#LIBRAR,Y OF CONGRESS.! Mtoj.EiJ |o«,4a _ t § ^ ; I ! UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, f HAVuy liaa'TES 3 lf/uttM»mtiiut ^,xue 4 (nt)tft>nl Soiur THE WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE BOOK. M TENTH EDITION. ^^:^^ CONCORD: ED80N C. EASTMAN. BOSTON: LEE & SHEPARD. 1872. Entered, according to Act of Congress, m the year 1872, by SAMUEL C. EASTMAN, In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washingtt-fl. RtEOTKOT YPED AT THE Boston Stereotype, Foundry ^ No. 4 Spring Lane. Printed by John Wilson niul Sons. PREFACE It is hoped that this Guide will form the most complete, accurate, and reliable Guide, yet published, to the Mountain Region of New Hampshire. Those before issued have been rather guides to than through the Mountains, containing plen- tiful descriptions of places on the way, but scanty accounts of views and interesting scenes, really the object of the visit. Omissions and mistakes may, of course, occur. The editor is very solicitous to be favored with corrections of these, founded upon personal knowledge. Travellers^ willing to make such communications, are requested to address them to the editor of the Guide Book, care of the Publisher. The editor has been greatly assisted in the preparation of this book by the late Rev. Thomas Starr King, who wrote the description of the eastern side of the Mountains, Rev. Daniel Goodwin, of Bangor, Me., and Rev. Augustus Woodbury, of Providence, who have each contributed largely to its pages. This, the tenth edition, has been carefully revised. Many additions have