 5, 87 pounds; John T. Clark, 4, 74 pounds; Mr. McCarty, Lawrence, Mass., 4, 72 pounds; John Kent, Yeazie, 4, 74 pounds; E. A. Buck, 3, 53 pounds; H. N. Brooks, Meriden, Conn., 3, 46 pounds; J. H. Gould, 2, 33 pounds; G. W. McMahon, 2, 38 pounds; Mr. Munn, New York, 2, 32 pounds; Ivory Doane, Yeazie, 2, 25 pounds; George Fi.iie- gan, 2, 34 pounds; Dr. W. H. Simmons, 2, 28 pounds; C. J. Bateman, Boston, 2, 36 pounds; Frank McGuire, 2, 26 pounds; Z. K. Bobbins, Norwich, Conn., 2, 32 pounds; J. A. Thompson, 2, 41 pounds; Wm. B. McElroy, Providence, R.I., 2, 38 pounds; Charles Richardson, 2, 33 pounds; C. P. Hodgkins, 2, 19 pounds; Herbert Nealley, 2, 21 pounds; also the following, one each: F. S. Swett, Brewer; Hon. Wm. Senter, Portland; Frank Cowan; Al. Spencer; 1. K. Stetson; Jerome Philbrook; Mr. Dodge; F. W. Hill, Waterbury, Conn,; Frank Libby; H. J. Wood, Utica, N.Y. ; Fred H. Patten, Bath; H. W. Osgood, Pittsfield, Mass. ; Harry Ellsworth, Providence, R.L; E. S. Osgood, Philadelphia, Penn. ; Mr. White, Portland; P. P. Kelly, Melrose, Mass. ; F. H. Lougee; J. J. Russell, Plymouth, Mass; J. F. Tracy, Hallowell; Alfred J. Webb; Thomas Nickerson; Fred Sproul, Yeazie; E. D. Buffinton, Worcester, Mass. ; Mr. Abbott; W^m. G. Wentworth, Brewer; J. H. Lewis; Joseph F. Shields, Boston, Mass.; Ezra L. Sterns and Charles York, — a total of 144 fish, weighing 2,440 pounds, an average weight of seventeen pounds. The open season for salmon fishing in Maine is from April 1 to July 15. The Bangor and Piscataquis train for Moosehead Lake is made up AND NORTH MAINE WILDEIINESS. 29 in the Maine Central Depot, and leaves at 7.20 a.m. It makes a cir- cular sweep around the water-front of the city, crossing the Kendus- keag Stream over a wooden bridge. To the left may be seen the Custom House and Post-office rising from the bed of the stream. The train stops at the Exchange-street Depot a few moments, leaving it at 7.3D. A short distance beyond we pass under the railroad and high- way bridges spanning the Penobscot, which is on our right, and con- necting Bangor with Brewer. On one side of the river will be seen enormous piles of lumber on the wharves and large rafts in the water, the products of the mills above. The opposite bank of the river is high, and the views along here are very pretty. The road follows the river very closely for quite a distance, and about a mile from the station you pass on the right the fine dam built for the purpose of furnishing the city with an unfailing supply of pure water; it also furnishes the power to run the inunense pumps located in the build- ings of the Bangor Water- Works, siuiated on the left side of the river, just above the dam. The river in this vicinity is noted for its splendid salmon fishing, before spoken of. Fine salmon in large numbers are taken each season at the foot of the dam, and furnish most exciting sport to the disciples of Izaak Walton. The neat and attractive club- house of the Bangor fishermen may be seen from the train on the opposite side of the river. Above the dam the stream is much wider than at the city, and a short distance beyond the water-works the train passes Mount Hope Cemetery on the left, and, as it approaches the next station, several long sheds on the right are noticed, filled with last blocks for shipment; but for all that you never see the last block, because there are always a few scattering ones left in the sheds. The first stop is at Yeazie, the station being some distance from the river, which in this vicinity makes a curve, shooting away from the railroad for a mile or so. The village has an attractive appearance from the train, with its pretty cottages, and neat streets lined with shade-trees. Just before reaching Yeazie, Fort Hill rises in sight to the left, and is made interesting from the fact that it is the spot where the citizens gathered to defend their homes during the British invasion of 1814. Caimon-balls fired by the fleet on that occasion are yet occa- sionally found. Yeazie contains the smallest number of acres of any town in the State, and was settled in 1780, having been named in honor of Gen. Samuel Yeazie, a former wealthy resident of the town. Its immense water-power is utilized by large lumber mills, which dispose 30 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE of thousands of logs every year. We strike the river again just be- yond a large gravel bank on the right, and notice a number of large piers in the middle of the stream. The lumbermen attach booms to these for the purpose of guiding, assorting, and holding logs during the season of river driving. At Basin Mills, the next station, the manufacture of lumber is the principal industry of the village. The water-power includes the entire volume of the Penobscot, which is turned through the basin by means of a dam extending from the head of Ayer's Island to the opposite shore. The village straggles along the river banks, but has some neat houses, and pretty streets shaded by long rows of beautiful elms, seen to the right. The large mills also, which give employment to a small army of laborers, can be seen from the train. Orono (" O you know " is about as near as the brakeman comes to it), where the next halt is made, is situated at the junction of the Still- water River with the Penobscot. Its name is said to perpetuate the memory of a once famous chief of the powerful Tarratines. The Maine State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, an experimen- tal school, has its home here. Crossing the Stillwater River over a fine iron bridge, through a region of dams and mills, we catch a glance at the angry waters sweeping beneath us, and, continuing on, the sta- tion of Webster, a part of Orono, is passed, and two miles beyond we whisk by the station of Great Works, a village of Oldtown, enveloping the few loungers about the depot in a cloud of dust. The greatest works in Great Works are the mills of the Penobscot Chemical Fibre Company, where twenty tons of wood-pulp are daily manufactured, and W. T. Pearson & Co.'s large lumber mill, where each year twenty- five million feet of logs are cut up. Upon the opposite bank of the river is the town of Bradley, also containing a large number of mills. A short run now brings us to Oldtown, thirteen miles from Bangor, our train swinging to the left from the Maine Central Railroad. Here on Indian Island is the home of the remnant of the once powerful Tarratine tribe, who at one time owned all the territory watered by the Penobscot. They are in very comfortable circumstances, and carry on the manufacture of baskets, snow-shoes, and canoes. Most of the men are good guides and expert river-drivers. Oldtown is credited with having built and operated the second railroad in the United States. The charter was procured in 1833, and the first train was run on Thanksgiving Day, ^^ovember, 1836, and the last in June, 1870, it having passed the year before under control of the European AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 31 and North American Railway Company, which discontinued its use. Leaving Oldtown at 8.05 a.m. w^e continue our journey over the Bangor and Piscataquis Railroad, passing through the back yards of the village, and again follow the Penobscot. On the right may be seen a new and large four-story brick building used for the manufac- ture of woollen goods, and quite a strip of Indian Island. An old- fashioned light-draught wheelbarrow steamboat laid up on the bank of the river, several small saw-mills, and some of the islands in the river, are in sight from the train as it sweeps along. The Penobscot in this vicinity is quite crooked, and full of islands; and before reaching Pea Cove, the first station, the train crosses three covered wooden bridges. The country is flat and swampy the first two or three miles, and is uninteresting after we lose sight of the Penobscot, which happens just before reaching the flag station of Pea Cove. From here to Alton, the next station, the train runs through a pleasant farming country, re- vealing nothing especially worthy of note. Beyond Alton the land is under a partial state of cultivation, and rises fast to South Lagrange, near which are high hills. From here, and also from Milo, good views of Mount Ktaadn may be had on a clear day. At various points on the road you will notice long piles of cord wood, part for shipment and part for the use of the road. The B. and P. engines are wood-burn-> ers, and annually chew up about four thousand cords. Lagrange, the next station, is a thriving farming town, — the last that we pass through in Penobscot County. A short run from here brings us to Orneville, a pleasant farming town in Piscataquis County. Much of the land along here is partly wooded, and the views are pleasing. A short dis- tance before reaching Milo Junction in the town of Milo, we cross the Piscataquis River, which w^e see for the first time, over a substantial wooden latticed bridge, and follow it for many miles, crossing its head- waters a few miles south of Moosehead Lake. Milo Junction, on our right, is the next station. From this point to the lake the views are more pleasant from the left side of the train, the Piscataquis River being frequently in sight. Here connection is made with the Bangor and Katahdin Iron Works Railway for Milo, Brownsville, and the Katahdin Iron Works, nineteen miles distant. At the latter place teams and guides can be engaged for a trip to the *' Gulf," a picturesque rocky canon on the west branch of Pleasant River. This road is now leased to and operated by the Bangor and Piscataquis Railroad Company. 82 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE Leaving Milo (in tliis vicinity you obtain tlie best view from the road of Mount Ktaadn), a ride of twelve or fifteen minutes brings us to the station of South Sebec. Here the sportsman or tourist bound for Sebec Lalve leaves the cars, and takes stage for the hotel five miles distant; fare, twenty-five cents. One can obtain guides, canoes, and campers' outfits at Sebec Village, which clusters around the lower end of the lake. 'J'he land-locked salmon in Sebec Lake furnish excellent sport in the spring, soon after the ice goes out. They run from a pound to five pounds in weight, and are as gamy as black bass; but the salmon sea- son is over by the middle of June. During July and August pickerel and white perch are taken readily. The entire length of the lake is twelve miles. The eastern half is very narrow, — from one to two hundred rods wide. The western half is nearly three miles widefiom north to south. The Lake House stands at the western end of the lake, near the mouth of Wilson Stream. It has accommodations for about thirty guests; and canoes, boats, or camping outfits can be obtained of the proprietor. A steamer plies on the lake during the season of summer travel. A number of small ponds to the north and west of the lake furnish excellent trout-fishing. Passing on, we stop for a moment at East Dover, in sight of the fine new iron bridge that here spans the Piscataquis, and from there a short ride brings us to Dover, the shire town of Piscataquis County, incor- porated in 1822, a smart and enterprising town, where quite an amount of manufacturing is carried on, and Foxcroft, first settled in 1805, and named in honor of Hon. Joseph D. Foxcroft, another busy and wide- awake place. These towns are near neighbors, being situated opposite each other on the south and north banks of the Piscataquis River, and, as the railroad runs near the boundary line of the towns, one depot answers for both places. A few summer visitors are attracted to both of these places each year by the beauty of the scenery in the vicinity, and their proximity to Sebec Lake, which is only a few miles distant. Fiom Foxcroft to Blethen Landing on the lake is a distance of about five miles; fare by regular conveyance, fifty cents. The steamboat touches at Blethen Landing each way on her trips up and down the lake. Aizain the train starts and you pass the flag station of Low's Bridge and Sangerville, a pleasant and elevated town, incorporated in 1814; Guilford, the seat of a thriving country trade, where some manufac- turing is also carried on, and Abbot Village, arriving at Monson June- AND NOKTH MAINE AVILDERNESS. 33 tion, in the town of Abbot, where connection is made witli the Mon- son Raih'oad (two-foot giuige) for Monson, six miles distant. This is a pleasant and thriving little village situated in the midst of a moun- tainous forest country that stretches beyond it for many miles. It has a first-class hotel, two churches, several stores, post-office, academy, and the dwelling-houses are well built. There are several large slate quarries adjacent to the village, which furnish work for some three liundred men the entire year. In Chapter IV. we speak more par- ticularly of Monson and its surroundings. Leaving the junction the scenery grows wilder and more picturesque -with every mile of our advance toward Moosehead ; and the hills, w^hich Iiavebeen rolling up higher and higher as we travelled northward, have Jiere attained to the dignity of mountains. Russel Mountain, one of the highest in this vicinity, can be seen on the left-hand side of the road as you approach the Blanchard Station, and the view of the valley is charming. A ride of little more than twenty minutes brings us to Blanchard, for several years the terminus of the road. Some manu- facturing is done in this town, and its people are largely interested in lumbering. As we leave Blanchard we enter the wilderness; and the line the rest of the distance to the lake is very crooked, making a €urve here and a bend there to clear the natural obstructions to the road-bed. Several pieces of high trestle-work are crossed, and the views all the way along over the wide and deej), densely wooded valley of the Piscataquis to the mountains beyond are wild and beautiful. The train makes one stop at Shirley, where is a steam saw-mill, and reaches the station of Greenville Junction, at the foot of Moosehead Lake, at twelve o'clock. Here connection is made with the Interna- tional Railway of Maine (Canadian Pacific) for all points east and west, and with steamers for Deer Island. East Outlet, Lily Bay (Roach River), Mount Kineo House, and with coaches for the Green- Tille hotels. Dinner is all leady at the restaurant near the depot on arrival of train, and you have plenty of time to eat it before the steamers start. The Hotel West offers good accommodations to those who would like to stop at West Cove, and the Eveleth House and the Lake House to those who prefer stopping at Greenville (East Cove). The foundations for a large hotel at Greenville Junction were put in last fall, and it is expected that the hotel will be built this summer, and possibly be in readiness for guests by the 1st of July. During the season of summer travel the Bangor and Piscataquis Railroad Company will run two first-class passenger trains a day each 34 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE way between Bangor and Moosehead Lake. Probably the afternoon train will leave Bangor on the arrival of the "Flying Yankee" ex- press from Boston; if so, passengers will be able to leave Boston about nine in the morning and reach the lake the same evening be- tween eight and nine o'clock, stopping at West Cove over night, pro- ceeding onward by boat the next morning. CHAPTER 11. CANADIAN PACIFIC ROUTE (International Railway of Maine) FROM NORTHERN, NEW ENGLAND, CANADA AND THE WEST TO MOOSE RIVER PONDS, MOOSEHEAD LAKE, LAKE ONAWAY (Ship Pond), KATAHDIN IRON WORKS, SCHOODIC LAKE, AND MATTAWAMKEAG. OURISTS or sportsmen from Northern New England, Canada, and the West, may travel by any route to Lennoxville, P.Q., where the Canadian Pacific Rail- way, the Grand Trunk Pvailway, and the Passumpsic Division of the Boston and Maine Railroad all con- nect. Beyond Lennoxville, at present writing, there are two trains a day to Lake Megantic, leaving Len- noxville at 1.20 and 7.55 p.m., arriving at Lake Megantic at 6.00 and 10.25 p.m. Here you stop over night, and leave at 8.30 A.M. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for Greenville Junc- tion, at the foot of Moosehead Lake, arriving at about 3.00 p.m., stop- ping to dine on the way. This is the terminus of trains in an easterly direction at present, and I have found it impossible thus far to learn at what time the present year the route will be opened to Mattawam- keag, but probably in July. We learn that the running time of trains will soon be changed so that the through train will leave Lennoxville about midnight, after arrival of trains from Boston and the West, in season to reach the Moosehead station at the Kennebec Dam (Wil- son's) at about six o'clock in the morning. This will enable parties from Boston visiting the lake to reach it via the Canadian Pacific Railway in about twenty-two hours. That is to say, if you leave Bos- ton at 8.30 A.M., you would reach Wilson's Hotel at the outlet at six the next morning, Greenville Junction at 6.15, and Mount Kineo at 7.00, provided the boats made close connection with the train. The country between Lennoxville and Lake Megantic is mostly a wilderness, with a few clearings along the route, at which are the fol- 35 36 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE lowing stations, coming in the order named: Lennoxville, Cookshire, Berry, Gould's, Scottstown, Spring Hill, Sandy Bay, Lake Megantic. Cookshire is the largest place along the line, and is the junction of the International and Upper Coos Railroads, the latter running to West Stewartstown, Colebrook, and jSTorth Stratford on the Grand Trunk Railway. There is little of interest to be seen from the train between Lennoxville and Megantic, and one might as well make the trip be- tween these two points in the night as the day time, so far as the scenery is concerned ; but the trip beyond Megantic should be made by daylight, as the route runs through a very pretty country. The village clustered around the northeast corner of Lake Megan- tic is called Agnes, and leaving the station here the train crosses the Chaudiere River, and for several miles skirts the lake; and before los- ing sight of this sheet of water, which is on the right of the train, you have several pretty views of different portions of the lake, with high hills beyond. From the moment the lake finally disappears, the train plunges into the wilderness, and the view for several miles is some- what obscured, although an occasional mountain-top can be seen in the distance. The first stop is made at Stearns, in the township of Ditchfield, in the Province of Quebec. Here is a small mill that cuts up spruce for pulp wood, and the output is three or four car-loads a day. Starting again, the train continues through the forest, giving now and then a view of some wooded mountain height, and makes its next stop at a station called the Boundary, which is on the Canadian side of the line. A house, and a water-tank to quench the thirst of our iron steed, were all we saw here. Soon after we leave this station we run through a pass in the Boundary range, and enter the State of Maine, and, four miles from the boundary line, pull up again, this time at a station called Beattie's. The rise from Lake Megantic to the height of land is very gradual, and almost imperceptible, and the curves easy; but from the boundary line to Beattie's, a distance of four miles, there is a heavy down grade, and several sharp curves. The view from this station looking back is very fine, the Boundary Mountains sweeping around in a semicircle, thickly wooded to their summits. Many of the peaks are sugar-loaf in form, and very symmetrical, and, in their green robes, are quite attractive. Three brothers named Beattie have built a large steam saw-mill at this point on the road, and are fast making a hole in the howling wil- derness around them. They have bought, or leased, sixty-five thou- AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 39 sand acres of land in the vicinity for lumbering purposes, and quite a village will probably grow up here. The Custom House is established at this point; and Mr. Boothby, the officer in charge, is a very pleas- ant person to meet. He knows all about the country, and is well posted on the haunts of the trout and deer, being an ardent sportsman himself. Beyond Beattie's the road-bed slabs a mountain, cutting through a deep ledge on the right; and a short run brings us to another steam saw-mill, owned by Carswell & French, and the station, twenty-one miles from Megantic, is called Carswell from one of the mill proprie- tors. This mill is also making another big hole in the forest, and is producing eighteen or twenty car-loads of sawn lumber a week. At this station we strike the headwaters of Moose River, which we follow quite closely nearly to Moosehead Lake. There are already a number of buildings here, and in the course of time villages will grow up around all these mills. Beyond Carswell for several miles there is a fine view of the moun- tains, the road being all in the wilderness with the exception of one large clearing, probably a lumberman's hay farm. At the next station, Holeb, thirty miles from Megantic, a short stop is made. This station is named from the township, and there is a good chance for a village to grow up, as there is nothing but a water-tank and a shanty here at present. For the last five or six miles before reaching Holeb the country is comparatively level, and the views along the road quite pretty. There are a large number of mountains in sight from this point, but none appear to be very lofty. The highest, however, are seen to the right of the train. There are quite a number of logging and construction camps all along the line; and parties who wished to camp out anywhere on the Maine side of the Boundary could find plenty of comfortable shelters without carrying tents, almost any- where between the Boundary and Greenville Junction. From Carswell the road follows Moose River till it strikes Holeb Pond, then skirts the south shore of the pond, following along its entire length ; beyond it curves to the north, running a short distance through a dense forest, and then strikes Attean Pond near the western corner. There are fine views of mountains along this part of the line. The road follows the shore of Attean Pond quite closely, giv- ing many pretty glimpses of this lovely sheet of water. For some distance the road-bed is so high above the pond that you look down upon it, and in one place the road-bed has been dug out of the side of the mountain. 40 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE Following along Attean Pond on the north side, you cross the out- let in full sight of Wood Pond on the left. A fine iron bridge, with trestle work at each end, spans the stream here, and a few rods east of the bridge the train pulls up in the township of Jackman, at the sta- tion of the same name. This is one of the prettiest places on the road, and the mountain views are charming. Off to the riglit, on the east bank of Attean Pond Stream, is Pat McKenney's farm-house and hotel, in sight from the train, and here you can get dinner. Many a camping-out party in this vicinity have been glad to avail themselves of the hospitalities of this house, and have always found a hearty wel- come. This is the station where people bound for Moose River village leave the train. It is a little over a mile by the county road to the village. Steaming on again, the train follows the eastern shore of Wood Pond, on your left, in sight of that pretty sheet of water, and a large range of high mountains beyond it. As the train swings more to the east we lose sight of the pond, then run through another strip of forest, then pass a large clearing on the right. Along here for several miles there is quite a deep cut. A run of four or five miles brings us. in sight of Long Pond, and we follow its southern shore the entire distance, stopping at Long Lake station, fifty-one miles f rom Megantic,. and Trout Brook, fifty-six and a half miles. As we follow the shore of Long Pond we obtain many pretty views across the water, and high mountains on the north side of the pond remain in sight for some distance. After leaving Long Pond the train runs through the wilderness, by a number of logging camps, and makes its next stop just across Misery Stream at the station of Askwith, a little over sixty-five miles from Megantic. A substantial iron bridge, with split granite abutments, one of the finest on the road, crosses Misery Stream, and at each end is a long trestle which will probably be filled in. From Askwith a short run brings us to the West Outlet, where a momentary halt is made, and then, dashing on through the forest, we soon catch a glimpse of the lake, and then a fine view of it, as the engineer pulls up the train at the station of Moosehead, on our right, seventy-three miles from Megantic Lake, on the south side of the East Outlet, and but a few rods in the rear of Wilson's hotel, the Outlet House, in sight to the left of the train. The view from this station of the lake and mountains beyond it is one of the prettiest on the line of the road. MAP OF MOOSEDEAD LAKE. f AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 43 From the East Outlet we skirt the western shore of Moosehead Lake, obtaining frequent glimpses, and oftentimes good views, of that lovely sheet of water and the shores beyond. In the last ten miles there are several rock cuttings, but the grades are not heavy. A half hour's run from the East Outlet brings us to Greenville Junction, eighty-three and a half miles from Megantic, and here we leave the train. The road here crosses the Bangor and Piscataquis, and con- tinues on to Mattawamkeag via Eagle Stream, and, crossing Wilson Stream about two miles from the Lower Wilson Pond, from here it parallels the stream for several miles, passing to the south of, and in close proximity to, Boarstone Mountain, then follows the north shore of two of the Greenwood Ponds, cutting across the carry between them and Ship Pond, then follows the southern shore of Ship Pond, where there will be a station. Beyond here it crosses the outlet of Ship Pond, thence by the southern shore of the Benson Ponds, then be- tween the second and third Buttermilk Ponds, and then strikes the head of Roaring Brook, and follows it a few miles. Turning at right angles to the brook it runs southeast for a few miles, then, entering the town of Brownsville, crosses the Bangor and Katahdin Iron Works Railway, and the main stream of Pleasant River. At Browns- ville the repair and machine shops of the Canadian Pacific Railway will be located. The road continues through Brownsville in a general easterly direc- tion, and next reaches Schoodic Lake, the southern end of which it hugs closely, crosses the outlet, and passes about two miles south of Lake Seboois, then, changing to a northeast direction, passes close to the southern end of another lake, crossing its outlet, and beyond crosses a number of other streams, gradually drawing near the Penob- scot River, which it crosses at Mattawamkeag, and at the railroad station makes its junction with the Maine Central. It will thus be seen that this road from Megantic Lake to Matta- wamkeag runs through an almost primeval wilderness about all the way, there being only some half a dozen small villages its entire length, although, of course, in time little hamlets will spring up here and there as different industries are developed. This new road has opened up an immense sporting region, where brook trout, land- locked salmon, deer, caribou, and smaller game are plenty, and numerous excursions can be made all along its line, and probably on mixed trains sportsmen will be allowed to take boats or canoes with them. 44 GUIDE TO moosehp:ad lake Moose River village, East Outlet, Mount Kineo, Greenville Junction, Greenville, Monson, Lake Onaway, Sebec Lake, Katalidin Iron Works, Brownsville, and Sclioodic Lake, will all be good centres from which to start on many and varied excursions, keeping in the heart of the wilderness all the time. As there are no trains running east of Greenville it is impossible for the writer to go over the entire length of the road as he had intended, but this pleasure he hopes to enjoy the coming summer, and in the next year's edition of the Guide will give the results of his experi- ence. But as the entire road is correctly laid dow^n on the large map which accompanies this volume, the work having been done by one of the civil engineers of the railroad company, with the information already given, he feels confident that those who wish to visit the line of country adjacent to the road can do it understandingly. When this piece of the Canadian Pacific is opened to the public, there will be several routes from Boston by which one can reach Moosehead Lake and other places in the wilderness of Central Maine by this line. Tickets will probably be on sale in Boston via Boston and Maine Railroad to Portland, Grand Trunk Railway to North Stratford, Upper Coos Railroad to Cookshire, and the Canadian Pacific to Moosehead Lake and points beyond. Another route will likely be by Boston and Maine Railroad to Nashua Junction, Concord Railroad to Concord, Boston, Concord and Montreal Railroad to Groveton Junction, Grand Trunk Railway to Stratford, Upper Coos Railroad to Cookshire, and Canadian Pacific to Moosehead and all points east, and it may be that several other excursion routes via the northern roads will be opened. It is hard at this writing to give an idea of all the routes that this new line will open; but from the author's knowledge of the country, he feels confident that excursion tickets will be issued over the two routes mentioned above on the regular opening of the Canadian Pacific to Moosehead Lake. Having now given all the different routes by which Moosehead Lake and Mount Kineo may be reached, we will retrace our steps, and devote a chapter to the country in the vicinity of the Katahdin Iron Works, and also one to Monson and the attractions it offers to the sportsman and tourist. CHAPTEE III. FROM 3IILO JUNCTION TO BROWNVILL.E AND KATAH- DIN IRON-WORKS.— FISHING RESORTS IN THE VICIN- ITY.— THE GULF AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. HANGING cars at Milo Junction, and securing a seat on the right of tlie train, a short run, during which the train makes a circular sweep around the base of a large hill, brings us to the village of Milo, where there is considerable lumber manufactured. The Pleasant River is in sight on the right from here nearly to the end of the road, and furnishes many charming and pic- turesque views. Continuing on for five miles, we reach the station of Brown ville, where our next stop is made. The town of Brownville was incorporated in 1824, and is celebrated for the fine quality of its slate. It contains several of the largest quarries in New England, furnishing employment for a large number of men. There are also a number of mills here. A mile beyond Brownville Village a good branch road runs north- east to Schoodic Lake, four miles distant from the main thoroughfare. There is good trout fishing at this lake. A small steamer plies upon it in summer, and boats and canoes can also be hired. This lake is twelve miles long, about three wide, and has heavily timbered shores. It is a very pretty sheet of w^ater. A logging road leaves the Schoodic Lake road near Norton's, and continues on to South Twin Lake, pass- ing near the Ebeeme Ponds and Jo Merry Lakes. Teams and guides can be procured at Brownville for a trip to the ponds and lakes above spoken of. With good luck you can get through to the Jo Merry Lakes in a day. The Ebeeme Ponds are about half a mile apart, and 45 46 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE are connected by the East Branch of Pleasant River, navigable part of the distance. In this whole vicinity there are good hunting and fish- ing, and picturesque scenery. Although there is no hotel at Schoodic Lake at the time we are writing, it is probable that sportsmen may be able to find acconniiodations at the foot of the lake this season, as a large birch mill is to be built there this spring, and a small settlement will grow up around it. The railroad will also have a station there. Two miles and a half beyond we reach the crossing of the Canadian Pacific Eailway. Here a large village will undoubtedly grow up, as the machine and repair shops of the Canadian Pacific are to be built here, and will necessarily give employment to a large number of men. About twenty buildings have already been erected, and others are in process of construction. Schoodic Lake, above mentioned, can be reached from this point by the cars of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Between Brownville Junction and the Iron- Works the railroad runs mostly through a dense forest; frequent pretty glimpses of the Pleas- ant River are caught, however, from time to time, from the right-hand side of the train, and fine views of Baker, Spruce, Horseback, White Cap, and Chairback Mountains, that surround the Iron- Works Village, may be seen from both sides of the cars when within a couple of miles of the depot. The great tornado that swept through Maine in Novem- ber, 1883, leaving such a trail of devastation behind it, did a great deal of damage to the timber along the line of this road, but time and the axe have removed all traces of it. The railroad ends at the Iron Furnace, and the depot is located but a few rods from the hotel, which is in sight from the station. A telegraph line runs from the Iron- Works to Milo Junction, giving connection with lines all over the country. At the time of the hurricane the most of the Iron Company's build- ings were burned to the ground ; but they have since been rebuilt, and some additions made. The village is small, there being but one store; the hotel, the Iron Company's buildings, the buildings of the Railroad Company, and a few^ small houses inhabited by the workmen and lum- bermen, are about all there is of the settlement. The time from Bangor to the Iron-Works is three hours and a half, and there are two trains each way daily, excepting Sundays. The fare from Bangor to the Iron-Works is $2.50; and from Milo to the Iron-Works, $1.00. As you leave the cars you will notice the appearance of iron every- where. On the road, in the streams, around the buildings, and away to the west you can see the Ore Mountain, where the iron is mined. AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 47 The Katahdin Iron Company at their works turn out the best car- wheel iron in this country, tlie furnaces being all fed with charcoal. When the furnaces are in full blast about seventy-five men find employ- ment here, and some four thousand tons of iron are manufactured each year, which finds a ready market. The Ore Mountain, where the iron is obtained, is but a short distance from the hotel, and is well worth a visit. In digging for the ore many curious specimens of former vegetable matter are unearthed, such as leaves, ferns, grasses, limbs of trees, etc., that in the course of years, and through some chemical process of nature, have all been turned to iron, but still retain their former shape, and the delicate veins in the ferns and leaves are as perfect as they were before the change. The Silver Lake Hotel has been recently enlarged and improved, and offers to the sportsman or pleasure-seeker comfortable quarters at reasonable prices. An energetic and capable manager has been engaged to run the house the present season, and, under his efficient rule, the hotel will without doubt continue its long career of prosperity. This place is fast attaining a popularity as a summer resort for in- valids, who visit it for the purpose of drinking the celebrated waters of the mineral springs, of which there are several in the vicinity. These iron and sulphur spring waters have been found to contain unusual tonic properties, and as a cleanser and purifier of the blood they are unequalled. They are also found invaluable for all kinds of weakness and female complaints, and thousands who have visited the hotel from a distance have been greatly benefited, and many entirely cured ,-vfrom drinking the waters. As will be seen from a glance at our large map, there are quite a number of ponds within a radius of ten miles from the village, all of which furnish good trout fishing. Houston Pond, four miles distant, is the largest, being about five miles long ; reached from the hotel by a good road to Little Houston Pond, then about two miles farther to the dam at Houston Pond. Long Pond, a pretty sheet of water, about three and a half miles long, is eight miles from the hotel, and is reached by following the carriage road to the foot of the Gulf, where Mr. William P. Dean has erected a suspension foot-bridge over the stream, and then by a good trail the rest of the way. Mr. Dean, who lives at the Iron-Works Village, is one of the best guides in this vicin- ity, and is also a photographer. He has a comfortable camp on the south shore of the pond, and boats and canoes to let. There are land- locked salmon as well as trout in this pond. Ten miles north of the 48 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE village, by the old tote-road to Lake Chesuncook, now in good order (1889), is B Pond, more resorted to in winter than summer for fishing. Mr. E. H. Gerrish of Bangor has a camp there, and his services as guide can be secured. East and West Chairback Ponds, and Spruce Mountain Pond, distant in order named from the village, six, seven, and eight miles, are often resorted to by fishermen, who find plenty of small trout in them. The Gulf road follows up the stream on the east side of Baker Mountain to Big Lyford Pond and the West Branch Ponds, about twelve miles from the hotel. All these back ponds, which are but seldom visited, are well filled with small trout, and fur- nish very satisfactory fishing. If you have the time to spare you will find that you can pass several days or weeks here very pleasantly, as the Ore Mountain, the Mineral Springs, and the Blast Furnace, where the celebrated Katahdin char- coal iron is manufactured, are all worth visiting. The liquid iron is drawn from the furnace three times each twenty-four hours, at 8 a.m., 4 P.M., and 12 o'clock midnight, and run into the moulds; and it is a very interesting sight, especially the midnight ''draw," when the molten iron, like a fiery serpent, runs glowing and hissing through the channels of sand, filling the moulds, and sending out light and heat like some huge comet. Silver Lake, Houston Pond, and the dozen or more trout streams in the immediate vicinity of the hotel furnish excellent chances for boating and fishing. There are good carriage roads in the neighborhood, and, if you wish to drive, teams may be procured from the hotel. If you have an aspiring mind, and would climb mountains, you can make pedestrian excursions to the summits of Chairback and Horseback Mountains, from both of which good views of the surrounding country can be obtained. The dis- tance from the hotel to the top of either mountain is about four miles, and it will take a day for each excursion. Other mountains in the vicinity are Baker, Spruce, Barren, and White Cap, the latter fifteen miles from the hotel, and requiring two days for a trip to its summit. The larger number of these mountains are over three thousand feet above sea level. The captive deer, a buck and a doe, kept by Mr. E. A. Sjortedt, in his yard nearly opposite the hotel, are quite a curiosity to strangers stopping at the Iron-Works, most of whom visit these rangers of the w^oods. The deer are now quite tame, and are favorites with the ladies. The country for a large circle around Katahdin Iron Works is un- AND NOKTH MAINE WILDEIINESS. 49 settled, and a complete wilderness, and in the fall one can obtain ex- cellent partridge-shooting, besides having a chance at larger game, such as foxes, deer, caribou, and the common black bear, which are to be found, with the aid of a skilful guide, without much trouble. The following amusing incident was an actual occurrence: — One day, several years ago, while Billings, the guide, and a gentle- man from Bangor were driving in the vicinity of the Iron-Works, they were surprised by seeing a large black bear come out of the woods on their right and cross the road a few rods in front of them. Their rifles lay in the bottom of the wagon, but the bear crossed so quickly they did not try to use them. The first bear had scarcely reached the woods on the left of the road, when out stalked a second from the right hand. He shuffled across the road so fast that the colonel had scarcely time to say, '* There's another bear. Billings," before the ani- mal was out of sight. As he disappeared, both men made a dive for their rifles, and while they were getting them ready to use, out from the same piece of woods came a third bear, wiiich stalked solemnly across the road, stopping in the middle of it to take a good look at the team. This was too much for Billings, who jumped up on his feet, exclaiming, "My stars, colonel, the woods are full of bears!" and, cocking his rifle, let drive at Bruin over the head of the horse. The bear was not hit, however; but they stopped the horse and took to the woods, but did not get another glimpse at those " bears." About a, week after this incident, Billings set a couple of iron traps in the vicinity, but was not successful in catching a bear, and he concluded that the three he had seen were looking for a good place in which to den during the winter, and had kept on travelling for some distance. Before visiting the Gulf you had better procure the services of a guide, and we can recommend Wm. P. Dean of the Iron- Works Vil- lage, or T. W. Billings of Brownville, both of whom are perfectly familiar with this whole section of country. The Gulf is located on the west branch of Pleasant River, in the eastern township of the Bowdoin College Grant, and is a rocky canon in the mountains, three miles or more long. From the Silver Lake Hotel to the head of the Gulf is a little more than ten miles, of which the first six can be done comfortably on a buckboard, and the re- mainder on foot. The road runs for three miles through a rough clearing, and then enters the forest, near where three townships corner. In summer the road is dry, and the streams so low that they can be easily forded. There is no difficulty in following the road, 50 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE which is clear and well defined. A mile above the foot of the Gulf you reach the bridge over Gulf Hagas Stream, a sparkling brook that comes tumbling down from Spruce Mountain, and this brook has a series of cascades and falls well worth your inspection. Arrived at the upper end of the Gulf, you will notice the dam, seven hundred feet long, situated at the head of a rocky gorge, where the canon really begins. Six hundred thousand feet of lumber were used in building, this dam. Directly below is a series of beautiful falls and cascades, and on the west side of the river is a cave fifty feet deep. The banks of the stream at this place are about fifty feet high, and are composed of slate ledges, whose tops are covered with several varieties of moss, and a thick growth of spruce, fir, and pine. A short distance below, the ledges that confine the stream increase to a hundred feet in height. The banks are curved nearly to a half-circle, giving one the idea of an amphitheatre. In the centre of this half-circle, a heavy volume of water makes a jump of thirty feet through a natural cut in the rock,, and pours with a roar of thunder into the abyss below. Billings' Falls are one of the most considerable falls in the Gulf. Our engrav- ing is from a drawing made during the summer, when there is a me- dium fall of water. During the spring and fall freshets the whole face of the ledge is covered, but the tourist or sportsman rarely sees the stream when it presents such an appearance. Just to the left of where the water pours over the rock is a strong eddy, where the bub- bles of foam gather and grow until they form grotesque shapes, re- minding one of white beaver hats, cream-lemon pies, or innumerable ice-creams that float continually in circles. Xever for a moment still, the eye soon wearies in following them on their ceaseless rounds. The water below the fall is black and deep. From out this dark pool the stream dances onward in the form of flashing rapids, between the same precipitous and rocky banks, until it makes another heavy fall of about seventy feet, but not perpendicular. This is known as Kan- kin's Falls. Below it is another deep pool and still water for some distance. Along here the canon narrows, forming another amphitheatre, and the walls that encircle it rise to a height of two hundred feet fi-om the water. In many places the sides of the gorge are a solid mass of smooth rock, without a crevice for bushes or weeds to effect a lodge- ment. At irregular intervals the tops of these massive walls overhang the stream, so that a stone dropped straight down would strike the Billings' Falls, "West Branch Pleasant Eivek, Me. U. OF ILL LIB. AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 53 centre of the river. Occasionally there are clefts in the wall from which water of more or less volume emerges, forming silvery cascades that fall a distance of fifty or sixty feet. As you follow the stream down, the walking varies considerably. Where there is only moss and bushes it is easy getting ahead; but sometimes the trees are so thick you can scarcely force your way through them. To offset this, you find, once in a while, a bare ledge in your pathway, that overhangs the canon. From some of these ledges, you obtain a glimpse of the stream for two hundred rods above and below you, the water shimmering in the sunlight like brilliants. The immense piles of slate that uprise from each side of the river sometimes appear in regular layers, as if piled up by the hand of man. Again they are very irregular in shape and appearance, forming queer joints and angles. These are ofttimes scarred and worn by the frost and rain, and in some places huge masses of the rock have succumbed to the wear and tear of time and the elements, and fallen into the yawning gulf below^, to fret and madden the stream whose sanctuary they have invaded. The highest point from the water to the top of the banks is from three to four hundred feet. The stream varies in width from four or five rods to a few feet, and through these rocky gates the waters pour with relentless fury, mak- ing a noise that drowns all others. Continuing on, we pass a half- mile of still water and rapids, that culminate in a fall of fifteen feet, below which the stream boils and foams like a witch's caldron. On top of the right-hand bank in this vicinity are to be found some very pretty specimens of crystallized quartz. As we follow the Gulf down, it presents the same characteristics the entire distance. An open-7nouthed chasm, with huge bowlders at the bottom, the banks in some places receding, in others overhanging; the continual roar of the water follows you, sounding, as it ascends from the cavernous depths below, like a funeral dirge; in some spots the sunshine enters, lighting up the dark recesses of the gorge, and casting a silver gleam over the hurrying waters, as they rush on their long and circuitous journey toward the sea. Sometimes a feeling of utter ruin, of chaos, as if the eternal hills were crumbling into dust, possesses you, and prompts you almost into seeking safety in flight. At others, awe and solemn wonder hold you spellbound, and you scarcely dare to move or breathe. Perched upon some jutting crag, hundreds of feet above the mad waters that mock you with their angry laughter, you involuntarily shrink back from the 54 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE edge of the precipice, and cast a frightened glance around, as if feel- ing the presence of some undefined, mysterious thing, who, out of mere wantonness, would hurl you over into the boiling surge. One needs days, and even weeks, here to get a complete idea of the awe, the grandeur, the solemnity, the wildness, the romance, and the picturesque beauty of tiie scenes. A mile and a half below the dam are the Jaws of the Gulf." Here the rocky sides almost meet, there being only six feet below and twenty above between the walled banks. Several deer have jumped the Gulf at this point, and a rustic bridge, that would furnish a splen- did view in either direction, might easily be thrown across. The " Face in the Kock " is near this place, and shows one of the singular freaks that nature sometimes takes in stamping the human features on a solid rock. Near here an Indian was killed, in May, 1882, in a " jam " of logs. A short distance below here a deer was found one summer at the bottom of the Gulf, with nearly every bone in his body broken. He had fallen over the cliff above. All through the canon trees struggle for an existence from the bottom clear to the highest peak, sometimes growing on a little crag that scarcely furnishes a foothold. Every year the place grows wilder. Each spring, pieces of rock, worn away by the continual dripping and flow of the water, go tumbling into the stream below. In some places there are fissures in the cliffs, thirty feet deep and from one to three feet wide, suggestive of terrible land-slides. On each side of the river there are a number of ravines that run back from one to five hundred feet from the stream. By these one can easily descend to the bed of the river. The water is very high in the spring, but at any time in the year there is a large amount at the falls. There are trout in the stream, and it furnishes good fishing in the early part of the season; and slate enough along the bank to run a quarry from now to the end of time. Some years ago logs were driven down this stream, but they jammed so badly that the lumbermen soon had enough of it, and for several wintei's there was no timber put into this stream. In several cases men were lowered from the top of the banks two and three hun- dred feet, by a rope tied around under their body, to cut aAvay logs in a jam. The bare thought of it fills one with horror. But within a few years the narrowest portions of the stream, at the bottom, have been widened by blasting. This has injured the scenery but very AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 55 little, while making the work of the river-drivers much easier and safer; and some timber is now driven through the Gulf. The river in some parts is straight for a few rods, but generally it winds in easy curves, descending with each curve. It appears in some places as if the mountain had been split in two by some great upheaval of nature. And again one might suppose that this fearful canon had been worn out of the solid rock by the action of the tireless water which for countless ages has poured over it. About two miles and a quarter from the head of the gorge, the river makes two sharp turns, one to the west, the other to the east, giving the stream here the shape of an elongated letter S. At the first bend of the river, a prominent cliff, called Lookout Cliff, gives one the best view up the river to be obtained anywhere on the stream. The river has a fall here of about one hundred feet in several small falls. The ledges that form the Lookout " are wedge-shape, with the sharp end resting in the stream. They preserve this shape from top to bottom: ^' wonderful and " sublime " are but tame expressions for the beauty of the scenery; you should go up one side of the river and down the other to see the Gulf to the best advantage. A good guide is abso- lutely necessary, unless you know something of the country. June or September is the best time to visit the Gulf, as the flies are very thick in the vicinity through July and part of August. If you would get an idea of it, visit it yourself, for no pen can do it justice. There is a continual fall in the river from the time it leaves the dam until it emerges from the canon, furnishing a charming succession of rapids, pools, cascades, stretches of dead water, and falls, the entire distance. After the river makes the two sharp turns near the foot of the canon, the banks on each side rapidly decrease in height, and there is noth- ing of especial interest until you get half a mile below, where you reach what are called the Lower Arches. Here there is another fall. It is to be regretted that there are no hotel accommodations in the immediate vicinity of the Gulf, for such a charming and romantic locality should be visited by all who can spare the time and money for the trip. Such a show piece as the Gulf offers a strong induce- ment to some enterprising individual to engage in a hotel speculation, which could hardly help being remunerative when you take into ac- count the excellent fishing and hunting only a short distance away, as well as the beautiful scenery. From the Gulf across to Greenville is only fifteen miles, and, by crossing the ponds that lie between in a boat, one has only six miles to walk. CHAPTEE IV. MONSON AND VICINITY. -A PL,EASANT SUMMER RE- SORT FOR THE TOURIST AND FISHERMAN. ONSON is a charming town, and is situated in. tlie northwestern part of Piscataquis County, fourteen miles south of Moosehead Lake, ten miles west of Sebec Lake, and six miles north of the Bangor and Piscataquis Railroad. The Monson (two-foot narrow gauge) Railroad extends from Monson Junction to the village, a distance of six miles, and two miles beyond to the slate quarries. The town is over nine hundred feet above the level of the sea, and three-quarters of its area is yet unbroken wilderness. Monson is about eleven hours' ride from Boston by rail, and, by the present existing railroad arrangements, during the summer season the traveller can leave Boston at 9.00 a.m., and reach Monson at 8.00 p.m. ; or by leaving Boston on the night Pullman train at 7 o'clock, reach Monson at 11 o'clock the next morning. From Portland the route is via Maine Central, Bangor and Piscataquis, and Monson Railroads. Through the energy and enterprise of wealthy capitalists from Lowell, Mass., to whom the town owes nearly all of its present pros- perity, the village is favored by one of the best hotels in the State, a new and counuodious structure, eligibly located on high land, over- looking a beautiful sheet of water known as Lake Hebron, from which the hotel takes its name. The house is comfortably and handsomely furnished, and contains accommodations, with the annex, for seventy- five guests. The building is surrounded by broad verandas on the ground floor and second story, offering a fine chance for a promenade, while the views from the piazzas are pleasant and varied. The parlor, office, wash-room, toilet, dining-room, kitchen, pantry, etc., are on the lower floor, while the two upper stories are divided into sleeping-rooms, all of which have a pleasant outlook. Every floor in the house is supplied with running water from the Sherman Hill 56 AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 59 Springs, famous for their rare medicinal and healing qualities. There is a large and well-appointed bath-room on the second floor, a luxury seldom found in a country hotel. The dining-room will seat fifty people. The terms are from $2.00 to $2.50 per day; and Mr. W. S. Knight, who manages the house, possesses all the qualifications to make it a complete success. His sterling personal qualities and strict attention to business have made him a popular landlord, and he is always anxious to make the stay of his guests pleasant and agreeable. A good livery is connected with the house, and teams can be pro- cured for a drive at any time at reasonable prices. There are two trains daily, except Sundays, each way between Bangor and Monson, and a team from the hotel meets each train during the season of summer travel. There are several well-stocked stores in the village, where tourists or sportsmen can find most of the articles needed for a camping-out trip. The Monson Maine Slate Company are the successors of the Lowell Company, and operate four quarries, — known as the Hebron Pond, the Kineo, the Pine Tree, the Monson Pond; and they own two others, which are not operated at present. The slate was first discovered in 1870, and the quarries have been worked continuously since 1872. This business has now become one of the most important industries of the place and the State. About three hundred men are employed steadily at the quarries above mentioned, and the monthly pay-roll amounts to over eleven thousand dollars. The slate is quarried in huge blocks by the aid of steam-drills and blasting powder, and is hoisted out of the pits by immense derricks operated by steam, deposited on dump-cars, and run on a railroad track to the buildings where it is manufactured. The large blocks are separated into convenient size for handling by steam-augers and hand-wedges, and then the expert workmen, with chisel and mallet, split the stone into thin sheets, as easily as a boy can wooden blocks into kindling with a sharp hatchet. The edges are squared by a re- volving cutter turned by steam, and the size of the slate regulated by a slotted gauge on which it rests. Each size of slate is of an exact thickness. Twenty-eight different sizes are made, the largest being 24 X 16 inches, and the smallest 9x7 inches. It is sold by the square, which is ten square feet, and there are from eighty-six to six hundred and eighty-six pieces in a square. The price at the quarries is about four dollars per square. Branches from the Monson Railroad penetrate every quarry, and 60 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE the slate is loaded on the cars direct from the storehouses, but has to be transhipped at Monson Junction to the cars of the Bangor and Piscataquis Railroad, by which it is distributed to the different markets. Eight hundred car-loads of slate are manufactured yearly, besides many other useful and ornamental articles requiring strength, which Ave have not space to enumerate. Lake Hebron, near the hotel, is one of the most beautiful and pic- turesque sheets of water in central Maine. It is three miles long and about a mile wide, and is skirted by magnificent forests and mountains. Its waters abound with the spotted brook-trout and " lakers," the latter being caught in deep water. A small steamer plies upon the lake during the summer for the benefit of fishing and excursion parties, and row-boats and sail-boats can be hired at reasonable prices. Monson Pond is about the same size of Lake Hebron, although dif- ferently shaped, and contains both brook and lake trout. It is about two miles from the hotel, by a pleasant road, and boats can be pro- cured at the pond. The Doughty Ponds are about three miles and a half from the Lake Hebron Hotel. You can drive with a team to the Doughty farmhouse on the top of Doughty Hill, the highest point of land in Monson, from which ten ponds can be seen. From here a walk of half a mile brings you to the first pond, a sylvan gem in the midst of a dense forest. It • is a beautiful sheet of water, covering about thirty acres. Crossing this, another short walk of about an eighth of a mile brings you to the other pond, also surrounded by woods, and the larger of the two. The camp is by the side of Cold Brook, which runs from a large spring, and empties into the farther pond. It is a delightful spot for a sportsman's camp, — good water within a few feet of the door, and an abundance of firewood close at hand. The only fish in these ponds are beautifully spotted trout, resembling the common brook trout in outward appearance, with red meat. They weigh from a quarter of a pound to one and a half pound, averaging, perhaps, three-quarters of a pound in weight. They will rise to a fly, and many handsome strings of these trout from both ponds have been taken in this way. Besides the lake and ponds already mentioned there are within the town many others, each well stocked with trout, distant from two to seven miles from the Lake Hebron Hotel, called, as follovv^s: Spectacle East, Spectacle West, Bunker North, Bunker South, Tibbets, McLarign North, McLarign South, Bell, Lillie, Ward, Strout, Doe. Duck, Good- ale, Eighteen, Squagliquign, Jacobs, Thatcher, Curtis, Bog, and Juni- AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 63 per. The next most important chain of lakes and ponds in the vicinity of Monson is in the adjoining town of Elliottsville. Lake Onaway, otherwise known as Sliip Pond, is located in the township of Elliottsville, twelve miles from the Lake Hebron Hotel, and is the best known and most famous of any in this entire region. It is a handsome sheet of water, about four miles long and tw^o wide, surrounded by the towering Boarstone, Rochelle, Benson, Houston, Barren, and Greenwood Mountains, all within a dense forest, extend- ing many miles in every direction farther than the eye can reach. Its waters abound in "lakers," spotted brook trout, and land-locked salmon. Other ponds in and around the township of Elliottsville, which contains forty-six square miles, are Big Greenwood, South Greenwood, Bear, Round, Long, South, Barren Mountain, Twin Ben- sons, Slugundy, Rochelle, Summit, and Buttermilk. An old highway, scraggy, moss-grown, and hoary, leads through several miles of the township. Where there was in the days of yore a thriving settlement are now seen only a few scattering houses, its melancholy appearance suggesting thoughts of a deserted village. Shirley, on the west, which is a portion of the immense wilderness reaching through to the Forks of the Kennebec, contains some forty- eight square miles. For a distance of twenty miles in a westerly direc- tion, and to the north as far as the Canada line, this vast forest has no human habitants except the lumbermen in winter and the sports- men in summer. Among these wilds in Shirley, Moxie, Square Town, and Square Mount Town, within a radius of eighteen miles from the Lake Hebron Hotel, are a large number of attractive and charming ponds, whose waters teem with the spotted brook trout, the most beautiful of fresh- water fish. The most inviting of these are Moxie, Knight's, Trout, Frying Pan, Potter, Riddle, Big Indian, Little Indian, Coffee House, Carter, Bog, and Marble. In Willimantic Township, five miles distant, is Grindstone Pond, one of the best fishing places for small trout in the entire region. The following ponds are also within a few miles of the hotel: :N'orth Guilford Pond, in Guilford; Greenlief ; Foss; Wheatstone; Thorn, and Piper Ponds, in and around Abbott, on the south. The last named is the only one in all of the above-mentioned ponds that contains pickerel. In Piper Pond, however, there is an abundance of this, with some, favorite fish. In Blanchard, on the west, are Russell Mountain, Thorn, and Mud Ponds, besides several others. 64 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE LAKE ONAWAY, before mentioned, is of an irregular, odd, and curious shape, having many quaint coves and bays, skirted and fringed witli a growth of light and graceful white birch, and dotted with picturesque islands. It is in the midst of a vast and unbroken wilderness, and is surrounded by several mountains, some of which rear their majestic heads more than a thousand feet above its crystal surface, and a succession of rounded, forest-clad hills, huge and broken bluffs, and fragmentary bowlders encircle its shores. Its original name is Onaway. This Information, and the authority for this name, came from the late Lewis Annance, who was for many years a well-known and excep- tionally intelligent Indian, who spent many of his years around Moosehead I^ake. The more modern name applied to this sheet of water, **Ship Pond," originated from an island, on the northeast side, in sight from the carry, that once contained several trees grow- ing in line, and looking from a distance like the masts of a vessel. The route to the lake is by team, nine miles over an old but pretty road leading through Elliottsville to Wilson Stream, furnishing charm- ing views of the distant mountains all the way. From this point there are two ways of reaching the lake. The shortest is to ride to the shore of Greenwood Pond, there embark in a boat or canoe, and sail across the pond, a distance of about one mile, and then walk across the carry, three-quarters of a mile, to your place of destination. The other route from Wilson Stream is to follow a rough, wild, and wind- ing road around the west side of Boai'stone Mountain to Long Pond Outlet, which empties into Lake Onaway, and which you reach from this point without any walk or carry. Your journey down this lovely stream will be pleasant and enjoyable. You will find at the lake two camps where sportsmen and fishermen are well cared for. One is kept by a Bangor boy, Mr. E. H. Gerrish, and is located on the north shore, in a large cove, at a place called Haynes' Beach. The other is run by Mr. Henry Lane, and is located on the south shore. Each has a good supply of boats and canoes for its patrons. A few weeks spent at this forest retreat, fishing, gun- ning, or rowing, will do you good ; and every night you can listen to the plaintive notes of the whippoorwill, the gruff hoot of the owl, or the shrill cry of the loon. If these odd sounds do not lull you to sleep, they will, at least, afford you food for thought while awake. Four or five miles from where you first reach Wilson Stream, you AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 67 pass the high viaduct of the Canadian Pacific Railway, which spans the stream one hundred and fifteen feet above the water, and looks like a railroad on stilts. It stands on eight towers, each having four pedestals, giving a bearing on each of twentj^-five tons, the whole bridge weighing eight hundred tons. It has nine sixty-foot spans of lattice, and eight thirty-foot spans of deck plate. The Indian name of this lake, Onaway, has a traditional history handed down from past generations of red men, and runs as follows: — Many years ago, before the smokes of the pale-faced settlers had begun to rise in Northern Maine, and when the red man inhabited this entire region unmolested, there was among the Penobscot Indians a brave warrior and honored chief named Wawliook. He was respected by his tribe for his valor, courage, and great wisdom. He had a daughter, — a lovely Indian maiden, beloved by her people and by all neighboring tribes who knew her, — named Onaway, which, in the Indian vocabulary, means awake.'' When the daughter of the great chief had lived about twenty summers, the Chesuncook Indians, from the far North, became hostile to Wawhook's tribe, and war was waged between them. To break down this invincible and irrepressible leader, to curb his turbulent spirit, and seek revenge for his many daring deeds, was the ambition of his enemies; and, in a council of the hostile tribe, it was decided to capture the beautiful maiden, who was, besides the Great Spirit, the only being that the great Wawhook ever worshipped. Young, cunning, and brave warriors were selected to perform this hazardous feat. After miiny weary days of travel and exposure on the part of her captors, Onaway was snatched from her father's wig- wam, and, bound and tied, was carried north, to be held as a ransom and means of gaining unfair terms of peace with Wawhook, as it was well understood that he would make almost any sacrifice to secure his daughter's liberty. While travelling north with their victim, these warriors camped for the night on the shores of this lake, near the mouth of a stream now called "Slugundy." The maiden's night vigils, while the warriors slept, were attended by the Great Spirit, who came and unbound the rude fetters which held her; and, directing her footsteps by the light from a big torch which illuminated the heavens, she was enabled to find her way back to her own tribe, and was thus miraculously saved. For many generations after, whenever any of the Indians belonging to the tribe from which these warriors came, tarried around this lake, 68 GUIDi; TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE. a pall of darkness shrouded everything, and hideous and unearthly- war-whoops and sounds were heard everywhere, so that it was impossi- ble for them to repose in the vicinity; while, on the other hand, any who belonged to the maiden's tribe could remain there in peace. But there would always appear to them such a wonderful light from the Great Spirit, casting such a radiance over every object, that it kept them continually awake. However absurd this legend may seem to the prosaic reader of to-day, the appropriateness of the name Onaway, or " awake," will be fully realized by any person who pays it a visit, when, be he ever so dull, he will awake to the beauty and grandeur of all around him. Lately a modern tragedy was enacted on the shores of this lake that has given it a wide-spread notoriety. Just around the point seen in the left of our illustration, a sportsman was shot and killed by a guide in July, 1888. Although this was one of the most cold-blooded murders ever committed in the State of Maine, — robbery being the cause, — the authorities exerted themselves but little if any in the matter, and the assassin is still at large. A mile from the lake eastward, an iron viaduct of the Canadian Pacific Railway I'eaches from one hill-top to another, one hundred and twenty feet above the surface of the stream flowing under it. It is a wonderful piece of work, being the highest and longest upon the road, and one of the longest in the country. There is one span of one hundred and eighty feet; one of one hundred feet, lattice girder; twelve spans of sixty feet each, lattice girder; and twelve thirty-foot spans, deck plate, the entire length of the bridge being thirteen hundred and fifty feet. The vicinity of Lake Onaway is rapidly becoming popular, not only with the disciples of Izaak Walton, but also with those admirers of nature who love a quiet resting-place afar from the busy haunts of man. We are indebted to J. F. Sprague, Esq., of Monson for part of the information contained in this chapter, and sportsmen visiting Monson should call upon Mr. Sprague, whom we are quite sure they will like to meet. CHAPTER V. GREENVILLE AND ITS ATTRACTIONS. covered with a growth of fir and spruce, presenting from the emi- nence on which the Eveleth House stands the appearance of a beauti- ful archipelago. There are now two distinct settlements, that at East Cove being the oldest. The advent of the railroad gave birth to the village of West Cove, and it is fast growing. The distance between the two villages by the travelled road is a mile and a quarter. Farm- mg, guiding, lumbering, and trading form the chief occupations of the people, although quite a number of the male population work for the railroad and steamboat companies. There is a considerable trade carried on in Greenville the entire year in furnishing supplies to the visiting sportsmen in summer, and to the lumbermen in winter, many of whom congregate here every fall and spring on their way to and from the numerous logging camps around and beyond the lake. East Cove has two hotels, the largest of which, the Lake House, has accommodations for about one hundred people. The house, as one will see in our engraving, stands at the very edge of the water; and from its piazza one can see all that is going on at the low^er end of 69 70 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE the lake. All of the rooms are pleasant and well furnished, and some of them are larger than one usually finds in a country hotel. Mr. Charles H. Sawyer is the present proprietor, and his long and varied experience in the hotel husiness has fitted him to make the stay of his guests pleasant and agreeable. He has always been a popular land- lord, and a favorite with all who have stopped with him. Rooms can be secured in advance by mail or telegraph; and the proprietor will furnish guides, boats, canoes, or a steam launch, to all who visit the lake for fishing, at reasonable prices. The Eveleth House is located on high land, a short distance from the lake shore. It is near the post-office and stores, and furnishes accommodations for about fifty people. It is ow^ned by John H. Eveleth, one of the wealthy men of the town, and is managed the present season by Mr. E. A. Chapman, who understands how to run a hotel, and who does it most acceptably. Besides the hotels, there are a large number of stores, shops, etc., that give quite an air of business to the village. The largest of these are the establishments of John H. Eveleth & Co., D. T. Sanders & Son, and M. G. Shaw & Sons. There are at present twenty steamers on the lake, and, although this number seems large, yet their owners manage to make them pay in one way and another. The Gov. Co- burn," the Wm. Parker," the " Twilight," and the ''Comet," are owned by the Gov. Coburn Steamboat Company, and are used for towing and the general passenger and freight business of the lake. The towing amounts annually to a large sum, and pays better than passenger and freight traffic. The "Fairy of the Lake" and the " Rebecca" are owned by John H. Eveleth, Esq., who uses them for towing and the general business of the lake. The " Moosehead " is one of the most powerful steamers on the lake, and is ow^ned by the Moose River Log Driving Company. Heretofore she has been used entirely for towing, but we understand that after she gets through towing this spring she will be run over a regular route on the lake, but between what points has not yet been decided on. The " Kineo " and the '' George A." are the popular excursion boats of the Mount Kineo House, and are owmed and run by the proprietors of the hotel, who find plenty of work for them, during navigation, in carrying their freight, and in conveying fishing parties and excursionists to different parts of the lake. The "Ripple," a fine boat, is owned jointly by Capt. Samuel Cole, one of the oldest and best guides and steamboat captains on the lake, and Charles H. Sawyer, Esq., of the Lake House. AND NOKTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 73 She may be hired by excursion parties for trips to any part of the lake for any length desired, the price per day depending on the length of the trip. The steamer " Louise " is owned by Henry Sawyer, and is let to parties for long or short trips. The Capens at Deer Island run a steamboat of their own, and there are several private steam launches, as well as a steam scow, — a queer-looking craft, used for freighting. The guides are about equally divided into Yankees, Indi- ans, and half-breeds, and can generally be engaged through the hotel proprietors, who know them all. They are well posted on all the country north and east of Moosehead, and can take you in any direc- tion you may wish to go. West Cove, or Greenville Junction, is the terminus of the Bangor and Piscataquis Railroad, which connects with the Canadian Pacific Railway at this point. Both roads have stations here, and the tracks are connected for an interchange of cars. The post-office here is called Greenville Junction, and this part of the town will no doubt in future bear that name. There are about a dozen houses, one store, and a small hotel. But this embryo village is bound to spread out; already another and larger store is talked of for this summer, and it is quite certain that another hotel will be erected and ready for business this season. It will be built by the Moosehead Lake Hotel Company, will be managed by Amos H. Walker, Esq., and will contain about sixty rooms. The foundation is in at present writing, and the site is an admirable one, giving a fine view up the lake, with the Spencer Mountains in the background. The house know^n as Hotel West, with the adjacent dining-room, that now furnishes accommodation to the public, is run by Mr. Walker, w^ho has been long and favorably known as manager of the Eveleth House at Greenville, and who in his new location has already become a favorite with the travelling pub- lic, who have given him a liberal patronage. This will be a very cen- tral point to locate in summer, as the tourist or sportsman will be able to make many excursions in all directions by boat or rail. The Cana- dian Pacific Railway runs northwest to the Outlets of Moosehead, then by all the best ponds in the Moose River country, and southeast by Wilson Pond, Lake Onaway, and many other good fishing-waters. Those who stop at Greenville or Greenville Junction have choice of a variety of excursions, either by water or land, which enables them to pass the time very pleasantly. They have on the water a choice of canoes, row-boats, or sail-boats, or can hire one of the small steamers kept on the lake to let for excursion parties. Then there are 74 GUIDE TO MOOSBHEAD LAKE the regular passenger steamers running over five or six different routes. On land they can travel on foot, which is sometimes the pleasantest way of seeing the country, hire a team, or make excursions by train. Between the East and West Coves the round trip is four miles. It is an easy paddle in a canoe, and shows one some pretty scenery. To Moose Island and back, a distance of seven miles, is a nice excur- sion in a row-boat, and introduces one to some charming views. The course Hes among the little islands that cluster about the mouth of East Cove, and in full sight of Sandy Bay and the McFarland place. Squaw Brooks are about five miles from Greenville by water, and furnish some excellent fishing where they enter the lake. North Squaw Brook is the outlet of Fitzgerald Pond, which lies a mile back from the lake under the shadow of the mountain. A logging road leaves the east side of this pond and comes out on the lake at Johnson's Landing, a mile west of North Squaw Brook. From Fitzgerald Pond it is a little over a mile through the woods to Burnham Pond, whose waters empty into the upper end of Indian Pond on the Kennebec. South Squaw Brook is the outlet of the Squaw Ponds. A foot-path leads from these ponds, a distance of two and a half miles, to Green- ville Junction. With a sail-boat and a good breeze it is a nice trip to the Squaw Brooks. Squaw Mountain, or ''Big Squaw" as it is sometimes called to dis- tinguish it from ''Little Squaw," a lesser mountain which lies south of it, is a grand old peak that rises to a height of over three thousand feet above the sea level, furnishing from its summit a panoramic view for miles in every direction, and well repays one for the fatigue incurred in making the ascent. It is usually ascended by visiting North Squaw Brook, which is navigable for a canoe for about a mile from the lake. Landing on the north side of the brook, you follow an old logging road for two miles, and then a trail for the remainder of the distance. It is about six miles from where you leave the landing to the summit. The ascent may be easily made in about four hours, and the return in half that time. It will take an entire day from the hotels to make the excursion comfortably. Sandy Bay, an excellent fishing ground, is just above the McFarland place, on the eastern side of the lake. The distance from the foot of the lake there and back is seven miles, and makes a nice excursion in a row or sail boat. A trip to Beaver Cove, seven miles from Greenville, on the east side of the lake, will enable one to pass an enjoyable day. Start early, and take a jjicnic dinner on shore. AND NORTH MAINE WILDEltNESS. 75 The Kennebec Dam at the East Outlet is one of the greatest fishing resorts around Moosehead Lake, and is twelve miles from the foot of the lake by water. One should visit it by sail-boat, steamer, or rail. /f\ H. 1. Wilson has a fine new hotel near the dam, There is a telegraph-office and post-office in the house, and the depot of the Canadian Pacific Railway is but a few rods distant. Deer Island is ten miles from either village at the foot of the lake, and is easily reached by sail-boat or steamer. There is a large farm on it, owned by Aaron Capen & Sons, who are also proprietors of the 76 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE Deer Island House, near the steamboat wharf, a fine new hotel with thirty large rooms, spacious halls, and broad piazzas, which offer ample and satisfactory accommodations to visitors. The house is pleasantly located, and commands some charming views. There are manj pleasant walks on the island, and good fishing near it. A steam- yacht is kept by the proprietors of the hotel. Roach River and Roach Pond are nineteen miles from Greenville by the travelled route in summer. First by boat to Lily Bay, twelve miles, and then by a good turnpike road, seven miles, to the Roach River House, owned by Morrison & Hunting, who also run the stage line between steamer landing and hotel. The sportsman will find good accommodations here, as the hotel has lately been enlarged, and two neat cottages built. The establishment is well run by Mr. Davis. This is a good centre for fishing parties, as there is fine fishing at the dam and on the river near the hotel, also at the head of the pond, about six miles distant. There are also about a dozen small ponds, within a circuit of five or six miles from the upper end of Roach Pond, where small trout are abundant. It is also a good place for hunting in the fall. Those wishing to stop at Lily Bay for fishing or hunting will find a good chance at the Lily Bay House. There are a number of pleasant drives in the vicinity of Greenville, ill over good roads; and teams, with or without drivers, can be pro- cured from either of the hotels. A ride to the top of Indian Hill, two miles from Greenville, about m hour before sunset, will enable visitors to overlook the lake at the most pleasing time in the day; and the beautiful landscape spread out before them, bathed in the departing rays of sunlight, will well repay them for the effort. The many mountains in the vicinity also appear to the best advantage at this time, robed as they are in violet and purple. Whitcomb Stream is a small brook, a mile from the foot of the lake by the county road, that furnishes good fishing during spring and early summer. It is a pleasant walk to it. Gerrish Pond, a small piece of water, two miles distant from Green- ville, oifers good fishing in summer. It is within easy walking or riding distance, over a good road, from which one can catch occasional glimpses of the lake. Eagle Stream is two and a half miles from Greenville by road. It is one of the best trout brooks in the vicinity of the lower end of the lake, and large strings of small trout are taken from it each season. AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 77 Flowing for the most part through an open meadow, it affords excel- lent chances for bait-fishing, and also for casting a fly. The Wilson Ponds, near Greenville, are a great fishing resort in summer, and attract large numbers of sportsmen to their beautiful shores. In July and August, when the fishing on the lake is dull, one can always obtain a good string of trout from either of these ponds. The larger sheet of water, the Lower Wilson, is three miles distant from the village, two being over an excellent carriage road. The last mile crosses a farm, then descends through a pleasant w^oodland path MOOSEHEAD LAKE, FROM INDIAIT HILL. to the lower pond. Parties who ride usually leave their team at the farm, or send it back to their hotel. The pond lies in a deep basin surrounded by high mountains. Its shores are very irregular, and add to its attractive appearance. Its waters abound with trout, all of which are caught in deep water, with bait. There are quite a large number of boats on the pond, that may be hired for from fifty to seventy-five cents per day. At the boat landing is a rude camp, offering a shelter to those who wish to spend a night at the pond. In the clearing on the back side of the farm, on a knoll overlooking 78 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE the pond and the hills beyond, is a pretty little cottage erected some years ago by G. G. Grennell, Esq., of New York. He has shown excellent taste and a love of nature in selecting his location, and the attractions in the vicinity are sufficient to hold him captive here the entire summer. A sail of two and a half miles across the lower pond, and then a walk of less than a quarter of a mile, bring us to the Upper Wilson, — like its sister, enclosed by mountains. Persons should take two days to visit this pond, stopping at the Wilson Pond Camp one night, if they wish to make an enjoyable trip of it. There are boats and canoes on the upper pond, belonging to A. H. W^alker, the proprietor of the camp. A visit to the McFarland place, a large farm under excellent culti- vation, gives one a pleasant ride over a very good road that furnishes fine views of the lake for part of the way. It is three miles and a half distant from the village of Greenville, on the eastern shore of the lake. From the hill above the house one overlooks the lake for many miles, land and water being mingled in such confusion that one can scarcely tell where the first begins or the latter ends. There is a pretty and comfortable private club-house on the place, with accommodations for about twenty people, and this is well filled each summer by Mr. McFarland' s friends. Wilson Stream, a good trout brook, is three miles from the hotels at Greenville. The greater part of the distance lies over a good carriage road, the last half-mile through a field, where one is obliged to walk. A short distance below the dam commences a series of rapids, cascades, and falls, that terminate in one perpendicular fall of about fifty feet, known as Hell Gate Falls. A short distance above, the stream makes a sharp angle, curving to the left, and, sliding over an immense slate- ledge, slippery with dark green moss, flows for about forty feet in the shape of a cascade ; beyond this it turns abruptly to the right, and, without any faltering in its onward rush, takes the final leap into the boiling caldron beneath. The width of the fall is about fifteen feet. The banks of the stream for some distance above and below Hell Gate are thickly wooded and very precipitous. In a few places per- pendicular ledges of a respectable height overhang the water. The romantic appearance of this place, its seclusiveness, its delightful shade, its beautiful ferns and mosses, the musical echo of the restless waters, all combine to make it a favorite haunt of the pleasure-seeker, and as a suitable spot for a picnic it cannot be surpassed. AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 79 Cofifee-House Stream is about six miles from the hotels, and is approached in the same manner as the Wilson, — part of the distance by team, the remainder on foot. It furnishes excellent fishing, the smaller brook trout being very plenty in its waters. A day is needed to make a trip to either of these brooks. The ride around the Square, so called, gives one a drive of six miles, and presents fine scenery all the way. Leaving the hotels the route lies over the east road for two miles; then, turning to the left again, follows the road about three miles. At this point we make another turn to the left, near the Gerrish Pond, striking the home road, run- ning nearly parallel with the lake. From Greenville to West Cove, or Greenville Junction, as the village there is now called, is a distance of a mile and a quarter by the county road. It is a pleasant walk or ride over there, and near the hotel one obtains a glimpse of the lake, and a fine view of the Spencer Moun- tains. West Cove Brook empties into the lake here, and the head of the cove is winter-quarters for a number of the fine steamers that ply from point to point during the summer. The birch canoe, in spite of being a trap for the unwary, is one of the most popular means of conveyance used on Moosehead Lake, and the lamented Theodore Winthrop has paid the following tribute to these graceful water craft : — Moosehead also provides vessels far dearer to the heart of the adventurous than anything driven by steam. Here, mayhap, will an untravelled traveller make his first acquaintance with the birch-bark canoe, and learn to call it by the affectionate diminutive * Birch.' Earlier in life there was no love lost between him and whatever bore that name. Even now, if the untravelled one's first acquaintance be not distinguished by an unlucky ducking, so much the worse. The ducking must come. Caution must be learned by catastrophe. No one can ever know how unstable a thing is a birch canoe, unless he has felt it slide away from under his misplaced feet. Novices should take nude practice in empty birches, lest they spill themselves and the load of full ones, — a wondrous easy thing to do. ^^A birch canoe is the right thing in the right place. Maine's rivers are violently impulsive and spasmodic in their running. Some- times you have a foamy rapid, sometimes a broad shoal, sometimes a barricade of bowlders with gleams of white water springing through or leaping over its rocks. Your boat for voyaging here must be stout enough to buffet the rapid, light enough to skim the shallow, agile 80 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE enough to vault over or lithe enough to skip through the barricade. Besides, sometimes the barricade becomes a compact wall, — a baffler, unless boat and boatman can circumvent it, — unless the nautical carriage can itself be carried around the obstacle, can be picked up, shouldered, and made off with. ^' A birch meets all these demands. It lies, light as a leaf, on whirl- pooling surfaces. A tip of the paddle can turn it into the eddy beside the breaker. A check of the setting-pole can hold it steadfast on the brink of wreck. Where there is water enough to varnish the paddles, there it will glide. A birch thirty feet long, big enough for a trio and their traps, weighs only seventy-five pounds. When the rapid passes into a cataract, when the wall of rock across the stream is impregna- ble in front, it can be taken in the flank by an amphibious birch. The navigator lifts his canoe out of water and bonnets himself with it. He wears it on head and shoulders around the impassable spot. Below the rough water he gets into his elongated chapeau and floats away. Without such vessel, agile, elastic, imponderable, and transmu- table, Androscoggin, Kennebec, and Penobscot would be no thorough- fares for human beings. Musquash might dabble, chips might drift, logs might turn somersets along their lonely current; but never voyager, gentle or bold, could speed through brilliant perils, gladdening the wilderness with shout and song. *' Maine's rivers must have birch canoes; Maine's woods, therefore, of course, provide birches. The white-birch, paper-birch, canoe-birch, grows large in moist spots near the stream where it is needed. Seen by the flicker of a camp-fire at night, they surround the intrusive traveller like ghosts of giant sentinels. Once Indian tribes, with names that ^nobody can speak and nobody can spell,' roamed these forests. A stouter second growth of humanity has ousted them, save a few seedy ones who gad about the land, and centre at Oldtown, their village near Bangor. These aborigines are the birch-builders. They detect by the river-side the tree barked with material for canoes. They strip it, and fashion an artistic vessel which civilization cannot better. Launched in the frail lightness of this, and speeding over foamy waters between forest solitudes, one discovers, as if he were the first to know it, the truest poetry of pioneer life." The prices of birch canoes run from fifteen to fifty dollars, accord- ing to size and style of finish. They are manufactured at Greenville during the winter, and at Mount Kineo during the summer months, and may be obtained at either of those places, as well as at Oldtown AND NOKTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 81 and Bangor. For rough work, however, we think a canvas canoe is preferable, as it will last longer and stand more abuse, and the differ- ence between them in speed is very little. The first cost of a canvas, however, is more than that of a birch. CHAPTEE VL UP THE LAKE.— FROM GREENVILLE TO MOUNT KINEO. FTER procuring dinner, and seeing that our baggage is all right, we embark — ' V . on one of the steamers which leave West Cove, Greenville Junc- tion, after the arrival of each passenger train, and, as the boat leaves the wharf, the lake in all its beauty stretches for miles be- fore us, dotted with islands of all shapes and sizes. Heading straight up the cove, we soon run out of it into the main body of the lake, near to, and on the left of, Mile Island, a small, rocky islet, surmounted by a beacon, giving its loca- tion when under water in the spring. A delightful panorama of mountain scenery unrolls itself as we proceed. Squaw Mountain looms up grandly to the west, while in the far north one of the Spencer Twins, over four thousand feet above the sea level, displays its blue peak. Passing Ledge Island on the right, the last of the smaller ones, two miles distant from Greenville, we notice Hosford's Point just ahead on our left, strongly resembling an island. Nearly opposite this point, on the eastern shore, we catch a glimpse of the McFarland place, three miles from Greenville, the private residence of a New York gentleman of wealth and refinement. We look off to the east into Sandy Bay, and then notice Moose Island, which lies to the left of our course on the western side of the lake. It is five miles from Greenville, has a large farm upon it, and is owned by John Cusac, who is by turns guide, farmer, and lumberman. The island is nearly 82 NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 8^5 two miles long, and contains about four hundred acres ; all the land except what John has cleared up for his farm being thickly wooded. We next get a look at Squaw Bay, which lies off to the left of us. A short distance farther on. Burnt Jacket lifts up his sugar-loaf head, behind Goodrich's clearing on our right, while beyond we dis- cern the narrows leading to Lily Bay. The steamers run through the narrows to Lily Bay, when the water is sufficiently high. At low water, generally after the first of September, they have to go around the upper end of Sugar Island, making ten or fifteen miles difference in their route. The lake at this point attains considerable width. Still farther east the Lily Bay range of mountains stretch away, their summits beautified by the flitting shadows of the clouds that move above them. The Lily Bay House, owned by M. D. Shaw & Sons, stands on the shore of Lily Bay, near the mouth of North Brook. Deer and Sugar Islands claim our attention next, the first on our left, and the second on our right hand. These are the two largest islands in the lake, and both are thickly wooded, and still contain good timber. Deer Island has about three thousand acres, and is owned by Aaron Capen. He tills a large farm upon it, and keeps a hotel — the Deer Island House — where summer boarders are accommodated. The island is about ten miles from Greenville, and offers a pleasant stop- ping-place in summer, the steamer landing here when desired. A small steamboat is also run in connection with the hotel. Sugar Island is about seven miles from Greenville, and comprises some five thousand acres of land all in a wild state. The island is about five miles long, and belongs to Shaw Brothers of Greenville, who purchased it a few years since for seventeen thousand dollars. Birch Island is a small island lying to the left of Sugar Island, and is eight miles from Greenville. It is a pretty spot, and is one of the few smaller islands that has retained its original growth beyond reach of the rise of water occasioned by the building of a dam at the outlet. Passing out of the narrow channel between Deer and Sugar Islands, we find the steamer in the broadest part of the lake, and Mount Kineo, which has hitherto been concealed from our gaze by the large wooded islands, bursts upon our view, and, from its peculiar shape, is immedi- ately recognized by all on board. The hotel stands upon a point of the peninsula, a short distance from the base of this frowning pile of rock, and has a beautiful and sightly location. Four miles west of us the Outlet House is just discernible. It 84 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE stands on the lake shore near the Kennebec dam, and the "Moose- head" station of the Canadian Pacific Railway is but a few rods in the rear. The steamers run in here when desired to leave or call for passengers. The hotel is kept by Henry 1. Wilson, an old resident of the lake, and is near some of the best fishing and hunting grounds around the lake. From the outlet across to the eastern shore of Spencer Bay is four- teen miles, — the broadest part of the lake. Leaving Deer and Sugar Islands behind us, we obtain a fine view of the twin peaks of the Spencer Mountains, fifteen miles or more away. At the base of the most northerly is Spencer Pond, noted for its excellent fishing and duck-shooting. Its great distance from both Greenville and Kineo makes it a long trip to take, and only the more adventurous and those with plenty of time at their disposal visit the spot. Forty miles eastward, the seamed and scarred side of old Ktaadn, the monarch of Maine, lifts its hoary head nearly six thou- sand feet above the sea. We have now arrived at Hog Back and Sand Bar Islands, which are within five miles of the Mount Kineo House. Passing to the right of these, we notice on the western shore of the lake, Ed. Master- man's farm, and, a little way above it, John Masterman's place. Ed. is a son of John, who was a noted trapper and hunter in this region. Sand Bar Island is an island only in the spring when the lake is high. Then the steamer can cross the bar between the island and the main land, there being five or six feet of water over it. In the fall the bar is about a foot out of water, and Sand Bar becomes a peninsula instead of an island. Off to the east is Spencer Bay, four miles long. Spencer Brook and Roach River empty into its upper end. The latter stream is the out- let of a number of ponds of the same name, all of which furnish good trout-fishing, and are easily reached by land from Greenville, or steamer to Lily Bay, and thence by stage. Just beyond the elder Masterman's place is the Lamb farm, and between this and the West Outlet is Dutton's clearing. Spider Island is a small island, with three pines on it, near Hog Back. After passing Sand Bar farm, we notice the West Outlet, the smaller of the two. By a strange freak of nature the lake has two outlets, which unite at Indian Pond, several miles below the lake. Mount Kineo, the monarch of the lake, now confronts us, a bold prom- AND NOKTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 87 ontory, whose precipitous sides rise eight hundred feet above the water, and awes us with its solemn grandeur. A group of islands, known as the Moody Islands, attract our notice as we pass them on our right. Sloop Island, a mass of rock, with a dead pine-tree upon it, lies in close proximity. The lake has now narrowed considerably, and, leaving the islands behind us, we soon pass the Gull Rocks on our right, and enter the little cove, and run alongside the w^harf, but a few rods from the hotel. Here our baggage is taken to the house by the Kineo House Express," and we walk up to the house and enter its hospitable pre- cincts, where we are cordially greeted by the polite and attentive host. At Mount Kineo you do not enter the conventional country hotel, but a first-class house in every respect, that is second to none in the State. It accommodates five hundred guests, and is under the man- agement of Mr. O. A. Dennen, who devotes all his time to it, and with the happiest results, for everybody wiio has stopped here has always a good word to say for the hotel, and its jolly, good-natured manager. Some men are born with a peculiar genius for filling certain positions in life. Dennen found his vocation in hotel-keeping, and at Mount Kineo is the right man in the right place. The demands upon his time and patience, during the busy season, would frighten an ordinary man. But through all the hurry and rush and bustle incidental to taking care of five or six hundred people away from home (many of the camping-out parties in the vicinity take their meals at the hotel), with innumerable wants and fancies, and with appetites like sharks, he preserves his smiling demeanor, and has a pleasant word for all. An excellent table and pleasant rooms are two of the leading features at the Mount Kineo House. The dining-room will seat four hundred people without crowding. The stains of travel removed from our person, we enter the pleasant dining-room, where the cravings of hunger soon fade away before the well-filled tables, and having partaken of both an abundant and satis- factory meal, we take a stroll about the hotel, scan the guests, enjoy the sunset and scenery while the light lasts, and finally retire to a pleasant room and comfortable bed, and secure a good night's rest. One who has visited Mount Kineo says, — *^The great question on the morning after arrival is what to do. People have heard of Moosehead as a watering-place, and have come in order to be able to say that they have exhausted the pleasures of the lake. They don't fish or shoot. They can play billiards anywhere. 88 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE and they pace up and down the piazzas after breakfast, anxiously studying the possibiUties of enjoyment. The attempts of the average American at personal pleasure have often been dwelt upon. He makes hard work of it, and returns to his routine intensely satisfied with what God has given him. Here the variety is limited. There is no stable. You can walk, you can run, you can row, you can fish, you can climb the mountain, you can lie dow^n and go to sleep, you can take a steamer and ride up and down the lake; but your real pleasure must come from yourself. Thus the prospect is not bright to the man or woman who has come to be entertained; you just have to take care of yourself, and make the best of it. At such a place women are like a flock of sheep, — one does what the others do, — and unattached w^omen are in a miserable plight. The lone female is here lonely indeed. She can't fish, because it is not the respectable thing to do. Being paddled about in a canoe by a guide hasn't any romance, and the same may be said of mountain-climbing or anything else; but when young men bring their sisters, husbands their wives, and papas their daughters, it is a different thing, and the parties which are made up for a day's excursion in canoes to different points on the lake are charming and delightful. Bright women are interest- ing anywhere; and when people are thrown so much upon their own resources for enjoyment as they are here, their presence in these rambles into the forest, or in the recounting of the day's adventures at the hotel in the evening, makes the hours pass merrily by. The guests at Mount Kineo are generally agreeable and well- educated people, those whom it is a pleasure to know; and when you have staid long enough to get acquainted, nothing can be more enter- taining than the social enjoyments which mingle with the out-door sports. Your fisherman may be silent all day while casting his fly, but not so when he has laid his day's sport triumphantly upon the piazza, the envy of unlucky fishermen, and eaten his supper. The walks in the twilight upon the piazzas, the groups of friends clustered here and there, the peals of laughter from the adjoining rooms, the universal stir and movement of the place, the free intercourse of the guides with the sportsmen, the admitted privilege of anybody speak- ing to anybody if he chooses to, the chattering at every available point, make a joyous life whose like can hardly elsewhere be found. It looked dismal at first to interest one's self in this lonely spot of the creation, with mountains and forests as your companions; but each day it is less so. The place grows upon you; the common feeling is, CEDAR BEACH, NORTH OF MOUNT KINEO. AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 91 ' It is unlike any place I've been in before.' You eat more and more heartily as the days go on, and grow healthier and jollier; and the great world goes on without you, and you don't care if it does. It is impossible to bring your cares up here into the wilderness. Old men find that they can be young again, and young men have the spice and fun of recreation without dissipation. And so it happens that the people who have the capacity of enjoying themselves in close inter- course with nature come to Moosehead again and again, and those who have to be entertained come but once. The company is choice and of the best. In fact, the persons who love the woods, who are patient to fish and hunt, who feel that they are in their element when they are out-of-doors, who take to the woods as ducks take to water, are generally delightful company. They have something in reserve to talk about; you can't read them through like a newspaper at a sit- ting; they come direct from the original stock of mankind. It would have been to build a fool's castle to erect a hotel in the centre of Moosehead Lake for any other class of people. There is a great difference in sportsmen. Your city-bred man comes with any number of flies, with patent rod, with all the latest improvements. He dresses in corduroy and flannel, twines his extra flies around his hat-band, and tucks his trousers into his huge boot- legs with the significant air of knowing what he is about. Quite an- other man is the genuine fisherman, whether from the city or living at the lake. He indulges in no superfluities, don't talk, goes straight for game. He has the best guides, the best canoes, the best fishing- ground. Generous as he may be in all things else, he is always selfish in fishing. He cannot endure a rival. Most of the guides understand all that can be known about fishing. It is one of the strong points in their profession. They invest but little in novelties. They are not confined to the fly. A stick, a hook, a worm, make their equipment, and you can always count on their success. Many a minister, apostolic with his rod if not in his commission, and many a lawyer, have the same tact in catching trout. They know how to do it. They can no more impart the skill to others than you can make the divining-rod work with unfitting hands. The birch skiffs shoot out from the Kineo pier at 9.00 a.m. or earlier, often wives and daughters accompanying the fishermen, and go to the famous fishing-pools, returning at night with the brilliantly spotted game; which is served for breakfast the next morning. The guides have wonderful skill in handling these birches in quick water and amidst heavy seas. They are Yankees, 92 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE Indians, and half-breeds, intelligent, thoroughly wide-awake and in- teresting in all that relates to backwoods life, and capable of story- telling to any extent. The 'Kineo' takes parties to all points on the lake for fishing or pleasure, — to the Outlet, to Lily Bay, to the Socatean Stream, to the Korth-east or North-west Carry, to Spencer Stream, and to the Korth Bay, the east side of Kineo Cliff. Guides and fishermen rapidly assimilate in appearance as the days go on, till you can hardly tell the bronzed faces one from the other, and are forced to confess the truth of the saying that dress makes the man, certainly makes the distinction which we too often ascribe to birth and fortune." CHAPTER VIL KINEO, ITS LEGEND, HOTEL, SIGHTS, FISHING, ETC. OUNT KINEO itself is tlie chief cen- tre of attraction at Moosehead Lake, and will doubtless always remain so. It is composed almost entirely of hornblende, presenting the largest mass of that material known to geol- ogists, and is acknowledged by all who t to be a great natural curiosity. It is doubtless rich in legendary romance; could one only unearth its history in bygone times, when the red man was the king of the forest and proud possessor of this vast domain. Several years ago the following legend appeared in print, and we give it for the pleasure of our readers, although we have been unable to learn its authorship. THE LEGEND OF MOUNT KINEO. As one sails over the calm bosom of Moosehead Lake, and casts a glance towards Mount Kineo, it awakens a desire to gather what there is of legendary lore connected with this w^onderf ul spot; and when one has climbed to the summit of this steep bluff, and gazes over the enchanting scenery before him, diversified by mountain, lake and stream, the desire is heightened many fold, — a desire to know some- thing of the beings who in days gone by had chased the moose and deer over these mountains and through these forests, who had paddled over these waters, and caught from them their supply of fish. Feeling thus, we gathered, from one and another, the main facts connected with the old Indian tale known as the legend of Kineo. Some two centuries since, when all the north of Maine was one great forest, and before the "pale face" had hardly thought of explor- ing it, there belonged to the tribe of Indians inhabiting this region an. 94 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE old chief named Mackae. Keserved, morose, and repulsive, he ab- stained from mingling more than was necessary with other members of the tribes, and seldom engaged in any of their many expeditions except when matters of a decidedly hostile nature required it. He had taken to wife a squaw of marked beauty, and one whose nature was the very opposite of his own. While Maquaso, the wife, cheer- fully cooked his fish and game, and performed those many menial duties which devolved upon the wife of a chief, he sat upon a pile of skins in his wigwam's corner without even a smile brightening his countenance. Kinneho, their only son, was the centre of attraction for Maquaso. From the time of his birth she had watched over him with that instinctive affection common to the women of her race. With her own hands she had taught him the use of the bow and arrow, and had prepared him for the chase and the war-path. As the years passed, she saw her labors rewarded in this direction; for among all the braves of the tribe there was none swifter to lead in the chase, none more daring in battle, or more certain of achieving success over the savage foe. Among the warriors he was the leader, and their courage was wont to fail them in battle if Kinneho were not there. His foes feared him, and they dared not make expeditions in small cou:ipanies lest Kinneho should surprise and slay them in a hand-to- hand contest. But a feeling of terrible sadness took possession of the proud spirit of Maquaso, when, in watching her idol, she found that he had in- herited much of the sullen nature of his father. While at home from the chase and the war-path he spent his time in solitary wanderings about the little Indian village, caring little for the scenes around him, and doing nothing in return for those favors which his mother was constantly bestowing upon him. This produced a feeling of alienation between mother and son. The wigwam became a prison to Maquaso, life a burden. She was too proud to own her grief, but it was nevertheless apparent to all observers. One morning they found by the side of a smouldering fire a few articles of clothing which they knew to have been the posses- sions of Maquaso, but she herself was nowhere to be found. Strong suspicion rested upon Kinneho. His weeping and lamenta- tions were in vain, and the earnestness with which he prosecuted the search was not sufficient to prove to the tribe that Kinneho had not been the murderer of his mother. AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 96 About this time hostilities broke out between the Indians along the Piscataquis and those dwelling on the Androscoggin. A council of the leading men of the tribe was called. Kinneho met with them. Hitherto he had been the foremost to advise, and his advice had been most frequently acted upon. J^ow he was held in such disgrace that he was not permitted to speak, nor was he permitted to become one of the war-party which was then organized. He left the council, made a few hasty preparations, took his arrows and tomahawk, and silently stalked forth into the forest. Hardly two moons had passed before the two tribes met in active warfare. The tribe of which Kinneho was a member sorely missed his able counsel, his wonderful daring, his bloody action. In the enemy's country it had suffered many surprises, and many times had been sadly repulsed. In a bloody encounter, which was likely to determine the result of the war, Kinnelio's friends were greatly sur- prised to see him come suddenly upon the field of battle. With an un- earthly yell he dashed upon the foe ; one after another they fell before him, and shortly the enemy were driven from the field. Cheer after cheer for Kinneho rent the air. Gladly would they have borne him from the field in triumph, but he, without speaking a word to his old companions, silently left the field, and betook himself to the forest. Nothing further was heard of Kinneho until it became noised abroad among the Piscataquis Indians that he had erected his wigwam on the summit of the mountain in Moosehead Lake, which still bears his name. Of savage disposition, and of mighty power in a hand-to-hand contest, the Indians gave him a wide berth. As they looked towards the ragged crag by night and saw the blaze of his camp-fire, or saw the smoke wreathing upwards by day, a sort of mystic awe took posses- sion of their minds, and they shrank from nearing his solitary abode. Superstitious traditions still lingered in the minds of the tribe in regard to the mountain, and so Kinneho was left to himself as if he had been superhuman. To the south of Kineo is Squaw Mountain. While Kinneho had looked towards it by night, his eagle eye had discovered upon its side a bright light. Evening after evening it appeared, and burned until far into the night. Finally he decided to make an excursion in that direction, and ascertain if possible whose fire it might be. Over the lake and through the forest he journeyed, then up the side of the mountain, following in the direction of the light. At last he came upon a rude lodge, built of bark and skins. 96 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE Kiimeho's heart beat wildly within him, as, bending over the fire^ he saw the wasted form of his mother, Maquaso. Though he had known her in the days of her beauty, he did not fail to recognize in the bent form and distorted features his long-lost mother. He rushed forward and embraced her in his arms. She, overcome by his sudden appearance, would have sunk to the ground only for the strong arms which supported her. He hastily carried her to the lodge, bathed her face with water from a stream near by, and forced some nourishment between her lips; but all to no purpose. Her eyes had looked once more upon her son only to close in death. On the side of Squaw Mountain he fashioned a rude grave; heaped together a pile of stones to mark her resting-place. Each new moon he came to visit the lonely mound, and sprinkle it with tears. In summer time a delicate white flower blooms in this forest, known as the Indian Pipe. The Indians affirm that this flower sprang from the tears of Kinneho. Wherever his tears fell this flower is said to- have appeared. During many moons the camp-fire of Kinneho could be seen on the dark bluff. The Indians still supers titiously shunned the spot. Some- times they crept through the forest to the shore, which is now called Pebbly Beach; but when they looked upwards against the perpendicu- lar bank of solid rock they imagined that the form of the Great Spirit was hovering over them. And they thought they heard his voice pouring down imprecations upon their heads. Sometimes, they say, Kinneho made long journeys through the forest to Mount Ktaadn,. whose snowy sides were plainly visible from his own mountain. During these times they missed his camp-fire by night, and his smoke by day; and then they would summon almost the requisite courage to visit the spot, when of a sudden it would again appear. But at last the fire died out, never to be rekindled by the hand of Kinneho. In vain did they watch for its re-appearance. Stealthily they crept around to the northern side of the mountain, and up its sides, but they found not Kinneho. By the side of the spring which still bubbles up through the rocks they found a pair of moccasons, beside this a tomahawk and a few trinkets. Farther on they found the traces of his fire, and the rocks charred and blackened, which even yet have not returned to their original color. The Indians ever after believed that the mountain had opened and swallowed the form of Kinneho, and that he was doomed to remain in its bowels to the end of time. And so they called the mountain Kinneho, which in our day has been shortened to Kineo. AND NORTH MAINE WILDEKNIiSS. 99 Such is the legend of Kineo. If any of our readers should visit the place (and we advise them to do so, if they wish to behold some of Maine's grandest scenery) they will find the tradition to be mainly as we have printed it. The estate comprises some twelve hundred acres around the moun- tain, and all the small islands in the lake belong to it. It was bought by Mr. Winthrop W. Chenery, of Boston, the proprietor of the High- land Stock Farm, of Belmont, some twenty years ago; and his son, Mr. W. L. Chenery, of Belmont, Mass., still retains a large interest in the property. For several years he came here hunting and fishing, stopping at a small house, which soon grew by rapid additions into quite a fair-sized hotel. About ten years ago Mr. O. A. Dennen, the present superintendent, took charge of the property and the house, and is now one of the owners. About six weeks after Mr. Dennen went to Kineo the hotel burned down, and between that time and 1870, when a new house was commenced, the accommodations were rather scant. The hotel was completed in 1874, and, although possessing double the room of the old one, proved inadequate to the increased number of guests that every year sought this charming place. The superintendent, finding that he must have more room, commenced the building of an annex in 1876, which was finished the next year. Again in 1881 sixty new rooms were added, making the hotel more complete than ever before, and better able to take care of the increas- ing number of people who came each year. In the fall of 1882, however, the Mount Kineo House was again destroyed by fire, and not only the hotel, but nearly every one of the out-buildings, the fire making almost a complete sweep. Undaunted by this great misfortune, the owners put their shoulders to the wheel once more, and, in the spring of 1883, rebuilt the annex, the store, and several other buildings, and a limited number of people were cared for during the summer. In the fall arrangements were perfected to again rebuild the Mount Kineo House. A saw-mill was bought and erected near the premises, a large force of mechanics was set to work, and through the winter of 1883 and the spring of 1884 work was un- ceasingly pushed until the completion of the new hotel in July, which is not surpassed by any summer-resort hotel in New England. It con- tains about two hundred rooms, the dining-room being a noble apart- ment, 51 x 110 feet, without pillar or post to mar its grand dimensions, and is capable of comfortably seating four hundred people. The house is supplied with bath-rooms, electric bells, and all modern con- 100 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE veiiiences, is heated by steam, and lighted throughout with gas. The rooms are large, light, and airy, reached by broad stairways or steam elevator, and from the sightly windows command beautiful pictures of lake and forest, valley and mountain. The parlor, music, reception, play, reading and dining rooms, hotel, telegraph and post offices are on the lower floor. The music-room is often used for hops, dancing being a favorite amusement of the guests in the evening, music being furnished every night during the season. A piazza fifteen feet wide extends around the main house. The proprietors of the Mount Kineo House have built several bath-houses on the beach near the hotel, — an improvement that was highly appreciated by the guests, especially the women and cliildren. Isolated as the Mount Kineo House is from the civilized world, the proprietor is compelled to run an extensive establishment, and keep on hand a heavy stock of supplies; hence the store, blacksmith-shop, and farm buildings, — unusual adjuncts to a hotel. A yoke of oxen, several horses, a dozen cows, a large flock of sheep, numerous pigs and poultry, supply the motive-power for farm-work, and furnish all the fresh meat and chickens for table use. A large vegetable garden furnishes the freshest and nicest of vegetables for the table in sum- mer, and a sufficient crop of potatoes is raised to last an entire year. Besides the cultivated land around the house, a farm of forty acres has been cleared upon the northern end of the estate, with house and barn of its own, and large crops of various kinds are raised there. All the preserves and pickles used in the hotel are grown and put up upon the place. A small fleet of birch canoes and row-boats belong to the estate, and are let to summer visitors. The charge for canoes is twenty-five cents per day, and for row-boats from twenty-five to seventy-five cents per day, or three dollars by the week. The new and elegant steam yacht Kineo" and the trim little steamer George A. " belong to the house, and are used by the guests for fishing or excursion parties. The house stands on the end of the peninsula, and faces south, over- looking a large portion of the lake. The grounds are kept in good order, showing marks of excellent judgment and refined taste. Par- ticular attention has been paid to drainage, and no epidemic will ever disturb the health of the patrons of Kineo. There are swings and croquet and tennis grounds near the hotel, and lovers of base-ball have ample room to indulge in the national game. Cool and shady paths wind through the forest in different directions, furnishing ro- AND NORTH MAINE WILDEENESS. 101 mantic walks to various places of interest. Several miles of carriage- road have also been constructed, and one can take a team at the hotel and pass an hour or more very pleasantly in driving about the vicinity. Leaving the hotel, we pass to the rear of the house and follow a path that runs along near the base of the mountain, furnishing us with grand and impressive views the entire way. Across field and pasture and forest we pursue our ramble, and after a few minutes' walk reach Cliff Beach, where we have a fine view of the " Cliff," as it frowns down upon us. Kineo Bay lies before us in all its beauty, and beyond North Bay stretches some fifteen or twenty miles away to the head of the lake. An hour may be spent very pleasantly at the Cliff. Table Rock, a favorite resort of the fly-fishermen, is but a short distance from here. Having spent sufficient time at the Cliff, we follow along the shore of Kineo Bay, easterly, and in a few minutes reach Pebbly Beach, one of the greatest curiosities in the vicinity of the Mount Kineo House. Several rough bowlders make a divide between Cliff and Pebbly Beaches. Pebbly Beach is about a quarter of a mile long, and cov- ered to a great depth with the handsomest pebbles we have ever seen, of every size, shape, and color. From the beach one has a magnifi- cent view of the lake, and can be amused here for hours, either in examining and making a collection of the beautiful pebbles, or study- ing the charming scenery and listening to the enchanting music of the waves as they murmur and sing along the beach. From here also one obtains a view of a moose's neck and head, with branching horns and antlers, that appears on the face of the " Cliff," not far from Pulpit Rock. It can be seen to the best advantage on a bright, sunny day. Just beyond Pebbly Beach is the Mystic Grotto. Down in a little dell a mass of broken rock forms a natural grotto, a favorite resort for lovers of nature. Its entire seclusiveness adds to its attraction, and makes it a charming place to while away a leisure hour. Leaving the grotto, we retrace our steps to Pebbly Beach, and there take a different path for our return. The way lies nearly the whole distance through the forest, where delicious shade and cool air are highly appreciated on a warm day. The path is good and easy to fol- low. About half-way to the house we reach the Gold Mine, which is on the left-hand side of the path. It consists of a huge ledge of quartz rock that reaches to Pebbly Beach. Several years ago Mr. Chenery did some blasting here, and had the rock assayed, wdiich yielded ten dollars' worth of gold to the ton. From the gold obtained 102 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE he had a small pin manufactured. Amateur prospectors will find this a good place to kill time, and if they do not find any gold they will at least get healthy exercise. As we come out from the woods, in sight of the hotel, two little bark shanties attract our attention. These are the lodges of an Indian family of the Tomar tribe of Canada. Here they live the greater por- tion of the season, making canoes, baskets, and other knick-knacks from birch bark, which in summer they readily dispose of to the strangers who visit Kineo. From Indian Lodge the path lies on the top of a gravelly ridge, and a few moments' w^alk brings us to the hotel. The Devil's Delight is a short distance from the hotel, on the south side of Mount Kineo. A pleasant path leads to it. Here the moun- tain has succumbed to the ravages of time and storm; and great masses of the rock, loosened by the frosts of winter and the lightning shafts of summer, have been torn and rent asunder, and have fallen in inextricable confusion below, where they lie in every shape, the debris forming a hard road over which to travel. One wishing to take a short walk will find it a pleasant stroll to go over the grounds in front of the house, or along the beach to the Three Sisters," a group of pines on the w^estern shore, offering an inviting shade, where you can lounge to your heart's content, watch- ing the sparkling waves, the blue sky, and the towering mountains. During the fall of 1879 Mr. Dennen made another effort to improve the attractiveness of Mount Kineo to visitors, by having a hatching- house for the propagation of trout and land-locked salmon erected on a small stream emptying into Kineo Bay, about two miles from the hotel. It was constructed under the superintendence of Henry O. Stanley, of Dixfield, Me. The building is sixteen feet by thirty feet, and contains eight troughs, eighteen feet in length by sixteen inches in wddth, capable of accommodating five hundred thousand eggs. There is also room to add more troughs if needed, and by the addition of wire-bottomed trays, such as are used at the United States Hatch- ing Works at Grand Lake Stream, to double the capacity of the house. Mr. Dennen also had a small but comfortable house built on the oppo- site side of the stream from the Hatching Works for the use of the person who takes charge of the hatching during the winter. The grounds in the vicinity of the buildings have been improved, and the hatching-house and its surroundings will in future become a favorite resort for the visitors to Mount Kineo. A good path leads from the AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 103 hotel to the hatching-house, and the walk is a pleasant one. As the buildings stand but a few rods from the lake shore, they can be reached easily by boat if one desires a water trip, although the distance by water is more than double the land route. Moosehead Lake will now not only have half a million trout eggs yearly hatched and turned into her waters, but will also add salmon to restock the exhausted waters of the Kennebec. Many thousand of the speckled brook trout and land-locked salmon are turned out of the Mount Kineo Hatching House each year, thus largely increasing the number of fish in the lake, and guaranteeing to fishermen a good catch in the future. Mr. Dennen has talked some of building a rough road, sufficiently good for buckboard travelling, through the woods from the Mount Kineo House to the base of Spencer Mountains, a distance of about twelve miles. Should this ever be done, an excursion to the Spencer Mountains would be one of the most popular that could be made from the hotel, and hundreds would make the ascent of those sightly and symmetrical peaks. The long and arduous trip to be made now, before one even reaches the base of the mountains, deters nearly everybody from making the trial, and I believe only one lady has ever had the courage and determination to attempt it. In October, 1879, Mrs. George H. Witherle, of Castine, Me., ac- companied by her husband and a guide, made the ascent, and reached the top of the highest peak of the Spencer Mountains. She has the honor of being the first white woman w^ho ever stood on the summit of Spencer Mountains, although several ladies have ascended Ktaadn. BOAT EXCURSIONS. The excursions one may make by boat from the Mount Kineo House are almost unlimited, and we propose to mention only the more popu- lar ones. We will commence with those nearest the hoteL On these water trips one has choice of canoe, row-boat, or steamer. Leaving Kineo directly after breakfast, and crossing to the western shore of the lake, we reach the mouth of Moose River, and, passing to the left of Muskrat Island, a pleasant sail of four miles brings us to Brassau Lake. Part of the distance on the river is through rapids that furnish many picturesque views. At the foot of the first rapids you reach in going up the river is a pretty wooded islet. This was chris- tened " Gertrude Isle," by John A. Gardner, of Providence, R.I., 104 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE Sept. 13, 1878, in honor of Mrs. G. The island is a favorite place for picnics. Eating our lunch at the lake, we return to Kineo in the afternoon, having spent an enjoyable day. There is excellent fishing at Brassau, and where one takes a day for the trip there is plenty of time to try the virtue of flies and rods. Misery Stream empties into Brassau Lake about a mile from Moose River, and furnishes excellent fishing. Little Brassau, a miniature lake, lies about LOOKING UP MOOSE RIVEK. about two miles above Moose River, on the same side of the lake. A trip to the brook from Kineo gives one a sail of eight miles, and fur- nishes an agreeable excursion for half a day. Tomhegan Stream, six miles distant from Kineo, is a favorite place for excursions from the hotel, and a day is needed to enjoy the trip thoroughly. It is a pretty place ; and if visitors wish to camp over night they will find many pleasant spots on which to pitch their tent. One of the most beautiful streams that empty into Moosehead is the AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 105 SOCATEAN RIVER, eight miles from Kineo. It is a narrow stream, its waters deep and dark, flowing in an irregular course, between banks thickly wooded. Four miles from the lake are Socatean Falls, of which we give an illus- tration. Excursions to this river from Kineo are frequent during the summer, and we know of no more enjoyable one on the entire lake. One who is pressed for time may, by the aid of the " Kineo " and a canoe, visit all of these places in a day. The Moody Islands, lying south of Kineo, and but two miles distant, furnish a pleasant half-day's excursion by row-boat or canoe. The largest of these islands is a perfect gem. Its shores are very irregular, and on the north side is a pretty cave almost landlocked. The shores are divided into sand beaches, pebble beaches, and rough bowlders. The island is quite thickly wooded, some of the lumber used in the construction of the hotel having been cut upon it, and otfers several inviting spots for picnics. The island narrows up in the middle, until only a few feet wide, and somewhat resembles a pair of spectacles in shape. In the spring, when the water is high, it flows across the narrow strip of beach, making two islands. The island contains a great many beautiful mosses and wild flowers, and guests from the hotel frequently devote a day to its exploration, taking their dinner with them. The smaller Moody Island is a few rods south of the large one, and is partially wooded. On the back side of it the rock has peeled off in layers, leaving a perpendicular wall from two to eight feet high, and some rods in length. At the head of a little pebbly beach, at the western end of this island, is a large bowlder known as Eagle Rock. The white gulls that are seen about the lake build their nests and raise their young on these islands. One of the most pleasant and popular trips from Kineo is a sail to Kineo Bay. Leaving the hotel, our course lies around the point, fol- lowing the shore, and passing Kineo Landing and the farm; next we double Hardscrabble, a reef of rocks at the northwest corner of the shore; pursuing our way we round the eastern shore and enter Kineo Bay; here we visit Pulpit Rock and the Cliff, and make a landing on the side of the old mountain, whose lofty top projects several feet beyond us, overhanging the w^aters of the lake, black as night and of unknown depth. It is a place where visitors find a feeling of awe in- stinctively creeping over them, as they gaze at the majestic mountain above them, and at the dark pool beneath. Several slides on this side 106 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE of the mountain have left a mass of broken and spHntered rock at the water's edge, on which a few liardy trees struggle for an existence. There is a remarkable echo here, the solid sides of the mountain throwing back clear and distinct the least noise or sound. The ^' Kineo " often runs in here to try her whistle, for the amusement of excursionists. COWAN'S COVE is a little over two miles southeast of the Mount Kineo House, and is a charming place. The cove runs in from the lake about two miles. There is an island at the entrance known as Mutton Chop Island, — a lovely place for a picnic. About half-way to the head of the cove, another island, the smaller of the two, rises abruptly from the middle of the water, and is called Bowlder Island from the number of large bowlders that are found upon it. Both of these islands are wooded, and one wishing to take dinner on either of them will find plenty of driftwood for fires. There is good fishing in this cove, and if you do not wish to take dinner away from the hotel half a day is ample for the excursion. THE WEST OUTLET is two miles southwest of the Mount Kineo House, and a trip to it forms a pleasant half-day's excursion. A short arm of the lake makes inhere. The entrance is narrow and shallow; passing through you enter a small bay, circular in shape, and almost completely landlocked. There is a small island near the middle of the bay. The bottom here is very rocky, and furnishes good fishing. The water at the mouth of this outlet never freezes hard, and the steamers are anchored here in the fall when they go into winter quarters. One of the prettiest trips that can be made on the Kineo 'Ms that to the Kennebec Dam, at the East Outlet. The course lies down the lake from the hotel, past the Moody Islands, and Sloop Island, then between Sandbar and Hogback Islands, then by Spider, Snake, and Black Islands on the right, and Squaw Point on the left, reaching the wharf at the dam. There is excellent fishing anywhere in this vicinity. The river is quite wide, and about a mile below the dam are some picturesque rapids. An old road runs along the north bank of the river to Gooderich's farm, two miles beyond. It is a fair road to walk over; and after the first day of September one will find good partridge shooting, as the cover in the vicinity is unusually fine. On the right of the little beach, at the foot of Mount Kineo, is a SOOATEAN FALLS. AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 109 large ledge that rises almost perpendicularly from the lake. Upon the southern side of this is the figure of an Indian chief, about eight or ten inches high, painted in a color resembling red ochre. This picture has been there for years, and neither time nor storms seem to have any effect upon it. It was no doubt the work of Indians many gen- erations ago. Capt. Brown, of the " Day Dream," first discovered the painting. For an excursion of several days, Spencer Pond offers many attrac- tions. It is one of the remotest points on the lake, and its outlet, a mile and a half long, empties into Spencer Bay, fifteen miles from Kineo. Its shores are wild and marshy, and the vegetation about them partakes of a tropical character. It is an excellent fishing spot, and a favorite resort for ducks. Partridges are abundant in the vicinity. The bottom of the pond is muddy, and pond-lilies grow luxuriously in some parts of it. SPENCER MOUNTAIN, about a mile distant, offers a chance for persons to try their muscle and courage in its ascent. It is difficult of access, and but few sportsmen have ever reached its summit. Old Ellis, a noted trapper, is said to have been the first white man to stand upon its top. Little Spencer, a miniature pond, nestles among the hills a mile dis- tant to the north, connected with the larger pond by a small brook. The Poach Ponds are reached from Lily Bay, and several days are needed to visit them. Parties making this excursion can procure accommodations at the hotel at Poach River Farm, belonging to Morrison & Hunting, who run the stage line from Lily Bay to Roach River, and will find the present occupant an obliging host, anxious to please his guests. ASCENT OF MOUNT KINEO. The ascent of Mount Kineo is easily made, and no one who visits the hotel thinks of leaving without climbing the mountain, if able to bear such a jaunt. One might as well visit Niagara and not go out to view the Falls. A boat-ride of a mile brings us to Kineo Landing, a small, gravelly beach on the western side of the mountain. Stepping from the boat we notice a sign-board, warning persons not to roll stones down the eastern side of the mountain, which overhangs Kineo Bay. This is to guard people who may be on the water below from accident; it is 110 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE a very sensible precaution, and should be strictly observed by all who visit the top of the mountain. The path leads from the beach up the base of the mountain, swing- ing off to the southern side and following the verge of the precipice to the summit, — at times a safe distance away from it, at others un- comfortably near for timid persons, or those with weak nerves. In some places it is smooth, in others rough, but never very difficult. It will take from half an hour to an hour to reach the top, and ladies suitably dressed can go up as easily as gentlemen. In the depression betw^een the two crests an ice-cold spring of sparkling water, pure and clear, bubbles up through the sand from beneath a mossy rock, and flows westward. Many, after their weary climb, assuage their thirst from this welcome gift of nature. The toil of the ascent is scarcely noticed, so busily engaged are we in catching glimpses of the picture around us, which, like some dis- solving view, changes with each onward step. IS'ow we stop for a moment to scan the silvery lake, whose sparkling bosom is decked with islands of emerald green. Then we gaze in admiration upon the mountains miles away, whose summits, clear and well defined, tower thousands of feet above the sea. Onward w^e pursue our way, and finally reach the summit, the goal of our ambition. Here the scene, in all its wM beauty and majestic grandeur, bursts upon us. We stand in mute admiration, and catch the inspiration of the place. How can we describe it, when no pen can do it justice? The blue sky above us curtained with fleecy clouds; the distant mountains, some so far away that their outlines are scarcely perceptible; the sloping sides of nearer hills wooded to the top; a continuous forest, wild and dense, broken only by two or three small clearings within the whole range of our vision; northward, the lake ending against the sky, aline of tall trunks apparently forming a bar- rier to those who would penetrate the distant wilderness; southward, the lake gemmed with islands, and finally closed in by surrounding mountains, concealing from our view the country beyond, ^^orth Bay, the North-east and Korth-west Carries, Brassau Lake, Moose Biver, the West and East Outlets, Lily Bay, Spencer Bay, Kineo Junior, the Twin Spencers, Mount Ktaadn, the Lily Bay Range, Old Squaw, Bald Head, Misery Mountain, and many others are seen from the top of Kineo. At several different places on its summit embryo monuments mark the spot where former visitors have attempted to leave some token of their presence. AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 113 If one has the nerve, and is foolhardy enough to make the attempt, he can crawl out upon the crumbling edge of the precipice that over- hangs Kineo Bay, and drop a stone that will strike the water thirty feet from the base of the mountain. A single slip here would in a moment send a -soul into eternity, — a single false step put one beyond the aid of man. It is a spot one naturally shrinks from, as if afraid some invisible spirit might hurl him into the abyss below. Far beneath, the screaming eagles guard their young among the frown- ing cliffs, and laugh to scorn any attempt at capture. Many hours may be delightfully and profitably spent on Mount Kineo, and we advise all who make the ascent to take lunch with them, and devote a day to it, confident that they will be well satisfied with the time spent in the trip. The descent of the mountain is a little easier than the ascent, and is made much quicker. A friend of the writer, who made the ascent of Kineo some years ago, thus relates his experience: — " After dinner a party of us attempted to scale the front of the precipice. It seems, when viewed from the house, to be but a few rods distant, but we found it to be nearly a mile. Its south and east sides are perpendicular, and varying from two to eleven hundred feet in height. It is composed of greenstone porphyry, much resembling flint, except in its color, which is light green, and is the material from which most of the Indian arrow-heads are made. We attempted the ascent towards the west end, where the perpendicular is about four hundred and fifty feet. After a severe scramble we succeeded in getting up nearly to the top, when we were brought to a halt by a wall of rock, so compact that we could neither get our fingers or toes into it. Here was a fix. It was comparatively safe to climb up, for we could see what we were laying hold upon, although at times we were spread out face to the ledge, like a person being crucified, with- out room to turn either way ; but the backing down was quite another thing. Backing down is always disagreeable, but in this instance it was particularly so. Above was but fifty feet to the top, but this dis- tance was impassable. Below was four hundred feet, and a splendid chance to fall. After a hard scramble we succeeded in getting down with whole necks, which was more than I expected. Being deter- mined not to give up the ascent of the mountain we returned to the house, procured a sail-boat, and went around by the lake to the north- west end; from this point, after a scramble of a mile and a half, we reached the summit, just previous to which we discovered, within a 114 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE few feet of the brink of the precipice, a clear, beautiful spring of the most delicious water that I ever tasted. One of our party drank im- moderately of it, stopping after each draught to comment upon the difference between it and the rusty Cochituate we were accustomed to drink in Boston. The view from the summit well repaid us for the trouble we had taken to get there. Far away to the north and south stretched the beautiful lake, broken into a thousand bays and inlets, and dotted with islands wooded to the water's edge. The country, as far as the eye could see, was covered with one vast, interminable forest in every direction, broken only by mountains and valleys, which, furrowed by the rays of the setting sun, just disappearing behind a long range of blue mountains, far in the hazy distance, formed a gorgeous spectacle, and one that I shall not soon forget. ^' Southward could be seen the magnificent lake, now calm and glassy as a mirror, with every tint and hue of the sunset sky reflected from its bosom, stretching far away until lost by its windings among the islands and forest; while in the southeast stood the Spencer Mountains, like two brothers, side by side, and just far enough away to give them a rich, rosy tint. The contrast between them and the dark, heavy forest from which they arose was extremely beautiful. More to the northward and nearly east from us stood Mount Ktaadn, solitary and alone in its noble grandeur, towering high above all others in the view; its summit seemed divided into two peaks, each appearing as if trying to outdo the other in height, its distance giving it a deep violet color. N'earer to us, but distant four or five miles, was another mountain about the height of Kineo, and like all the others covered with forest, except the south part of its summit, which was a perpendicular precipice of two or three hundred feet. Below us lay the narrow neck of land connecting Mount Kineo with the eastern shore of the lake. Looking northward we again saw the lake stretching away in that direction for twenty miles; unlike the southern half it is clear of islands, except a few small ones near the western shore. The country to the northward of the lake is more even, and as far as could be seen with a glass it was covered with the same interminable forest; the predominance of evergreen in which imparts to the scene a dark, sombre effect, appearing strange to eyes unaccustomed to such a view. ^' Turning to the westward our gaze is arrested by long ranges of mountains, their distances indicated by their different tints of color, AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 115 varying from a delicate rosy hue to a deep blue, and sometimes gray; these being beautifully relieved by a flood of golden light from the setting sun, whose rays filled the whole western sky and gave to the landscape an appearance of enchantment. iS"earer to us could be seen Moose liiver winding its way among the trees until it empties into the lake directly opposite Kineo. Still farther west glowed the charming Brassau Lake like a sea of gold embosomed in the forest. Altogether the scene was beautiful beyond description. It was ren- dered more impressive by the strange silence that pervaded everything, ^s^one of the sounds one is accustomed to hear in a civilized region: no sound of voices, or the ring of the artisan's hammer; no bells, or the shrill scream of the locomotive, — nothing but silence everywhere. From the spot where we stood a descent of about fifty feet brought me to the brink of a precipice, seven hundred and fifty feet in height, perpendicular from the lake on the left and the forest on the right. I sat upon the brink of the clitf and amused myself with drop- ping stones over into the lake and noting the time of their descent. There was one in our party I could not induce to look over the brink. He complained of a curious morbid impulse or desire to jump over. I have heard others complain of the same sensation when standing upon high places. When I first looked over, a feeling of awe crept over me at the dizzy height, but I had no disposition to jump over. ^' We amused ourselves part of the time with rolling large stones over to the right, and listening to the crash as they fell into the forest. The ground at this place w^as covered with large mountain blueberries. We stow^ed away as many as our capacity would allow. While eating the berries w^e espied a birch canoe put off from the landing to bring us back to the house, and we started down to the lake, arriving at the shore just in season to meet our conveyance. The process of getting seated in a birch canoe without getting spilled out is a very delicate one. We accomplished it, however, after several attempts, in a very successful manner for greenhorns, the guide said. Our tiny bark sped swiftly over the placid water, propelled by the strong arms of the guide, and we landed at the hotel just in season for supper, and well pleased with our ascent of Mount Kineo." 'Now that the International Kailway is finished, one of the most satisfactory excursions that can be made from Kineo will be to go to the East Outlet, load your canoe and supplies on the train, then go by rail to the head waters of Moose Kiver, and leave you at the west- ern end of Holeb Pond. Then, after taking a look at Holeb, which 116 GUIDE TO MOOSE HEAD LAKE is a very pretty little sheet of water, you can canoe it down Moose River, and through Attean and Wood Ponds, Long Pond, Little Bras- sau, and Brassau Lake to Moosehead, and back to Kineo. This ex- cursion can be made in three days, but to enjoy it thoroughly you should take six. If you go alone you will need a guide, as there are carries where you could not handle your canoe alone, but two sports- men can easily make the trip without a guide. For details of the route see Chapter VIII. THE GUIDES AND FISHING. At the Mount Kineo House one can obtain the best of guides. They are practical woodsmen, good-natured, tough, and hardy, and will use their best endeavors to please. They can tell you all about the fishing and hunting, and show you to any place you may wish to visit. Their terms are $3.00 per day while about the hotel, they boarding themselves. On river trips, that necessitate camping out, they have $3.00 per day and their board. They furnish canoe, tent, and cook- ing utensils; the party engaging them finds the provisions. They are intelligent and wide-awake, capital story-tellers, successful hunters, and expert fishermen. They are very skilful in handling a canoe, and it is no more for them to pole up a bad rapid in a birch than it would be for an ordinary boatman to go over the same distance in dead water. The fishing in the vicinity of Kineo is as good as in any part of the lake. Table Rock, near the end of the Cliff, is a great resort for fly- fishermen, and large quantities of trout are caught there in June and September. For deep-water fishing, a buoy is anchored out in the lake in sixty feet of water, half a mile west from the hotel. This spot is kept well baited to attract the fish. The fishing-parties fasten their boats to this buoy, and then indulge in the sport. The laker, the spotted brook-trout, and whitefish, are all caught at this place. The laker is a species of trout, possessing a forked tail, with no red spots on the belly, and sometimes attains a weight of twenty-five or thirty pounds. The whitefish averages a pound and a half in weight, although some have been caught double that weight, and are consid- ered very nice eating. Although rather oily in taste, some prefer them to trout. When the fishermen return to the hotel it is cus- tomary to place the fish in pans on the piazza, where they can be seen by all, and a strong rivalry exists to see who will bring home the largest number. AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 119 Bait-fisliing is best from April to June, deep-water fishing in July and the early part of August, and fly-fishing the last of August and through September. Both flies and bait are used at all seasons. The speckled brook trout are the best to eat, and the most gamy to catch, and vary in weight from a quarter of a pound to four or five pounds. In addition to the fishing about Kineo, one can visit the Outlet, Moose River, Brassau Lake, Misery Stream, Baker Brook, Tomhegan, -Socatean River, and many other places, from which he is almost cer- tain to return with a good string of trout. THE HUNTING. Between the hotel and Kineo Bay there is a piece of woodland, about two miles long and a mile wide, that furnishes good cover for partridges, and many ar ; found here through September and October. There is scarcely a day in the fall that some of these birds do not find their way to the hotel table, having passed through the skilful hands •of the admirable cook that caters to the inner wants of the guests at Kineo, and prove a w^elcome addition to the bill of fare. We make an extract from an article published a number of years ago on Moosehead Lake, which pretty well covers the above heading. The only point in which we differ from the author is in his locating the game at such a distance from Moosehead, as numbers of deer, cari- hou, and other game are shot each year in close proximity to the lake shore. " Many people are disappointed with the hunting. They come ex- pecting to find bears without searching for them, and to kill i^artridges by the dozen with a single charge of buck-shot. The game around the lake has been greatly killed off, and one must go long distances to find what he wishes. The real hunter goes where the game is, and the guides are chiefly engaged during the winter in hunting expedi- tions. They usually go in pairs, warmly dressed, but not burdened with equipments, and are often absent a month or six weeks from home. They carry a gun, an axe, a dipper, matches, a few pounds of hard bread, and make their tent each day at nightfall. One prepares logs for the camp-fire, while the other with his snow-shoes digs down to the ground, and makes a place eight feet square, which is filled with fir-boughs at the bottom and sides. A fire is built in the middle, and they lie down, one on each side, without more covering than the -clothes worn during the day. The only caution is to keep your feet 120 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE warm. Thus men, with the thermometer clown to zero, go from Greenville down to the West Branch to Ripogum's, and even over to Ktaadn and up to Chamberlain Farm, in search of moose, bears, and caribou. They often strike a trail, and turn in at the logging-camps, where one is always sure of a generous welcome. " The game back in the woods is abundant. Moose ten years ago were very plenty, but have been so much killed off that they are seldom found except around Ktaadn and farther nortli and west. They live in winter on browse and fir-boughs, in summer on blue-joint and lilies; are short-sighted and strong-scented, and are best shot near the streams and lakes. Bears are hunted chiefly in September and October. They feed on ants, berries, and honey-trees, prowl around the camps, and are found in the fall by the streams and on the burned lands. They are human enough to be exceedingly fond of rum and molasses, and are often trapped or shot in this way. Masterman, the hero of bear-shooting, says that he never had one face him yet. The black-cats live on hedgehogs, mice, and various small game, inhabit the roughest parts of the mountains, and are not easily trapped, often biting off their toes in order to escape. The beavers live together in families of from two to twelve. The Indians watch and shoot them at night. To catch them you have to set your trap in ten inches of water, so as to take their hind-legs. The musk-rats are taken in traps, or in their holes in the bank. The mink is chiefly caught in traps at dead-falls. The otter, furnishing the best fur, live on fish, and are generally trapped. Deer are numerous, live much like the moose, and are hunted in tlie same way. The caribou, a species of deer, are plenty, and very hard to kill. They live principally on mosses and browse, and are still-hunted. For bird game, bald eagles are plenty, but not often killed ; partridges are numerous, and are hunted in September and October; and black-duck shooting is good in September and Octo- ber. The loons defy the skill of the hunter. They are the evil spirits of the lake. Their cry sounds like the mocking laughter of demons, and is heard at all times, day and night. They are about the size of a goose, but heavier, always in motion, and seldom caught alive. They are shot with a rifle, but are so quick in their movements that hardly one shot in a thousand takes effect. All this hunting is at your hand, if you are patient and can wait for it. It is obviously out of reach for those who spend but a week at the lake, and live at Mount Kineo. In the autunm sportsmen abound, and excursions witli guides to all accessible points, until the end of October, are the order AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 121 of the day. Even then Ufe does not depart from the lake. The lum- bermen succeed the sportsmen, and twelve hundred men pass up into the woods and back again to the towns below before the summer vis- itors come again. In these grand old forests Maine finds her chief source of wealth." CHAPTEE VIIL TWO ROUTES FR03I BOSTON TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE VIA THE FORKS OF THE KENNEBEC AND MOOSE RIVER.— FIRST ROUTE VIA OAKLAND, SOLON, AND BINGHAM. NE can leave Boston in the morning at 9.00 via Eastern or 8.30 o'clock via Western Division of Boston and Maine Railroad, connecting at Portland with the Maine Central Bailroad, the great thoroughfare for pleasure travel through the State of Maine. The train leaves Portland, via Lewiston, at 1.15 ' 'r^VS 05 r P.M., arriving at Oakland at 4.13, Ij^^A^s'^^^y* J^^^^^^ where you change cars. Baggage is , checked through from Boston to Solon. If you have time to spare en route, you can spend a few days at Oakland very pleasantly. It is a pretty place, has some fine scenery, and contains a small but well-kept and comfortable hotel, the Oakland House, located on the main street, but a short distance from the railroad. The Dunn Edge-Tool Company furnishes the principal industry of the place, and their buildings are situated at the outlet of Lake Mes- salonskee, about a quarter of a mile from the depot. Their shops are very extensive, giving employment to one hundred and seventy-five persons, and they turn out one hundred and twenty-five dozen scythes and twenty dozen axes each working-day, besides tools of other de- scriptions. Water, of which they have an ample supply, furnishes the motive-power, and a walk through the long line of buildings is an interesting and instructive one. In one shop you can see the iron and steel in the rough, and trace it step by step through all the different processes, until it becomes a finely tempered axe or scythe, ready for 122 AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 123 market. J. Ayer, Esq., the President of the Somerset Railway, and R. B. Dunn, Esq., are the principal owners. The company also own another similar establishment at Fayette. W. M, Ayer, Esq., Super- intendent of the Somerset Railway, is also connected with the Dunn Edge-Tool Company. Messalonskee Lake is nine miles long and one mile wide, and con- tains several islands. It is a very pretty sheet of water, and offers strong inducements to those who like bathing, boating, and fishing. The little steam-launch '*Ina" runs on the lake during the summer, and can be hired for excursions. Several miles of woodland border on the lake, offering charming places for picnic and camping-out parties. Below the Edge-Tool Company's dam, Messalonskee Stream runs through a deep and precipitous gorge, forming heavy falls and rapids. The entire fall is sixty feet or more, in two nearly perpendicular pitches, the first about fifty feet and the second about twenty. This gorge or canon is perhaps an eighth of a mile long, the banks being about seventy feet high at the upper end, and decreasing gradually to about three feet at the lower. The walls are formed of slate rock, and in some places they nearly overhang the water. Its average width is about forty feet. There is a pretty growth of mixed woods on each side of the stream. It is a charming spot, and formerly was much resorted to by picnic parties ; but a few years ago a young lady fell into the rapids and was drowned, and now the place is rather shunned by such gatherings. Visitors w^ould do well to be careful in visiting the falls and cascade, for a single careless step might place them be- yond the reach of earthly aid. There are many beautiful drives in the vicinity of Oakland, and good teams may be obtained at the hotel. In leaving Oakland the railroad rises by a heavy grade to the high land in Norridgewock; the rest of the distance the grades are quite easy. The road makes some sharp turns, disclosing, as it sweeps around the bends, lovely views of the river, with its frequent rapids and falls. Norridgewock, one of the earliest settled towns in Maine, was once the shire town of Somerset County, but through the influence of the late ex-Gov. Coburn and his brother the county seat was changed to Skowhegan, new buildings being erected in the latter town and pre- sented to the county by the enterprising Coburns, to whom many places in Maine owe much of their prosperity. Norridgewock, while t)eing one of the prettiest towns in Maine, has the additional charm 124 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE of an interesting historical record in connection with the Indians. The J^orridgewock tribe, an offslioot of the once powerful Abenahies, w^ho at one time owned all the land from the Penobscot Valley to Salmon Falls Kiver, formerly owned the lands in the vicinity of Nor- ridgewock and Madison. Their encampment w^s near the river bank, in w^hat is at present an open field, known by the Indian name of Old Point, and only a few miles above the present site of Norridgewock village. This field, however, is in the present town of Madison, which was once a part of Korridgewock. Persons wishing to stop over at Madison will find a good house there, the Hotel Weston. The celebrated Old Point" spring water is used in this house. The only remaining memento that now marks the spot where once clustered the wigwams of the " Norridgew^ogs " is a granite monument erected to the memory of Sebastian Ralle, or Rasles, a French priest of the Jesuit order, who came among the Indians at Old Point about the beginning of the year 1689. This monument is in plain sight from the cars on the left side as you go to North Anson. The priest learned their language, manners, and customs, and, hav- ing once obtained a controlling ascendency over them, was not slow to use it by inciting the Indians against their English neighbors, and they harassed the settlers in that vicinity. This led to their destruction, and the death of the scheming and meddlesome fanatic at their head. On the 19th day of August, 1724, a detachment of four companies, consisting of two hundred and eight men, left Fort Richmond, on the Kennebec, imder the guidance of three Mohawk Indians. The troops were commanded by Captains Moulton, Harmon, Bourne, and Bane. They worked their way up the Kennebec as far as Taconnet, where they left their boats with a guard of forty men, and the remainder proceeded up the river. Arriving atSkowhegan, Harmon, with sixty men, crossed the stream at the great eddy, for the purpose of cutting off re-enforcements from other tribes, while Moulton, after leaving ten men in Skowhegan to guard the baggage, proceeded with the remaining ninety-eight to Old Point. Marching cautiously through the woods, he reached the high lands overlooking the village on August 24th. He attacked the foe at once, and the Indians, taken by surprise, were all slaughtered, the priest among them. A very interesting account of early Norridge- wock and this battle will be found in the second part of Whittier's poem of Mogg Megone." At Norridgewock the road crosses the Kennebec, which we see for AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 125 the first time, and runs up to Madison, on tlie riglit bank of the river, wliere it crosses again and continues to Solon, on the left side. The road runs mostly through cleared land, across which you obtain some fine views of the distant mountains towering up in the Dead Eiver Country; but occasionally it strikes a pretty piece of forest, and in some places it runs so near the river as almost to overhang it. North Anson, a busy little town, is built on both sides of the Cara- bassett, a noisy stream, broken by rapids, which empties into the Ken- nebec at this point. A fine view of Mount Abraham and the twin peaks of Mount Bigelow, that tower up to the west, may be had from the village. The Somerset Hotel furnishes a pleasant stopping-place for sportsmen and tourists; and one can procure teams to drive in any direction. Following up the left bank of the river, the next stop is made at Embden, a small village now, but destined to be larger. A moment's stop here, and then the train continues to Solon, the trav- eller obtaining many pretty views along the way. From Solon the road will be extended to Bingham during the summer, and cars will probably be running to the latter place by the first of November, leav- ing passengers within twenty-three miles of the Forks. The Carra- tunk House in Solon is a first-class country hotel, and has a good liv- ery connected with it. Parties visiting the Rowe Ponds usually start from Solon. The Rowe Ponds are situated in Pleasant Ridge Town- ship, all in close proximity, and are beautiful sheets of water. They are connected by short trails of from three to five minutes' walk each. These lakes are known as the Rowe, Brandy, Bean, Jewett, and Clear "Ponds." The "Camp," or fishermen's hotel, is situated on the banks of the Rowe Pond. This is the largest of the group, and the trout in it run as high as twenty ounces. Some have been taken in the Bean Pond weighing two and one-half pounds. The Brandy Pond (so called from the peculiar color of its water) supplies the gamiest fish, they invariably showing vigorous resistance before they are landed. This is the most beautiful and picturesque sheet of water. Jewett Pond is as clear as crystal, in consequence of a white sandy bottom. The trout in it are therefore very wary. Fishing in early morning and evening, or on a dark cloudy day, is necessary to accom- plish anything. Clear Pond, curious to state, has no trout in it; at least, it is not known that a trout has ever been taken from it, but it is to be stocked with land-locked salmon this season. From Solon to the Forks of the Kennebec is about thirty miles, and 126 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE passengers connect in the morning at Solon with the stage from Skow- hegan, and go on. Returning stage from the Forks arrives in Solon in time for the morning train for Oakland. Fare from Oakland to Solon, $1.50; stage fare, Solon to Bingham, 75 cents. One can pro- cure a team at reasonable rates to carry them from Solon to the Forks the same night. TO DEAD RIVER. Stages leave Korth Anson daily on arrival of train, and reach North New Portland, eight miles distant, in time for supper at the Dirigo House, Quint Brothers proprietors, where you stop over night. Leaving North New Portland the next morning, a ride of twelve miles brings you to Lexington, where there is a good hotel. The stage only stops here long enough to change the mails. Beyond the village the road enters the woods, running over high land, and thence through a wild and romantic pass in the mountains to Dead River, a distance of ten miles, arriving at the Parsons House, S. A. Parsons proprietor, in time for dinner. This hotel is pleasantly situated near the river, and has accom- modations for seventy-five people. The rooms are well furnished, and the table excellent. There is a good livery stable connected with the house, and teams of all descriptions can be procured. A good road runs through the woods from Parsons' Hotel to Carry Pond, four miles distant, where is some of the best trout-fishing in the State. All kinds of wild game are thick in this vicinity, includ- ing moose and bears. Guides, canoes, and provisions can be ob- tained in the village, for camping-out trips, and as this place is off the beaten track of sportsmen, good hunting and fishing may be found with but slight trouble, and within short distances of the village. A stage leaves Parsons' Hotel three times a w^eek for Eustis, seven- teen miles distant, a pretty little village, having two good hotels, situated in close proximity to excellent fishing and hunting grounds. The stage fare from North Anson to Dead River is $2.25, and from Dead River to Eustis, $1.25. SECOND ROUTE, VIA WATERVILLE AND SKOWHEGAN. Between Portland and Waterville one has choice of two routes, the two trains arriving at Waterville only five minutes apart. A through car runs from Portland to Skowhegan over both routes. AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 127 The train for Skowliegan leaves Waterville at 4.35 p.m., or on arrival of the morning trains from Boston, reaching Skowhegan, nineteen miles distant, at 5.15. Leaving the depot, the train runs parallel with the main line for a short time, and across it, to the right, we catch occasional pleasant glimpses of the Kennebec. We pass the large shops and manufac- tories of the Maine Central Railroad on our right, and shortly after, as the train sweeps to the left, get an unobstructed view to the right of the handsome iron bridge spanning the Kennebec, across which fly the trains to Bangor and farther east. As the train dashes along, we obtain some very pleasing and picturesque views of the river, a mass of foaming rapids on our right. For several miles we continue in sight of the main line on the opposite side of the river, not losing sight of it entirely until after we pass Fairfield. Just before reaching the depot we pass on the left the large framing establishment of the Kennebec Framing Company, and shortly after stop at the station of Fairfield on our left. On the opposite side of the river is Benton, and a highway bridge connects the two towns. There is a large island in the river opposite Fairfield, a part of the town, with quite a population. This is the southernmost town in Somerset County, and was incorporated in 1788. It is one of the most prosperous and thriving places in the Kennebec Valley. As the train starts slowly northward, you see a handsome wooden building surmounted by a tower, in which there is a large clock. This is the new opera-house, and is an honor to the town. The next noticeable feature on the right is the large pulp mills on the bank of the river, where a number of tons of pulp are manufactured each day. Shaking off the out- skirts of the town beyond the mills, the train increases its speed, and we get another view of the river, the stream being wider than below. A low wooded islet, long and narrow, rises a little above the surface of the water here. The banks on both sides of the river are about an equal height, the land sweeping up higher farther back from the water. A well-settled and prosperous farming country stretches away on both sides of the river to Skowhegan. The next station is Somerset Mills, a growing and energetic village. The larger mills are on our right, not far from the depot. As we rattle onward, along the west bank of the river, occasional curves give us many beautiful pictures. The banks vary from fifteen to fifty feet in height. At Pishon's Ferry, we stop a moment. This is a station in the midst of a large farming country. One of the old- 128 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE fashioned rope ferries, of which there are but few now left in !N'ew England, crosses the river here for the benefit of teams and pedestrians. A short distance beyond here we see another low island, apparently of no earthly use except to fret the river. As we continue northward the country rises fast, and we pass two more large flat islands ; some of the views where one obtains long vistas up the river, as the train sweeps around a curve, are particularly fine. Within a mile or two of the town you see the roofs and spires of its buildings, and nearer, on the left, the large brick shoe factory, a veritable hive of industry. Here the speed of the train is somewhat slackened before crossing the railroad bridge, which spans a deep gorge, and as we ride slowly across the bridge obtain beautiful views of the falls on our left, and of the mass of foaming rapids sweeping swiftly along the yawning chasm on our right. A few moments later, the train pulls up at the handsome new station which is centrally located near the business part of the town. An earlier train leaves Waterville in the morning, after the arrival of the Portland and Bangor train, reaching Skow- hegan at eleven o'clock. The night train from Boston connects with a mixed train leaving Waterville at 5.30 a.m., arriving at Skowhegan at seven o'clock, in season to connect with the up-river stage. Skowhegan is a beautiful and thriving town, and has a large lum- bering interest. There are many pleasant drives in the vicinity, and the falls on the Kennebec, above the bridge, are one of the principal attractions. The late ex-Governor Coburn was one of the wealthiest men in the place, and did much towards building it up. A small steam-launch runs on the river above the falls, making three trips a day, each way, between Skowhegan and Norridgewock, five miles. The town rejoices in a first-class hotel, the Hotel Heselton, but a stone' s-throw from the depot, containing one hundred nicely furnished rooms, besides billiard-room and dance hall. A well-supplied table, with the best the market affords, is one of the taking features of the establishment, and the proprietor, Mr. F. B. Heselton, has lately had the principal rooms handsomely frescoed and newly furnished. The house is heated by steam, and lighted with the incandescent electric lights. The managers of the hotel, Messrs. W. H. and E. C. Hesel- ton, spare no pains to make the visits of guests enjoyable. A large livery stable is connected with the house, and teams of any descrip- tion can be hired at reasonable prices. From Skowhegan to the Forks of the Kennebec, forty-six miles, AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 131 there is an excellent stage line operated by E. G. Coffin, who runs first-class stages each way, daily, excepting Sunday. He employs two excellent and careful drivers, Irving S. Young and G. B. Benson, who, besides being good whips, are very agreeable travelling companions. The stage leaves the Hotel Heselton at seven o'clock in the morn- ing, stopping for dinner at Bingham, and reaching the Forks at five o'clock. The road is good the entire distance. The first three miles is up hill, and by looking back you obtain a fine view of the village left behind. Once on top of the hill you will notice Madison Pond, or Hayden Lake as it is sometimes called, in the town of Madison, to the right, four miles from Skowhegan. This pond is a beautiful sheet of water, covering about two thousand acres, and is well stocked with several kinds of trout. Mr. G. B. Fairgrieve, of Skowhegan, also has a nice camp on this pond, at Fairgrieve Bay, and keeps row-boats, canoes, and sail-boats to let. There are plenty of bass, pickerel, and perch in this pond; and it always furnishes good sport to the fisherman. Visitors to Skowhegan will find a drive to the pond and back a pleasant way of spending a day. Passing through Madison, this pond is in sight for several miles. Between Madi- son and Solon you pass over Robbins Hill, ten miles from Skow- hegan, and from this sightly elevation you have one of the finest views to be obtained on the entire route. Mountain after mountain sweeps upward all about you, Moxie Mountain being prominent in the north. Fifteen miles from Skowhegan you reach Solon village, a charming little i)lace, and her^ you catch sight of the river, which you have not seen before since you started, for while you drove north, the river made a bend to the west. The stage stops a few moments at the Carratunk House, a large and comfortable hotel, kept by J. H. Gray. Falls Brook, a small, swift stream, runs through the centre of the village, and empties into the Kennebec. Carratunk Falls, half a mile from the hotel, are well worth seeing. There is good fishing in this vicinity, and the village is a pleasant place for people to pass a few weeks in summer. From here to the Forks the Kennebec is in sight all the way on your left, the road following it quite closely. In the early summer, when the logs are floating down stream, and tumbling over the rapids and falls, followed by the river- drivers, some in bateaux and others along the shore on foot, the pic- ture is lively and animated. From Solon to Bingham, eight miles, the scenery is very fine; and, indeed, it improves with each mile as you ascend the river. 132 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE Along tliis distance are some very good farms. Reaching Bingham, twenty-tliree miles from Skowliegan, the stage leaves you at the Stage House, the largest of the two hotels, where you procure a good dinner, for which you are well prepared after your morning's drive. This house is kept by Mr. A. F. Adams, a wide-aw^ake and attentive landlord, who will look carefully after your wants should you sojourn with him for a while. The Holbrook House is also a well-kept hotel, and offers good accommodations. There are good fishing and hunt- mg in this vicinity, and guides may be obtained at reasonable rates. The Austin Stream, flowing through this village to the Kennebec, is well stocked with trout. After dinner you leave Bingham, w^hich, by the way, is the termi- nus of the telegraph line, behind, and pursue your journey north- ward. Above Bingham the hills rapidly attain the dignity of moun- tains, and approach nearer to the river, leaving only a narrow valley. A chain of mountains runs from Bingham to the Forks, on either side of the river, and the stage rattles along their base, there being in many places barely room for the road between the river and mountains. The river in this vicinity is more crooked, and as the stage follows its curves, now through some piece of woods, and then across " dug-ways " on the very edge of the bank, beautiful changes in the landscape appear every moment. At some of these "dug-ways'' a wooden ram- part of logs had to be built on the side next the river, before the road, narrow as it is, could be constructed. An exhilarating feeling of ex- citement takes possession of you as you are swung around the first of these high curves, the horses on the gallop; but several repetitions lessen the novelty of the situation, and it finally becomes an old story. Four miles from Bingham village you pass Baker Mountain on tlie right. Here you will notice some holes in the side of the mountain, made by New York parties, who wasted time and money digging here for gold in 1852. It is said they took out some quartz that assayed forty dollars to the ton; and parties living in the vicinity claim that the mountain is rich in other minerals, if not in gold. Iron ore is plainly to be seen from the road. Eight miles from Bingham village you reach the Hunnewell place, in Moscow, a popular resort for sportsmen, a short distance from the road, in the midst of fine scenery. There is first-rate sporting in this vicinity, both with rod and gun, and the pi'oprietor of the house can furnish guides. He is also well acquainted with the country himself, AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 13S and occasionally takes a tramp with those who stop at his house. Gold has been found in a small stream that runs near the Carney place; and this part of the State may one day be as well known to miners as the Blue Hill district. Carney's Hotel, well known to sportsmen who have visited this section of the State, was burned in the fall of 1888, and has not yet been rebuilt. Pleasant Kidge Ponds, in Pleasant Ridge Township, Carrying Place Ponds, in Carrying Place Township, and Pleasant Pond, in Carratunk, all great fishing resorts, are only a few miles from the Hunnewell place. There are several camps at Carrying Place Ponds, in which Mr. G. B. Fairgrieve, of Skowhegan, is interested, and information in regard to them can be obtained from him. Mr. Albert French has a nice camp at Pleasant Pond, where sportsmen will find good accommodations. Spotted bi'ook-trout are plenty in all of these ponds. A short distance above the hotel site the driver will point out to you, on the oppo- site side of the river, a level plateau, where Arnold's army encamped during the wearisome march to Canada in the winter of 1775. One of his men died at this place, and was buried near the river, a simple stone marking the spot. From here Arnold went across to the Carry- ing Place Ponds, which he crossed to Dead River, camping there some time, and then proceeded up the north branch, through Chain Ponds, into Canada. Passing through Moscow^ the last incorporated town in this direc- tion, you reach the little village of Carratunk, crossing Pleasant Pond Stream, that empties into the Kennebec. This stream is the outlet of Pleasant Pond, one of the prettiest sheets of w^ater in Maine. The pond, where there is a small settlement, is three miles from the river, and is reached by a good road. It is nestled in among high mountains that nearly surround it. The bottom of the pond is covered W'itli white sand, and so clear and limpid is the water, that in some places, where it is eighty feet deep, you can see small pebbles as j^lainly as if they were in the bed of a shallow brook. The trout taken here are of a peculiar color, and very delicate flavor, and there are plenty of them. A road runs from the head of the pond to Mosquito Pond, four miles beyond. Mr. Liv. Webster keeps a house in Carratunk for the enter- tainment of sportsmen and tourists. From Carratunk to the Forks it is nine miles, the country growing wilder as you proceed. The greater part of the way the road is dug from the side of the mountain, and sometimes you have the towering pines on one side of you and the rushing river on the other, and both 134 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE so near that you can almost reach out with eitlier hand and touch them. In some places the road literally overhangs the river, and should anything happen to your team at such a point, you would be sure of a ducking, if nothing worse. But the entire distance from Skowhegan to the Forks the road-bed is good, and the scenery is delightful. Skilful drivers, replete with good stories, add to the pleas- ures of the drive; and when you are set down at the Forks Hotel, you will agree with me in saying that you have had the pleasantest ride you ever took in your life. You will also be agreeably surprised to find such a hotel as you see here, way up in the w^oods. The house was built in 1875 by the late ex-Governor Coburn, and Mr. J. H. Frain is the present proprietor. There are but few hotels in the State that will surpass it for size, comfort, and convenience. The rooms are large, and handsomely furnished, the parlor containing a nice piano. Water is carried to each of the three flats, and the house contains modern conveniences, unlooked for in such a place. The hotel stands on the bank of the East Branch (the main Kennebec), and in sight of the West Branch (Dead Kiver), and the rooms all command fine views. The two branches unite a short distance below the hotel; and a little way below the Forks our artist made the sketch an engraving of which graces the following page. This house has accommodations for one hundred guests, and it is almost useless to say that Mr. Frain's table is unexceptionable. During their season, fish and game are served on the table in abundance. The Forks are the centre of one of the greatest sporting regions of the State, and the scenery in the vicinity is charming. Mr. Frain can supply plenty of guides, at reasonable prices, who know the country thoroughly, and who can furnish you with good sport. Trout have been taken in the East Branch, but a few rods from the hotel, weighing as high as three pounds. MOXIE FALLS AND POND are the great attractions to strangers visiting the Forks : the first, on account of its beauty ; the second, for its excellent fishing. A ride or walk of three miles and you reach the falls, having a per- pendicular drop of ninety-five feet. Tliis is one of the grandest and highest cataracts in the State. The channel at the head of the falls is not over twenty feet wide, thus increasing the velocity of the water as it makes its final phinge over the ledges, to the boiling caldron beneath. The direct fall of the water has worn a deep hole in the AND NOKTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 137 rock below, and logs coming down the stream disappear from sight for several seconds after leaping the falls. By changing your position from point to point a great variety of views may be obtained. This is a splendid place to take trout at some seasons of the year. Moxie Stream, on which the falls are located, empties into the East Branch, a mile or so above the hotel. Moxie Pond, four miles above the falls, is about ten miles long and a mile wide, and is suriounded by a thick forest. On your way to it you pass another fall known as Rankin's Falls, about fifteen feet high. This pond is full of trout, and a fisherman was never known to leave it without fish if he tried to get them. At the dam at the outlet of the pond Frank Heald has a camp, and keeps a boat on the pond. The shores of the pond are wild and romantic, and offer many pretty spots for camping. A small stream, known as Baker Brook, empties into the head of the pond, and Mosquito, Alder, and Sandy Biooks,an the vicinity, furnish gootl fishing. Deer and caribou haunt the locality, and blueberries and cranberries are plenty about the shores of the pond. Two miles below the outlet there is a farm, where Tom Morris has a camp. From the Forks two roads run to the pond, one on each side of Moxie Stream. The one on the south side is the shortest, being only five miles. There are other streams and ponds in this vicinity, too numerous to mention, all furnishing good trout fisliing, whose location may be learned from the guides. From the Forks to Indian Pond is fifteen miles ; thence ten miles to Moosehead Lake. The best road is on the left bank of the Kennebec. On the return trip from the Forks the stage reaches Skowhegan in time to connect with the night train for Boston. Excursion tickets are now sold from Boston to the Forks and return for $13.00. From Portland and return, $10.00. A stage-line runs from the Forks to Hilton's, in Sandy Bay Town- ship, a distance of forty-five miles, where it connects with the Canada stage for St. Joseph, fifty-five miles beyond, where connection is made with the Quebec Central Railway for Point Levis, opposite Quebec. Between the Forks and Moose River village, the stage runs daily excepting Sunday, each way. Between Moose River village and Hilton's, in Sandy Bay, the stage runs three times a week, leaving Moose River village every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, return- ing on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. At seven in the morning the stage starts for Moose River, and, bid- 138 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE ding adieu to the Forks Hotel and its hospitable landlord, you resume your journey. Crossing the Kennebec, over a covered wooden bridge, the road follows the east bank of Dead Kiver for a mile, and then turns sharply to the right, while the river sweeps to the left. In the next ten miles the road rises over eleven hundred feet : but the ascent is gradual, there being but few steep pitches. The land is rough and poor, and is better adapted to the lumberman than farmer. Occa- sionally you obtain good views of distant mountains, but the woods are so thick for several miles that you do not obtain many extended views. This ride through the woods is delightful ; you see some excellent timber along the road, and cross several small streams. Five miles from the Forks you pass a small hotel, kept by Pat Murphy, wiio has built a good buckboard road into Spencer Ponds, a distance of seven miles, and he has boats and canoes on the pond to let. Just beyond this house the road enters a forest that continues unbroken for the next ten miles, and in this distance you do not see a house. Although the land is rising all the time, the road runs up hill and down. Reaching the top of Johnson Mountain you obtain a splendid view of Bald Mountain higher up on the left. As you near the limit of the woods you will notice an immense bowlder on the right side of the road, weighing many tons. It has been split in two, probably by the action of the frost, leaving a gap about five feet wide. It is said that a number of years ago a man in Canada stole several hundred dollars in gold, and fled to Maine with it. Fearing detection, on his way through these woods he hid the money beneath this rock, intending to return when the excitement had passed, and recover it. In the mean time he was taken ill ; and on his death-bed told the story of his guilt, and gave the location of the stolen money. Whether this story is true, or false, it is evident that some one has believed it, as the earth has been dug over all around the rock ; but I believe the hidden treasure has never yet been discovered. Emerging from the woods, you catch sight of Parlin Pond, sixteen hundred and ten feet above tide-water. It is three miles long and about a mile wide, and is charmingly located, being surrounded by high mountains. It furnishes fine trout fishing. As you reach the pond you will notice a little patch of cleared land on the left side of the road. An old man, seventy years of age, formerly resided here summers, spending his winters at Moose River. He was accidentally drowned in the pond a few years ago, while fishing, by falling out of a canoe. AND KOliTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 141 Midway of the pond, on the left of the road, is a farm, formerly owned by A. F. Adams. This property has been bought by Mr. N. II. Murphy, one of the most enterprising men in this vicinity, who has built a new hotel on the site of the old house, and fitted it up in good shape, for the entertainment of sportsmen and tourists, and here you take dinner. This is one of the prettiest places I have ever seen. The location of the house is admirable, and from the piazza you obtain a wide-spread view, for many miles, of mountain and forest. The most prominent peaks in the vicinity are Bean Moun- tain and Hurricane Mountain ; the summit of the latter honored by a fine trout pond. From the house to this pond is only six miles. Directly in front, but a few rods from the hotel, is the beautiful lakelet before spoken of. Mr. Murphy thinks of putting a small ^team-launch on the pond for the use of fishermen and tourists who stop with him. A road runs from the dam, at the foot of Pari in Pond, down to Long Stream, then up to Long Pond. There is first-rate trout fishing at the dam at Parlin Pond, also at Long Pond. From the hotel to Long Pond is only six miles, with a good road or path all the way. Besides the bodies of water mentioned, there are other ponds and streams in this vicinity, well stocked with trout, that are known to Mr. Murphy. There is also good shooting here in the fall. Guides may be hired for $1.50 per day. The Parlin Pond House is well kept by X. H. Murphy, the present proprietor; the rooms being neat and pleasant, and the table well supplied. There are a bowling-alley and croquet-ground near the house; also a livery stable, supplied with horses and vehicles. Mr. Murphy keeps boats and canoes on Parlin Pond, and will carry you back and forth in a team, if you do not wish to walk, without any charge; or if you want to fish up Moose River he will send you up on liis team, boat and all. He is one of the most pleasant and obliging landlords I have ever met. The post-office at Parlin Pond is in the hotel, thus making it very convenient for those stopping at the house. Leaving the Parlin Pond House after dinner, the stage conveys you to Moose River, in Holden Plantation, fifteen miles distant. Beyond the hotel the land rises, and a four-miles' ride brings you to the top of a lofty eminence in Jackman-town, known as Lookout Hill, twenty miles from the Forks. This hill is one of the prettiest and most sightly places on the road, and the landscape pictures offered 142 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE here are very inviting. From this point tlie road for several miles is up hill and down, and then crosses a mountain known as Owl's Head. Most of the distance is through the woods. Climbing another hill, you leave the forest behind, and, as you descend this last hill, have a fine view of Moose River Yalley and the village, also the long range of mountains, fifteen miles away, that divide Maine from Canada. The land at Moose River is better than any you have seen since leav- ing Carratunk, and the farmers raise good crops. You arrive at Moose River about three o'clock, and the stage leaves you at the Colby House, kept by Mrs. Nancy Colby, — a comfortable little hotel, standing close to the river, on the north bank; or you can stop at the new hotel in the village, the Newton House, kept by David C. Pierce. The station of Jackman on the Canadian Pacific Railway is only a mile and a half from Moose River village. If you wish to go beyond Moose River keep your seat while the stage continues on to Sandy Bay Township, fifteen miles distant, where you arrive at about six o'clock. Here you stop over night at a good hotel owned by A. F. Adams, and kept by Mr. Hilton. The Canada stage leaves Sandy Bay for St. Joseph, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, connect- ing with the Quebec Central Railway for Quebec the following morn- ing; returning, leaves St. Joseph, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings. The fare is $2.50 each way. From Hilton's, Sandy Bay, to St. George, Canada, is thirty-two miles. Stage fare, $1.50. At St. George is a good hotel, kept by Michael Mchail, located near the gold mines. At this house you take dinner. From St. George to St. Joseph is twenty-three miles. Stage fare, $1.00. Stop over night and take the cars of the Quebec Central Railway the following morning for Point Levi, opposite Quebec. Distance, forty-five miles; time, about three hours; fare, $1.25. The stage fare from the Forks to Parlin Pond is $1.25; to Moose River, $2.00; to Hilton's, Sandy Bay, $2.50. This road from Skow- hegan is the regular travelled highway from Maine to Canada, and is in good condition the entire distance to St. Joseph. This is a delight- ful trip in summer, and you can make the tour to Quebec this way, returning by the Grand Trunk Railway, in five or six days. MOOSE RIVER VILLAGE contains, besides the two hotels mentioned, two stores, thirty or forty- houses, post-office, and custom-house, the latter being in the Colby House. Guides, canoes, and provisions for camping out may be AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 143 obtained at either of llie hotels. This village is the centre of a large and wide-spread hunting and fishing region, and it is a very desirable location for the headquarters of any sportsman with two or three weeks to spare. As our route lies down the river, I will first give you an idea of the country above. Leaving the bridge, you paddle up Moose River for fifty rods, when you reach Wood l^ond, five miles long. Turning to the left you follow its eastern shore four miles to the head of the pond, and again enter the river, and in a few seconds pass under the railroad bridge. The inlet is a fine place for trout fishing in May and June, and some trout have been taken here weighing five and six pounds each. About a hundred rods above the head of the pond you come to the last house on the east side of the river, owned by Pat McKenney, w^ho has a farm here of two hundred acres. One can obtain meals and lodging here if he wishes, also supplies. McKenney also keeps boats and canoes to let, and will furnish you with a guide if you require one. Little Wood and Big Little Wood Ponds lie west of Wood Pond, and are reached by a mile and a half carry from Wood Pond to Little Wood. Crossing Little Wood, you paddle up Wood Stream, a mile and a half, to Big Little Wood, two miles and a half long and a mile wide. A road runs from the head of this pond, near the shore, for half its length, then swings away to the village, and one can visit it on foot if preferable. There is good fishing in all these ponds, trout being plenty. From the head of Wood Pond you paddle a mile up the river, reaching Attean Pond, about six miles long. This is a beautiful sheet of water, surrounded by bold and irregular rocky shores, under the shadows of grand old mountains, heavily timbered, but seared and furrowed by slides. Much of the rock that skirts the shore is sand-stone, and this has been carved into many odd shapes by the action of the waves, and forms an interesting study for the curious. A number of pretty islands, mostly covered with pine, dot the surface of the pond, and greatly enhance its beauty. From its western end a good carry a mile and a quarter long runs to Holeb Pond. Making this carry saves twenty-eight miles of up-river work around the "bow." Crossing this pond, three miles long, you run down its outlet, Holeb Stream, one mile to Moose River; or, if there is not water enough in the stream for a canoe, which is sometimes the case, carry across. Leaving Attean Pond, a paddle of a mile up river brings us to 144 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE Attean Rips. There is good fishing in these rips, particularly in the large pool at the foot of the lower falls. There is also good partridge- shooting on the tote-road along the river in the proper season. Attean Falls consist of two pitches, the upper and lower falls, with ahout one hundred rods of dead water between them. There are two carries; the lower one not more than fifteen or tw^enty rods long, and compara- tively smooth, but the upper one is rough and difficult, and four times as long. Both are on the left bank of the river. The best fish- ing in the spring and summer is at the foot of the falls and on the rapids; but in September is found at the head of the upper falls, in the smooth, rapid water just before it breaks over the ledge. Trout running from half a pound to two pounds are very plenty here. Four miles above we pass the "Three Streams," where there is good fishing. It is also an excellent place in the fall for duck shoot- ing. There is a clearing here known as Bradstreet's farm. Paddling up river a mile or two more, with dense forests on both sides, brings us to Spencer Rips, a single pitch of about ten feet over a pile of rocks. The Rips can be run at high water, but if the water is low, the fact that the carry is short is some consolation. Five miles more bring us to Holeb Falls. The landing is on the west side of Echo Basin, four or five rods from the lower pitch or rapids. Passing up the rapids some fifteen rods in a northerly direction the Holeb Pool is reached ; here the river takes a course at right angles towards the east. Going up the rapids some fifteen rods farther, we reach the foot of the main falls, above which the river again runs north. There is no better place in the Moose River region for a camping party to make their headquarters than Holeb Falls. There is a good dry camp-ground, plenty of wood, and excellent water. Fish and small game are very plenty, and larger game can easily be found by those who understand the science of hunting. The scenery too in this locality is very fine, and the country an almost unbroken wilder- ness. Holeb Falls is one of the most picturesque torrents in Maine, and pours down over an almost perpendicular ledge some seventy-five feet, with the ragged summits of Holeb Mountain high in air for a background. At the foot of the last pitch of Holeb is a large basin of water, circular in form, whose diameter is more than three times the width of the river. A large granite promontory hides the main falls from the basin and obscures the roar. This is remarkable for its echo. The best place to get it distinctly is a little way from the landing facing the mountain. Here one can stand and talk to the " Spirit of the Hill," AND NOKTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 147 receiving back his own words until tired of hearing them. There are two carries around these falls ; one quite short, the other half a mile long, quite steep, and strewn with immense granite bowlders, dating back undoubtedly to the glacial period. The tote-road that runs past the landing leaves Parlin Pond, and continues up river to the North Branch. Above Holeb Falls, on the left is the last settled clearing going up. Jim Hall is the i)resent tenant. From this point to the foot of Lowell Falls, the stream is navigable most of the way, although the setting pole will often be of more use than the paddle. For a few miles above the falls sunken granite bowlders make the navigation somewhat dangerous, and extremely hard on canoes. Two miles above Holeb Falls we reach Barrett Brook, and three more take us to the mouth of Holeb Stream, before spoken of. Above here Big Gulf Stream and Little Gulf Stream, both on the right, empty into the river before reaching Lowell Falls, which are about a mile above the latter. Below and in close proximity to the falls is a large hay farm. Above Lowell Falls is Bog Brook, near the mouth of which is another hay farm, and now with one jump we return to Moose Eiver village. Leaving the comfortable hotel at Moose River bridge, which is about a mile and a half from the railroad station, you paddle down the river for six miles, when you reach Long Pond. The river is deep, and there is not much of a current. The banks are low, and most of the land on either side has been cleared and cultivated, still you get many pleasant views as you round the curves of the river. As you paddle out on the pond you will notice two farms on the left shore, that, like almost everything else in this country, formerly be- longed to the Coburns. Redman lives on the first, and Demo on the second. Moving down the lake, you catch glimpses of wooded moun- tains in the south. The shores of the lake are pretty, W'ooded most of the distance, and offer many inducements to campers. Long Pond is nine miles long, and from one-fourth of a mile to tw^o miles wide, and contains several islands. It is irregular in shape, and the narrows almost cut it in two. On your way down you pass the Upper Churchill Stream, about two miles from Moose River (inlet), and the Lower Churchill some three miles before reaching the outlet. These streams empty into the pond on the northern shore. Parlin Stream, the outlet of Parlin Pond, empties into Long Pond on the south side, about opposite the Lower Churchill. There is good fishing on all these streams and in 148 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE the pond. In the fall of 1879, a large dam was built at the outlet of Long Pond, raising the water several feet. The pond narrows up at the lower end, and the banks are high. Several small islands add materially to the beauty of the picture looking up the pond. There is good fishing at the outlet, the trout being very nice in flavor, and some of them running up to several pounds in weight. The Canadian Pacific (International Railway of Maine) follows closely the southern shore of this pond nearly its entire length, and there is a station called ''Long Pond," in sight from the pond. The road also follows the river down as far as Little Brassau, and there swings off to the south- east toward Moosehead Lake. There is another station at Misery Stream, called " Askvvitli," about a mile and a half from Brassau Lake. From the dam down to Little Brassau is six miles, the stream being navigable for canoes. You will have to carry by the Rolling Dam, just below Coburn's hay farm, and probably around Stony Brook Rapids, about a hundred rods long, or perhaps it might be easier for you to drop the canoe over them. A good tote-road runs from the outlet of Long Pond, down the left bank of the river, to Little Brassau Pond, and about a mile beyond. There are one or two wet places on it, but the most of the distance it is dry walking. A good lumberman's camp near the Rolling Dam olfers a chance to stop over a day or two if you desire. A small camp at the head of Little Brassau offers shelter for the night if you wish it. There is good duck shooting around this sheet of w^ater in the fall. Continuing on from Little Brassau Pond, a bulge in the river, you passed on the left, a mile below, the mouth of Tom Fletcher Brook, a good fishing-ground, its name commemorat- ing that of a trapper who w^as drowned in the rapids above, and who was buried near the mouth of the brook. It is also a favorite camp- ing-ground for those not afraid of ghosts. Two miles more bring you into Brassau Lake, on the western side, about midway of its length. It is good water from the pond to the lake. Brassau Stream, empty- ing into the head of the lake, and Misery Stream, at the foot, are both good trout streams. At the foot of the lake is a long sand beach known as *' Misery Sands." This lake is a good place for ducks. From Moose River you turn to the right, and cross the lake in a southeasterly direction, and four miles beyond you reach the outlet, near an old hay farm, about a mile from the foot of the lake. For a mile or two below on the falls you are always sure of good fishing, trout running from half a pound to two pounds, and of course occa- sionally a larger one. From the lake to Gertrude Island, a distance AND NOKTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 151 of about three miles, you will find a strong current, and some pretty lively water, there being rapids about all the way. Sam's Pitch and the Dam are the worst places, and unless you have a guide, or are an experienced canoe-man, you will find it safer and more pleasant to let your canoe down with a rope while you scramble along the rocks. You have good water from the island to the lake, a distance of two miles. As you leave Moose River you will find shoal water, and you should keep well over to the right, then cross the lake direct, landing near three pines, or follow around the point to the little cove, where, much nearer to the house, is the steamboat wiiarf and regular land- ing. From the outlet to the Mount Kineo House is two miles, the hotel being in sight from the mouth of the river. One of the finest views of the mountain is also obtained from here. If you reach the lake at night or in a fog, steer a due east course, and you will come out all right. An old tote-road runs the entire distance from Brassau Lake to Moosehead. It follows the north bank of the river, beginning near the outlet of Brassau, and coming out on Coburn's hay farm opposite Mount Kineo. The distance over this route from Skowhegan to the Mount Kineo House is one hundred and nine miles, and from Moose River village thirty-three. This is by far the prettiest way of reaching the Mount Kineo House, although it takes longer than by the all-rail and steamboat routes. There is no difficulty at all in ladies going over this route, several having made the trip already, who were delighted with it. Although there are seventy-five miles of staging, it is over one of the best and most picturesque roads in New England, and there is more of interest to be seen on the way than by any other route, while a side trip to the ponds and falls above Moose River bridge offers fine fishing and shooting in the proper season, and always beautiful and impressive scenery. The trip from Boston to Mount Kineo, via the Forks of the Kennebec and Moose River, can be made in three days, or you can be as much longer as interest or pleasure suggests. The time is not far distant when this will be one of the most popular routes to the Mount Kineo House and Moosehead Lake. If the Somerset Railroad is extended to Bingham this summer, which at this time seems certain, parties would change cars at Oakland, reaching Bingham the same night, and, stop- ping there instead of Skowhegan, save twenty-three miles of the staging, enabling them to reach Moose River village easy the next day. \ CHAPTEE IX. FROM KINEO TO THE HEAD OF THE LAKE. TEAMER ^^Gov. Coburii," Capt. Charles Robinson, makes regular trips from Greenville to the head of the lake, touching at Kineo every Tuesday and Friday. Charlie has run on the steamers from boyhood up, and is perfectly familiar with the lake and its surroundings. Pleasant, agreeable, and efficient, it is a pleasure to sail with him. A small steamer also makes daily trips from Mount Kineo to the head of the lake. Leaving the steamboat wharf near the hotel, we round the point, and, studying the frowning peaks of Old Kineo, as we sail along, suddenly discover a face in profile, on the edge of the middle cliff, at once grand and impressive. There it stands, as it has stood for ages, outlined sharp against the sky, bold and defiant, overlooking with calm dignity the intrusion of civilization upon its wild retreat. This Old Man of the Mountain is fully equal to that of Franconia or Dix- ville Xotch, and is one of the greatest curiosities that Kineo possesses. The right location from wiiich to see it is about half-way between the point of the peninsula on which the hotel stands, and the little beach where you land to ascend the mountain. To our left on the western shore are two clearings, where two men, by the names of Caldor and Thompson, are redeeming farms from the wilderness. Moose River empties into the lake about opposite Mount Kineo, two miles from the hotel. Just above the river is the Coburn hay farm. On our right, Westerly Point and Kineo Farm are noticed, and passing Hard Scrab- ble, a ledge of rock on the Avestern shore of Kineo, we enter North Bay, which stretches away beyond us for a distance of nearly twenty miles, until apparently lost in the forest. So flat is the land at the North-east Carry, that from this distance the trees appear to rise directly from the water. A nearer approach dispels the illusion. 152 AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 155 Farm Island, on our left, comprises about twelve hundred acres of "wild woodland, and is owned by John Eveletli of Greenville. Baker Brook, four miles, and Tomhegan Stream, six miles, fiom Kineo, empty into the lake on the western side. There is good fishing at the mouth of Tomhegan Stream, and at several places above. It is navigable for several miles by carrying around short stretches of rapids. On our right, five miles above Kineo, is a clearing known as the Shaw Farm. In this vicinity, also, you will notice a mountain to the east called Kineo Junior. As we get higher up the lake its re- semblance to Old Kineo is very striking. Steaming on, the boat passes Socatean Stream, which empties into a large bay, on our left, eight miles from Kineo. A short distance above, Socatean Point makes into the lake, and a couple of miles beyond Moose Brook enters the lake. Centre Island is passed on our left, and off on the eastern side of the lake are Big and Little Duck Coves. There is good fishing in both these coves, at the mouths of the streams that empty into them. About half-way between Mount Kineo and the head of the lake we obtain a fine view of the Spencer Mountains, one of the prominent landmarks to the eastward, the nearest peak presenting an almost perpendicular w^all of barren rock. North of the Spencers are Lobster and Duck Cove Mountains. Bald Mountain is conspicuous in the west, and attains a height of nearly four thousand feet. Above Moose Brook the shore makes a curve, forming W Point, and near this is W Farm. Beyond here an arm of the lake extends some distance into the wilderness, and at the head of it is the North- west Carry. Marsh Lane, an old guide and lumberman, and a well- known character around Moosehead Lake, lived here for many years. Marsh is dead — peace to his ashes! — and near where his cabin used to stand Mr. Joseph Morris, formerly at the North-east Carry, has built a comfortable two-story house, wiiere good entertainment is offered to sportsmen, and also keeps a team to haul canoes and sup- plies across the carry, which is a mile and a half long. Carry Brook empties into the lake near Morris's, and parties going up the West Branch usually paddle up the brook a distance of three miles, where they make a landing, and only have a few rods to carry before striking the Penobscot. Williams Stream enters the lake just above W Farm. Hildreth's camp is near the mouth of this stream. In coming out from the North-west Carry, Mount Kineo looms up to the southeast, while Kineo Junior is directly before us, and one cannot help noticing the similarity of appearance between the 156 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE two. On the back side Kineo Junior overhangs the land just as its prototype does the water. Continuing on our course we notice an island near the moutli of the North-west Arm, of considerable size, that has never been named. We can now discern the sand beach at the head of the lake, and the long pier running out for several hun- dred yards into the water, where the steamer stops. A few moments more and we arrive at the North-east Carry, where steamboat navi- gation ceases. Parties going down the West Branch stop here, and cross the Carry, which is two miles and forty rods long. The road is quite level, rising gradually from each end toward the middle. Mrs. Simeon Savage has a house here for the accommodation of spGu:*tsmen, and keeps a team to haul baggage and stores across to the river, as does also Mr. George C. Luce, who has bought the Morris farm. The charge for hauling a canoe across is $1.50. Years ago there used to be an ox-railroad on this carry, built by Major Strickland, a prominent lumber operator of Bangor. Although partially destroyed by fire, traces of it are still visible, and in some places the rails and cross-ties still remain as originally laid down. A friend of the author, who visited Moosehead when this railroad was in operation, and to whom we are indebted for our engraving, thus speaks of it: — We arrived at the head of the lake at twelve o'clock, noon, having run twenty miles, nearly, in a straight line with a free wind. The water around the north shore is very shallow, and the bottom is sandy. Here is an old pier built five hundred feet out into the lake, to accom- modate the steamer in landing stores for the lumbermen. On the top of this pier is a wooden railroad, built of logs, the top and outside being hewn to guide the wheels. This road is two miles in length, and has its other terminus at the west branch of the Penobscot River, where there is a shanty which is a depot of supplies for the lumber- men, who go into the woods in the fall. The proprietor of this estab- lishment has a primitive sort of a car, with wooden wheels, with which he conveys freight and passengers, if they are not in a hurry. Tlie motive-power upon this road consists of a single ox, or, as the con- ductor and engineer say, ' bullgine,' who travels upon a flooring laid of poles upon the cross-ties between the rails. The 'bullgine' is attached to the car by means of a yoke and two poles serving as shafts, with hooks at their ends. The style of the depot at this end of the road will be understood by the sketch. A small part of the roof is AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 159 covered with hemlock bark, and the rest is open for ventilation, I suppose. The proportions and style of architecture are carefully pre- served in the picture.'' Theodore Winthrop, who years ago made a trip down the West Branch while this railroad was in operation, thus discourses of it in his interesting way: — The steamboat dumped us and our canoe on a wharf at the lake- head about four o'clock. A wharf promised a settlement, which, however, did not exist. There was population, — one man and one great ox. Following the inland-pointing nose of the ox, we saw, pene- trating the forest, a wooden railroad. Ox-locomotive, and no other, befitted such rails. The train was one great go-cart. We packed our traps upon it, roofed them with our birch, and, without much ceremony of whistling, moved on. As we started so did the steamer. The link between us and the inhabited world grew more and more attenuated. Finally it snapped, and we were in the actual wilderness. am sorry to chronicle that Iglesias hereupon turned to the ox, and said impatiently: — *''Now, then, bullgine!' Why a railroad, even a wooden one, here ? For this: the Penob- scot, at this point, approaches within two and a half miles of Moose- head Lake, and over this portage supplies are taken conveniently for the lumbermen of an extensive lumbering country above, along the river. Corduroy railroad, ox-locomotive, and go-cart train up in the pine woods were a novelty and a privilege. Our cloven-hoofed engine did not whir turbulently along like a thing of wheels. Slow and sure must the knock-kneed chewer of cuds step from log to log. Creak- ingly the train followsd him, pausing and starting, and pausing again with groans of inertia. A very fat ox was this, protesting every mo- ment against his employment, where speed, his duty, and sloth, his nature, kept him bewildered by their rival injunctions. "Whenever the engine driver stopped to pick a huckleberry, the train, self-braking, stopped also, and the engine took in fuel from the tall grass that grew between the sleepers. It was the sensation of sloth at its uttermost. Iglesias and I, meanwhile, marched along and shot the game of the country, namely, one Tetrao Canadensis, one spruce-partridge, making in all one bird, quite too pretty to shoot, with its red and black plumage. The spruce-partridge is rather rare in inhabited Maine, and is malignantly accused of being bitter in flesh, and of feeding on spruce- 160 GUIDE TO ]MOOSEHEAD LAKE buds to make itself distasteful. Our bird we found sweetly berry-fed. The bitterness, if any, was that we had not a brace. So, at last, in an hour, after shooting one bird and swallowing six million berries, — for the railroad was a shaft into a mine of them, — we came to the terminus. The chewer of cuds was disconnected, and INDIAN CAMP AT NOllTH-EAST CAIUIY. plodded off to his stable. The go-cart slid down an inclined plain to the river, the Penobscot. We paid quite freely for our brief monopoly of the railroad to the superintendent, engineer, stoker, poker, switch-tender, brakeman, baggage-master, and every other official in one. But who would grudge his tribute to the enterprise that opened this narrow vista through toward the Hyperboreans, and planted these not once crum- bling sleepers, and not once rickety rails, to save the passenger a AND NORTH MAINE WILDEKNESS. 161 portage ? Here, at Bullgineville, the pluralist railroad manager bad his cabin and clearing, ox engine-house, and \vareliouse. "To balance these symbols of advance, we found a station of the rear-guard of another army. An Indian party of two was encamped on the bank. The fusty sagamore of this pair was lying wounded; his fusty squaw tended him tenderly, minding meanwhile a very witch- like caldron of savory fume. No skirmish with actual war-whoop and sheen of real scalping-knife had put this prostrate chieftain hors de combat. He had shot himself cruelly by accident. So he informed us feebly, in a muddy, guttural i^atois of Canadian French. This aboriginal meeting was of great value; it helped to eliminate the railroad." On one of our trips across the North-east Carry we came across an Indian camp, whose members were at the lake for the purpose of sell- ing baskets and canoes of their own manufacture. The leader of the party showed me a picture of their camp, which had been made for him by a photographer several days before, and when I told him that I would take one of the pictures home and have it published in a book, he seemed highly pleased. CHAPTEE X. CAMPING OUT. EOPLE who do not object to roughing it a little, and who w^ould like to see the real inside, as it were, of woods life, should obtain a guide and the necessary outfit, and visit some of the lakes beyond Moosehead, indulging in a couple of weeks' camping. A person who has tried it thus gives his experience: The scene from camp that night was beautiful. The wooded western slope of Kineo stood out in wonderful strength and color. The mottled sky reflected the sunlight upon the distant foliage with ex- quisite softness. The lake was smooth like a mirror, and the islands seemed like enchanted land. The fish leaped from the water as if to express their delight. The ripples glistened in the lessening light, and the shifting clouds every moment changed shape and color. The distant mountains took the departing rays with a kind of grand repose. The semi-human cry of the loons broke the universal stillness and solitude of the hour. It seemed a time when Nature and God could most fitly hold communion together. The scene w^as changed with the dawn of another day. Long before sunrise I looked out upon the lake and sky. The artist had preceded me, and rose at two o'clock to watch the auroral display. The coming on of day was an event by itself. Dark and stern, the distant hills were outlined against the reddening sky. The rising mist just touched the tranquil lake, and the chill of morning was visible in your breath. Not a leaf stirred; not a sound came from the forest. Nature was in silent prayer to her Maker. The delightfulness of the scene grew every moment. Dark recesses were visible on the wooded hill-sides, AND NORTH MAESTE WILDERNESS. 163 and the foliage showed light and shade. The forest seemed to be waking up. The fish again leaped fr«>m the surface of the lake. Shoots of light started out from the mountain's edge. The changes were quicker and brighter. The magician's hand was visibly shifting the scene. The mountains glowed with golden light. The ruddy beams shot across to the western hills, and peak answered greet- ing to peak. The great orb of day lifted up his disk above the moun- tain's edge, and poured his glory into the darkness across the lake and into the forest, until the water itself became the mirror of the day, and the darkness fled in silent retreat through the forest. One could not help thinking of those words which expressed this glory under other scenes in the beginning of the world: * And the evening and the morning were the first day.' *'The forest itself has a charm which grows upon you. Here are the grand old primitive forests of New England; but if you think to see sentinels which have been standing for many centuries, and which seem to have come down from an ancient and honorable past, you will be disappointed. The lumberman's axe has searched out the largest and best trees, far inland from every stream and pond, through the entire Maine forest, and the big trees of other days are now as rare as the moose which once stood proudly beside them. In places- where you would like to feel that no one has been before you, you will presently find some mark that man has preceded you and cut down a tree, or killed a moose, or made a camp. There is an impression, too, that trees simply grow old and do not die, and many expect to find them vigorous in a green old age. This is a mistake. You cannot go a rod into the forest from the edge of the lake, in any place but the very few clearings, without treading upon the moss-buried shapes of venerable spruce and pines, or climbing over the huge forms which are waiting the gentle process of decay; and the very soil beneath your feet is the departed life of fallen trees. It is a strange, unusual feeling to thus walk amidst life and death through the forest. It is like life, only you don't see a grave at every step, or find life so often locked hand in hand with death. The silence, the solitude, the sense of your own individual existence, come over you wonderfully; you grow conscious almost of your own shadow. The birds which in our common woods fly from branch to branch and make the trees vocal with their songs do not penetrate these wilds. You may see a heron or an eagle, the woodpecker, the kingfisher, and the hawk, but the 161 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE domestic birds all prefer to keep closer to the habitation of man. The few voices which you hear are foreign, and communicate insen- sibly the feeling of wildness and isolation which, hour by hour, in a recess of the forest a mile from shore, grows to be almost painful. To spend a few days here alone seems like living a month. The ac- companiments of life are removed, and selfishness, ambition, and care have here no place ; a man is most truly thrown upon his own re- sources. To be alone with nature, without book, without w^ork, without care, without the slightest hindrance to wandering at your own sweet will, with a heart which beats ' true to the kindred points of heaven and home,' and to be for this purpose in the very heart of the Moosehead forests, is more than all the trout fishing, and almost the rival of the matchless views which meet the eye. These experiences in their fulness can only be obtained by camp- ing out. Pitching your tent in the wilderness is the favorite way of spending vacation among younger men; and anywhere from fifty to a hundred persons may be found any day from July to October encamped here and there around this magnificent lake. They come in parties of four and six and eight, bringing their equipments and boarding them- selves, as often encamping without guides as with them. The fun of these outdoor experiences is innnense. The cooking is of a rare sort: pork and potatoes and hard-tack, and fish if you can catch them. If the appetite were not sharpened by exercise in the fi-esh, clear air, nothing would be eaten, the cooking by men, unless they are profes- sionals, being anything but congenial to the stomach; yet the zest of the thing, the attempt to take care of one's self, the hearty effort at good-nature, which alone can keep such a company in good spirits, overcome everything, and the ndsine is made the best of. " It takes a good guide to give camping-out a genuine flavor. You can pitch a canvas tent without trouble, but the backwoodsman makes his tent for the place where he stops, and cuts his garment according to the cloth. Our party of six — an artist, a doctor, an ex-minister, two boys and a priest — engaged one of the oldest and most charac- teristic guides for our camping-out. The splendid steamer ' Govern- or Coburn,' on her trip to the lake, left us at the North-west Carry, in the midst of a shower, to take care of ourselves. We could stay at Marsh Lane's cabin, which offered fair accommodations, or camp out. We chose the woods. The guide. Skipper Sam, had pitched his tent and made his bed with the wild beasts often before. He and his stout wife, in the early part of their fifty years' sojourn at the lake, OAMP AT HEAD OF LAKE. AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 167 had made extensive journeys through Northern Maine in search of gold, and knew all about the woods. The skipper chose the Gothic form of architecture in the construction of our camp, and began the tent, as Agassiz used to draw pictures of fishes, from an existing ideal in his own mind. Three forked sticks were speedily driven into the ground, and a pole was laid in the forks : this was the upper edge. The bateau sail covered one side; the bark of hemlock trees, peeled off in large sheets and lapped, sheathed the other; the ends were left open for ventilation; spruce and fir boughs were arranged on the ground for our bed ; bark was stretched across the ridge-pole to keep out the impending rain; a big fire was made outside; our kettles and pans and accoutrements were hung up on the broken limbs of the nearest trees; and, as darkness walled us in, our humble home, in cheerfulness, in simplicity, in adaptation of means to ends, was very like a Scotch kitchen. *' Supper that night was not a distinguished meal. We roasted a few trout, holding them by wooden spits over the fire, and hard- tack and tea completed the humble fare. It w^as served on a big log, the party sitting around on stumps and rocks, hungiy and thank- ful. The lake was at once well and wash-basin. The skipper cleansed his dishes with Indian's soap — rubbing them in the sand. The first night of camping-out is like the day of one's marriage : you are on your best behavior. The only light was the camp-fire. A quiet smoke, a few yarns, a good toasting of one's several sides as one shifted from one seat to another, and we turned in for the night. The artist, true to his instinct, had camped out on the Saranac lakes for his wedding- tour, and turned in with a familiar air, as if it were pleasure. It was my lot to lie next to the wilderness ; my pillow was a bag of potatoes. Rolling myself up in an army blanket, I lay down to sleep ; but sleep fled before anxious fears. What if a bear should come down from yonder mountain, and just bite my leg off for his supper ? What if some of the lesser fry should try their hand on me — squirrels search my pockets, wood-mice crawl into my boots and vary my slumbers with a new sensation ? There is a time when every man is a coward, and my time had come. Like many a coward, however, I said noth- ing, and soon lost myself in sleep. Slumber is sweet out in these pine and spruce forests. The aroma of the trees fills the air ; the silence is profound ; the wild game is harmless ; the security is com- plete ; and nothing but a man's own sins need keep him awake. And just here is the tonic of the woods. Your life is completely changed ; 168 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE your thoughts are taken up with things about you ; your observing faculties are exercised within a small but fresh range ; you have to learn, if the lesson is new, to be a good fellow ; and so camping-out becomes a quick test of character, no less than a wonderful renewing power for a worn-out man. It was a study to see how each man in the party took to his own special liking. The boys were fast for hunting, and brought in hawks, partridges, and squirrels. The artist had a general disposition to enjoy himself, and didn't fish, didn't hunt, didn't tell stories ; but he was thoroughly genial, and we all liked him. The doctor talked ^ shop ' a little, and theology more, and told stories, and developed a character of growing interest each day. The ex-minister had a solemn way about him which was very impressive. He was great with the rod, and supplied the table with trout. The priest had a passion for paddling a canoe, for entering into various experiences, and for finding out everything. He could tell stories, but didn't fish or shoot ; was, in fact, resting from his parish cares, and glad to be much alone. He and the artist took rambles into the thicket, and had much in common. Skipper Sam, a genuine character, made great fun. Clad in homespun, the stub of a pipe in his mouth, his ancient felt hat half concealing his hair, now sprinkled with gray, his eyes under the grim brows twink- ling with humor, he liked nothing better than to sit by the hour together, taking a puff from his pipe, and spitting at the fire, amidst his wonderful yarns. You could set him a-going as you do a clock, and he was always ready for a little bigger story than the one last told. ^* The climax of our camping-out was reached one evening at Marsh Lane's. We had broken camp and gone over to old Marsh's to spend the night, taking our supper at his cabin. The night was clear, and the stars shone brightly. Marsh's log cabin is the rudest possi- ble specimen of the backwoods hotel, and, being at the Carry which strikes the old Canada road, and the last house before you reach the northwest boundary line of the State, takes the men who come and go both ways. Captain Smart, of the West Branch drive, was wait- ing to enter the interior with a party prospecting for lumber, and the party had come up from Kineo in a canoe just before sunset, and encamped on the further side of the bay. Skipper Sam built of drift- wood and broken stumps a famous fire upon the beach, and our own party sat down on seats which nature had provided, to wear away the liAJSDIJSG THE OANOES. AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 171 hours till the time for turning in. Every man looked rougher than his wont in the red light, Skipper Sam the roughest of all. We had lighted our pipes, had extemporized comfortable seats, and were warming up for good talking, when the dip of paddles announced the arrival of the exploring party from the other side, — two Boston men interested in lumber, with the elder Masterman, a famous hunter, as their guide. Marsh Lane, a six-footer, slightly bent with years, a grim old man, a settler of thirty-five years ago, well known as a capital guide and hunter, presently straggled in, smoking his pipe, silent, moody, with his dog behind him. His cook, a queer specimen of humanity, dragged himself along in the rear, — a man who works hard for his board and clothes, and is too shiftless to do better. It was one of those rare gatherings where every man is unlike his fellow, and each was anxious to have his own say. Skipper Sam was in his element. He piled the fagots upon the fire till the flames shot up high into the air and glared out upon the darkness of the lake. He was allowed to be the master of ceremonies, and his own doings and say- ings were the chief entertainment of the evening. Conversation and story-telling had become quite brisk before our visitors came, and were more brisk afterward. The topics, as was natural, were chiefly hunt- ing and fishing, and the adventures which grow out of life in the woods ; and the two guides, stimulated by the attentive listeners, soon began a race to see w^hicli could tell the biggest story. It was first trout fishing, then moose hunting, then bear hunting; then the habits •of the moose were discussed. Questions increased the number and rapidity of the stories of personal adventure. Old Marsh Lane puffed away at his pipe, discharging tobacco-juice furiously at the end of a long story, attentive, not dropping even a word. Skipper Sam walked up and down the narrow beach, too excited to sit dow^n. Neither guide could wait till the other had finished his story before he began one of his own, and each, by gesticulation and raising of his voice, tried to gain exclusive attention. Personal adventures from the lips of one who had killed two hundred bears, told in the picturesque and earnest manner which takes hold of your imagination, made the stories of Masterman intensely interesting; and if the skipper told whoppers, it was a pardonable offence in one who could not bear to be outdone. Thus these naturally silent men of the woods kept our whole party on the qui vive till a late hour over their simple and thrilling narratives. Suddenly the talk ended. It was good-night all around. 172 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE. Kough forms retreated into the darkness, a canoe touched the lake, the dip of the paddles soon died away in the distance, and one after another our own party disappeared into the cabin, each rolling him- self up in a blanket for the night, leaving the ex-minister and the priest to keep the fire, and watch for the expected steamer, if she should come in the night. Even they finally searched in vain for the soft side of a bed of rocks, and sought shelter in the camp. The morning disclosed six strange shapes in as many different directions embedded in the straw, and the guide stoutly insisted that he had slept soundly under his canoe on the rocks. With the morning came the steamer, and after a breakfast, to which we did ample justice, we went on board. Thus ended our camping-out. We w^ere glad to have it begin, and more glad to have it end, and to return to civilized life." CHAPTEE XL THE HEAD OF THE LAKE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS.— WHERE TO GO. — WHAT TO SEE. — FISHING, HUNTING, ETC. HEN you visit the North-east Carry you will find a good hotel worthy your patronage. In August, 1878, Mr. Simeon Savage, for several years one of the proprietors of the Lake House, Greenville, bought the Carry House at the head of the lake, formerly kept by John Koss, also the land con- nected with the house, comprising about six hundred acres. A marked change immediately took place in the management of the hotel, particular attention being paid to the furnishing of the rooms and table. Good beds, clean and well-furnished rooms, and a care- fully served table, are now offered to the lake travel. Mrs. Savage, with her former experience in the largest hotel in Greenville, manages the housekeeping admirably. Mr. Savage diu'ing his life made many improvements with such satisfactory results that the Winnegarnock House is now one of the most desirable stopping-places in the entire Moosehead Lake region. Since the house came into his possession the dining-room has been enlarged to double its former capacity, and several more rooms have been finished, making in all fourteen sleep- ing-rooms, with good accommodations for twenty to twenty-five guests. The hotel is a two-story-and-a-half building, with piazza in front, and office, dining-room, jDarlor, etc., on the ground floor; all the sleeping- rooms are above. The grounds around the house have been cleared of the debris that formerly littered the premises, and present a tidy and attractive appear- ance, to which they had long been strangers. The hotel stands at the head of the lake, on the east side of the carry road, near the steam- boat wharf, and a few rods from a beautiful sand beach, three miles 173 174 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE in*extent, offering as good facilities as the sea-shore for riding, walk- ing, and bathing. A short distance from the hotel a bathhouse has been erected over a large ledge on the beach for the accommodation of the guests. The views from the piazza of the Wmnegarnock are equal to any about the lake. Commencing on the left, the eye rests upon range after range of mountains, that, upheaved against the sky, sweep around in a semicircle nearly to the extreme right of the hotel. Lobster Mountain, the Spencer Mountains, Kineo Junior, Mount Kineo, Blue Kidge, Squaw Mountain, the Misery Mountains, Bald Mountain, the twin Bigelows, and numerous others, all lend their aid to form a picture of unsurpassed loveliness. Sitting upon the piazza of the hotel, while a heavy south wind is blowing, and watching the white-capped waves as they roll over and over, finally to dash themselves amid a mass of snowy foam on the hard, sandy beach, with a roar like distant thunder, you can easily imagine yourself at the sea-coast, and the waste of water before you a part of old ocean. At the farther end of the sand beach, on the eastern side of the house, is a long strip of pebbly beach, where one can find pretty pebbles of all sizes and colors. Along the beach, for several hundred yards from the shore, the water is quite shoal, furnishing an excellent chance for ladies unaccustomed to a canoe to master the art of paddling, with no greater danger to fear than a ducking, if the canoe should happen to upset, as it probably will. From the front of the hotel an unbroken view of the lake is obtained for over twenty miles. Behind it a dense forest extends nearly to the Penobscot. Through this the carry road penetrates to the river, like a canon through a mountain. In coming up the lake this road is visible soon after passing Kineo, a cut or notch in the woods giving its location. A croquet-ground and bowling-alley furnish healthy and pleasant amusement for the guests of the house, and row-boats and canoes are kept on the lake for fishing and excursions ; also on the West Branch at the end of the carry road, at the head of Seboomook Falls, and at Lobster Lake. A short distance from the hotel blueberries grow in unlimited num- bers, and hundreds of people flock to the head of the lake during the season to gather them. Two hundred bushels have gone down on the steamer on one trip, which gives one something of an idea of the num- AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 177 ber picked. Raspberries and wild strawberries are also very plenty in the vicinity. A person stopping at the Winnegarnock House has almost an un- limited number of excursions to choose from. You can visit Norcross Brook, Williams Stream, Duck Cove, the Nortli-west Carry, and vari- ous other places on the lake, and take from half a day to two or three days in making the excursion, as yoar time or inclination will allow. Two miles down the lake you obtain the best view of Mount Ktaadn to be had anywhere around Moosehead. For river excursions you may visit Seboomook Falls, Russell Stream, Elm Stream, the Moosehorn, or Lobster Lake; any of these can be done in a day, but your pleasure will be increased if you can take more time, and camp out a night or two. And, by the way, the cream of camping-out is all in the first tliree days. For longer trips that will necessitate camping-out or stopping at some farmhouse, you can go up the West Branch to Nelhudus, or be- yond, or down the river to Chesuncook, Ripogenus, Mount Ktaadn, Chamberlain Lake, Caucomgomoc, and other places as your fancy or pleasure may dictate. LOBSTER LAKE Is visited by a great many people each summer, and is one of the prettiest sheets of water in Maine. Leaving the Winnegarnock House you cross the carry, and paddle down the West Branch for two miles to Lobster Stream, that enters the river from the right. A rocky bar extends across the mouth of the stream, making shoal w^ater for a short distance. There is a small island in the Penobscot, opposite the mouth of the Lobster. Our way lies up the latter, and we follow it to the lake, a distance of two miles. The banks are muddy, and from four to six feet high. For the first mile on each side of the stream there is a heavy growth, consisting of poplars, white birch, fir, spruce, elms, and alders ; the next half-mile there is only a belt of trees skirt- ing the stream, with bogs and swamps behind. As you begin the last half-mile the most of the trees disappear, leaving only a few alder bushes, an occasional elm, and coarse grass. The river is deep, and rather crooked. About half-way between the Penobscot and the lake, an abrupt turn in the river discloses Lobster Mountain, looming up directly in front of you, a round-topped peak, thickly wooded to its summit, the foliage dark green. A little farther on you catch a glimpse of the Spencer Mountains. 178 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE The windings of the river hide the lake until you are close to it, and when you reach it the first exclamation is one of delight; hemmed in on three sides by mountains, on the fourth bordered by meadow and hill. There are a great many sand beaches around the lake, and these are divided from each other, at irregular intervals, by bold, rocky headlands, that produce a very picturesque effect. There are several islands in the lake; none, however, very large. The growth around the shores consists of fir, spruce, poplar, white birch, ISTorway pine, etc. Some of the rocky ledges dividing the sand beaches are a great curiosity. They appear to be composed of layers of stone similar to slate; near the water they are furrowed, and worn full of holes, look- ing as if a huge cable chain had been laid out in regular rows upon the beach. I thought at first that these holes w^ere caused by the motion of the water; but it cannot be, from the fact that the same ledges twenty and thirty feet above the lake are bored with similar holes, resembling the work of woodpeckers on old dead trees. These dividing headlands are covered mostly with Norway pine and cedars, and are luxuriously carpeted with moss. They extend back several hundred feet from the lake, and have the appearance of horse- backs. A geologist would find much to interest him in an examination of these ledges. On the eastern shore of the lake, just above an island, and directly opposite to Lobster Mountain, there is a place where two of these headlands are together, as usual dividing two sand beaches. The headlands are about fifty feet apart at the lake shore, a deep gully be- tween them, and as they run back from the water they come nearer together, the gully becoming more shallow. Some of the ledges about the shore are so full of holes that they resemble honeycomb more than anything else. From the tops of these ridges one obtains splendid views of the lake and mountains. The Spencer Mountains lie south- west of the lake, and Lobster Mountain west. Kineo Junior, and several other mountains, whose names we do not know, can be seen from different parts of the lake. The land at the north and northwest end of the lake consists of swamps and meadows, and the shores are low; but all around the remainder of the lake the land is high, and in some places the moun- tains descend to the water. The foliage is deep and rich, the forest dense, and comprises nearly all of the different varieties of our native trees. Over some of the lower ridges near the lake shore distant mountains are seen towering up against the sky. AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 179 This lake is one of the prettiest sheets of water we have ever seen, and it is a pity that it could not have received some name more in sympathy with its surroundings. Its name originated from the num- ber of fresh-water lobsters found in it. They are not much larger than shrimps. " Beautiful Lake " would be far more api^ropriate. Nearly all of the sand beaches that border the lake are oval or semi- circular in shape. Back of these, in many places, will be found a strip of pebbles and stones from six to twenty feet wide. These rocky beaches are well worth your attention. They contain stones of all kinds, sizes, shapes, and colors. Some of these rocks are curiously indented, others are polished as highly as marble. There is a smooth stone, to be found in large quantities in some of these places, that strongly resembles hornblende; but I could not decide whether it was or not. I picked up one stone about the size of a lemon, that was almost round, and carried it off with me for a souvenir. On my last trip to Lobster Lake I intended making a circuit of it, and exploring it thoroughly; but before we had time the wind came out strong from the northwest, kicking up a troublesome sea, and it was too rough for canoeing with any degree of comfort. However, we crossed the lake, thereby securing a tliorough wetting from the spray that occasionally flew over us, passing to the north of the peninsula that nearly cuts the lake in two, and reached the west- ern shore. Rounding a pebbly point, we entered a small bay, full of rocky islets, and followed the shore until we reached the base of Lobster Mountain. Then turning about we retraced our course to the point, and paddled along the western shore back to Lobster Stream. On this side of the lake we found the same characteristics as on the eastern shore; bold, rocky headlands and sand beaches alternating with each other the entire distance around to the river. Within half a mile of the outlet, on a clear day, you can obtain a magnificent view of Ktaadn. And we stopped a few moments to take a look at the mountain, rising majestically in the east, grand, impres- sive, sublime, its loftiest peak just showing above a fleecy mantle of cloud, and bathed in the golden rays of an autumnal sun. The mass of feathery cloud hovered about it, as long as we were in sight, with caressing tenderness, and kissed its cold forehead as daintily as coy maiden ever touched the lips of her lover. But our time was limited; and, with a sigh of regret at leaving this beautiful sheet of water, and a kindly nod to old Ktaadn, we paddled onward, and swept into the Lobster Stream. 180 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE. By this time the wind had ahnost ceased blowing, and the river was calm and placid, its waters scarcely ruffled. As we turned out of the Lobster into the Penobscot, the declining sun met us full in the face, dazzling our eyes, and caused us to do an unusual amount of winking and blinking. Only a few expiring zephyrs swept the bosom of the West Branch, and we paddled lazily along, reaching the carry road in an hour and a quarter from the time we left the lake. I had never passed a more delightful day, and had never seen a more beautiful sheet of water than Lobster Lake. This locality, especially about the outlet of the lake, was once a great place for moose, and a few are still found in the vicinity. A few years ago a law was passed for their protection, and it had the effect to somewhat increase their number. But the law expired too quick, and it would be a good thing for the moose, and go far toward pre- venting their extermination, if the next Legislature would make another close season of at least five years. Caribou and deer are plenty around the lake, and quite a number are shot each year. A good road runs from the head of Moosehead through the woods to Lobster, coming out a little west of the outlet, a distance of three miles. It starts from the eastern side of the beach, about a mile from the hotel. Parties can go to Lobster by way of the rivers, and return through the woods, or vice versa, thus giving greater variety to the trip. The fishing in the vicinity of the Winnegarnock is excellent, and many trout are taken each season from the end of the steamboat wharf. At Norcross Brook, Centre Island, W Ledges, Williams Stream, Russell Stream and Pond, Nelhudus, Seboomook Falls, Lob- ster Lake, and other places but a short distance away, known to the hotel people, one is always sure of a good catch. Through September and October there is first-rate partridge shoot- ing within a mile or two of the house; and musk-rat, mink, and otter are plenty on the West Branch. Between Lobster Stream and the Moosehead is good ground for deer and caribou, and numbers are shot there each season. Mrs. Savage charges $1.50 for hauling one canoe across the carry; two or more canoes, $L00 each. These prices include baggage and camp- stores. Since the death of her husband, Mrs. Savage has carried on the hotel, but the present season she will probably lease it, to whom can- not be learned at this writing. CHAPTEE XIL TOURS BEYOND MOOSEHEAD. — DOWN THE WEST BRANCH. '^^ ^tel) '^^-'■■^^ (lone Moosehead, you will have and if you take our advice you will also engage a good guide. Good we mean in the literal sense of the word; a guide who wields a strong and skilful paddle, wlio knows how to handle a setting-pole, who can shoot straight, a good cook, an excellent story-teller; one strong, will- ing, cheerful, and courageous. This is the outline of the man you need to accompany you down the West Branch, and perchance to the summit of Ktaadn. Such a guide commands good pay. But a cross- grained, lazy slouch, hired because you can get him cheap, is dear at any price. Such a guide can be obtained at either Greenville or Mount Kineo by inquiring of the hotel proprietors, who know them all, and are generally well posted as to their worth. Leaving the hospitable roof of the Winnegarnock House we cross the carry, the road running through the well-cultivated farm of George C. Luce, who succeeds Joseph Morris, who was here nearly twenty years. Mr. Luce makes a business during summer of entertaining sportsmen and tourists, at a reasonable price. He has plenty of teams, and is always ready to do any hauling over the carry at low rates. acquired an appetite for the wilderness, that can only be appeased by making one of the river trips, and one of the most interesting and exciting tours that can be made beyond Moosehead Lake is the trip down the West Branch of the Penobscot, bringing one, as it does, to the most direct point from which the ascent of Mount Ktaadn can be made. A canoe is indispensable for this trip, 181 182 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE A tote-road starts from the Luce Farm, and runs to Chesuncook, following the river closely all the way. People who are fond of walking can thus make the trip to Chesuncook by land, although they may have to ford some of the small streams that cross; none of them, however, are over a foot deep. The road is dry and well bushed out, and so plain it can be followed the entire distance with- out difficulty. It comes out at the head of Chesuncook about half a mile from the hotel. Sometimes in the fall, when the water is very low on the river, the woodsmen prefer to stretch their legs over the *' tote-road," rather than double them up in a birch. At the landing beyond Luce's we launch our canoe, and a few moments later are floating down the Penobscot. For the first two miles the river is comparatively smooth, and the water deep and black. Its banks are about six feet high, thickly covered with white and black spruce, fir, cedar, birch, maple, poplar; also an occasional oak, hemlock, ash, and elm. The common yellow lily and the fragrant pond-lilies are plenty along our course, and tempt us from time to time to pluck their white blossoms and inhale their delicious perfume. This vicinity was once a famous hunting-ground for moose, and even now they are sometimes shot here. We saw moose tracks for some distance along the sides of this part of the river, on one of our trips to Chesuncook. The first stream we pass of any importance is Lobster Stream, which comes in on the right from the southeast, two miles below the carry. There is a small island at the mouth of the stream, and the water around it is shoal. Lobster Lake is about two miles from the river, and during high water the Penobscot flows back into the lake. The Lobster Stream is navigable, for canoes or boats, the entire distance to the lake. Near the mouth of the stream we obtain a fine view of the Spencer Mountains, lying east of Mount Kineo and south of Lobster Lake. Below the mouth of the Lobster we find quick water with some rips," and the river narrows and widens by turns, in some places being wider than at the carry. Two miles and a half more and we reach Warren Island, small and thickly wooded, a good camping-place. Charlie Nicholas, the guide, claims to be the first person who camped on it. The landing is on the left side. For three miles and a half beyond it is dead water, and we paddle easily along. We have now passed the Moose Horn, a small stream that empties into the river from the right. It is very crooked, and only a few feet wide. From here to the head of Pine Stream Falls it is mostly rapid water and AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 183 "rips." In this vicinity we obtain the first view of Ktaadn. One mile below is Kenney's Rips, and a mile beyond, on the right-hand side of the river, you will notice Sears' s Clearing, just half-way to Cliesuncook. There is an old potato cellar on the clearing, in sight from the river, that offers a shelter if you are caught in a rain. Lazy people are in the habit of camping there. A quarter of a mile below Sears' s Clearing we reach the Ragmuff, a winding stream that comes in on the left. From here to Big Island is a mile and a quarter. It is generally good fishing-ground at the mouths of these small streams. Leaving Ragmuff — singular name by the way — we pass over some long rips, and notice the Little Ragmuff, a narrow, crooked stream that empties into the Penobscot on the left. A short distance beyond the banks of the river improve in appearance, the blue clay changing to gravel, bowlders, and ledges. From time to time you will notice on the side of the river piles of muscle-shells, or fresh-water clams. These are left by musk-rats, who bring the clams from the bottom of the river, and, after open- ing them and eating the meat, leave the shells behind to mystify voyagers. We have now reached the Big Island, partially cleared for a farm, and passing to the right of it have another stretch of rapids, and a half-mile more brings us to the Fox Hole, another good place for fishing; there is also a good camping-place near here on the left side of the river. A short distance below, we reach another island. Pass- ing to the left of this, we notice on the left bank of the stream, about opposite the middle of the island, a cold spring, — a good place to stop a few moments if you are thirsty. There is first-rate fishing in this vicinity. About three-quarters of a mile below here is a stretch of dead water ; passing over this, you come to another island, covered with coarse grass, and ornamented with a few scraggy elms. At the head of this island, on the left bank of the river, is an attractive place to camp, and, judging from the looks of the ground, a great many parties have camped there. During the spring and summer it is good fishing in this locality. The river is perhaps thirty rods wide here, and its shores are covered with elms, poplars, and birches. From this point islands increase in number, the most of them being small, and covered with coarse grass and alders. The Rocky Rips are the next rapids. Running these without difficulty, you reach the Pine Stream dead water. On the left bank of the river, 184 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE nearly opposite Pine Stream, is a good camping-ground. Passing Pine Stream, flowing in from the right, three miles above the lake, a few strokes of the paddle and you are at the head of Pine Stream Falls. This is the worst stretch of water between the two lakes, consisting of three principal falls, fol- lowed by half a mile or more of heavy rapids. In high water a safe passage all the way may be found on the left side. But at an ordinary or 10 w stage of water run the first "pitch" in the middle of the stream, then swing to the left, and run the other two falls on that side. These rapids are easily run by an experienced canoe-man, but may cause an amateur some trouble. AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 185 Between the falls and the lake you pass fifteen or twenty islands. The land on each side of the river below the falls is low and meadowy, covered with swamp-grass, and a dismal-looking growth of trees, the most of which have been killed by the frequent rise of the water. In the spring, during high water, the lake flows back nearly to the head of the falls. Approaching the lake, you pass two piers, a boom being strung across, below them, to hold the logs when they come down the river. A short distance beyond you glide by two log shanties — the outposts of Chesuncook settlement, situated on the right bank of the river. These houses are occupied by French Canadians, who are generally squatters, and a very undesirable class of settlers. The banks of the river below these cabins have been cleared, and you soon shoot out into the lake, turn the barren point on your right hand, and head for the Chesuncook Farm House, a quarter of a mile below the mouth of the river on the southern side of the lake. It takes about seven or eight hours from the carry to the lake. On entering the lake wliere the stream runs southeasterly, we obtained a good view of Ktaadn and its attendant peaks, apparently twenty miles or more away. There is quite a settlement at Chesuncook, the population number- ing nearly eighty people, most of whom are French Canadians. The hotel stands upon a hill, about a hundred feet above the lake, and has accommodations for perhaps twenty people. It commands a very fair view^ of Ktaadn, and a number of other mountains; also six or eight miles of the lake. It is owned by J. H. Eveleth, and is man- aged by Leonard Hilton. There is one store at Chesuncook Lake, belonging to Mr. Eveleth, the proprietor of the hotel. The stock is similar to that generally kept in a country store. A school is kept here sometimes during a few months of winter, but there is neither church nor chapel. There are a number of good fishing resorts within a circle of five miles from the hotel, and guides and canoes can be obtained of the proprietor if desired. Chesuncook Lake extends northwest and southeast, and is seven- teen miles long and two wide in the broadest part; there are no islands in it, and, generally speaking, it is a shoal lake ; the upper end especially so. Parties on their way down the West Branch, who have occasion to linger in this vicinity, will find the Chesuncook Farm House a comfortable place to stop at. The Caucomgomoc flows into the lake about two miles above here. Moose Brook empties into an 186 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE arm of the lake at the northern end. It is navigable for canoes to Moose Pond, two-thirds of a mile from the lake. Beyond Moose Pond there are three miles of rapid water to Cussabexis Lake. A canoe can be waded up the stream to the lake. Duck Pond empty- ing into Moose Pond can only be reached by a carry to the dam. Theodore Winthrop thus relates his experience on Chesuncook and Kipogenus : — Chesuncook is a ^ bulge ' of the Penobscot; so much for its topog- raphy. It is deep in the woods, except that some miles from its opening there is a lumber-station, with house and barns. In the wilderness, man makes for man by a necessity of human instinct. We made for the log houses. We found there an ex-barkeeper of a certain well-known New York cockney coffee-house, promoted into a frontiersman, but mindful still of flesh-pots. Poor fellow, he was still prouder that he had once tossed the foaming cocktail than that he could now fell the forest-monarch. Mixed drinks were dearer to him than pure air. When we entered the long, low log cabin, he was boiling doughnuts, as was to be expected. In certain regions of America every cook who is not baking pork and beans is boiling doughnuts, just as in certain other gastronomic quarters /ri/o/es alter- nate with tortillas. Doughnuts, like peaches, must be eaten with the dew upon them. Caught as they come bobbing up in the bubbling pot, I will not say that they are despicable. Woodsmen and canoe-men, competent to pork and beans, can master also the alternative. The ex-barkeeper was generous with these brown and glistening langrage-shot, and aimed volley after volley at our mouths. Nor was he content with giving us our personal fill; into every crevice of our firkin he packed a pellet of future indigestion. Besides this result of foraging, we took the hint from a visible cow that milk might be had. Of this also the ex-barkeeper served us out galore, sighing that it was not the punch of his metropolitan days. We put our milk in our teapot, and thus, with all the ravages of the past made good, we launched again upon Chesuncook. " Chesuncook, according to its quality of lake, had no aid to give us with current. Paddling all a hot August mid-day over slothful water would be tame, day-laborer's work. But there was a breeze. Good ! Come, kind zephyr, fill our red blanket-sail ! Cancut's blanket in the bow became a substitute for Cancut's paddle in the stern. We swept along before the wind, unsteadily, over Lake CLe- AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 187 suncook, at sea in a bowl, — * rolled to starboard, rolled to larboard,' in our keelless craft. Zephyr only followed us, mild as he was strong, and strong as he was mild. Had he been puffy, it would have been all over with us. But the breeze only sang about our way, and shook the water out of sunny calm. Ktaadn to the north, a fair, blue pyramid, lifted higher and stooped for- ward more imminent, yet still so many leagues away that his features were undefined, and the gray of his scalp un- distinguisliable from the green of his beard of forest. Every mile, however, as we slid drowsily over the hot lake, proved more and more that we were not befooled, — Iglesias by memory, and I by anticipation. Ktaadn lost nothing by approach, as some of the gran- dees do; as it grew bigger, it grew better. 188 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE " Twenty miles, or so, of Cliesuncook, sun-cooked Chesuncook, we traversed by the aid of our blanket-sail, pleasantly wafted by the unboisterous breeze. Undrowned, unducked, as safe from the perils of the broad lake as we had come out of the defiles of the rapids, we landed at the carry below the dam at the lake's outlet." Caribou Lake, so named from the large herds of these animals that formerly frequented its shores, lies southwest of Chesuncook, and empties into it. A stream of dead water two miles long connects the two lakes. The lake is about seven miles long, and from one to two wide. Deer Pond is emptied into its northwestern corner by a stream a mile long. Kagged Lkke and several small ponds and streams empty into it at the southern end. There is good fishing around the mouths of these streams. At Chesuncook Dam, and in pools below it, one will find good trout fishing, and occasionally some lucky angler hooks a salmon. The carry begins a short distance south of the dam, and is three- quarters of a mile long, the road being good all the way. " The skin of many a slaughtered varmint was nailed on its shingle, and the landing-place was carpeted with the fur. Doughnuts, ex- barkeepers, and civilization at one end of the lake, and here were musk-rat skins, trappers, and the primeval. Two hunters of moose, in default of their fern-horned, blubber-lipped game, had condescended to musk-rat, and were making the lower end of Chesuncook fragrant with muskiness. " It is surprising how hospitable and comrade a creature is man. The trappers of musk-rats were charmingly brotherly. They guided us across the carry; they would not hear of our being porters. ' Pluck the superabundant huckleberry,' said they, Svhile we, suspending your firkin and your traps upon the setting-pole, tote them, as the spies of Joshua toted the grape-clusters of the Promised Land.' Cancut, for his share, carried the canoe. He wore it upon his head and shoulders. Tough work he found it, toiling through the underwood, and poking his way like an elongated and mobile mush- room through the thick shrubbery. Ever and anon as Iglesias and I paused, we would be aware of the canoe thrusting itself above our heads in the covert, and a voice would come from an unseen head under its shell, ' It's soul-breaking, carrying is ! ' The portage was short. We emerged from the birchen grove upon the river, below a brilliant cascading rapid. The water came flashing gloriously forward, a far other element than the tame, flat stuff we AND NOKTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 189 had drifted slowly over all the dullish hours. Water on the go is nobler than wciter on the stand; recklessness may be as fatal as stag- nation, but it is more heroic. "Presen ly, over the edge, where the foam and spray were spring- ing up into sunshine, our canoe suddenly appeared, and had hardly appeared, when, as if by one leap, it had passed the rapid, and was gliding in the stiller current to our feet. One of the muskrateers had relieved Cancut of his head-piece, and shot the lower rush of water. We again embarked, and, guided by the trappers in their own canoe, paddled out upon Lake Ripogenus. Ripogenus is a tarn, a lovely oval tarn, within a rim of forest and hill ; and there behold, O gioja ! at its eastern end, stooping forward and filling the sphere, Avas Ktaadn, large and alone." Harrington Lake, three miles long, and perhaps a mile wide, empties into the northwest corner of Ripogenus Lake through Ripogenus Stream. It is a pretty sheet of water, with thickly wooded shores. A good path follows up the east side of Ripogenus Stream to Harring- ton Lake, crossing the outlet, and continues north along another brook to within about two miles of Nesowadnehunk Lake. There are many good camping-spots about the shores of Harrington Lake. Sev- eral small ponds empty into the eastern portion of the lake. Harring- ton Lake can also be reached by a tote-road from Chesuncook, which leaves the lake shore at a point about a mile above the dam. There is good fishing at the outlet of Harrington Lake, and in some small ponds below it. Small trout are also found in many places on Ripo- genus Stream. But we must hasten, for day wanes, and we must see and sketch this cloudless summit from terra firma. A mile and half-way down the lake, we landed at the foot of a grassy hill-side, where once had been a lumberman's station and hay farm. It w^as abandoned now, and lonely in that deeper sense in wdiich widowhood is lonelier than celibacy, a home deserted lonelier than a desert. Tumble-down w^as the never-painted house ; ditto its three barns. But, besides a camp, there were two things to be had here, — one certain, one possible, probable even. The view, that was an inevitable certainty; Iglesias would bag that as his share of the plunder of Ripogenus. For my bagging, bears, perchance, awaited. The trappers had seen a bear near the barns. Cancut, in his previous visit, had seen a disappear- ance of bear. No sooner had the birch's bow touched lightly upon the shore than we seized our respective weapons, — Iglesias his 190 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE peaceful and creative sketch-book, I my warlike and destructive gun, — dashed up the hill-side. ''I made for the barns to catch bruin napping or lolHng in the old hay. I entertain a vendetta toward the ursine family. I had a duello, pistol against claw, with one of them in the mountains of Oregon, and have nothing to show to point the moral and adorn the tale. My an- tagonist of that hand-to-hand fight received two shots, and then dodged into cover and was lost in the twiUght. Soon or late in my life, I hoped that I should avenge this evasion. Ripogenus would, perhaps, give what the Nachchese Pass had taken away. " Yain hope ! I was not to be an ursicide. I began to fear that I shall slay no other than my proper personal bearisliness. I did my duty for another result at Ripogenus. I bolted audaciously into every barn. I made excursions into the woods around. I found the mark of the beast, not the beast. He had not long ago decamped, and was now, perhaps, sucking the meditative paw hard by in an arbor of his bear-garden. ^' After a vain hunt, I gave up Beast and turned to Beauty. I looked about me, seeing much. ^' Foremost I saw a fellow-man, my comrade, fondled by breeze and brightness, and whispered to by all sweet sounds. I saw Iglesias below me, on the slope, sketching. He was preserving the scene at its hel momento. I repented more bitterly of my momentary false- ness to Beauty while I saw him so constant. ^^Furthermore, I saw a landscape of vigorous simplicity, easy to comprehend. By mellow sunset the grass slope of the old farm seemed no longer tanned and rusty, but ripened. The oval lake was- blue and calm, and that is already much to say ; shadows of the western hills were growing over it, but flight after flight of illumined clouds soared above, to console the sky and the water for the coming of night. Northward, a forest darkled, whose glades of brightness I could not see. Eastward, the bank mounted abruptly to a bare, fire- swept table-land, whereon a few dead trees stood, parched and ghostly skeletons draped with rags of moss. Furthermost and topmost, I saw Ktaadn twenty miles away, a giant undwarfed by any rival. The remainder landscape was only minor and judiciously accessory. The hills were low before it, the lake lowly, and upright above lake and hill lifted the mountain pyra- mid. Isolated greatness tells. There were no underling mounts above this mountain-in-chief. And now on its shoulders and crest AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 191 sunset shone, glowing. AVarm violet followed the glow, soothing away the harshness of granite lines. Luminous violet dwelt upon the peak, while below the clinging forests were pur- ple in sheltered gorges, where they could climb nearer the sum- mit, loved of light, and lower down gloomed green and som- b r e in the shadow. Meanwhile, as I looked, the quivering violet rose higher and higher, and at last floated away like a disengaged flame. A smouldering blue dwelt upon the peak. Ashy gray overcame the blue. As 192 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE dusk thickened and stars trembled into sight, the gray grew luminous. Ktaadn's mighty presence seemed to absorb such dreamy gUmmers as float in limpid night-air; a faint glory, a twilight of its own, clothed it. King of the day-lit world, it became queen of the dim- mer realms of night, and like a woman-queen it did not disdain to stoop and study its loveliness in the polished lake, and stooping thus it overhung the earth, a shadowy creature of gleam and gloom, an eternized cloud. " I sat staring and straying in sweet reverie, until the scene before me w^as dim as metaphysics. Suddenly a flame flashed up in the void. It grew and steadied, and dark objects became visible about it. In the loneliness — for Iglesias had disappeared — I allowed myself a moment's luxury of superstition. Were these the Cyclops of Ktaadn? Possibly. Were they Trolls forging diabolic enginery, or Gypsies of Yankeedom ? I will see, — and went tumbling down the hill-side. " As I entered the circle about the cooking-fire of drift-wood by the lake, Iglesias said, — ^' * The beefsteak and the mutton chops will do for breakfast; now, then, with your bear ! ' 'Haw, haw !' guffawed Cancut; and the sound, taking the lake at a stride, found echoes everywhere, till he grew silent, and peered suspiciously into the dark. " ' There's more bears raound'n yer kin shake a stick at,' said one of the muskrateers. ' Wouldn't recommend yer to stir 'em up naow, haowlin' like that.' 'I meant it for laffin',' said Cancut, humbly. **^Ef yer call that 'ere larfin', couldn't yer cry a little to kinder slick daown the bears ? ' said the trapper. ''Iglesias now invited us to chocolat a la crenie, made with the boon of the ex-barkeeper. I suppose I may say, without flattery, that this tipple was marvellous. What a pity Nature spoiled a cook by making the muddler of that chocolate a painter of grandeurs. When Fine Art is in a man's nature, it must exude, as pitch leaks from a pine-tree. Our musk-rat hunters partook injudiciously of this unac- customed dainty, and w^ere visited with indescribable Nemesis. They had never been acclimated to chocolate, as had Iglesias and I, by sip- ping it under the shade of the mimosa and the palm. " Up to a certain point an unlucky hunter is more likely to hunt than a lucky. Satiety follows more speedily upon success than despair upon failure. Let us thank Heaven for that, brethren dear. I had AND NOKTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 193 bagged not a bear, and must needs satisfy my assassin instincts upon something with hoofs and horns. The younger trapper of musk-rat, being young, was ardent, — being young, was hopeful, — being young, beheved in exceptions to general rules, — and being young, believed that, given a good fellow with a gun, Nature would provide a victim. Therefore he proposed that we should canoe it along the shallows in this sweetest and stillest of all the nights. T h e senior shook his head incredu- lously. Iglesias shook his head noddingly. LLff " ' Since you have massacred all the bears,' said Iglesias, *I will go lay me down in their lair in the barn. If you find me cheek by jowl with Ursa Major when you come back, make a pun and he will go/ It w^as stiller than stillness upon the lake. Ripogenus, it seemed, liad never listened to such silence as this. Calm never could have loeeii so beyond the notion of calm. Stars in the empyrean and stars 194 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE in Ripogenus winked at each otlier across ninety-nine billions of leagues as uninterruptedly as boys at a boarding-school table. " I knelt amidships in the birch with gun and rifle on either side. The pilot gave one stroke of his paddle, and we floated out upon what seemed the lake. Whatever we were poised and floating upon he hesitated to shatter with another dip of his paddle, lest he should shatter the thin basis, and sink toward heaven and the stars. Presently the silence seemed to demand gentle violence, and the unwavering water needed slight tremors to teach it the tenderness of its calm; then my guide used his blade, and cut into glassiness. We crept noiselessly along by the lake-edge within the shadows of the pines. With never a plash we slid. Eare drops fell from the cautious paddle and tinkled on the surface, overshot, not parted, by our imponderable passage. Sometimes from far within the forest would come sounds of rustling branches or crackling twigs. Some- body of life approaches with stealthy tread. Gentlier, even gentlier, my steersman. Take up no pearly drop from the lake, mother of pearliness, lest, falling, it sound too loudly. Somewhat comes. Let it come unterrified to our ambush among the shadows by the shore. Somewhat, something, somebody, was coming, perhaps, but some other thing or body thwarted it and it came not. To glide over glassi- ness while uneventful moments link themselves into hours is monoto- nous. Kight and stillness laid their soothing spell upon me. I was entranced. I lost myself out of time and space, and seemed to be floating unimpelled and purposeless, nowhere in Forever. Somewhere in Kow I suddenly found myself. There he was. There was the moose trampling and snorting hard by, in the shaliows of Eipogenus, trampling out of being the whole nadir of stars, making the world conscious of its lost silence by the death of silence in tumult. I trembled with sudden eagerness. I seized my gun. In another instant I should have lodged the fatal pellet, when a voice whispered over my shoulder, ' I kinder guess yer've ben asleep an' dreamin', ha'n't yer So I had. Never a moose came down to cool his clumsy snout in the water, and swallow reflections of stars. Never a moose abandoned dry-browse in the bitter woods for succulent lily-pads, fall in their cells and veins of water and sunlight. Till long past midnight we paddled, and watched, and listened, whisperless. In vain. At last, as we rounded AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 195 a point, the level gleam of our dying camp-fire athwart the water re- minded us of passing hour and traveller duties, of rest to-night and toil to-morrow. '*My companions, fearless as if there were no bears this side of Ursa Major, were bivouacked in one of the barns. There I entered skulkingly, as a gameless hunter may, and hid my untropliied head beneath a mound of ancient hay, not without the mustiness of its age. and were full-dressed with- out more ceremony, ready for whatever grand sensation Nature might purvey for our aesthetic breakfast. Nothing is ever as we expect. When we stepped into out-of-doors, looking for Ripogenus, a lake of Maine, we found not a single aquatic fact in the landscape. Ripogenus, a lake, had mizzled (as the Ameri- cans say), literally mizzled. Our simplified view comprised a grassy hill with barns, and a stern positive pyramid, surely Ktaadn; and 196 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE aloft, beyond, above, below, thither, hither, and yon. Fog, — not fog, but FOG. " Ripogenus, the water-body, had had aspirations, and a boon of brief transfiguration into a cloud-body had been granted it by Nature, who grants to every terrestrial essence prophetic experiences of what it one day would be. *'In short, and to repeat, Ripogenus had transmuted itself into vapor, and filled the valley full to our feet. A faint wind had power to billow this mist-lake, and drive cresting surges up against tlie eastern hillside, over which they sometimes broke, and, involving it totally, rolled clear and free toward Ktaadn, where lie stood hiding the glows of sunrise. Leagues liigher up than the mountain rested a presence of cirri, already white and luminous with full daylight, and from them drooped linking wreaths of orange mist, clinging to the rosy violet granite of the peak. '*Up clomb and sailed Ripogenus and befogged the whole; then we condescended to breakfast. Singularly enough, mill-dams are always found below mill-ponds. Analogously in the Maine rivers, below the lakes, rapids are. Rapids too often compel carries. While we breakfasted without steak of bear or cutlet of moose, Ripogenus gradually retracted itself, and became conscious again of what poetry there is in a lake's pause and a rapid's flow. Fog condensed into w^ater, and water submitting to its destiny went cascading down through a wild defile where no birch could follow. *'The Ripogenus carry is three miles long, a faint path through thickets. ^' ^ First half,' said Cancut, ^'s plain enough; but after that 'twould take a philosopher with his spectacles on to find it.' ''This was discouraging. Philosophers twain we might deem our- selves; but what is a craftsi]Qan without tools? And never a goggle had we. '' But the trappers of musk-rats had become our fast friends. They insisted upon lightening our loads over the brambly league. This was kindly. Cancut' s elom^ated head-piece, the birch, was his share of the burden; and a bag of bread, a firkin of various grub, damp blankets for three, and nuiltitudinous traps, seemed more than two could carry at one trip over this longest and roughest of portages. '' We paddled from the camp to the lake-foot, and there, while the others compacted the portables for portage, Iglesias and I, at cost of a AND NOKTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 197 ducking with mist-drops from the thickets, scrambled up a crag for a supreme view of the fair lake and the clear mountain. And we did well. Ktaadn, from the hill guarding the exit of the Penobscot from than any those that stop short of the venerable J" honors of * eternal snow. We trod the trail, we others, easier than Cancut. He found it hard to thread the mazes of an overgrown path and navigate his canoe at the same time. * Better,' thought he, as he staggered and plunged and bumped along, extricating his boat-bonnet now from a bower of raspberry- bushes, now from the branches of a brotherly birch-tree, — ' better,' 198 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE thought he, ' were I seated in what I bear, and bounding gayly over the billow. Peril is better than pother.' Bushwhacking thus for a league, we circumvented the peril, and came upon the river flowing fair and free. The trappers said adieu, and launched us. Back then they went to consult their traps, and flay their fragrant captives, and we shot forward. ''That was a day all poetry and music. Mountain airs bent and blunted the noonday sunbeams. There was a shade of delicate birches on either hand, whenever we loved to linger. Our feather- shallop went dancing on, fleet as the current, and whenever a passion for speed came, after moments of luxurious sloth, we could change floating at the river's will into leaps and chasing, with a few strokes of the paddle. All was untouched, unvisited wilderness, and we from bend to bend the first discoverers. So we might fancy ourselves; for civilization had been here only to cut pines, not to plant houses. Yet these fair curves, and liberal reaches, and bright rapids of the birchen- bowered river were only solitary, not lonely. It is never lonely with Nature. Without unnatural men or unnatural beasts, she is capital society by herself. And so we found her, — a lovely being, in perfect toilet, which I describe, in an indiscriminating, masculine way, by saying that it was a forest and a river and lakes and a mountain and doubtless sky, all made resplendent by her judicious disposition of a most becoming light. Iglesias and I, being old friends, were received into close intimacy. She smiled upon us unaffectedly, and had a thousand exquisite things to say, drawing us out also, with feminine tact, to say our best things, and teaching us to be conscioiiB, in her presence, of more delicate possibilities of refinement and a tenderer poetic sense. So we voyaged through the sunny hours and were happy. '' Yet there was no monotony in our progress. We could not always drift and glide. Sometimes we must fight our way. Below the placid reaches were the inevitable 'rips' and rapids; some we could shoot without hitting anything; some would hit us heavily, did we try to shoot. Whenever the rocks in the current were only as thick as the plums in a boarding-school pudding, we could venture to run the gantlet; whenever they multiplied to a school-boy's ideal, we were arrested. Just at the brink of peril we would sweep in by an eddy into a shady pool by the shore. At such spots we found a path across the carry. Cancut at once proceeded to bonnet himself with the trick- ling birch. Iglesias and I took up the packs and hurried on with AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 199 minds intent on berries. Berries we always found, — blueberries •covered with a cloudy bloom, blueberries, pulpy, saccharine, plenteous. Often, when a portage was not quite necessary, a dangerous bit of white water would require the birch to be lightened. Cancut must steer her alone over the foam, while we, springing ashore, raced through the thick of the forest, tore through the briers, and plunged through the punk of trees older than history, now rotting where they fell, slain by Time, the giganticide. Cancut then had us at advantage. Sometimes we had laughed at him, when he, a good-humored mala- prop, made vague clutches at the thread of discourse. Now suppose he should take a fancy to drop down stream and leave us. What then ? Berries then, and little else, unless we had a chance at a trout or a partridge. It is not cheery, but dreary, to be left in patlilessness, blanketless, guideless, and with breadths of lake and mountain and Kature, shaggy and bearish, between man and man. With the con- sciousness of a latent shudder in our hearts at such a possibility, we parted brier and bramble until the rapid was passed, we scuffled hastily through to the river-bank, and there always in some quiet nook was a beacon of red-flannel shirt among the green leaves over the blue and shadowy water, and always the fast-sailing Cancut awaiting us, making the woods resound to amicable hails, and ready again to be joked and to retaliate. Such alternations made our voyage a charming olla. We had the placid glide, the fleet dash, the wild career, the pause, the landing, the agreeable interlude of a portage, and the unburdened stampede along shore. Thus we won our way, or our way wooed us on, until in early afternoon a lovely lakelet opened before us. The fringed shores retired, and as we shot forth upon wider calm, lo, Ktaadn! un- looked for, at last, as a revelation. Our boat ruffled its shadow, doing pretty violence to its dignity, that we might know the greater grandeur of the substance. There was a gentle agency of atmosphere softening the bold forms of this startling neighbor, and giving it distance, lest ^ve might fear it would topple and crush us. Clouds, level below, hid the summit, and towered aloft. Among them we might imagine the mountain rising with thousands more of feet of heaven-i)iercing height. There is one degree of sublimity in mystery, as there is an- other degree in certitude. *'We lay to in a shady nook, just off Ktaadn's reflection in the river, while Iglesias sketched him. Meanwhile I, analyzing my view, presently discovered a droll image in the track of a land-avalanche 200 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE down the front. It was a comical fellow, a little giant, a colossal dwarf, six hundred feet high, and should have been thrice as tall, had it had any proper development, — for out of his head grew two mis- directed skeleton legs, ' hanging down and dangling.' The counte- nance was long, elfin, sneering, solemn, as of a truculent demon, sad- dish for his trade, an ashamed, but unrepentant rascal. He had two immense, erect ears, and in his boisterous position had suffered a loss of hair, wearing nothing save an impudent scalp-lock. A very gro- tesque personage. Was he the guardian imp, the legendary Eft of Ktaadn, scoffing already at us as verdant, and warning that he would make us unhappy if we essayed to appear on Brocken heights without initiation ? ^ A terrible pooty mountain,' Cancut observed; and so it is. *'Not to fail in topographical duty, I record, that near this lakelet flows in the river Nesowadnehunk, and not far below a sister stream- let, hardly less melodiously named, Aboljackarmegas. Opposite the latter we landed and encamped, with Ktaadn full in front, and broadly visible." The gorge below Ripogenus Lake is well worth looking at, and we present our readers with several illustrations made at and below Ripo- genus. The carry begins at the east end of the lake, on the right of the outlet. After walking a mile, you descend a short hill, and, on the right, in sight from the road, is Carry Pond, formerly well filled with trout, which were taken on the farther side near a spring hole. If is now pretty well fished out, but a few are taken each season. Half a mile beyond this pond, on the road, is a large bowlder, in the middle of a small clearing, and its top commands an extensive view down the valley, with Ktaadn beyond to the left. A short distance beyond the bowlder, you cross a small brook, and on the east side a path turns off to the left, and ends at the river, where canoes are sometimes launched. Half a mile beyond the brook you reach an old river-drivers' camp; from here a path leads down to the *' Arches," another bad place in the river. A mile from here is the end of the carry. It is safer, and on the whole quicker, to '*sack" everything the whole length of the carry, than to **put in" at the mouth of the brook, on account of the dangers below; and even if these are escaped, one must lift over or carry round in three different places. Starting from the lower end of the carry, you float swiftly on, a strong current aiding you, until you reach a rocky pitch, where you will have to lift over, and three miles from the carry you reach Gulliver Pitch, or AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 201 Ambajemackomus Falls. The carry is about a third of a mile long, and is on the right. Below Gulliver Pitch begins the Horse-race," extending for nearly two miles, and within a short distance of the dead water. This is a bad piece of rapids, and perhaps one of the hibition of coolness and skill; but this dangerous run once safely made, you float out on the bulge in the river known as the Nesowadnehunk Dead Water, and paddle a mile and a half to its lower end, from where you get a splendid view off to the east of Old Ktaadn, with whom you now feel quite well 202 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE. acquainted. A good path follows the Horse-race " on the south bank of the river as far as the dead water, and there is a nice spring at the end of it. From Nesowadnehunk Dead Water, a short run brings us to the carry on the left. Be careful and not pass it, as the falls below are five feet high, and it would be dangerous to be swept over them. The carry is short, and just below it on the same side is another palat- able spring. Half a mile beyond the falls, on the left, Nesowadnehunk Stream flows in; below here for two miles is dead water, and you soon paddle its length to the mouths of Aboljackarmegas and Aboljackar- megassic, or Sandy Stream. At this point, on the right bank of the river, parties usually camp if they intend to ascend Ktaadn. And here let me say that there is not another mountain in [N'ew England, not even Mount Washington, that will pay you so well for making its ascent as Ktaadn. There is good trout fishing at the mouths of the two Abol. Streams, and eels are sometimes caught there. But if the reader is of the writer's opinion, a little fresh-water eel will go a good way. CHAPTER XIII. THE ASCENT OF 3IOUNT KTAADN — FOUR DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS. 1 HE ascent of Ktaadn is usually made by parties taking the West Branch Tour from the moutli of Sandy Stream, following the path laid down on our map. Having never made the ascent of the mountain, we relate the expe- rience of several who have. We quote the following from Springer's " For- est Life and Forest Trees: " — Our travellers, after having made the ascent of the river to the proper point, and made the necessaiy ar- I'angements for their journey up the mountain, ^ entered the slide at eight o'clock,' one morning in the early part of September, and found its ascent quite steep, * though not difficult or dangerous at all when one takes time.' ^' On almost all sides of the mountain there is a short, tangled growth of alders and white birch coming up between the rocks. These, being kept down by the winds, grow into an almost impassa- ble bramble. At a distance it has a beautiful, sm.ooth appearance, like a green, grassy hill, or what one of the company called a 'piece of oats.' The slide serves as a path up through all this tangle, reach- ing to the top of the southeastern ridge of the mountain, which is above all timber growth, making about one-third of the whole per- pendicular height of Ktaadn, to which the ascent of the brook below w^ould add another third. "Although it was hard climbing, we ascended pretty fast, and the clear morning air gave an indescribable beauty to the prospect below. 203 204 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAB LAKE The most pleasing was the constant change and variety caused by our rapid ascent. It was known that the mountain/ at this season of the year, is frequented by bears in pursuit of cranberries ; but we did not silence in hopes of obtaining a shot. I re- mained with the rear, to see all up safe. The most zealous * went ahead,' and were soon out of sight, until, near the head of the slide, we heard them from the distant topmost peaks calling out, AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 205 ^ Come on, ye braves!' At this distance they looked very small in ^ stature. From the head of the slide we turned to the left, and ascended northwest to the first and most eastern peak: by this time our conn-ades had reached the most western. AVe here paused to view our position. It is, perhaps, the most favorable spot for surveying the whole structure. From thence the principal peaks are in a curved line, going ;south-west, then west and north- west. The second peak, called by us the ' Chimney,' is near the first, but separated by a sharp cut, one hundred and fifty or two hundred feet deep, and nearly square in its form. We had seen one of our comrades upon its summit, else w^e might not have attempted the .ascent. His zeal seemed to blind him to danger, for, when questioned 206 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE on our return, lie could neither tell wJien or how he ascended. Our first plan was to pass around the base without going over the top; but this we found impossible, and were about to give up, when one pointed out a diagonal course, where, by taking a few pretty long steps, he thought we could ascend. I tried first, and succeeded, and all followed but two. From the ' Chimney ' we went from one ham- mock to another, making, on the whole, a gradual ascent, till we reached the middle of the principal peaks, a distance of nearly half a mile. There we met our comrades on their return from the western peak, and all sat down to rest. Here we found a monument that had been erected by some former visitor, but was overgrown with moss, appearing lonely, as if it had seen no relations for years. On the first and most eastern peak all the monuments which I had made the year previous looked new and fresh. It is not easy to decide which of the two (the western and middle peaks) is highest. Judgment was^ given in favor of the middle one. "While sitting on the south side of the monument, at twelve o'clock, we put the thermometer in a favorable place, and it went up to 84°. At the same time, on the north side, and six feet from us, water was freezing, and the snow dry and crusty. Near by the monu- ment a rock stood in its natural position, having a sharp peak in the top. This was the highest one of the kind. Of this about four inches were broken off, and one of the company carried it home with the conviction that we had lowered the height of Ktaadn to that amount. About two o'clock we returned to the eastern peak. It may be well to- pause here and take a resurvey of the scene thus far presented, and as much more as can be viewed from the point. "From this eastern peak a spur makes out eastward one mile. Half a mile down, however, it divides, and a branch runs to the north- east to the same distance. On the southwest, across the cut, is the ^Chimney.' From this the line of peaks and hammocks curves to the west till it reaches the middle and highest peak. From one hammock to the other there are, in all, thirty rods of narrow passes. Some of them are so narrow that a man could drop a stone from either hand, and it would go to unknown depths below. In some places the only possible way is over the top, and only one foot wide. For a great part of the time the wind blows across these passes so violently that the stones themselves have to be firmly fixed to keep their places. It seemed remarkable, as if for our convenience, that the day of our visit was still and quiet. From the middle peak the line curves to the AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 207 northwest, to the further monument. From this point a branch makes down to the southwest, having on it some extensive table- lauds, while the top ridge or curve turns directly north with the * sag.^ about equal in height to the east- ern peak of the northern wing. This is probably the highest of the northern peaks, from which a spur makes down, a little south of east, to within one quarter of a mile from the one that comes from the south- ern wing. All this nearly includes a deep basin, with walls almost per- pendicular, and in some places apparently two thousand feet high. To survey the bottom of this basin I have since made a separate 208 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE journey. It contains, perhaps, two hundred acres, covered with large square blocks of granite that seem to have come from the surrounding wall. There are in all six lakes and ponds, varying in size from two to ten acres. One of them I crossed on ice the 15tli of October. ^'Froni its outlet inward to the southwest is about a mile, where there is a small lake of clear water which has no visible outlet. So far as I can learn, I was the first human visitor to this fabled resi- dence of the Indians' Pamolah. It is not strange that a superstitious people should have many traditions of his wonderful pranks, and be kept away from close engagements with such a foe. When we reach the lake on our way to Ktaadn, it is easy to see the origin of those fears which the Indians are said to have respecting the mountain as the residence of Pamolah or Big Devil. Clouds form in the basin, and are seen whirling out in all directions. Tradition tells a ' long yarn ' about a ' handsome squaw ' among the Penobscots, who once did a great business in slaying her thousands among the young chiefs of her nation, but was finally taken by Pamolah to Ktaadn, where he now protects himself and his prize from approaching Indians with all his artillery of thunder and hail. " The Indian says that it is ^ sartin true, 'cause handsome squaw always ketch em deble; ' whether this be true or not, the basin is the birthplace of storms, and I have myself heard the roar of its winds for several miles. But on the 15th of October, when I entered it and went to the upper lake, all was still as the house of nymphs, except when we ourselves spoke, and then the thousand echoes were like the response of fairies bidding us welcome. In this way the music of our voices would find itself in the midst of a numerous choir singing a * round.'' '^The upper lake, which I visited and went around, has an inlet, a white, pearly brook, coming out nearly under the ^ Chimney ' and running a short distence through alders and meadow grass. It has no visible outlet, but on the north side it seems to ooze out among the rocks. We can trace this water-course curving to the east of north till it reaches the lower and largest lake, from which flows a brook sufficiently large for trout to run up. This brook curves to the south, running into West Branch, and is called Roaring Brook. The mountain around this basin is in the form of a horse-shoe, opening to the ncfrtheast. From the peak on the northern wing there is another deep gorge, partly encircled with a curving ridge, which some would call another basin. On the north side of this gorge there is a peak AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 209 nearly equal in height to the one on the south of it, but considerably further east, making this northern basin or open gorge open to the southeast. These two basins, from some points of view, seem to be one. From the last-mentioned peak the mountain slopes off from one peak or shoulder to another, perhaps three miles, before it reaches the timber growth. Some of the branches of the Wassataquoik come from this northern part, but some of them from the basin or southern part of Ktaadn. Eough granite, moss-covered rocks are spread over its whole sur- face from the short growth upward. Blueberries and cranberries grow far up the sides. At the time of our visit considerable snow lay on its summits and lined the walls of the great basin. The party, of course, found plenty of drink. The Avalanche Brook, having its source about the middle of the slide, furnished water pure as crystal. The ascent was attended with some danger and fatigue. But what a view when the utmost heights are gained! What a magnificent pano- rama of forests, lakes, and distant mountains! The surface of the earth, with its many tinted verdure, resembled, in form and smooth- ness, the swelling sea. In the course of the forenoon, light fogs from all the lakes ascended, and, coming to Ktaadn, intertwined themselves most fantastically above our heads, then settled down and dispersed. But what can be fitly said about the vast expanse of the heavens, to be seen from such an elevation, especially when the sun goes down, and the glowing stars appear in silent majesty? All the gorgeous, artificial brilliancy of man's invention is more than lost iu the com- parison. Ijanguage has no power to describe a scene of this nature. The height of Ktaadn above the level of the sea is five thousand three hundred feet. Its position is isolated, and its structure an immense curiosity. From its summit very few populous places are visible, so extensive is the intervening wilderness. On its sides the growth of wood is beautiful, presenting a regular variation in altitude and size all the way up to the point where it ceases. The great basin described by Mr. Keep was to none of us an infe- rior object of interest. Want of time and strength prevented our descent into it. It is open to general inspection from all the heights around it. The day being quiet, the view was divested of much of its terror; but we could readily believe it the abode of all the furies in a storm, and where the polar monarch has his chief residence in Maine. We called to each other across t'lie basin, and echo answered ' Where! ' in earnest. The air was exhilarating, as may be supposed, but the effect not as sensible as we anticipated. 210 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE The whole party returned to the head of the slide at three o'clock and engaged in picking cranberries. These grow on all parts of the mountain above'the timber region, and no doubt annually yield many thousand bushels. ' They grow on vines among the rocks, and are commonly called the mountain or highland cranberry. They are smaller than the meadow cranberry, but of a better flavor.' At four o'clock six of the party went down to the camp to pre- pare fuel for the Sabbath. Our guide and the gunner remained at the head of the slide all night, and kept a fire with old roots ; yet it was presumed that they had now and then a little cold comfort. The result of their stay is thus set forth by Mr. Keep : — * On Sabbath morning the eastern horizon was clear of clouds, and we looked anxiously for the sun. Just before it came up, a bright streak appeared of silver whiteness, like the reflected light of the moon. We could see the further outline of land quite plain, and for a short distance beyond was this silvery streak. Soon a small arc of the sun appeared above this bright line. I was hardly able to con- trol my emotions while the whole came in sight. On Saturday night, about sundown, our view of the country around was more distinct and enchanting, — a boundless wilderness in all directions, much of the view being south of the lakes. Of the latter, not far from two hun- dred are to be seen dotting the landscape. In one of them we can count one hundred islands. Soon after sunrise on Sabbath morning we went down to the camp to spend the day with the company.' That holy morning found us refreshed, and somewhat prepared to appreciate our peculiar circumstances. The weather was charm- ing. The air resounded with the pleasing murmur of the Avalanche Brook, as it flowed down over its bed of rocksf nor was the song of birds denied us. Gentle breezes stirred the beautiful foliage of the circling woods. Impressive stillness reigned, and the whole scene was adapted to waken happy and exuberant emotions. ^' Early we mounted some rock on the bank of the stream toward the rising sun, and overlooking a vast region of country, and there poured forth sacred melody to our hearts' content. The echo was glorious. Yerily we thought our ' feet were set in a large place; ' and we could readily imagine that the wide creation had found a tongue with which our own exulted in unison. At the hour appointed we assembled in the camp, and engaged in the exercises of a religious conference. It was good to be there, and we enjoyed the experience. The day, the place, the topics of re- AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 211 marks, the songs of Zion, — all encircled by a kind Providence, and made effective by the presence of God, will ever be worthy of a grate- ful remembrance. In the afternoon, by request, Rev. Mr. Munsell addressed us from the 11th verse of the 145th Psalm: * They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power.' Our position added deep inter- est to the theme of discourse, and naturally furnished much ground for illustration. Indeed, the entire services of the day were attended with peculiar influences, being had under circumstances so widely different from the ordinary life of the company. That Sabbath was our delight, even in the face of a possible defi- ciency in food. But the course adopted imparted bodily rest and a peaceful mind. *'We had travelled with burdens on our backs twenty-five miles, crossed several streams, climbed rough hills, walked on rocky places, tumbled over huge trunks of fallen trees, crowded through plenty of jungle, waded the Avalanche Brook, — and all this in forbidding weather; but, aside from the glorious view on the summit of Ktaadn, our toil found its recompense in the novelty and influence of a Sab- bath observance on such an elevation, and amid the wild scenes and solitudes of a mountain forest. Scarcity of food, and the engagements of some of the party, made it necessary on Monday morning to start for home. We left the camp about half-past nine, following down the brook to the point from whence we ascended, and then direct to the lake. '''At this time,' says our guide, 'we fell into much confusion on account of two of the company who were missing, the gunner and Mr. Meservey, for whom we made search, but in vain. Few can imagine our feelings save those who have heard the cry of lost coming up from the deep gloom of the wilderness in the native tone of some wanderer calling for help. After consultation, it was resolved that we must leave the ground for home, hoping for the best. We left at one, and came to the lake at four p.m., and here, to our great joy, we saw a smoke on the opposite side, near the outlet, and at five rejoined our missing companions. They had caught trout enough for us all, weighing from one to three pounds. With these, and cranberry sauce in plenty, also bread, pork, and tea, we made merry around a cheer- ful fire. That night, however, a storm of rain coming up, found us poorly prepared.' '' In this connection an incident may be related. Just before our 212 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE arrival, while the gunner was fishing, suddenly two moose bounded furiously into the lake, and appeared to be swimming toward him. Though all along desirous of an interview, their visit was rather too startling. He scampered with all haste to the shore, seized his gun and fired, but the balls would not go through the * law,^ which, at that season, afforded protection, and so the moose escaped. The night just referred to was a time of realities. Truth proved * stranger than fiction.' Amid anxiety for the lost, the axe had been left on the mountain. A pile of logs lay near the outlet of the lake. With some of these our missing companions had made a fire; some formed the floor of the camp, and others, used as rafters, were cov- ered with boughs for protection, but not from rain. On the above floor (the spot allowing no other), no boughs at hand could make a downy bed. Every one found out that he was composed of flesh and bones. It also became difficult to regulate the fire, so that the heat was often mtense. Contrary winds would ever and anon drive the smoke into the camp, and thus cause great involuntary weeping. The scene was felt, and few could find sleep without stealing it. It was visible darkness all around. Toward midnight the rain commenced. One of the party, writing to another from Lincoln in December, says, * Old Mount Ktaadn from this place looks dreary enough. Its snow- capped top often reminds me of our amusing adventures; but nothing in all our travels affords more amusement in moments of meditation than the night on the Pond Dam. That old plaid cloak, dripping in the rain; its occupant upon a log without the camp, singing, **The morning light is breaking," when it was only one o'clock; and then again, " He shall come down like rain," etc., — all together have left an impression on my mind not soon to be effaced.' The occupant of that * cloak,' unable to sleep, conversed with the * daughters of music,' and was prompted to sing the night out and the morning in; and as the rain increased, the whole crew joined heartily in the chorus. Our departure from such lodgings was very early. Beneath continual droppings from the trees and bushes, we pressed through an obstinate pathway, and arrived at the Wassata- quoik camp at half-past nine. This march was really toilsome, but brought us out at the desired point. After a long rest, we followed the old supply road most of the way, forded the Wassataquoik, and came out opposite Mr. Hunt's, whence the bateaux took us across the East Branch at a little past four o'clock in the afternoon. Our ap- AND NOETH MAINE WILDERNESS. 213 pearance was far from beardless, our * externals ' somewhat ragged and torn, and our appetites keen as a ' Damascus razor.' and family received us most cordially, having felt some anxiety in our absence. They made us joyful around a full table of good things. On the day following, Wednes- day, we passed to Mr. C us h man's, and on Thursday took conveyances for home." ' Mine host ' Another visitor, Dr. Jackson, to this point of attraction observes : — While I was engaged in noting the bearings of this mountain, the clouds suddenly darted down upon its summit, and concealed it from view, while we could observe that a violent snow-squall was paying 214 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAI) LAKE homage to Pomola, the demon of the mountain. Presently the storm ceased, and the clouds, having thus paid their tribute, passed on, and left the mountain white with snow. This took place on the 20th of September. " Crossing the lake, — * Millnoket, a most beautiful sheet of water, containing a great number of small islands, from which circumstance it takes its name,' — we reached the carrying-place at the head of a long creek, where we pitched our camp amid a few poplar trees, which were of second growth, or have sprung up since the forests were burned. The want of good fuel and of boughs for a bed was severely felt, since we were obliged to repose on naked rocks, and the green poplar trees appeared to give more smoke than fire. The night was cold, and the wind violent, so that sleep was out of the question. Early in the morning we prepared to carry our boats over to Ambajejus Lake, and the labor was found very difficult, since the water was low, and we had to traverse a long tract of boggy land before reaching the other lake. Tracks of moose and caribou abound in the mud, since they fre- quent the shallow parts of the lake, to feed upon the lily-pads or the leaves of the Nuphar lutea, which here abound. A noble-looking caribou suddenly started from the woods, and trotted quietly along the shores of the lake quite near us; but we were not prepared to take him, and he presently darted into the forest and disappeared. Our provisions having been reduced, owing to the circumstance that our journey proved much longer than we had anticipated, I thought it necessary to put the whole party on a regular allowance, which was mutually agreed to. Our Indian, Neptune, succeeded in catching half a dozen musquash, which we were glad to share with him, and a few trout which v/ere also taken, and served to save a portion of our more substantial food. At Pock-wock-anms Falls, where the river rushes over a ledge of granite, large trout are caught abundantly, and we stopped a short time to obtain a supply. They are readily taken with a common fishing-hook and line, baited with a piece of pork, or even with a slip of paper, which is to be trailed over the surface of the water. Some of the trout thus caught would weigh from three and a half to four pounds. On the 22d of September we prepared ourselves for ascending the mountain, taking with us our tent, a few cooking utensils, and all the food remaining, except a small quantity of Indian corn-meal, which we concealed on the island for use on our return. AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 215 "Our party, all clothed with red flannel shirts, and loaded with our various equipments, made a singular appearance as we landed on the opposite shore and filed into the woods. Having reached a height where the forest-trees were so diminu- tive that we could not camp any higher up for want of fuel, we pitched our tent. This place is about half-way up the mountain. From it we have an extensive view of the surrounding country. *' Leaving our camp on the mountain side the next morning at seven o'clock, we set out for the summit of Ktaadn, travelling steadily up the slide, clambering over loose bowlders of granite, trap, and gray- wacke, which are heaped up in confusion along its course. We at length reached a place where it was dangerous longer to walk on the loose rocks, and, passing over to the right-hand side, clambered up among the dwarfish bushes that cling to the side of the mountain. *' Two of our party became discouraged on reaching this point, and, there being no necessity of their accompanying us, they were allowed to return to camp. The remainder of our ascent was extremely diffi- cult, and required no small perseverance. Our Indian guide, Louis, placed stones along the path, in order that we might more readily find the way down the mountain, and the wisdom of this precaution was fully manifested in the sequel. At ten o' clock we reached the table- land which forms the mountain's top, and ascends gradually to the central peak. Here the wind and driving snow and hail rendered it almost impossible to proceed, but we at length reached the central peak. The true altitude of Mount Ktaadn, above the level of the sea, is a little more than one mile perpendicular elevation. It is, then, evidently the highest point in the State of Maine, and is the most abrupt granite mountain in New England. " Amid a furious snow-storm we set out on our return from this region of clouds and snow. Louis declared that Pomola was angry with us for presuming to measure the height of the mountain, and thus revenged himself. ' Descending, we had nearly gone astray, and might have descended on the wrong side, had it not been for the pre- caution of Louis, before named. Clouds and darkness hung upon the mountain's brow, and the cold blasts almost deprived us of breath. Incrusted with snow, we carefully slid upon the surface of the rocks.' * We tumbled down some large blocks of granite, that descended with a terrible fracas, dashing the rocks into fragments as they bounded along.' 'Our party encamped upon the mountain side, and passed a sleepless night, without food, and amid a driving snow-storm.' 216 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE Early next morning we struck our tent and descended the moun- tain; but so enfeebled had we become by hunger, privations, and fatigue, that it was with difficulty we could carry ourselves and bur- dens. Every now and then our knees would give way beneath us, and cause us to fall upon the ground. When we reached the base of the mountain, we discovered some wild choke-cherries hanging in bunches from the trees, which the bears had often climbed and broken for the fruit. Felling one of these cherry-trees, we ate the astringent fruit, and were in some measure resuscitated in strength, so as to march with renewed vigor. A bed of blueberries also presented itself, and we stopped to dine upon them. ' Proceeding on, we met two of our company, who had passed down the night before, who had cooked all the Indian meal that we had left at our old camp on the island, and brought the cakes for our relief. On our way down the river we for- tunately met two young men ascending the stream in a canoe, on an exploring expedition. We induced them to sell us twenty biscuits, which being two to a man, on short allowance, we hoped to be able to reach Nickatow. On our way down we met another crew, who supplied us with the necessary rations to reach Nickatow, where, on our arrival, we obtained all that was necessary for the comfortable prosecution of our down-river journey.' " We give another account, written by Thoreau, who says : — By six o'clock, having mounted our packs and a good blanketful of trout, ready dressed, and swung up such baggage and provision as we wished to leave behind, upon the tops of saplings, to be out of the reach of bears, we started for the summit of the mountain, distant, as Uncle George said the boatmen called it, about four miles, but as I judged, and as it proved, nearer fourteen. He had never been any nearer the mountain than this, and there was not the slightest trace of man to guide us farther in this direction. At first, pushing a few rods up the Aboljacknagesic, or ' open -land stream,' we fastened our bateau to a tree, and travelled up the north side, through burnt lands, now partially overgrown with young aspens and other shrubbery ; but soon, recrossing this stream, w^here it was about fifty or sixty feet wide, upon a jam of logs and rocks, — and you could cross it by this means almost anywhere, — we struck at once for the highest peak, over a mile or more of comparatively open land, still very gradually ascending the while. Here it fell to my lot, as the oldest mountain- climber, to take the lead. So, scanning the woody side of the moun- tain, which lay still at an indefinite distance, stretched out some seven iMOUNTAIN BROOK. AND NOKTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 219 or eight miles in length before us, we determined to steer directly for the base of the highest peak, leaving a large slide, by which, as I have since learned, some of our predecessors ascended, on our left. This course would lead us parallel to a dark seam in the forest, which marked the bed of a torrent, and over a slight spur, which extended southward from the main mountain, from whose bare summit we could get an outlook over the country, and climb directly up the peak, which would then be close at hand. Seen from this point, a bare ridge at the extremity of the open land, Ktaadn presented a different aspect from any mountain I have seen, there being a greater portion of naked rock rising abruptly from the forest; and we looked up at this blue barrier as if it were some fragment of a wall which anciently bounded the earth in that direction. Setting the compass for a north- east course, which was the bearing of the soutliern base of the highest peak, we were soon buried in the woods. " We soon began to meet with traces of bears and moose, and those of rabbits were everywhere visible. The tracks of moose, more or less recent, to speak literally, covered every square rod on the sides of the mountain; and these animals are probably more numerous there now than ever before, being driven into this wilderness, from all sides, by the settlements. The track of a full-grown moose is like that of a cow, or larger, and of the young, like that of a calf. Sometimes we found ourselves travelling in faint paths, which they had made, like cow-paths in the woods, only far more indistinct, being rather open- ings, affording imperfect vistas through the dense underwood, than trodden paths ; and everywhere the twigs had been browsed by them, clipped as smoothly as if by a knife. The bark of trees was stripped up by them to the height of eight or nine feet, in long, narrow strips, an inch wide, still showing the distinct marks of their teeth. We ex- pected nothing less than to meet a herd of them every moment, and our Nimrod held his shooting-iron in readiness; but we did not go out of our way to look for them, and, though numerous, they are so wary that the unskilful hunter might range the forest a long time before he could get sight of one. They are sometimes dangerous to encounter, and will not turn out for the hunter, but furiously rush upon him and trample him to death, unless he is lucky enough to avoid them by dodging round a tree. The largest are nearly as large as a horse, and weigh sometimes one thousand pounds ; and it is said that they can step over a five-feet gate in their ordinary walk. They are described as exceedingly awkward-looking animals, with their long legs and short 220 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE bodies, making a ludicrous figure when in full run, but making great headway nevertheless. It seemed a mystery to us how they could tread these woods, which it required all our suppleness to accomplish, — climbing, stooping, and winding alternately. They are said to drop their long and branching horns, which usually spread five or six feet, on their backs, and make their way easily by the weight of their bodies. Our boatman said, but I know not with how much truth, that their horns are apt to be gnawed away by vermin while they sleep. Their flesh, which is more like beef than venison, is common in the Bangor market. " We had proceeded on thus seven or eight miles, till about noon, with fi-equent pauses to refresh the weary ones, crossing a considera- ble mountain stream, which we conjectured to be Murch Brook, at whose mouth we had camped, all the time in woods, without having once seen the summit, and rising very gradually, when the boatmen beginning to despair a little, and fearing that we were leaving the mountain on one side of us, for they had not entire faith in the com- pass, McCauslin climbed a tree, from the top of which he could see the peak, when it appeared that we had not swerved from a right line, the compass down below still ranging with his arm, which pointed to the summit. By the side of a cool mountain rill, amid the woods, where the water began to partake of the purity and transparency of the air, we stopped to cook some of our fishes, which we had brought thus far in order to save our hard bread and pork, in the use of which we had put ourselves on short allowance. We soon had a fire blazing, and stood around it, under the damp and sombre forest of firs and birches, each with a sharpened stick, three or four feet in length, upon which he had spitted his trout, or roach, previously well gashed and salted, our sticks radiating like the spokes of a wheel from one centre, and each crowding his particular fish into the most desirable exposure, not with the truest regard always to his neighbor's rights. Thus we regaled ourselves, drinking meanwhile at the spring, till one man's pack, at least, was considerably lightened, when we again took up our line of march. " At length we reached an elevation sufficiently bare to afford a view of the summit, still distant and blue, almost as if retreating from us. A torrent, which proved to be the same we had crossed, was seen tumbling down in front, literally from out of the clouds. But this glimpse at our whereabouts was soon lost, and we were buried in the woods again. The wood was chiefly yellow birch, spruce, fir, moun- AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 221 tain-ash, or round-wood, as the Maine people call it, and moose-wood. It was the worst kind of travelling, sometimes like the densest scrub- oak patches, with us. The cornel, or bunch-berries, were very abun- dant, as well as Solomon's seal and moose-berries. Blueberries were distributed along our whole route: and in one place the bushes were drooping with the weight of the fruit, still as fresh as ever. It was the 7th of September. Such patches afforded a grateful repast, and served to bait the tired party forward. When any lagged behind the cry of * blueberi ies ' was most effectual to bring them up. Even at this elevation we passed through a moose-yard formed by a large, flat rock, four or five rods square, where they tread down the snow in winter. At length, fearing tliat if we held the direct course to the summit, we should not find any water near our camping-ground, we gradually swerved to the west, till, at four o'clock, we struck again the torrent which I have mentioned, and here, in view of tlie summit, the weary party decided to camp that night. AVhile my companions were seeking a suitable spot for this pur- pose, I improved the little daylight that was left in climbing the mountain alone. We were in a deep and narrow ravine, sloping up to the clouds, at an angle of nearly forty-five degrees, and hemmed in by walls of rock, which were at first covered w^ith low trees, then with impenetrable thickets of scraggy birches and spruce-trees, and with moss, but at last bare of all vegetation but lichens, and almost con- tinually draped in clouds. Following up the course of the torrent which occupied this, — and I mean to lay some emphasis on this word up, — pulling myself up by the side of perpendicular falls of twenty or thirty feet, by the roots of firs and birches, and then, perhaps, walking a level rod or two in the thin stream, — for it took up the w^hole road, ascending by huge steps, as it were, a giant's stairway, down which a river flowed, — I had soon cleared the trees, and paused, on the successive shelves, to look back over the country. The torrent was from fifteen to thirty feet wide, without a tributary, and seem- ingly not diminishing in breadth as I advanced; but still it came rush- ing and roaring down, with a copious tide, over and amidst masses of bare rock, from the very clouds, as though a w^ater-spout had just burst over the mountain. Leaving tliis at last, I began to work my way, scarcely less arduous than Satan's anciently through Chaos, up the nearest, thougli not the highest, peak. At first scrambling on all- fours over the top of ancient black spruce-trees {Abies nigra) old as the flood, from two to ten or twelve feet in height, their tops flat and 222 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE spreading, and their foliage blue, and nipped with cold, as if for cen- turies they had ceased growing upward against the bleak sky, the solid cold, I walked some good rods erect upon the tops of these trees, which were overgrown with moss and mountain-cranberries. It seemed that in the course of time they had filled up the intervals be- tween the huge rocks, and the cold wind had uniformly levelled all over. Here the principle of vegetation was hard put to it. There was apparently a belt of this kind running quite round the mountain, though, perhaps, nowhere so remarkable as here. Once, slumping through, I looked down ten feet, into a dark and cavernous region, and saw the stem of a spruce, on whose top I stood, as on a mass of coarse basket-work, fully nine inches in diameter at the ground. These holes were bears' dens, and the bears were even then at home. This was the sort of garden I made my way over, for an eighth of a mile, at the risk, it is true, of treading on some of the plants, not seeing any path through it, — certainly the most treacherous and porous country I ever travelled. But nothing could exceed the tough- ness of the twigs; not one snapped under my weight, for they had slowly grown. Having slumped, scrambled, rolled, bounced, and walked, by turns, over this scraggy country, I arrived upon a side-hill, or rather side-mountain, where rocks, gray, silent rocks, were the flocks and herds that pastured, chewing a rocky cud at sunset. They looked at me with hard gray eyes, without a bleat or a low. This brought me to the skirt of a cloud, and bounded my walk that night. But I had already seen that Maine country when I turned about, wav- ing, flowing, rippling, down below. When I returned to my companions, they had selected a camp- ing-ground on the torrent's edge, and were resting on the ground; one was on the sick-list, rolled in a blanket, on a damp shelf of rock. It was a savage and dreary scene enough; so wildly rough that they looked long to find a level and open space for the tent. We could not well camp higher, for want of fuel, and the trees there seemed so evergreen and sappy, that we almost doubted if they would acknowl- edge the influence of fire ; but fire prevailed at last, and blazed here, too, like a good citizen of the world. Even at this height we met frequent traces of moose, as well as of bears. As here was no cedar, we made our bed of coarser feathered spruce; but at any rate the feathers were plucked from the live tree. It was, perhaps, even a more grand and desolate place for a night's lodging than the summit would have been, being in the neighborhood of those wild trees, and AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 223 of the torrent. Some more aerial and finer-spirited winds rushed and roared through tlie ravine all night, from time to time arousing our fire, and dispersing the embers about. It was as if we lay in the very nest of a young whirlwind. At midnight, one of my bed-fellows, being startled in his dreams by the sudden blazing up to its top of a fir-tree, whose green boughs were dried by the heat, sprang up, with a cry, from his bed, thinking the w^orld on fire, and drew^ the whole camp after him. " In the morning, after whetting our appetite on some raw pork, a wafer of hard bread, and a dipper of condensed cloud or waterspout, we all together began to make our way up the falls, wiiich I have described; this time choosing the right-hand, or highest peak, which was not the one I had approached before. But soon my companions were lost to my sight behind the mountain ridge in my rear, which still seemed ever retreating before me, and I climbed alone over huge rocks, loosely poised, a mile or more, still edging towards the clouds; for though the day was clear elsewhere, the summit was concealed by mist. The mountain seemed a vast aggregation of loose rocks, as if some time it had rained rocks, and they lay as they fell on the mountain sides, nowhere fairly at rest, but leaning on each other, all rocking-stones, with cavities between, but scarcely any soil or smoother shelf. They were the raw materials of a planet dropped from an unseen quarry, which the vast chemistry of nature would anon work up, or work down, into the smiling and verdant plains and valleys of earth. This w^as an undone extremity of the globe; as in lignite we see coal in the process of formation. At length I entered within the skirts of the cloud which seemed forever drifting over the summit, and yet would never be gone, but was generated out of that pure air as fast as it flowed away; and when, a quarter of a mile farther, I reached the summit of the ridge, which those who have seen in clearer w^eather say is about five miles long, and contains a thousand acres of table-land, I was deep within the hostile ranks of clouds, and all objects were obscured by them. Now the wind would blow me out a yard of clear sunlight, wherein I stood; then a gray, dawning light was all it could accomplish, the cloud-line ever rising and falling with the wind's intensity. Some- times it seemed as if the summit would be cleared in a few moments, and smile in sunshine; but what was gained on one side was lost on another. It was like sitting in a chimney and w^aiting for the smoke to blow away. It was, in fact, a cloud -factory; these w^ere the 224 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE cloud-works, and the wind turned them off done from the cool, bare rocks. Occasionally, when the windy columns broke in to me, I caught and me. It reminded me of the creations of the old epic and dra- AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 225 matic poets, of Atlas, Vulcan, the Cyclops, and Prometheus. Such was Caucasus and the rock where Prometheus was bound, ^schy- lus had no doubt visited such scenery as this. It was vast, Titanic, and such as man never inhabits. Some part of the beholder, even some vital part, seems to escape through the loose grating of his ribs as he ascends. He is more lone than you can imagine. There is less of substantial thought and fair understanding in him than in the plains where men inhabit. His reason is dispersed and shadowy, more thin and subtle, like the air. Vast, Titanic, inhu- man Nature has got him at disadvantage, caught him alone, and pilfers him of some of his divine faculty. She does not smile on him as in the plains. She seems to say sternly. Why came ye here before your time ? This ground is not prepared for you. Is it not enough that I smile in the valleys ? I have never made this soil for thy feet, this air for thy breathing, these rocks for thy neighbors. I cannot pity nor fondle thee here, but forever relent- lessly drive thee hence to where I am kind. Why seek me where I have not called thee, and then complain because you find me but a stepmother ? Shouldst thou freeze or starve, or shudder thy life away, here is no shrine, nor altar, nor any access to my ear. *'The tops of mountains are among the unfinished parts of the globe, whither it is a slight insult to the gods to climb and pry into their secrets, and try their effect on our humanity. Only daring and insolent men, perchance, go there. Simple races, as savages, do not climb mountains; their tops are sacred and mysterious tracts never visited by them. Pomola is always angry with those who climb to the summit of Ktaadn. According to .Jackson, who, in his capacity of geological surveyor of the State, has accurately measured it, the altitude of Ktaadn is five thousand three hundred feet, or a little more than one mile above the level of the sea; and he adds, ' It is then evidently the highest point in the State of Maine, and is the most abrupt granite mountain in New England.' The peculiarities of that spacious table-land on which I was standing, as well as the remarkable semicircular preci- pice or basin on the eastern side, were all concealed by the mist. I had brought my whole pack to the top, not knowing but I should have to make my descent to the river, and possibly to the settled por- tion of the State alone, and by some other route, and wishing to have a complete outfit with me. But at length, fearing that my compan- ions would be anxious to reach the river before night, and knowing 226 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE that the clouds might rest on the mountain for days, I was compelled to descend. Occasionally, as I came down, the wind would blow me a vista open, through which I could see the country eastward, bound- less forests, and lakes, and streams, gleaming in the sun, some of them emptying into the East Branch. There were also new moun- tains in sight in that direction. Now and then some small bird of the sparrow family would flit away before me, unable to command its course, like a fragment of the gray rock blown off by the wind. I found my companions where I had left them, on the side of the peak, gathering the mountain cranberries, which filled every crevice between the rocks, together with blueberries, which had a spicier flavor the higher up they grew, but were not the less agreeable to our palates. When the country is settled, and roads are made, these cran- berries will perhaps become an article of commerce. From this eleva- tion, just on the skirts of the clouds, we could overlook the country, west and south, for a hundred miles. There it was in the State of Maine, which we had seen on the map, but not much like that, — immeasurable forest for the sun to shine on, that eastern stuff we hear of in Massachusetts. No clearing, no house. It did not look as if a solitary traveller had cut so much as a walking-stick there. Count- less lakes, — Moosehead in the southwest, forty miles long by ten wide, like a gleaming silver platter at the end of the table; Chesun- cook, eighteen long by three wide, without an island; Millinocket, on the south, with its hundred islands; and a hundred others without a name; and mountains also, whose names, for the most part, are known only to the Indians. The forest looked like a firm grass sward, and the effect of these lakes in its midst has been well compared by one who has since visited this same spot, to that of a * mirror broken into a thousand fragments, and wildly scattered over the grass, reflect- ing the full blaze of the sun.' It was a large farm for somebody, when cleared. According to the Gazetteer, which was printed before the boundary question was settled, this single Penobscot County, in which we were, was larger than the whole State of Vermont, with its four- teen counties; and this was only a part of the wild lands of Maine. We are concerned now, however, about natural, not political limits. We were about eighty miles, as the bird flies, from Bangor, or one hundred and fifteen, as we had rode, and walked, and paddled. We had to console ourselves with the reflection that this view was proba- bly as good as that from the peak, as far as it went; and what were a mountain without its attendant clouds and mists ? Like ourselves, AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 22T neither Bailey nor Jackson liad obtained a clear view from the summit. Setting out on our return to the river, still at an early hour in the day, we decided to follow the course of the torrent, which we sup- posed to be Murch Brook, as long as it would not lead us too far out of our way. We thus travelled about four miles in the very torrent itself, continually crossing and recrossing it, leaping from rock to rock, and jumping with the stream down falls of seven or eight feet, or sometimes sliding down on our back in a thin sheet of water. This ravine had been the scene of an extraordinary freshet in the spring, apparently accompanied by a slide from the mountain. It must have been filled with a stream of stones and water, at least twenty feet above the i)resent level of the torrent. For a rod or two, on either side of its channel, the trees were barked and splintered up to their tops, the birches bent over, twisted, and sometimes finely split, like a stable-broom; some, a foot in diameter, snapped off, and whole clumps of trees bent over with the weight of rocks piled on them. In one place we noticed a rock, two or three feet in diameter, lodged nearly twenty feet high in the crotch of a tree. For the whole four miles we saw but one rill emptying in, and the volume of water did not seem to be increased from the first. We travelled thus very rapidly with a downward impetus, and grew remarkably expert at leaping from rock to rock, for leap we must, and leap we did, whether there was any rock at the right distance or not. It was a pleasant picture when the foremost turned about and looked up the winding ravine, walled in with rocks and the green forest, to see, at intervals of a rod or two, a red-shirted or green-jacketed mountaineer against the white torrent, leaping down the channel with his pack on his back, or pausing upon a convenient rock in the midst of the torrent to mend a rent in his clothes, or unstrap the dipper at his belt to take a draught of the water. At one place we were startled by seeing, on a little sandy shelf by the side of the stream, the fresh print of a man's foot, and for a moment realized how Robinson Crusoe felt in a simi- lar case ; but at last we remembered that we had struck this stream on our way up, though we could not have told where, and one had de- scended into the ravine for a drink. The cool air above, and the con- tinual bathing of our bodies in mountain water, alternate foot, sitz, douche, and plunge baths, made this walk exceedingly refreshing; and we had travelled only a mile or two, after leaving the torrent, before every thread of our clothes was as dry as usual, owing, perhaps, to a peculiar quality in the atmosphere. 228 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE " After leaving the torrent, being in doubt about our course, Tom threw down his pack at the foot of the loftiest spruce-tree at hand, and shinned up the bare trunk, some twenty feet, and tlien climbed through the green tower, lost to our sight, until he held the topmost spray in his hand. McCauslin, in his younger days, had marched through the wilderness with a body of troops, under General Somebody, and, with one other man, did all the scouting and spying service. The general's word was, ' Throw down the top of that tree,' and there was no tree in the Maine woods so high that it did not lose its top in such a case. I have heard a story of two men being lost once in these woods, nearer to the settlements than this, who climbed the loftiest pine they could find, some six feet in diameter at the ground, from whose top they discovered a solitary clearing and its smoke. When at this height, some two hundred feet from the ground, one of them became dizzy, and fainted in his companion's arms, and the latter had to ac- complish the descent with him, alternately fainting and reviving, as best he could. To Tom we cried, ' Where away does the summit bear ? where the burnt lands ? ' The last he could only conjecture ; he described, however, a little meadow and pond, lying probably in our course, which we concluded to steer for. On reaching this se- cluded meadow, we found fresh tracks of moose on the shore of the pond, and the water was still unsettled as if they had fled before us. A little farther, in a dense thicket, we seemed still to be on their trail. It was a small meadow, of a few acres, on the mountain-side, concealed by the forest, and perhaps never seen by a white man before, where one would think that the moose might browse and bathe, and rest in peace. Pursuing this course, we soon reached the opeji land, which went sloping down some miles toward the Penobscot. Perhaps I most fully realized that this was primeval, untamed, and forever untamable Nature, or whatever else men call it, while coming down this part of the mountain. We w^ere passing over ' Burnt Lands,' burnt by lightning, perchance, though they showed no recent marks of fire, hardly so much as a charred stump, but looked rather like a natural pasture for the moose and deer, exceedingly wild and desolate, with occasional strips of timber crossing them, and low pop- lars springing up, and patches of blueberries here and there. I found myself traversing them familiarly, like some pasture run to waste, or partially reclaimed by man; but when I reflected what man, what brother, or sister, or kinsman of our race made it and claimed it, I expected the proprietor to rise up and dispute my passage. It is diffi- AND NOKTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 229 cult to conceive of a region uninhabited by man. We habitually pre- sume his presence and influence everyvvliere. And yet we have not seen pure Nature, unless we have seen her thus vast and drear and in- human, though in the midst of cities. Nature was here something savage and awful, though beautiful. I looked with awe at the ground I trod on, to see what the Powers had made there, the form and fash- ion and the material of their woriv. This was that Earth of which we have heard, made out of Chaos and Old Night. Here was no man's garden, but the unhandselled globe. It was not lawn, nor pasture, nor mead, nor woodland, nor lea, nor arable, nor waste land. It was the fresh and natural surface of the planet Earth, as it was made for ever and ever, to be the dwelling of man, we say ; so Nature made it, and man may use it if he can. Man was not to be associated with it. It was Maiter, vast, terrific, — not his Mother Earth that we have heard of, not for him to tread on, or to be buried in, —no, it were being too familiar even to let his bones lie there, — the home, this, of Necessity and Fate. There was there felt the presence of a force not bound to be kind to man. It was a place for heathenism and supersti- tious rites, — to be inhabited by men nearer of kin to the rocks and to wild animals tlian we. We walked over it with a certain awe, stop- ping from time to time to pick the blueberries which grew there, and had a smart and spicy taste. Perchance where our wild pines stand, and leaves lie on their forest floor, in Concord, there were once reapers, and husbandmen planted grain; but here not even the sur- face had been scarred by man, but it was a specimen of what God saw fit to make this world. AYliat is it to be admitted to a museum, to see a myriad of particular things, compared with being shown some star's surface, some hard matter in its home! I stand in awe of my body, this matter to which I am bound has become so strange to me. I fear not spirits, ghosts, of which I am one, — that my body might, — but I fear bodies, I tremble to meet them. What is this Titan that has possession of me? Talk of mysteries! Think of our life in nature; daily to be shown matter, to come in contact with it, — rocks, trees, wind on our cheeks! the solid earth! the actual world! the common sense! Contact! Contact! Who Sive we? ivhere ^ive we ? " Erelong we recognized some rocks and other features in the land- scape which we had purposely impressed on our memories, and, quick- ening our pace, by two o'clock we reached the bateau. Here we had expected to dine on trout, but in this glaring sunlight they were slow to take the bait, so we were compelled to make the most of the crumbs 230 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE of our hard bread and our pork, which were both nearly exhausted. Meanwhile we deliberated whether we should go up the river a mile farther, to Gibson's clearing, on the Nesowadnehunk, where there was a deserted log-hut, in order to get a half-inch auger, to mend one of our spike-poles with. There were young spruce-trees enough around us, and we had a spare spike, but nothing to make a hole with. But as it was uncertain whether we should find any tools left there, we patched up the broken pole as well as we could for the downward voyage, in which there would be but little use for it. Moreover, we were unwilling to lose any time in this expedition, lest the wind should rise before we reached the larger lakes, and detain us; for a moderate wind produces quite a sea on these waters, in which a bateau will not live for a moment; and on one occasion McCauslin had been delayed a week at the head of the North Twin, which is only four miles across. We were nearly out of provisions, and ill-prepared in this respect for what might possibly prove a week's journey round by the shore, fording innumerable streams and threading a trackless forest, should any accident happen to our boat." We give still another account of the ascent of Ktaadn by Winthrop, before alluded to, the four sketches thoroughly covering the subject: — ^'Kext morning, when we awoke, just before the gray of dawn, the sky was clear and scintillating; but there was a white-cotton nightcap on the head of Ktaadn. As w^e inspected him, he drew his nightcap down farther, hinting that he did not wish to see the sun that day. When a mountain is thus in the sulks after a storm, it is as well not to disturb him; he will not offer the prize of a view. Experience taught us this; but then experience is only an empiric at the best. ^'Besides, whether Ktaadn were bareheaded or cloud-capped, it would be better to blunder upward than lounge all day in camp, and eat Sybaritic dinners. We longed for the nervy climb. We must have it. ^Up,' said tingling blood to brain. 'Dash through the forest! Grasp the crag, and leap the cleft! Sweet flash forth the streamlets from granite fissures. To breathe the winds that smite the peaks is life.' '' As soon as dawn bloomed in the woods we breakfasted, and ferried the river before sunrise. The ascent subdivides itself into five zones. 1. A scantily wooded acclivity, where bears abound. 2. A dense, swampy forest region. 3. Steep, mossy mountain-side, heavily wooded. 4. A belt of dwarf spruces, nearly impenetrable. 5. Ragged rock. '' Cancut was our leader to-day. There are by far too many blue- AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 231 berries in the first zone. No one, of course, intends to dally, but the purple beauties tempted, and too often we were seduced. Still such yielding spurred us on to hastier speed, when we looked up after delay and saw the self-denying far ahead. *'To write an epic or climb a mountain is merely a dogged thing; the result is more interesting to most than the process. Mountains, being cloud-compellers, are rain-shedders, and the shed-water will not always flow with decorous gayety in dell or glen. Sometimes it stays bewildered in a bog, and here the climber must plunge. In the moist places great trees grow, die, fall, rot, and barricade the way with their corpses. Ktaadn has to endure all the ills of mountain being, and we had all the usual difficulties to fight through doggedly. When we were clumsy, we tumbled and rose up torn. Still we plodded on, fol- lowing a patli blazed by the Bostonians, — Cancut's late charge, — and we grumblingly thanked them. *' Going up, we got higher and drier. The mountain-side became steeper than it could stay, and several land-avalanches, ancient or modern, crossed our path. It would be sad to think that all the eternal hills were crumbling thus outwardly, unless we knew that they bubble lip inwardly as fast. Posterity is thus cared for in regard to the pictu- resque. Cascading streams also shot by us, carrying light and music. From them we stole refreshment, and did not find the w^aters mineral and astringent, as Mr. Turner, the first climber, calunmiously asserts. The trees were still large and surprisingly parallel to the mountain wall. Deep, soft moss covered whatever was beneath, and sometimes this would yield and let the foot measure a crevice. Perilous pitfalls; but we clambered unharmed. The moss, so rich, deep, soft, and earthily fragrant, w^as a springy stair-carpet of a steep stairway. And sometimes when the carpet slipped, and the state of heels over head seemed imminent, we held to the baluster-trees, as one after wassail clings to the lamp-post. ^'Even on this minor mountain the law of diminishing vegetation can be studied. The great trees abandoned us, and stayed indolently down in shelter. Next the little wiry trees ceased to be the comrades of our climb. They were no longer to be seen planted upon jutting crags, and, bold as standard-bearers, inciting us to mount higher. Big spruces, knobby with balls of gum, dwindled away into little ugly dwarf spruces, hostile as dwarfs are said to be always to human com- fort. They grew man-high, and hedged themselves together into a dense thicket. We could not go under, nor over, nor through. To 232 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE traverse them at all, we must recall the period when we were squirrels or cats, in some former state of being. "Somehow we pierced, as man does ever, whether he owes it to the beast or man in him. From time to time, when in this struggle we came to an open point of rock, we would remember that we were on high, and turn to assure ourselves that nether earth was where we had left it. We always found it in situ, in belts, green, white, and blue, a tricolor of woods, water, and sky. Lakes were there without number, forest without limit. We could not analyze yet, for there was work to do. Also, whenever we paused, there was the old tempta- tion, blueberries. Every outcropping ledge offered store of tonic, ozone-fed blueberries, or of mountain-cranberries, crimson and of con- centrated flavor, or of tlie white snowberry, most delicate of fruits that grow. As w^e were creeping over the top of the dwarf-wood, Cancut, who was in advance, suddenly disappeared; he seemed to fall through a gap in the spaces, and we heard his voice calling in cavernous tones. We crawled forward and looked over. It was the upper camp of the Bostonians. They had profited by a hole in the rocks, and chopped away the stunted scrubs to enlarge it into a snug artificial abyss. It w^as snug, and so to the eye is a cell at Sing-Sing. If they were very misshapen Bostonians, they may have succeeded in lying there com- fortably. I looked down ten feet into the rough chasm, and I saw, — Corpo di Bacco ! — I saw a cork. " To this station our predecessors had come in an easy day's walk from the river; here they had tossed through a night, and given a whole day to finish the ascent, returning hither again for a second night. As we purposed to put all this travel within one day, we could not stay and sympathize with the late tenants. A little more squirrel- like skipping and cat-like creeping over the spruces, and we were out among bulky bowlders and rough debris on a shoulder of the mountain. Alas! the higher, the more hopeless. Ktaadn, as he had taken pains to inform us, meant to wear the veil all day. He was drawing down the white drapery about his throat and letting it fall over his shoulders. Sun and wind struggled mightily with his sulky fit; sunshine lifted off bits of the veil, and wind seized, whirled them away, and, dragging them over the spruces below, tore them to rags. Evidently if we wished to see the world we must stop here and survey, before the growing vapor covered all. We climbed to the edge of Cloudland, and stood fronting the semicircle of southward view. AND NOllTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 233 Ktaadn's self is finer than wliat Ktaadn sees. Ktaadn is distinct, and its view is indistinct. It is a vague panorama, a mappy, un- methodic maze of water and woods, very roomy, very vast, very simple, — and these are capital qualities, — but also quite monotonous. A lover of largeness and scope has the proper emotions stirred, but a lover of variety very soon finds himself counting the lakes. It is a wide view, and it is a proud thing for a man six feet or less high to feel that he himself, standing on something he himself has climbed, and having Ktaadn under his feet a mere convenience, can see all Maine. It does not make Maine less, but the spectator more, and that is a useful moral result. Maine's face thus exposed has almost no features; there are no great mountains visible, none that seem inore than green hillocks in the distance. Besides sky, Ktaadn's view contains only the two primal necessities of wood and water. No- where have I seen such breadth of solemn forest, gloomy, were it not for the cheerful interruption of many fair lakes and bright ways of river linking them. ''Far away on the southern horizon we detected the heights of Mount Desert, our old familiar haunt. All the northern semicircle was lost to us by the fog. We lost also the view of the mountain itself. All the bleak, lonely, barren, ancient w^aste of the bare summit was shrouded in cold fog. The impressive gray ruin and Titanic havoc of a granite mountain-top, the heaped bowlders, the crumbling crags, the crater-like depression, the long stern reaches of sierra, the dark curving slopes, channelled and polished by the storms and fine drifting mists of [eons, the downright plunge of precipices, all the savageness of harsh rock, unsoftened by other vegetation than rusty moss and the dull green splashes of lichen, — all this was hiddeu except when the mist, white and delicate where we stood, but thick and black above, opened whimsically and delusively, as mountain mists will do, and gave us vistas into the upper desolation. After such momentary rifts the mist thickened again, and swooped forward as if to involve our station; but noon sunshine, reverberated from the plains and valleys and lakes below, was our ally; sunshine checked the overcoming mist, and it stayed overhead, an unwelcome parasol, making our August a chilly N^ovember. Besides what our eyes lost, our minds lost, unless they had imagination enough to create it, — the sentiment of triumph and valiant energy that the man of body and soul feels upon the windy heights, the highest, whence he looks far and wide, like a master of realms, and knows that the world is his ; 234 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE and they lost the sentiment of solemn joy that the man of soul recog- nizes as one of the surest intimations of immortality stirring within him whenever he is in the unearthly regions, the higher world. "We stayed studying the pleasant solitude and dreamy breath of Ktaadn's panorama for a long time, and every moment the inystery of the mist above grew more enticing. Pride also was awakened. We turned from sunshine and Cosmos into fog and Chaos. We made ourselves quite miserable for naught. We clambered up into Nowhere, into a great, white, ghostly void. We saw nothing but the rough surface we trod. We pressed along crater-like edges, and all below was filled with mist, troubled and rushing upward like the smoke of a volcano. Up we went, — nothing but granite and gray dimness. Where we arrived we know not. It was a top certainly; that was proved by the fact that there was nothing within sight. We cannot claim that it was the topmost top; Kinchin jinga might have towered within pistol-shot; popgun-shot was our extremest range of vision except for one instant, when a kind-hearted sunbeam gave us a vanishing glimpse of a white lake and breadth of forest far in the unknown North toward Canada. "When we had thus reached the height of our folly and made nothing by it, we addressed ourselves to the descent, no wiser for our pains. Descent is always harder than ascent, for divine ambitions are stronger and more prevalent than degrading passions. And when Ktaadn is befogged, descent is much more perilous than ascent. We edged along very cautiously by remembered landmarks the way we had come, and so, after a dreary march of a mile or so through deso- lation, issued into welcome sunshine and warmth at our point of departure. When I said ' we,' I did not include the gravestone pedler. He, like a sensible fellow, had determined to stay and eat berries rather than breathe fog. While we wasted our time, he had made the most of his. lie had cleared Ktaadn's shoulders of fruit, and now, cuddled in a sunny cleft, slept the sleep of the well-fed. His red shirt was a cheerful beacon on our weary way. We took in the landscape with one slow, comprehensive look, and waking Cancut suddenly (who sprang to his feet amazed, and cried *rire!') we dashed down the mountain side. " It was long after noon; we were some dozen miles from camp; we must speed. No glissade was possible, nor plunge such as travellers make down through the ash-heaps of Vesuvius; but, having once worried through the wretched little spruces, mean counterfeits of AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 237 trees, we could fling ourselves down from mossy step to step, measur- ing off the distance by successive leaps of a second each, and alight- ing on moss yielding as a cushion. *'0n we hastened, retracing our footsteps of the morning across the avalanches of crumbled granite, through the bogs, along the brooks; undelayed by the beauty of sunny glade or shady dell, never stopping to botanize or to classify, we traversed zone after zone, and safely ran the gauntlet of the possible bears on the last level. We found lowland Nature still the same; Aboljackarmegas was flowing still; so was Penobscot; no pirate had made way with the birch; we embarked and paddled to camp. " The first thing, when we touched terra firma, was to look back regretfully toward the mountain. Regret changed to wratli when we perceived its summit all clear and mistless, smiling warm.ly to the low summer's sun. The rascal evidently had only waited until we were out of sight in the woods to throw away his night-cap. One long rainy day had somewhat disgusted us with the old hem- lock-covered camp in the glade of the yellow birch, and we were reasonably and not unreasonably morbid after our disappointment with Ktaadn. We resolved to decamp. In the last hour of surdight, floating pleasantly from lovely reach to reach, and view to view, we €ould choose a spot of bivouac where no home-scenery would recall any sorry fact of the past. We loved this gentle gliding by the tender light of evening over the shadow^y river, marking the rhythm of our musical progress by touches of the paddle. We determined, too, that the balance of bodily forces should be preserved: legs had been well stretched over the bogs and bowlders; now for the arms. Never did our sylvan sojourn look so fair as when we quitted it, and seemed to see among the streaming sunbeams in the shadows the hamadryads of the spot returned, and waving us adieux. We forgot how damp and leaks and puddles had forced themselves upon our intimacy there: we remembered that we were gay, though wet, and there had known the perfection of Aboljackarmegas trout. "As we drifted along the winding river, between the shimmering birches on either bank, Ktaadn watched us w^ell. Sometimes he would show the point of his violet-gray peak over the woods, and sometimes, at a broad bend of the water, he revealed himself fully, and threw his great image down beside for our nearer view. We began to believe him, to disbelieve in any personal spite of his, and to recall that he himself, seen thus, was far more precious than 238 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE. any mappy dulness we could have seen from his summit. One great upright pyramid like this was worth a continent of grovelling acres. "Sunset came, and with it we landed at a point below a lake-like stretch of the river, where the charms of a neighbor and a distant view of the mountain combined. Cancut, the Unwearied, roofed with boughs an old frame for drying moose-hides, while Iglesias sketched, and I worshipped Ktaadn. Has my reader heard enough of It, — a hillock only six thousand feet high ? We are soon to drift away, and owe it here as kindly a farewell as it gave us in that radiant twilight by the river. ''From our point of view we raked the long stern front tending westward. Just before sunset, from beneath a belt of clouds eva^ nescing over the summit, an inconceivably tender, brilliant glow of rosy violet mantled downward, filling all the valley. Then the violet purpled richer and richer, and darkened slowly to solemn blue, that blended with the gloom of the pines and shadowy channelled gorges down the steep. The peak was still in sunlight, and suddenly, half- way down, a band of roseate clouds, twining and changing like a choir of Bacchantes, soared around the western edge and hung poised above the unillumined forest at the mountain-base ; light as air they came and went and faded away, ghostly, after their work of momen- tary beauty was done. One slight maple, prematurely ripened to crimson and heralding the pomp of autumn, repeated the bright cloud-color amid the vivid verdure of a little island, and its image wavering in the water sent the flame floating nearly to our feet. '* Such are the transcendent moments of nature, unseen and dis- believed by the untaught. Iglesias, having an additional method of preservation, did not fail to pencil rapidly the wondrous scene. When he had finished his dashing sketch of this glory, so transitory, he peppered the whole with cabalistic cipher, which only he could inter- pret into beauty." OHAPTEE XIV. DOWN THE WEST URASCU — {concluded). pEAYI^^'G the cainping-grouiid opposite the mouth of Aboljackarmegassic, or Sandy Stream, we paddle easily along for half a mile, the current assisting our onward progress. Then we land on the right bank of the river, and make a carry of about eighty yards around Abol- jackarmegas Falls. Launching our birch again, we pursue our way down the river, occasionally startled by the scream of a bald eagle, cleaving the air above us, or of the fish-hawks, who, from force, are obliged to furnish him with many a meal, although most grudgingly. The scenery is never tame, the air is pure and sweet, and as we drift along we experience the fulness of delight. There is something in this wilderness that throws a charm about one whether he will or not. But after a short run of three-quarters of a mile we hear the musical murmur of swift water, and we make another landing to carry around Pockwockamus Falls. This carry is forty or fifty rods in length, rough and rocky, and, like the Abol. Carry, is on the right side of the river. Floating down the stream again, which beyond here is narrow and crooked for three miles, we pass several poke logans, — an Indian term. These are little inlets, generally swampy, that lead nowhere in particular. If you run into one you have to retrace your course the same way. Once in a while we passed a ''run-round'' leading off from the river, but always coming in again. These are the bete noir of the inexperienced voyager. Along this part of the river there are several islands, covered with coarse grass, and for several miles along the banks there is more or less wild meadow-land. From the Pock- wockamus Dead Water, and also from other points on the river below, good views of Ktaadn's retreating form are obtained. Katepskonegan Falls and Lake are next reached. The falls are of some little magni- 239 240 GUIDE TO MOOSE HEAD LAKE tucle, and quite romantic. At the foot of the falls large numbers of trout have been caught. The lake is three miles long, shallow and weedy, suggestive of pickerel. After crossing the carry, on the right, about half a mile long, we again embark, and float swiftly along the beau- tiful riverwhose bosom ^ has borne us so long that we have come to regard it as a friend, and love it none the less for its changeable moods. At the end of the lake, or dead water, we reach Passama- gamock Falls, which may be run on the setting-pole, or you can carry around on the left bank. Beyond here you find plenty of swift water, AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 241 and occasional rapids. Reaching Anibajejus Falls, two miles beyond Passaniaganiock Falls, we halt, and our canoe is once more taken out and over the carry we go. The old song, which says that " Jordan is a hard road to travel," is very applicable to the Ambajejus carry; for if that is not " a hard road to travel," then you never saw one. But the bitter and the sweet alike must have an end, and finally you dump the last of your load at the lower end of the carry, and a deep sigh of satisfaction involuntarily wells up from your heart. This carry is on the left, and is half a mile long. After a slight rest our bonny bark is again launched on the stream, and, nodding to old Ktaadn, who is still in sight, our paddles dip and on we float for about half a mile from the falls, when the river, ever changing, broadens into Ambaje- jus Lake, a beautiful stretch of water four mdes long. A fine view of Mount Ktaadn is obtained from this lake. Again we paddle onward, and mile after mile is passed. From river to lake, from lake to river again, from the calmest and smoothest of water to the swift rapids flecked with foam, the charm of the hour being largely due to this agreeable variety that follows one from sunrise to sunset. We once more change from river to lake, — from Penobscot to Pamedomcook, one of the most irregular lakes in the Maine wilder- ness. Midway of the southern shore of Pamedomcook Lake is the inlet of the Jo Merry Lakes, the stream being a mile and a half long. A carry road runs from lake to lake on the easterly side of the river. Plying our paddles, we follow the easterly shore of this the largest lake we have seen since leaving Chesuncook, passing several islands on our way, and reach the North Twin Lake, a much smaller sheet of water. Paddling across this for four miles, and passing South Twin Lake, from the western end of which a logging- road leads to the county road, and thence to the railroad station of Brown ville, and down the river for two miles, you reach a dam, and find a house near it. Meals can be obtained here if desired. Crossing Quakish Lake, distant one mile, then paddling dow n river through a mile of quick water, brings you to a carry on the left-hand side of the Penobscot. The carry road is two miles long, and ends at Fowler's on Millinokett Stream. Here you can obtain a team to haul your baggage and canoe across, and by making this overland trip, and then paddling down Millinokett Stream for a mile, you reach the Penobscot again, having saved ten or twelve miles of rough water. Grand Falls, nearly fifteen feet high, are about two miles above the mouth of Millinokett Stream, and it will pay you to paddle this short distance to take a look at them. Beyond this 242 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE. there are several smaller bulges in the river, and through all these we pursue our way, until we finally reach Mattawamkeag, where we stop to look around a little, stopping there over night if we have the time. If you wish you can end your trip here, and take the cars of the Maine Central Railroad for Bangor. But if you are not yet tired of the canoe, you can continue on down the river, passing Winn, Lincoln, Enfield, Passadumkeag, and other places, until you reach the dams at Oldtown, twelve miles from Bangor, where canoe navigation ceases, and where you will reluctantly say farewell to the faithful birch, in which you have floated from the deepest wilds of the forest to the civilization of a town. During a trip between Moosehead and Oldtown, a person will learn enough about a canoe to be of great service in his next voyage. You will also see some of the most beautiful parts of the State, and obtain a good idea of how Eastern Maine looks. Such a trip will occupy about ten days. You can make it some shorter or considerably longer, as your inclination may dictate. You should leave behind all useless luggage, and take only such articles as are absolutely necessary. After carrying over two or three portages, you will be surprised to find out how many things you have taken, that at the start you thought you could not get along without, but which, from personal experience on carries, you would afterward gladly dispense with. A light axe, gun, ammunition, fishing-tackle, matches, pepper, salt, coffee, sugar, con- densed milk, tin cup, knife, spoon, frying-pan. small iron kettle, coffee-pot, compass, needles, thread, and buttons, are all you need on a long cruise in the woods. And the above list of articles might easily be cut down one-half if necessity required it. CHAPTER XV. TOURS BEYOND MOOSEHEAD. — DOWN THE EAST BRANCH OF THE PENOBSCOT. — UP THE NORTH BRANCH OF THE PENOBSCOT. N giving an idea of the excursion down the East Branch of the Penobscot, we will only briefly allude to that part of the country that we have already been over on the trip down the West Branch. As before, you cross the northeast carry, and, launching upon the West Branch, follow it to Lake Cliesuncook. Reaching this beautiful sheet of water, you turn north w^ard, and cross the upper end of the lake; from here, looking southeast, the eye takes in the whole length of the lake, the forest beyond, and Jo Merry Mountain, the most dis- tant object visible. Crossing the lake is a pleasant change, after floating down a river where one's range of vision is obscured by the forest along its bank. The open expanse of water, across which one can look for miles, the wide sweep of sky, and the enlarged landscape, is preferable on some accounts to the contracted space of the river. And no small part of the preference for the change comes from the ease with which you paddle over the smooth surface of the lake. Where before was care and excitement is now peace and careless indolence. No furious rapids or impassable falls endanger your lives or impede your progress. But with your voices attuned to song, you ply your paddles, keeping time with your music, and mile after mile is easily if not speedily accomplished. Passing the Caucomgomoc Stream, which empties into Chesuncook on your left, you continue your way. The stream flows from Cau- comgomoc Lake, which lies about twelve miles northwest of the head of Chesuncook. It is an easy trip up to Caucomgomoc, the water being smooth, with the exception of three miles at the upper 243 244 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE end of the stream, and two short falls. A tote- road runs from oppo- site the hotel at Chesuncook Lake, up the west side of the Caucom- gomoc Kiver, touching it at two different points. For two miles or more the upper end of this road runs across high land, and is dry and in good condition. A pool just below the outlet of the lake furnishes good trout-fishing, and you can also make good catches at the mouth of the streams you pass on your w^ay up river. This lake is a beauti- ful sheet of water, and there are not many prettier spots in Maine. It is about seven miles long and three wide. At its broadest part it is quite irregular in shape, and contains several small islands. The best camping-places are at the upper end of the lake, on the west shore. There is good fishing at various places in Caucomgomoc Lake. It is a day's trip from Chesuncook to Caucomgomoc, the carry around the "horse-race" taking about three hours. A mile or more up Avery Brook brings you to Avery Pond, full of small trout, and from the lower end of this pond, a good carry about nine miles long extends to the Woboostoock Stream, hitting it about two miles from Baker Lake. From the northeast corner of Caucomgomoc Lake to Bound Pond is about three miles, and a carry leaving the north- western extremity of the pond, and running along a range of moun- tains for four miles in a northeasterly direction, comes out at Allagash Lake, and from this point you can reach Chamberlain Lake by water. A tote-road runs from the upper end of Caucomgomoc Lake south to Loon Lake, a pretty sheet of water three miles long, and from one to two wide. The Hurd Ponds empty into it at its northern end. Turn- ing northeasterly you enter the Umbazookskus, ten miles long, a sluggish stream, with considerable meadow-land on either side. Along the edge of the meadow extends a belt of dead trees, killed by the back-water from the dam at the foot of Chesuncook. As you ascend the Umbazookskus, it contracts much in width, but little in depth, and finally the paddle gives place to the setting-pole. Several miles more of poling, with now and then a short carry, by way of amuse- ment, and you reach Umbazookskus Lake, possibly four or five miles long, stretching northwesterly from the outlet. A good road runs on the right up to the lake. Pursuing your way across the northeast end of the lake, you arrive at the Mud Pond carry. Through the summer a team and "jumper" are always on hand to haul canoes and luggage across the carry for from four to five dollars a load. Umbazookskus Lake is the head of the Penobscot in this direction, and Mud Pond is the nearest bend of the Allagash, one of the prin- AND NOKTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 245 cipal sources of the St. John River. Hodge, who went through this way to the St. Lawrence in the service of the State, calls the portage here a mile and three-quarters long, and states that Mud Pond is four- teen feet higher than Umbazookskus Lake. Mud Pond is considera- bly more than half-way from Umbazookskus to Chamberlain Lake, into which it empties. This is one of the worst carries there is in the State, wet, muddy, and boggy. Large bowlders and dead falls cov- ered with slippery moss add to the attractiveness (?) of this path in the wilderness. Black flies and midges seem to make their head- quarters in this vicinity, and assail you at every point. Woe betide you if you have not some preparation with which to anoint your face and hands, and protect yourself in a measure from the attacks of these merciless freebooters I " Jumboline " in generous quantities is the right thing in the right place while crossing the Mud Pond carry. Reaching the pond, which is nearly round and about a mile wide, with very shallow water, but very deep mud, you paddle across it in about fifteen minutes, lift over the dam, and then run the rapids about eighty rods long, reaching the dead water, extending for three- quarters of a mile to Chamberlain Lake into which it empties. A good carry leads from the left side of the dam to the dead water. The outlet for quite a distance is generally choked up with all kinds of drift-wood packed firmly together, but if you work to advantage, and don't lose your temper, you can generally work through it in from twenty to thirty minutes, and, paddling out on the lake, head for Chamberlain Farm, nearly opposite, about two miles distant. Leaving the landing at the farm you paddle down the lake in a southeast direction, obtaining on the w^ay, off to the right, fine views of the beautiful Nesowadnehunk range of mountains; reaching the end of Chamberlain, you paddle through the thoroughfare half a mile long, thence across Telosmis Lake, which is a mile and a half long and about a mile wide. Passing on into Telos Lake, a sheet of water about four miles long, and from half a mile to a mile wide, you paddle its entire length. Soon after entering it, you pass the mouth of a brook on your right, where good strings of trout, averaging a pound each, can be taken. Chamberlain Lake proper is about twelve miles long, and between tw^o and three wide, but, including Telos Lake and the dead w^ater betw^een, its extreme length is over twenty miles. It con- tains several islands, and is over eleven hundred feet above tide-water. The Chamberlain Farm, furnishing a resting-place for weary voyagers, is a large clearing on the northern side of the lake, belonging to E. 246 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE Coe of Bangor, and the Pingree heirs of Salem, Mass., who own large tracts of land in this section of the State. A log house and several barns comprise the settlement, if it may be called such. If you wish to stop here a few days you will find good accommodation, and ordinary supplies for camping can be bought at reasonable prices. Thoreau, in his "Maine Woods," says: " Telos Lake, the head of the St. John on this side, and Webster Lake, the head of the East Branch of the Penobscot, are only about a mile apart, and they are connected by a ravine, in which but little digging is required to make the water of the former, which is the highest, flow into the latter. This canal, which is something less than a mile long, and about four rods wide, was made a few years before my first visit to Maine. Since then the lumber of the Upper Allagash and its lakes has been run down the Penobscot, that is, up the Allagash, which here consists principally of a chain of large and stagnant lakes, whose thorough- fares, or river-links, have been made nearly equally stagnant by dam- ming, and then down the Penobscot. The rush of the water has produced such changes in the canal, that it has now the appearance of a very rapid mountain stream flowing through a ravine, and you would not suspect that any digging had been required to persuade the waters of the St. John to flow into the Penobscot here. It was so winding that one could see but little way down." Beaching the foot of the lake, you pass the dam in the most con- venient way, and then run through the canal with your birch, and carry your load around. At least, this is the safest way to do, for this stream is crooked and very rocky, and in times of drought contains very little water. There is an easy carry on the right-hand side of the stream, dry most of the way. It runs through the old Dwinel place, then follows the south shore of Webster Lake to the dam, and from there follows Webster Brook and Matagamonsis Lake, touching at Trout Brook Farm, and from there runs northeast past the head of Matagamon Lake, and down through the Aroostook settlements to Mattawamkeag, on the Maine Central Railroad. Embarking at the head of Webster Lake, which is about three miles long, and possibly a mile long in the widest part, you quickly cross it, and reach the dam. There are good fishing and hunting in this vicinity. Nearly all of the lakes in the wilderness region of Maine have been dammed, in the interests of the lumbering business. For the next ten miles you have considerable carrying to do, as Webster Stream, although about sixty feet wide, is difficult to navi- AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 247 gate. It is very shallow, except immediately after heavy rains, also rapid and rocky. In fact it is almost a succession of heavy rajDids and perpendicular falls, from three to five feet in height, culminating in Grand Falls, fifty feet high, within two miles of its mouth. Between the rocks and the shallows you find yourself in hot water most of the time if you attempt to run this stream, and if you don't stave your canoe you may consider yourself lucky. Occasionally there is a mile or two that can be run without danger, and these places give you a rest from the carries. Reaching the deep and narrow canon at the head of Grand Falls, you run your canoe into an eddy on the left, under the shadows of a rock that towers five hundred feet heavenwards, and make a landing. A walk of three-quarters of a mile across Indian Carry will bring you to the East Branch proper, running at right angles with Webster Stream. But before leaving, take a look at Grand Falls, as they will more than repay you for the time and trouble. Launching your boat on the East Branch, you find the river narrow, swift, the banks fringed with tall meadow-grass, — a likely place for ducks. The mile and a half from the end of the carry to Matanga- mooksis Lake is swiftly run, and you paddle out on that lovely body of water dotted by small islands, and broken up into numerous bays and coves by the many symmetrical points that make out from either shore. This lake is about one mile wide, and nearly four long, and is surrounded by a beautiful forest of Norway pine. While paddling down the lake, the Trout Brook and Traveller Mountains may be seen in the southwest, the latter range keeping you company for many miles below\ The connecting stream between Matangamooksis and Matangamook Lake is four or five miles long: it starts out at the right of the bold ledge near its foot. From the top of this ledge one has a good view of the lake. The stream flows lazily on, turning and twisting be- tween grassy banks, and sometimes widens into 'logons," — good places for all kinds of game, — and at last empties into a bay at the northwest corner of the lake, with several small islands and one large one plainly visible, bearing south. Hay Brook, the outlet of several small ponds, empties into the thoroughfare on the left, about half a mile below Matangamooksis, sometimes called Second Lake. Three miles farther on, the tote-road from Telos Lake crosses the stream over a floating bridge, and from this point a good branch road runs a mile and a half to the farm on Trout Brook. Canoes will have to be 248 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE carried around the bridge : and a mile farther you enter Matangamook, or Grand Lake. From the top of tlie rocl^y peak of the larger island, before alluded to, a splendid view of the lake and the outlying moun- tains can be had. A short distance below the island we reach the mouth of Trout Brook ; a paddle of a mile up the stream will bring you to the landing of Trout Brook Farm on the left. This farm was cleared up about fifty years ago, and consists of four hundred acres of good land, four houses, and eight or ten barns. It belongs to E. S. Coe, Esq., of Bangor, and is a good place to stop at, if you wish to rest, or procure provisions; and there are good fishing and hunting in the vicinity. About three miles beyond the mouth of Trout Brook you reach the dam, where you carry round. Half-way down the lake you pass Moose Cliff on the right, and, just before reaching the dam, a rocky point, both striking features of the landscape. The extreme width of this lake at the northern end is nearly equal to its length. From Grand Lake to the junction of the East and West Branches is about seventy miles. Some eight miles southeast of Grand Lake is a small pond on the head of Bowlin Brook, and tributary to the East Branch, whose waters are colored white from the presence of lime. A cave in the rock, and partially submerged, was explored several years ago by the State Geological Survey. Below the dam you find quick water, but with care there is no trouble in running it. To Bill Fish Brook, on the right, is a mile, and here you will generally find good fishing. Two miles more bring you to Webster's Landing, at a high bank on the left; and another two miles through quiet water, between grand old forests, bring you to the head of Stair Falls, which can be run safely in high water, the best channel being on the left side; but if the water is low, you will have to carry around. The landing is on the right bank, and the carry is about forty rods long. A little below the falls there is a good spring. The falls appear to the best advantage looking up the river from the foot, showing four or five steps, and away beyond Matangamook Mountain looms up in the north, furnishing a lasting background for a very pretty picture. A short distance below Stair Falls the river widens again, and flows sluggishly through grassy logons" for nearly two miles to Haskell Rock and Pitch. There are two falls or *'i3itches" in the river here, and a good carry extends three-quarters of a mile along the right bank of the river past both. Launching your canoe again you run swiftly through quick water AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 249 and rapids to Pond Pitch, where you will find the best carry, about forty rods long, on the left. There is another on the right, but not so commonly used. Floating swiftly another mile brings you to Grand Pitch and the rapids below. The carry is on the left bank, and about a quarter of a mile long. Another run of three-quarters of a mile through swift water, and you reach Hulling Machine Falls, where you have to make another carry of about half a mile, and this also on the left ))ank. Below you get smoother water for two miles to Bowlin Falls, at the foot of which Bowlin Stream flows into the East Branch. Experienced canoe-men usually run these falls, which are only a succession of rips" and small pitches; but if doubtful of your ability to do it safely, don't try it, but tramp over the carry for about a hundred yards, which you will find on the right bank. The four falls last named, taken collectively, are generally known as the Grand Falls of the East Branch, to distinguish them from their name- sake on Webster Stream. Leaving Bowlin Falls behind, you find some quick water, and, after a run of a mile and a half, pass Spring Brook, which empties into the river on the right, behind one of two large islands. The main channel of the river is to the left of these. Spring Brook Gravel Bed Falls are quickly passed, and then you find a mile or more of heavy rips. Islands are scattered along the river here, and opposite one of them is Hathorn's High Landing, from which a fine view of the mountains can be had. A short distance below here you reach dead water, which extends past Seboois and Little Seboois Rivers to Patterson's on the left side of the river, — a distance of about four miles; from Patterson's to Wassataquoik Stream on the right is a mile more. Opposite Patterson's the road to Mount Ktaadn leaves the river and runs for several miles along Wassataquoik Stream. Half a mile below the mouth of the stream, on the right bank, is the Hunt Farm, the buildings on which were erected more than forty years ago. A good hotel, the Tourist's Retreat, is located here, and S. B. Gates, who has bought the place, is the proprietor. You can procure supplies here if you need them. The ascension of Mount Ktaadn can be readily made from the Hunt Farm, the present enterprising proprietor having built a good carriage road up the picturesque valley of the Wassataquoik, and past the beautiful Ktaadn Lake, within two rriles of the summit. In fact it is much easier to ascend the mountain from here than from the West Branch. Hunt Mountain, on the w^est side of the river, twelve hundred feet high, affords a magnificent view of the 250 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE surrounding country, and will well repay a clamber up its rocky sides. Guides can be procured from the farm, if you don't wish to try it alone. Leaving the Hunt Farm, a mile and a half of deep and rapid water brings you to Crowfoot Falls, and a short distance below you reach Whetstone Falls. You can run the former, and sometimes the latter if the water is favorable. If not, drop your canoe over with a rope. There is a good path on the right bank. From here to the mouth of Mud Brook, which empties in on the left, a distance of eight miles, there are good water and easy canoeing, passing over Burnt Land Kips on the way, which offer no obstacles. Beyond Mud Brook, you find three miles more of very good water, broken in one place by short and light rapids, and then you reach Grindstone Falls. The carries here are a mile long, one on each bank. From the putting- in'' place to Ledge Falls is seven miles, and on the first half of the run you shoot Kocky Kips and Scratch Kips, the latter half of the distance being nearly all good water. Houses and farms now begin to dot the landscape and increase in number in the three miles between Ledge Falls and Medway. These falls can be run by experienced canoe-men, but amateurs should not make the attempt, as this is the last carry you will have to make. Canoes can be dropped over these falls, when ''the spirit is willing and the flesh weak," and only the baggage need be " sacked" across the carry. Beyond Ledge Falls the stream grows wider, and it sweeps toward the sea with swift but silent flow; you leave the mountains rapidly behind, and in front glimpses of civilization meet you with every new turn of the river. You soon reach the junction of the East and West branches at Medw^ay, formerly called Nickatou, a small town of about five hundred inhabitants, located on the left bank of the Penobscot Kiver. From here to Mattawamkeag, where is a station of the Maine Central Kailroad, it is twelve miles, but the route from here having been described in Chapter XIY., it is unnecessary to repeat it. This is one of the most interesting and romantic trips that can be made through Maine, and leads one through the very heart of the wilderness. It should not be attempted, however, before the first of August, on account of the annoyance from flies and mosquitoes that you will experience earlier in the season, and even after the time we have mentioned you will find insects thick enough on still days. Therefore, whenever you try it, and we advise you by all means to '' take it in " when you have the opportunity, carry plenty AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 251 of **fly medicine'^ with you, and then hfe will not become quite the burden that it would if you were unprepared to do battle with your small but by no means insignificant foes. UP THE WEST BRANCH OF THE PENOBSCOT, There being but few lakes and much shoal-water here, this is not a favorite line of travel with many. It is not, however, without its points of interest, and leads one through lonely by-ways. Canada Falls heads the list of its attractions, and the fishing at the mouth of the Nelhudus and other streams is excellent. Carry Brook empties into the northwest arm of the lake, to the left of Lane's Clearing. Parties who start up the West Branch, after reaching the Northwest Carry, paddle up this stream for about a mile, and make a landing on the left side. A few yards from the landing runs the Old Canada Road, leading from Morris to Canada Falls, and beyond to Canada. From Carry Brook Landing to Seeboomook Meadows is nearly two miles, the road being good in dry weather. Joseph Morris will haul canoes and supplies across the carry for two dollars per load. He will also furnish canoes and supplies, and act as guide, if parties desire. Launching your canoe on the pond you cross it, and, leaving the pond on the east side, you run into a small stream, and through this you make your way to the Penobscot, about a quarter of a mile dis- tant, entering the river opposite Seeboomook Island, where you will find a good camping-place. Seeboomook Falls on the river below are worth a visit, if you can spare the time. Just below the foot of the island the falls commence, and canoes have to be carried by on the left bank of the river, for an eighth of a mile. Then comes a good run of a mile and a half, with but one exception, — the Dam Pitch (no profanity intended), wiiere you must lift your canoe over. Beyond are the long falls. You must carry around these three-quarters of a mile at high water, and double the distance if the water is low, the path being on the right bank. Just above the lower Seeboomook Falls, opposite a small island. Elm Stream flows in on the left. For twelve miles up to Elm Pond, it is mostly dead w^ater, but navigation is difficult, and at times almost impossible, from the logs and trees with which the brook is choked. Three miles below the rapids you reach the mouth of Russell Stream. A canoe can be taken up to the pond, 252 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE a distance of six miles and a half. Five miles of this distance is rapid water. The stream is very crooked above the pond, and it is dead water for several miles. This vicinity used to be good moose and caribou ground, but the chances for finding any game larger than deer now are doubtful. Two miles from the mouth of Kussell Stream bring you to the Luce Farm at the N'ortheast Carry, from Avhence we have paddled *'Down the West Branch," and will therefore return up river. From Seeboomook Island to Swan's Farm, seven miles above, the river is black and deep, and in some places the scenery is very fine. Passing the head of the island you find the river widens, and a mile and a half beyond you pass Nel- hudus Stream, navigable for several miles. This brook has two mouths, one natural, the other artificial. Just below Nelhudus, on the opposite side of the river, a good tote-road leads into the Old Canada Eoad. From the river to Morris', formerly Lane's, is about six miles. A five-mile paddle from Nelhudus, during which you pass Logan Brook on the right, brings you to Swan's Farm, on the left of the river, and here you can camp if you wish. Gulliver Stream empties into the Penobscot on the right-hand side, about a mile above Swan's. In consequence of the shallowness of the river and the falls you will have to drag your canoe nearly the entire distance from Swan's Farm to the head of Gulliver Falls, unless the water should be unusually high, when you may be able to pole up. Above Gulliver Falls you paddle easily along over two miles and a half of dead water, and then reach the Big Island, which you can pass on either side, the right-hand being the shortest. A short distance above the island, on the left of the river, is a logon, where small trout are plenty. Above Big Island the river is shallow and the current strong, and a two-mile paddle brings you to Knight's Farm and the Forks, where the North and South branches unite. A mile below the Forks, at King's High Landing, there is good fishing on the left side of the river, near some ledges. Canada Falls, a very attractive piece of water scenery, are a mile and a half from the Forks, up the South Branch, and will amply repay you for a visit. As the water is bad between the Forks and the Falls, leave your traps at Knight's, and make your trip overland via the Old Canada Koad, that leads to the foot of the falls. If, however, you are anxious to explore the AND NORTH MAINE AVILDERNESS. 253 SOUTH BRANCH OF THE PENOBSCOT, carry your canoe to the head of the falls, and put in above the dam. Then you have nearly a mile through a stream thickly sprinkled with rocks, by one "pitch," where a rope is needed, and soon after reach another dam, where smooth water begins. From the upper dam to Bog Brook is half a mile, and, passing the mouth of this, you have a two-mile paddle to Alder Brook, emptying in from the left. Another mile brings you to the mouth of Hale Brook, on the left, the outlet of several ponds. Opposite this is a flat ledge, and below it a pool, where small trout are plenty. Near this ledge is a good camping- ground, and a few rods up the river, on the same side, is a "logon," where ducks are plenty in the fall. Back of the "logon" is an old logging-camp, where you can stop if you can put up with the shelter it offers. A branch road runs from the camp to the Old Canada Road, joining it a mile from the river. A short distance above Hale Brook you reach meadowy land dotted with elms, which extends for a mile and a half. Two miles above Hale Brook the water shoals, and wading and dragging in places is necessary; and for four miles and a half more to the mouth of Penob- scot Brook, the outlet of Penobscot Lake, navigation is very bad. The brook is so filled up with fallen trees as to be unnavigable, and in fact beyond the mouth of this brook, on the main stream, canoeing is almost impossible. If you wish to visit the lake, however, you had better take to the Old Canada Road from some point near the river, and " sack " canoe and baggage over it. Alder Brook, before spoken of, is navigable for canoes for a few miles from its mouth, and flows through a good hunting country. Being out of the regular line of travel, it is possible that moose and caribou may yet be found there. Leaving Knight's Farm at the Forks, you commence the ascent of the NORTH BRANCH OF THE PENOBSCOT. Canoeing up this stream is attended with difficulties, and you will make slow progress. A mile and a half from the Forks you pass Lane Brook on the left; three-quarters of a mile more brings you to Lead- better Brook on the same side, flowing from four small ponds, the first of which is about four miles from the river. A mi^e and a half farther on you reach Leadbetter Falls, passing on your way Little Lane &ook, which empties into the river on the right, then, three-quarters 254 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE. of a mile farther, to one of Spencers old camps, also on the right. You will have to carry your luggage around Leadbetter Falls, but can pull up your canoe with the tow line. The path is only a few rods long, and lies on the right side of the river. The tote-road fol- lows the river here, and up to High Landing, two miles above, where one branch leaves it, and runs to the foot of Abacotnetic Bog. The other branch follows the river up to the mouth of Dole Brook, and thence westerly to Dole Pond. Above the falls navigation is easier, there being more dead water; and six miles of fair canoeing, during which you obtain fine views of the Green Mountains, bring you to the mouth of Dole Brook, a short distance below which, in a deep pool, you will find good fishing. In passing the island a mile below Dole Brook, take the left-hand chan- nel. Three miles above Dole Brook you pass the Northwest Branch, and from the Forks to Abacotnetic Lake it is about fifteen miles. Between Dole Brook and Abacotnetic Lake navigation is very bad, with the exception of the last four or five miles, where the stream is sluggish. The carry from Abacotnetic Lake to Baker Brook is about a mile, and from the Northeast Branch of the Penobscot to St. John Pond is about two miles. The first carry is preferable to the latter, because there is less hard work to be done on it, and parties going down the St. John River can make better time this way. Those who can spare several days for hunting will find caribou and deer quite plenty in the vicinity of Dole Brook, and caribou are also to be found around Abacotnetic Bog. Baker Lake is also in the centre of good hunting grounds, and there is good fishing at and below its outlet. From the lake to Seven Islands, where the tote-road from Long Pond touches the river, is seventy miles, and can be made in two days if necessary. ^ 1 Parties will find an interesting account of a trip down the St. John over thl» route, in Captain Farrar's *' Up the North Branch," for sale by Jamaica Publish- ing Company, Jamaica Plain, Mass. HEAD OF^ A MAINE MOOSE. CHAPTEE XVL TOURS BEYOND MOOSEHEAD. — THE ALiLAGASH WATERS. -AROOSTOOK RIVER ROUTE. -DOWN THE ST. JOHN RIVER. and rivers succeed each other, without any large settlement. Leaving Moosehead Lake, your way lies down the Penobscot to Chesuncook, across that lake, and then over the Umbazookskus and Mud Pond to Chamberlain Lake. This part of the route we have already been over in our tour down the East Branch. From Cham- l)erlain Farm you pursue a northerly course along the east shore of Chamberlain Lake for three miles, and, reaching the dams and locks, are compelled to make two short carries on the right. These locks were built twenty-odd years ago at large expense to make a connection between Eagle and Chamberlain Lakes, that the timber owners might drive the lumber product of the surrounding territory into Chamberlain, thence through the Telos Cut and Canal into the East Branch of the Penobscot, thus taking them to market by Maine waters, instead of down the St. John River through Canada and New Brunswick. This made the construction of three dams necessary, two at the outlet of Chamberlain Lake, and one at the outlet of Churchill Lake, at the head of Chase's Carry. Persons interested in driving the logs down the St. NE of the finest trips that can be made in Northern Maine is a tour down the St. John Pwiver to N'ew Brunswick. The route lies through the wildest part of Maine ; but the trip can be made with safety and comfort during the summer or early fall. September is the best month for it, if you have the lei- sure at that time. It will take from » two to four weeks. From Mount Kineo to the mouth of the Allagash, lakes 257 258 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE John would not, however, allow the business to be changed, and a fire soon after destroyed every dam. The dams at the locks are about eighty rods apart, both on the thoroughfare. After carrying by the second one, and running through a short stretch of quick water, you cross a miniature lake, and then shoot out on Eagle Lake, an irregular but attractive sheet of water, thirteen miles long, and nearly four miles wide in the broadest part. It contains several islands, two of them quite large. The shores around it present the same wild appear- ance as the other lakes, being fringed with dead trees, caused from the rising of water by the dam below. A number of brooks empty into it, most of them partially navigable, and through some you can pene- trate to ponds beyond. At the upper end of Beaver Lake, on the west shore, a colony of beaver were located a few years ago, and they are yet to be found in the adjoining territory. Pillsbury Island, a favorite camping-ground, is three miles from the head of the lake. A mile beyond Smith Brook, the outlet of Hay mock Lake, empties into Eagle Lake from the east. There is good water for two miles and a half from its mouth to the upper end of a small island, at and above which is a hop-bed of rocks, and very thin water. For the next half-mile there is water enough, until within a short distance of the carry, where it again becomes shallow. There is a good carry on the left of the stream, three-quarters of a mile long, and near its upper end are Haymock Falls. From the falls to the lake it is three miles, most of the distance being good canoeing. The lake is two and a half miles long, and a mile or more wide. Its shores are covered with a thick growth of hard and soft wwd. The country along Smith Brook is a favorite haunt of deer, caribou, and moose, and the brook is one of the best trout streams that empty into Eagle Lake. Three miles and a half beyond the mouth of Smith Brook you reach the Narrows, only half a mile wide, then two miles more carry you to the Thoroughfare, and two and a half miles through it to the mouth of Thoroughfare Brook, that flows in from the west. This is not only a good stream for trout, but it flows through a country where large game are the rule rather than the exception. Russell and Snare Brooks, both emptying into Eagle Lake on the west side, are good trout streams, and also Soper Brook flowing in from the east. This brook for nearly a mile is shallow, but for three miles above the dam the water is deep with but one exception. Immediately beyond Thoroughfare Brook you enter Churchill Lake, AND NOKTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 259 six miles long and three wide, containing several islands. Into the southeast corner empty the Twin Brooks, the northerly one being the outlet of Spider Lake. Parties who are bound DOWN THE AROOSTOOK sack" their canoes and luggage from the mouth of North Twin to Marsh Pond, except when the water is high after heavy rains. Then you can generally pole a canoe up to the pond. Crossing the pond, the chances are about even whether you find water enough in the stream beyond to float a loaded canoe to the dam, where you will have to " lift over " or " carry round." Above the dam you enter the lake, and find a good camping-ground to the right of the stream, on the southern shore, by some high ledges. The situation here is pictur-> esque, and commands a fine outlook. This is a very pretty lake, nearly three miles long, and a mile wide, surrounded by thick forests and high mountains. When the waters of the lake are perfectly still, ten different peaks are reflected on its surface. There are several islands scattered through the lake, the most of them at the upper end. A curious rock point extends into the lake from the south at the western end, composed of high hedges, in the base of which there are several clefts and small caves. The top of this point is covered with a growth of spruce. This lake furnishes splendid trout-fishing and duck-shooting, and par- tridges, and larger game is plenty in the country back from its shores. It is a fine place for a camping-out party to visit. At the eastern end of Spider Lake, behind the largest island in the lake, flows in a small brook, the outlet of two ponds. Sometimes you can paddle up the stream a short distance. The carry runs on the south side of it, and is a little over a mile long to Logon Pond. Crossing this, and paddling up the brook a short distance, you find another carry, also on the north side of the stream. Ten minutes' walk brings you to Beaver Pond, nearly circular in shape, and half a mile wide. This small stream and ponds that empty into Spider Lake is a good place for beaver, and a good many have been trapped and killed in this vicinity. From Beaver Pond, Osgood Carry, a rather uneven but fairly good path of a mile and a half, brings you to Echo Lake, the head waters of the Aroostook in this section. This small sheet of water is encircled by hills, which send back every sound made on its surface, 260 GUEDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE hence its name. Beyond this are two other small ponds, all connected by thoroughfares. Eclio Lake is three-quarters of a mile long, the first pond east of it about a quarter of a mile long, and the second, three-eighths of a mile. The carries are all on the south side of the stream, and the three together are about two miles in length. Reaching the westerly end of the Upper Munsungan Lake, which is nearly a mile wide, and two miles long, you paddle down to the outlet. After your experience from Spider Lake it is quite refreshing to float on a sheet of water of descent size once more. A quick and shallow stream a quarter of a mile long connects the upper with the second or middle lake, which is the largest of the three. The Thor- oughfare between the second and third lakes is shallow and dead, and is about twenty rods long. There are togue as well as trout in these waters. Munsungan Stream, the outlet of the lakes, flows by a very circuitous route for tw^elve miles to the Aroostook River. The most of the way it is good canoeing, but there are a few rapids where care must be exercised, and one or two places where canoes wall have to be taken out. On the main Aroostook River, there are but few rapids, and no bad places of any consequence. Six miles from the mouth of Munsungan Stream, you reach the mouth of the Mooseleuk Stream, which can be navigated with but little trouble up to Mooseleuk Pond. Ten miles below the mouth of Mooseleuk Stream, you reach the farm of Philip Painter, the first one you come to where anything eatable can be purchased. Two miles below is Rotting' s Farm, where connection can be made with the stage running to Patten and Matta- wamkeag. From Rotting' s, if the river is high, you can paddle to Caribou, a station on the New Rrunswick Railway, in a couple of days, but if the water is low it will take you the better part of a week. The Munsungan Lake region is a good one for large game, and in former years beaver were quite plenty there, and some are yet taken every season. There is good trout-fishing at the mouth of Munsun- gan Stream. One can also reach the Aroostook waters from the East Branch of the Penobscot. After crossing Indian Carry, turn to the left, and follow up the East Rranch Stream for a distance of three miles to Rog Rrook. A few rods up the brook, you will find a good carry on the left; follow this for about a mile or until you reach a beaver dam, from which you can paddle a mile and a half up the brook to a bog. From here a spotted line leads over high ground, on the right to AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 261 Millinokett Pond. Here launch your birch again, and paddle a mile and a half down the pond, thence through the short Thoroughfare to Milhnokett Lake. You paddle the entire length of the lake, about five miles to the outlet, and about six miles down the river to Munsungan Stream, and from there we have already given the course to Caribou. This is the easiest and quickest way to reach the Aroostook River from Chamberlain Lake, if you do not care to visit the Munsungan country. The greatest difficulty between Chamberlain Farm and the Aroostook waters, no matter which way you make the trip, is the fact that after you leave Chamberlain, you cannot replenish your stores until you reach Painter's Farm, before mentioned. You have there- fore to take provisions enough to last you, or depend on your rod and rifle for your grub, and sometimes these do not prove equal to the emergency. Resuming our trip ^' Down the West Branch," we paddle the entire length of Churchill Lake, about six miles, through a country that grows wilder with every rod of our advance. At the foot of the lake we find the remains of a dam. Here you take out your canoe, and cross Chase's Carry, three-quarters of a mile long. It is so grown up, however, that you will think it nearer three miles by the time you get across it. Half a mile below the northern end of the carry, the river suddenly narrows, and turns to the west. Here there is a short but heavy rapid known as the '^Devil's Elbow," where, at a medium or low stage of water, parties carry round, but with care it can be run at a high pitch of water. It is nine miles down the Allagash from Chase's Carry to Umsaskis Lake. The river is about forty rods wide on the average, varying in places. The current is swift all the way, but there are no bad rapids. You pass round strips of meadow land and a number of low grassy islands. There is good ducking-ground along here, and several varieties are plenty in season. Game also in this section is abundant. Umsaskis Lake is four miles long, and two wide, and is really a part of Long Lake, wiiile the entire sheet of w^ater is only a bulge in the Allagash, like those on the West Branch of the Penobscot. There is a log camp, in good condition, a mile and a half from the head of the lake on the east shore, often used by parties making this trip. It is located near the centre of a small bay or cove, just east of a round point of land. Forty rods north-northw^est of the camp, near an old logging road, is a good spring of water. There are several islands at the head of the lake. Priestley Lake, about three miles long, and 262 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE from half a mile to two miles wide, empties into the south end of a bay, on the western shore of Umsaskis Lake. The connecting stream is not navigable for canoes, and it is a two-mile carry along the east bank of the stream for canoes. Priestley Lake contains several islands of good size, and is skirted along the western shore by a range of mountains, that add very nmch to the beauty of the lake. From the foot of Umsaskis it is seven miles to the foot of Long Lake, where is located Depot Farm, looked after by John Harvey, who, with only his dog for company, lives a Crusoe life here. At this place you can procure the ordinary supplies for the camp larder, at prices that will make a drain on your purse, if you have much trading to do. Across this farm runs the road from the Seven Islands on the main St. John River, easterly past the foot of Musquacook Lakes to Ashland on the Aroostook. It is twelve miles from the Seven Islands to Depot Farm, and about fifty more to Ashland. Eight miles of good canoeing from Depot Farm bring you to Round Pond, two miles long, where you cross it. Entering the Allagash River again, and paddling for three miles, you come to a log camp on the left bank, about fif- teen rods from the water. The landing is at the foot of the second pitch of water beyond Round Pond, opposite a big eddy. It can be seen from the river before you reach it, if you are on the watch for it, and is a good place to stop at over night. A mile and a half from Round Pond you reach the mouth of Musquacook Stream, on the right. This stream is the outlet of a number of lakes, and furnishes fine trout fishing. It is quite a pleasant and interesting trip down through the Mus- quacook waters to the Allagash, and can be done quite easily in a week. After reaching Spider Lake, before mentioned in connection with the Aroostook trip, you paddle to the eastern end, and, at the head of a small cove opposite a small island, you will find the carry" to Pleasant Lake, running a mile and a half over good ground in a northeasterly direction, and ending on the shore of Pleasant Lake, east of a small point, extending into the lake from its southern shore. Crossing the lake northwesterly to, the head of Mud Cove, you land at the south end of the carry to Harrow Lake. A brook of good spring-water will be found a few rods west of the carry, and good camping-ground in the vicinity. The waters of this cove are said to emit a very disagreeable odor, which may prove troublesome with a wind blowing toward your camp. The carry road follows Bog Brook a mile or so, then, crossing it, continues on in a general northerly AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 263 direction to the western shore of the Fourth Musquacook Lake, which is about three miles long and a mile wide. At its northern end a Thor- oughfare about a mile long connects it with Third Lake, a nearly cir- cular sheet of water with irregular shores. Its greatest length is almost a mile and a half. Another short Thoroughfare leads from its northern end to Second Lake, a mile and a half long, and about a mile wide. A brook that is the outlet of a small pond empties into the head of a cove at the southeast corner. A short stream flowing out of its northern end connects it with First Lake, longer and narrower than the others. There is a dam at the foot, and the road to Depot Farm crosses the river a short distance below it. From the dam to the out- let into the Allagash it is twelve miles, bad water most of the way, necessitating frequent carries, while the country itself offers little of interest to the canoe-man. From the mouth of the Musquacook through alternate dead water and rapids, a run of a little over three miles brings you to Five Finger Brook, having several mouths emptying into the river on the east side. It is a first-rate fishing-ground during the summer and fall. Twelve miles of good canoeing past some islands bring you to the outposts of civilization, a log camp on the left bank, occupied now or formerly by one Joseph Gilbear. A few rods below, on the same side of the river, you reach Finley McLellan's house and farm, where sup- plies can be purchased. From this point it is three miles through good, but mostly quick, water, to Allagash Falls, passing on the way a large number of islands, and four log houses, three on the left, and one on the right, bank. A good road runs around the Falls of the Allagash, and canoes and luggage can be carried or hauled on a wooden sled which is kept on the carry for that purpose. The falls are picturesque and impressive. There is one perpendicular pitch of thirty feet, and then heavy pitches and rapids extending for about fif- teen rods, the whole fall being about seventy feet. Between the falls and the mouth of the river there are several heavy rapids, not very dangerous, and considerable shoal water. In this distance of twelve miles there are no farms until you get within a mile or two of the St. John. Passing out of the mouth of the Allagash, you find the country mostly settled, and good farms and small settlements all the way along. Half a mile or more below the mouth of the Allagash you reach Nigger Brook Rapids, a dangerous pitch. This stretch is twenty rods long, and full of rocks. The only available channel is on the right, 264 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE close in to the south bank of the river. Inexperienced canoe-men should carry by this piece of water. A mile below you reach the house of John Casey, on the left bank, where you can stop over night if you wish. Two miles below you run Cross Kock Rapids, another mile, Golen Rapids; from this point it is three miles and a half to Rankin's Rapids, and two miles more to Michu Rapids. About two miles below here you reach the farm and house of Martin Savage, on the right bank, nearly opposite the mouth of the St. Francis River. Enter- tainment for tourists and sportsmen could formerly be had here, but of late years the family have not taken in'' anybody. Mr. Savage's house is in St. Francis Plantation, from whence a good road runs to Fort Kent. There is a post-office at St. Francis, and a stage-line be- tween Savage's and Port Kent. If one has time he can make a pleasant trip up the St. Francis River, crossing Glazier's Lake and Beau Lake, from which it is fifteen miles to Boundary Lake, where there is a settlement within twenty miles of a railroad station. Paddling down river from Savage's, you reach in three miles' dis- tance the house of Robert Conner, a hospitable lumberman, who sometimes entertains sportsmen, but who does not, however, make a business of it. It is thirteen miles from here to Fort Kent, in Maine, and mostly good canoeing, the worst place in this distance being at Winding Ledges. Opposite Fort Kent, in New Brunswick, is the Canadian settlement of Middle St. Francis. Fort Kent is prettily situated at the mouth of Fish River, which is one of the largest streams that empty into the St. John. The block house, from which the place takes its name, stands on an eminence overlooking the junc- tion of the St. John and Fish Rivers, and was built about fifty years ago. If you stop over in Fort Kent, and are tired of camping, Ste- vens' Hotel is a comfortable place to make your headquarters. In this village are also several stores where you can renew your stock of supplies. From Fort Kent to Edmundston is twenty miles, and requires about five hours to make the distance. A mile below Fort Kent you pass over Fish River Rapids without difficulty, and, five miles farther down, pass the mouth of Baker River, flowing into the St. John from the north. There are several islands in this vicinity, and, in fact, islands are scattered along the whole course of the river. Baker River is the outlet of Baker Lake, from the western end of which there is a three- mile carry running to the head of Long Lake, whose waters empty, through the Cabineau River, into Lake Temiscouata. Seven miles AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 265 from the mouth of Baker River you reach Frenchville, a small settle- ment on the south bank of the St. John. From here a road runs five miles to one of the arms at the head of Long Lake, a large body of v/ater, whose shores are mostly settled. This is the most northerly of the Eagle Lakes," so called. This is a fine trip for the canoe- man, as you can make a tour of seventy-five miles to Fort Kent, and have the current with you all the way. From Long Lake you pass through Mud Lake, Cross Lake, Square Lake, and Eagle Lake, then enter Fish Kiver, and float down its current to Fort Kent; or, leaving the head of Eagle Lake, you can ascend the West Forks of Fish River to St. Froid Lake, a long and narrow sheet of water, and, paddling seven miles to the upper end of this, continue on up Fish River to Portage Lake, and, crossing this lake to its head, you reach a good carry a mile long, and, walking over this, launch your canoe into a small pond on the Little Machias River, a tributary of the Aroostook. From the mouth of the Little Machias by water to Presque Isle, where the railroad is reached, is about thirty miles. All of these lakes mentioned, with the exception of Long Lake, are in the wilderness, without sign of settlement. The scenery along these routes is very beautiful, and there is plenty of quick, but not dangerous, water, to give the necessary excitement to canoeing; and the fishing and hunt- ing are good all through the region. Five miles below Frenchville, at the mouth of the Madaw^aska River, is Ednmndston, the present terminus of the New Brunswick Railway. The village is built on both banks of the stream, the rail- road depot being on the east side. From here it is thirty-six miles by rail to Grand Falls, and from there to Woodstock seventy-five miles. Most tourists take the cars at Edmundston, and we would recommend this, as the river from there to Woodstock is very similar to parts you have already passed over. There are not many bad places on the main St. John, the worst being Grand Falls, about seventy miles below the Allagash. Here is the main feature of the river, the w^hole descent of the water being seventy-five or eighty feet. There is one perpendicular fall of forty feet, and such is the fury of the water that all sawed lumber and square timber, to escape destruction, must be hauled by. A light suspen- sion-bridge, for foot-passengers, spans the river below, and from this one can obtain a fine view of the fall. We use up the better part of two days in going the next sixty miles. During high water in the spring the river is navigable this distance for a light-draught steamer; 266 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE but in summer the boat runs only to Woodstock, where you can take passage for Fredericton, sixty miles, and the following day by another steamer to St. John, ninety miles. A day may be saved in going by rail. Sometimes the steamers do not run above Fredericton. If parties do not wish to visit the city of St. John, they can take the cars at Woodstock or Fredericton for Bangor direct, leaving the former place at 8.00 a.m., and arriving at 7.00 p.m.; distance, one hundred and seventy miles. There are settlements all the way on the main St. John, and, in- stead of going as far as Grand Falls, parties sometimes turn off some forty miles or more below the mouth of the Allagash and strike north- west across the country to the St. Lawrence. For the first twenty miles they ascend the Madawaska Kiver, a pretty stream, and one of the finest in the country for a canoe, being smooth and clear, with gravelly bottom and a moderate current. Then, crossing Temiscouata Lake, twenty-eight miles in length, take stage for Riviere du Loup, a settlement on the St. Lawrence thirty miles distant. From there, Quebec is reached in a day by rail or by steamer. TEMISCOUATA LAKE is in the midst of a fine sporting region, and when on your way down the St. John, if you can spare time for a side trip, you will find a visit to Temiscouata and its neighboring bodies of water a very pleasant one. To reach it, put in your canoe above the Little Falls at Edmund- ston, the only bad place on the river, and then paddle up this large and beautiful stream through a succession of deep pools and short rapids to the foot of the lake, twenty-three miles distant. You pass Griffin's and Degle's on your way up river, the latter' s house being but a short distance below the outlet of the lake, on the left bank of the stream. You can stop here over night if you wish. From the outlet, a paddle of about ten miles brings you to Cloutier's, a small hotel on the western shore of the lake, where you can make your headquarters if you are not going to camp out. A good road runs from Edmundston along the western bank of the river, and shore of the lake for two- thirds its length, continuing to Riviere du Loup, seventy-nine miles, and if short of time, you can have your canoe and baggage hauled over this road to Cloutier's, saving a day or two. A short distance above the hotel, on the east side of the lake, the Toledi River empties in. This stream can be ascended to the Grand Fourche. Paddling up the AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 267 Toledi for a mile you reach the falls, where you must make a carry going up. These rapids can be run, however, when coming down. Above the falls you will find a stretch of smooth sluggish water extending for sixteen miles to the Forks. There is good trout fishing all along this stream at the moutlis of small brooks. Both the West Branch and the Grand Fourche afford excellent fishing, the latter perhaps the best, especially above the Big Jam, which is a mile from the Forks. There is quick water and rapids on both these streams all the way, and canoes have to be " poled " up both of them. From Edmundston you can make a trip around the lakes, that necessitates scarcely any hard work, and which is really delightful. A friend of the writer who made this trip told him it was the most enjoyable one he made, while away one entire summer. Leaving Edmundston you paddle up the Madawaska, sixteen miles, to Griffin's, or take a team over the road wliich runs through a very pleasant country to the same place. From here, on the east side of the river a logging road leads two and a half miles to a small pond known as Beardsley, or Mud Lake. A team can be obtained at Griffin's to haul canoes and baggage over the carry. Leaving Mud Lake, distance across three-quarters of a mile, you then enter Beardsley Brook, and paddle down this to Fourth Squa-took Lake, where, although you are only twenty miles from Edmundston by land, you are one hundred by water. From Fourth Lake you enter Squa-took River, and float down that to Third Lake. From the eastern shore of this lovely body of water rises Squa-took Peak, a cone-shaped hill, from the top of which you can look out for miles upon an unbroken forest in every direction, except in the west, where the settlements along Temiscouata are visi- ble. From Third Lake, a run through Second and First Lakes brings you to the Forks of the Toledi, down which stream you float swiftly, carrying by the falls, if you prefer that to running them. Thence down Temiscouata and the charming Madawaska to Edmundston. This trip can be done in four or five days, but ten is preferable, as then you will not have to hurry, and will have time to ascend the streams above the Forks. Trout and white fish are plenty all through this country, and large and small game may be found all along the route. Another way of making the St. John tour is, upon leaving Cliesun- cook Lake, to follow up the Caucomgomoc, across Black Pond, then keep on up the river until you reach Caucomgomoc Lake. Entering this, we skirt along its northern shore until we reach the mouth of 268 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE. Avery Brook. From here you have a ten-mile carry to the Woboos- took Stream, striking the river about two miles from Baker Lake. Crossing the lake, and ascending the Woolastaqueguam, or South Branch, you enter the main St. John, about twenty miles beyond, and pursue your way as before. Or you may follow the first described route as far as Chamberlain Lake, then coast along this until you reach the AUagash River. Turning into this you follow it up till you come to the falls. Carrying around these, you jDursue your way across Allagash Pond, a small bulge in the river; then two or three miles farther brings you to the lake. The Allagash is a large lake, and contains a number of islands. You paddle the entire length of the lake, and at the southwestern corner find the portage. This carry is between two and three miles long; beyond it lies Round Pond, into which you launch your birch, and, crossing the pond, find at its southeastern end a small stream that you follow down to Caucomgomoc Lake. From here you proceed as in the second route. This whole region of country is a complete net-work of lakes, ponds, and rivers, and, with a compass and a good guide, no doubt there are many other ways, at least for part of the distance, by which one could reach the St. John River. In leaving the old beaten paths of travel one is also more likely to meet with game, or to find waters where the trout have not yet learned to fight shy of artificial flies. And although the whole State has been pretty well covered, in their different trips, by hunters, lumbermen, and surveyors, still we have no doubt of there being parts of the wilderness of Maine whereon yet the foot of man has never trod. If any of my readers are ambitious to go to such places, it is possible they are yet to be found around the head waters of the St. John River. If you can scorn the attack of flies, mosquitoes, and, worst of all, midges no-see ums" the Indians call them), live on fried pork, hard-tack, and the products of your rod and rifle, such an out-of-the-way trip will be a real benefit to you. CHAPTER XVII. GAME LAWS OF MAINE. CHAPTER L. (As Amended.) The Game and Game-Fish Laws in this Book have been corrected up to date, and include all the changes made by the Legislature of 1889. An Act for the protection of Game and Birds. MOOSK, DEER, AND CARIBOU. Be it enacted, etc., as follows'^ Sect. 3. No person shall hunt, kill, or destroy with dogs any moose within this state, under a penalty of one hundred dollars for every moose so hunted, killed, or destroyed; and no person shall between the first day of January and the first day of October in each > ear, in any manner, hunt, kill, or destroy any moose under the same penalty. [Laws of 1887.] Sect. 4. No person shall hunt, kill, or destroy with dogs any deer or caribou within this state, under a penalty of forty dollars for every such deer or caribou so hunted, killed, or destroyed; and no person shall between the first day of Jan- uary and the first day of October in any manner hunt, kill, or destroy any deer or caribou, under the same penalty as above provided. Any person may lawfully kill any dog found hunting moose, deer, or caribou. [Laws of 1887.] Sect. 5. If any person has in his possession the carcass or hide, or any part thereof, of any such animal, between the first day of January and the first day of October, he shall be deemed to have hunted and killed the same contrary to law, and be hable to the penalties aforesaid; but he shall not be precluded from producing proof in defence. Sect. 6. No person shall carry or transport from place to place in this state, the carcass or hide, or any part thereof, of any such animal, during the period of time in which the killing of such animals is prohibited, under a penalty of forty dollars. Sect. 7. The governor, with the advice of council, shall appoint one county moose and game warden for each county in the state, to hold liis ofiice for the term of four years, unless sooner removed, each of whom may appoint in writing one or more deputies under him, and require of them suitable bonds for the faith- ful performance of their duties, and the payment to him of his fees; and said wardens and their deputies, in their several counties, shall faithfully enforce the provisions of this act. Each of the deputies shall annually, on or before the first day of December, render to his principal an account under oath of all the penalties by him enforced for the preceding year, and shall pay to him one-tenth part of the net proceeds thereof . Each county warden shall annually, in January, render to the secretary of state an account on oath of all the penalties enforced by him- self, or returned to him by his deputies, for the year ending on the first "day of December. The penalty for neglecting to do so shall be for a warden fifty dollars, and a deputy twenty-five dollars ; and the warden shall immediately give notice to the county attorney of every county of such neglect of his deputy, and the secre- 269 270 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE tary of state shall notify such county attorney of every such neglect of the war- den; and the county attorney shall prosecute for every such neglect of which he has notice; and the penalties so recovered shall be for the use of the county. In such prosecution the certificate of the secretary of state shall be sufficient evi- dence of the fact of such neglect to make return to him. Sect. 8. The municipal officers of any town may insert in the warrant for their .annual meeting an article for the choice of a town moose and game warden, who, in his town and anywhere within the distance of twelve miles from the exterior bounds thereof, shall have concurrent jurisdiction with, and the same powers and rights as, the county moose warden and his deputies; and he shall make a like return to the secretary of state under a penalty of twenty-five dollars, to be proved, recovered, and appropriated in the same way. Each of said officers shall have the same authority to require aid in the execution of his office as sheriffs and their deputies have. Sect. 9. The county wardens, their deputies or town w^ardens, may recover the penalties for unlawfully hunting and killing moose, deer, and caribou, in an action on the case in their own names, or by complaint or indictment in the name of the state; and such officers may be competent witnesses, and the sums recov- ered shall be paid, one-half to the warden or deputy warden, and the other to the county or town, as the case may be. Any person may prosecute by action, com plaint or indictment for any of the acts herein forbidden, provided no such war den or deputy, within fourteen days after the offence is committed, prosecutes therefor, and the sums recovered shall be paid, one- half to the prosecutor, and the other to the county, and such action, complaint or indictment may be com menced in any county in which such animal is killed or hunted, or into which its carcass or hide, or any portion thereof, may be carried. Sect. 10. The secretary of state is to communicate to the legislature, in each month of January, what has been done in execution of the preceding sections of this chapter as appears by the returns received. FUR-BEARING ANIMALS. Sect. 11. No person shall in any way destroy, between the first day of May and the fifteenth day of October of each year, any mink, beaver, sable, otter, or fisher, under penalty of ten dollars for each animal so destroyed, to be recovered on complaint, one-half thereof to the use of the county where the ofl'ence is com- mitted, and one-half to the prosecutor. BIRDS. Sect. 12. Whoever kills or has in his possession, except alive, or exposes for sale, any wood duck, dusky duck, commonly called black duck, teal or gray duck, between the first days of April and September, or kills, sells, or has in possession, except alive, any ruffed grouse, commonly called partridge or woodcock, between the first days of December and September following, or kills, sells, or has in possession, except alive, any quail between the first day of December and the first day of October following, or pinnated grouse, commonly called prairie chicken, between the first days of January and September, or plover, between the first days of May and August, forfeits not less than five nor more than ten dollars, for each bird so killed, had in possession, or exposed for sale. And no person shall kill, expose for sale, or have in poss€?ssion, except alive, any woodcock or ruffed grouse, or partridge during September, October or November, or any quail except during tlie months of October and November, or plover during the months of August, September, October or November, except for consumption as food within this state under the same penalty. [Approved March 5, 1881).] Sect. 13. Whoever, at any time or in any place, with any trap, net, snare, device or contrivance other than the usual method of sporting with fire-arms, takes wild duck of any variety, quail, grouse, partridge, or woodcock, forfeits five dollars for each bird so taken. [Approved March 5, 1889.] Sect. 14. Whoever kills or has in his possession, except alive, any birds com- monly known as larks, robins, swallows, sparrows, or orioles, or other insectiv- AND NOKTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 271 orous birds, crows, English sparrows, and hawks excepted, forfeits not less than one dollar, nor more than five dollars, for each such bird killed, and the posses- sion by any person of such dead bird is prima facie evidence that he killed such bird. [Approved March 5, 188<.).j SkC'T. 15. No person shall at any time wantonly take or destroy the nest, eggs, or unfledged young of any wild bird of any kind, except crows, hawks, and owls, or take any eggs or young from such nests, except for preserving the same as specimens, or of rearing said young alive, under a penalty of not less than one nor more than ten dollars for each nest, egg, or young so taken or destroyed. Sect. 16. No person shall carry or transport from place to place, in this state, any of the birds named herein, during the period in which the killing of such birds is prohibited, under a penalty of five dollars for each bird so carried or transported. Skct. 18. All penalties imposed by the seven preceding sections may be recov- ered by an action of debt, or by complaint or indictment in the name of the state, by any warden or his deputies, or any other person, before any court having jurisdiction thereof, in any county in which such offence may be committed or the accused resides; and in all actions therefor in the supreme judicial court, or any superior court for the county of Cumberland, if the plaintiff' recovers, he shall recover full costs without regard to the amount of such recovery. Such penal ties, when collected, shall be paid, one-half to the prosecutor, and the other to the overseers of the poor for the use of the poor of the city or town where such prosecutor resides. Skct. 19. This act shall not apply to the shooting of ducks on the sea-coast. Skct. 20. Chapter one hundred and six, and section two of chapter ninety-eight of the public laws of eighteen hundred and seventy two, together with all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act, are hereby repealed, saving all actions, complaints, and indictments now pending, or which may hereafter be commenced for the violation of any such act before this act takes effect. [Ap- proved Feb. 19, 1878. J Chapter 280. An Act additional to chapter thirty of the Revised Statutes^ establishing a bounty on Crows. Section l. A bounty of ten cents for every crow killed, in any town in this state, between the thirty-first day of IMarch and the first day of November of each year, shall be paid by the treasurer thereof, to the person depositing, in lots of ten or more, the heads of the same with such treasurer. The treasurer shall im mediately destroy such heads. Sect. 2. Towns shall be reimbursed from the state treasury, and town treas- urers shall require and give similar certificates and receipts, and be qualified to administer the same oath, as made and provided in sections six, seven, and eight of chapter thirty of the revised statutes. [Approved March 9, 1889.] NEW LiAWS OF 1882-83. An Act for the protection of 3Ioose, Caribou, and Deer, Be it enacted, i&c, as follows ■ — Section 1. No person shall kill, destroy, or have in possession from the first day of October to the first day of January in each year, more than one moose, two caribou, or three deer, under a penalty of one hundred dollars for every moose, and forty dollars for every caribou or deer killed, destroyed, or in posses- sion in excess of the said number, and in case of conviction all such moose, caribou, or deer, or the carcasses or parts thereof, shall be decreed by the court forfeited to the use of the party prosecuting. Any person having in possession more than the aforesaid number of moose, caribou, or deer, or the carcasses or 272 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE. parts thereof, shall be deemed to have killed or destroyed them in violation of this act. Sect. 2. Any person owning or having in possession dogs for the purpose of hunting moose, caribou, or deer, or that are used for such hunting-, shall be liable to a penalty of not less than twenty nor more than one hundred dollars. Sect. 3. The penalties prescribed in this act may be recovered in the manner provided by section twenty-five of chapter forty of the public laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-eight. An Act making Sunday a close time for game and birds of all kinds. Be it enacted^ t&c, as follows : — Section 1. Sunday is hereby made a close time, on which day it shall not be lawful for any person to hunt, kill, or destroy game or birds of any kind, under the penalties imposed for the hunting, killing, or destroying the same, during any close time now established by law. Sect. 2. This act shall not be construed to repeal or diminish the penalties already imposed for any violation of the Sunday laws. Chapter 208. An Act to enlarge the powers and duties of the Commissioners of Fisheries and Wardens. £e it enacted, <)&c., as follows : — Section 1. The powers and duties of the commissioners of fisheries, and war- dens, shall extend to all matters pertaining to game, and they shall have the same powers to enforce all laws pertaining to game as they now have in enforcing the laws relating to the fisheries. Sect. 2. The governor is hereby authorized, with the advice and consent of the council, to appoint wardens, whose duty it shall be to enforce the provisions of all laws relating to game and the fisheries, arrest any person violating such laws, and prosecute for all offences against the same that may come to their knowledge; and shall have the same power as sheriffs, and deputy sheriffs, to serve all criminal processes for violation of the provisions of any law pertaining to game and the fisheries, and shall be allowed for said services the same fees as are prescribed by law for sheriffs and their deputies for like services; and in the execution of their duties they shall have the same right to require aid that sheriffs and their deputies have in executing the duties of their office; and any person refusing or neglecting to render such aid wlien required, shall forfeit ten dollars, to be recovered upon complaint before any trial justice or municipal court. Sect. .3. This act shall take effect when approved. [Approved March 9, 1880.] An Act relating to seizure offish and game under the fish and game laws. He it enacted, tfec, as folloivs : — Any person whose fish or game has been seized for violation of any fish or game law, shall have such fish or game, so seized, returned to him on giving to the officer a bond with sufficient sureties, residents of this state, in double the amount of the fine for such violation; conditioned, that if the final judgment for such alleged violation shall be guilty, he will within thirty days thereafter pay such fine and costs. If such person neglects or refuses to give such bond and take the fish or game, so seized, he shall have no action against the oflficer for such seizure or loss thereof. CHAPTER XVIII. GAME-FISH LiAWS OF MAINE. CHArXER LXXV. (As Amended.) An Act to regulate and protect Fisheries and the Propagation of Fish. Be it enacted, iitc, asfolloivs : — Section 1. The governor, with the advice of the council, shall appoint one or two persons, as they may think best, to be commissioners of fisheries, who shall hold office for three vears unless sooner removed, and have a general supervision of tlie fisheries, regulated by the following sections. He or they shall examine dams and all other obstructions existing in uU rivers and streams in the state, and determine the necessity of fish-ways and the location, form, and capacity thereof; shall visit those sections where fisheries regulated by this act are carried on, and examine into the working of the laws; shall introduce and disseminate valuable species of fish into the waters of this state where they do not exist, and perform all other duties prescribed by law. He or they shall report annually on or before the thirty-first day of December to the g-overnor, who shall cause three thousand copies to be printed. He or they shall receive one thousand dollars and travelling and other expenses necessarily incurred in connection with his or their duties, which shall be audited by the governor and council, and it shall be his or their duty to sec that all violations of the fish laws of the state are duly prosecuted. Sect. 2. The owner or occupant of every dam or other artificial obstruction in any river or stream frequented by salmon, shad, alewives, or land-locked salmon, shall provide the same with a durable and efiicient fish-way, of such form and capacity, and in such location as may, after notice in writing to one or more of said owners or occupants and a hearing thereon, be determined by the commis- sioners of fisheries, by written notice to some owner or occupant specifying the location, form, and capacity of the required fish-way, and the time within which it shall be built; and said owner or occupant sliall keep said fish way in repair, and open and free from obstruction for the passage of fish, during such times as are prescribed by law; provided, however, that in case of disagreement between the commissioners of fisheries and the owner or occupant of any dam, as to the propriety and safety of the plan submitted to the owner or occupant of such dam for the location and construction of the fish-way, such owner or occu- pant may appeal to the county commissioners of the county where the dam is located within twenty days after notice of the determination, to the fishery commissioners, by giving to the fishery commissioners notice in writing of such appeal within that time, stating therein the reasons therefor, and at the request of the appellant or tlie fishery commissioners, the senior commissioners in office of any two adjoining counties shall be associated with them, who shall appoint a time to view the premises and hear the parties, and give due notice theieof, and after such hearing tliey shall decide the question submitted, and cause record to be made thereof, and their decision shall be final as to the plan and location appealed from. If the requirements of the fishery commissioners are affirmed, the appellants shall be liable for the costs arising after the appeal, otherwise they shall be paid by the county. [Approved March 9, 1889.] Sect. 3. If a fish-way thus required to be built is not completed to the satis- faction of the commissioners within the time specified, any owner or occupant shall 273 274 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE forfeit not more than one hundred nor less than twenty dollars for every day between the first day of May and the first day of November, during which such neglect continues. Sect. 4. On the completion of any fish-way to the satisfaction of the commis> sioners, or at any subsequent time, they shall prescribe in writing the time during which the same shall be kept open and free from obstruction to the passage of fish each year, and a copy thereof shall be served on the owner or occupant of the dam. The commissioners may change the time as they see fit. Unless otherwise provided, a fish-way shall be kept open and unobstructed from the first day of 3Iay to the fifteenth day of July of each year. The penalty for neglecting to com- ply with the provisions of this section, or any regulations made in accordance herewith, shall be not less than twenty nor more than one hundred dollars for every day such neglect continues. Sect. 5. In case the commissioners find any fish-way out of repair or needing^ alterations, they may, as in case of new fish-ways, require the owner or occupant to make such repairs or alterations; and all the proceedings in such cases, and. the penalty for neglect, shall be as provided in the second, third, and fourth sections, without right of appeal. Sect. 6. In case the dam is owned or occupied by more than one person, each shall be liable for the cost of erecting and maintaining such fish-way, in propor- tion to his interest in the dam, and if any owner or occupant shall neglect or refuse to join with the others in erecting or maintaining such fish way, the other owner or owners or occupants shall erect or repair the same, and shall have an action of case against such delinquent owner or occupant for his share of the expenses thereof. Sect. 7. If the owner or occupant of such dam resides out of the state, said penalties may be recovered by a libel against the dam and land on which it stands, to be filed in the supreme judicial court in the county where the same is located, in the name of the commissioners of fisheries or any fish-warden, who shall give to the owner or occupant of the dam, and all persons interested therein,, such notice as the court, or any justice thereof in vacation, shall order, and the court may render judgment therein against said dam and lands for said penalties, and costs, and order a sale thereof to satisfy such judgment and costs of sale, subject, however, to all said requirements for the erection, maintenance, or repair of said fish-way. Sect. 8. The governor, with the advice of the council, shall appoint fish- warden's where the same may be necessary, who shall enforce the provisions of all public laws relating to fisheries, prosecute all offences that come to their knowledge, and shall have the same power as sheriffs and deputy sheriffs to serve all criminal process for the violation of any of the provisions of this act; and they shall have a right, at all times, to visit any dam or any weir, or other apparatus for taking fish, and in the exercise of their duties shall have the same right to- require aid that sheriffs and their deputies have in executing the duties of their office, and any person neglecting to render it when required shall forfeit ten dollars Each person so appointed shall hold office three years, unless sooner removed and his pay shall be fixed by the governor and council, who shall audit his accounts and cause the same to be paid from the state treasury, provided that the whole amount paid to all wardens shall not exceed fifteen hundred dollars annually. Se(^t. 0. No salmon, shad, or other migratory fish, shall be taken or fished for within five hundred yards of anv fish-wav, dam, or mill-race; nor in the Penob- '^cot river between the mouth of the Kenduskeag stream and the water works dam at Treat's Falls, on said river, nor between the Augusta highway bridge,, over the Kennebec river, and the Augusta dam, between the first days of April and November, except by the ordinary mode of angling with single hook and line, or ar- tificial flies; nor shall hook and line or artificial flies be used at any time within one hundred yards of any fish-way, dam, or mill-race; but this section shall not apply to the taking of alewives bv the town of Warren in the Georges river, and by the town of Waldoboro in the Medomak river, under the authority granted said towns by the private and special laws of Massachusetts, passed March six, eighteen hun- dred aiid two, and amendments thereto passed by the legislature of this state. The penalty for violation of this section is a fine of not more than fifty nor less- AND NORTH MAINE WILDEllNESS. 275 than ten dollars for each offence, and a further fine of ten dollars for each salmon, and one dollar for each shad so taken. [Approved March 7, 1887. J Sect. 10. There shall be a close time for salmon from the fifteenth day of July of each year to the first day of April follovvin^r, during wliich no salmon shall be taken or killed in any manner, under a penalty of not more than tifty nor less than ten dollars, and a further penalty of ten dollars for each salmon so taken or killed. Provided, however, that from the said fifteenth day of July until the fif- teenth day of September following, it shall be lawful to fish for and take salmon by the ordinary mode, with rod and single line, but not otherwise. [Approved February 28, 1880.J Skc:t. 11. No smelts shall be taken or fished for in tidal waters, except by hook and line, between the first days of April and October, under a penalty of not less than ten, nor more than thirty dollars for each otl'ence, and a further penalty of twenty cents for each smelt so taken, and all weirs for the capture of smelts shall be opened, and so remain, and all nets used in the smelt and tom-cod fishery shall be taken from the water on or before the first day of April, under a penalty of not less than twenty nor more than fifty dollars, and a further fine of live dol- lars for each day that any sucli weir or net remains in violation of law, but weirs with catch pounds covered with net, the meshes of which are one inch square in the clear, or greater, are not subject to this section. But no smelts caught in such weirs after the first day of April shall be sold or ollered for sale in this state, nor shall smelts caught in any manner, between the tirst day of April and the first day of October following, be offered for sale, sold, or shipped from the state under a penalty of twenty-tive dollars for each offence; provided, however, that dip nets may be used between the tirst and twenty fifth days of April; provided, further, that this section does not apply to smelts taken in the Androscoggin river, above the Merry Meeting Bay bridge, between the tirst days of October and November, nor to smelts taken in the Penobscot river and its tributaries, between the first and fifteenth days of April. [Approved Marcli 10, 1887. J Sect. 12. Any inhabitant of this state, by obtaining the consent of the adja- cent riparian proprietors, may plant oysters' below low-water mark in any of the navigable waters of the state, in places where tliere is no natural oyster bed, enclose such grounds with stakes, set at suitable distances, and extending at least two feet above high-water mark, but so as not to obstruct the free navigation of such waters, and have the exclusive right of taking such oysters; and if any per son trespasses on such enclosure, or in any way injures such oyster-beds, he shall be liable in an action of trespass for all the damage; or if he takes any oysters therein without the consent of the owner, he shall forfeit not less than twenty nor more than fifty dollars, or be confined in jail not exceeding three months. Sect. 13. There shall be an annual close time for land-locked salmon, com- monly so called, trout, togue, black bass, Oswego bass, and white perch, in the waters of tliis state, as follows, viz.: For land locked salmon, trout, and togue, from the first day of October to the first day of May following, excepting on the St. Croix river and its tributaries, and all the waters in Kennebec county, in which the close time shall be from the fifteenth day of September to the first day of 3[ay following; and for black bass, Oswego bass, and white perch, from the tirst day of April to the first day of July following. Sect. 14. No person shall at any time catch, take, kill, or fish for any land- locked salmon, trout, togue, black bass, Oswego bass, or white perch, by means of any grapnel, spear, trawl, weir, net, seine, trap, spoon, set-line, or with any device or in any other way than by the ordinary way of angling with a single baited hook and line, or with artificial flies, under a penalty of not less than ten dollars nor more than thirty dollars for each offence, and a further fine of one dollar for each flsh so caught, taken or killed. And all set-lines, grapnels, spears, trawls, weirs, nets, seines, traps, spoons, and devices other than fair angling as aforesaid, are hereby prohibited on the fresh-water lakes, ponds, and streams of this state: and when found in use or operation on said lakes, ponds, or streams, they are hereby declared forfeit and contraband, and any person finding them in use in said waters is hereby authorized to destroy the same. Sect, 15. No person shall take, catch, kill, or fish for, in any manner, any land-locked salmon, trout, or togue, in any of the waters aforesaid between said first days of October and the following May, nor in the Saint Croix river and its 276 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE tributaries, between the fifteenth day of September and the first day of the fol- lowing Mayj or black bass, O.swego bass, or white perch, between the first days of April and July, under a penalty of not less than ten nor more than thirty dollars, and a further fine of one dollar for each fish thus cauglit, taken, or killed; provided, however, that during February, March, and April, citizens of the state may fish for and take land-locked salmon, trout, and togue, and convey the same to their own homes, but not otherwise, provided, further, that the provisions of tliis and the preceding and two succeeding sections shall not apply to the taking of black bass from any waters whicli have been stocked therewitli for a period of five years. [Approved March 1, 1887.] Sect. 16. No person shall sell, expose for sale, or have in possession with intent to sell, or transport from place to place in this state, any land-locked salmon, trout, or togue, between tlie first day of October and the first day of May following, or any black bass, Oswego bass, or white perch, between the first day of April and the first day of July following, under a penalty of not less than ten dollars nor more than fifty dollars for each offence. Sect. 17. Any person or persons having in possession, except alive, any land- locked salmon, trout, or togue, between the first day of October and the first day of May following, or any black bass, Oswego bass, or white perch, between the first day of April and the first day of July following, or who shall transport from place to place within this state, any land-locked salmon, trout, or togue, between the first day of October and tlie first day of May following, or black bass, Oswego bass, or white perch, between the first day of April and the first day of July fol- lowing, shall be deemed to have killed, caught, or transported the same contrary to law, and be liable to the penalties aforesaid. Sect. 18. The provisions of this act shall not apply to white perch taken in any of the tidal waters of this state. Sect. 19. No person shall introduce fish of any kind, except trout, fresli and salt water salmon, fresh-water smelts, blue-back trout, and minnows, by means of the live fish or otherwise, to any waters now frequented by trout or salmon, except as hereinafter provided, under a penalty of not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars. Sect. 20. The commissioners of fisheries may take fish of any kind at such time and place as they may choose, and in such manner, for the purposes of science, and of cultivation and dissemination, and they may grant written permits to other persons to take fish for the same purposes, and they may introduce, or permit to be introduced, any kind of fish to any waters they may see fit. Sect. 21. The commissioners of fisheries mav set apart any waters for the purpose of cultivation of fish, and after notice published three weeks successively in some newspaper published in the county where such waters are located, no person shall take, kill, or fisli for any fish therein, under a penalty of not less than ten nor more than one hundred dollars, and a further penalty of one dollar for each fish so taken or killed. Sect. 22. Any person legally engaged in the artificial culture and maintenance of fishes, may take them in his own enclosed waters wherein the same are so cul- tivated and maintained, as and when he pleases, and may at all times sell them for the purpose of cultivation and propagation, but shall not sell them for food at seasons when the taking of such fish is prohibited by law, under a penalty of not less than ten nor more than one hundred dollars, and a further penalty of not less than one dollar for each fish so sold. Sect. 2:^. Any person engaged in the artificial propagation of fish known as trout, fi esh and salt water salmon, on any water in this state, when the parent fish are taken from public waters in this state, shall retain not less than twenty- five per cent of all eggs taken from said parent fish, and cause the same to be properly cared for and hatched, and when hatched and in proper condition, to be returned to a suitable place for such young fish in the original waters from which the parent fish were taken, and to cause said parent fish to be returned to safe locations in the waters from which they were taken, under a penalty of not less than fifty nor more than five hundred dollars for each offence. But the provisions of this section shall not apply to cases in whicli the parent fish are taken in the manner and at the time and place permitted by law for the capture of such fish AND NORTH MAINE WILDERNESS. 277 for food; nor shall it apply to any operations in lish-culture conducted for public purposes by permisj;iou of the commissioners of fisheries of this state, who may atnx such conditions to tlieir permits as they may see fit, but requiring in no case less than twenty-tive per cent of the young lish to be returned, as provided in this section. Sect. 24. No person shall fish in that portion of a pond or other water in which fish are artificially cultivated or maintained, by the written permission of the fish commissioners, without the permission of the proprietor, under a penalty of not less than ten nor more than one hundred dollars, and an additional penalty of two dollars for each fish so taken or killed. Sect. 25. It shall be the duty of all sherifTs, deputy-sheriffs, constables, and police-ofiicers, as well as tish-wardens and their deputies, to cause any person or persons violating any of the provisions of this chapter to be promptly prosecuted for said offence, either by making complaint before some trial justice, municipal or police judge, or by giving information to the county attorney of the county in which the offence is committed. Said sherifis, deputy sheriff's, constables, fish- wardens, deputy fish wardens, and police-officers, shall be allowed for said services the same fees as are now prescribed by law for sheriffs and their deputies. Sect. 26. All fines and penalties provided for in this act, unless otherwise provided, may be recovered before any competent tribunal by complaint, indict- ment, or action of debt; and in all actions of debt commenced in the supreme judicial court, or in the superior court for the county of Cumberland, the plaintifT recovering shall recover full cost, without regard to amount recovered. Judges of municipal and police courts, and trial justices, shall have concurrent jurisdic- tion of all offences described in this act, when the penalty for the offence com- plained of does not exceed thirty dollars. In cases where the offence described in this act is alleged to have been committed in any river, stream, pond, or lake forming a boundary between two counties, or where the fish are caught in one county and carried to another county, the action, complaint, or indictment may be commenced and prosecuted in either county. One half of all fines and penal- ties recovered or imposed, when not otherwise provided, shall be for the benefit of the party prosecuting or making complaint, and the other half to the county in which the proceedings are commenced and prosecuted. Sect. 27. The provisions of this act shall not apply to the taking of blue-bact trout. Sect. 28. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall repeal the laws relating to the St. Croix, Denny, Pemmaquam, Cobscook, East 3Iachias, and Narraguagus rivers. And this act shall not apply to fish taken in the weirs on. St. Croix river. Sect. 29. This act shall take effect when approved. [Approved February 21^ 1878.] Additional Game-Fish Laws. Chapter 180. An Act for the protection of Blue-Back Trout. Be it enacted, <&c., as follows : — Section 1. No person shall fish for, catch, take, kill, or destroy any blue-back trout in any of the waters of this state, with any net, seine, weir, or trap. Sect. 2. Any person who shall violate the provisions of this act shall forfeit and pay the sum of five dollars for the attempt, and one dollar for each and every blue-back trout so taken, caught, killed, or destroyed, to be recovered by com- plaint before any trial justice, one-half to the complainant, and the other half to the town where the complaint is made. Sect. 3. This act shall take effect when approved. [Approved February 23, 278 GUIDE TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE An Act for the protection of Game-Fish. Be it enacted^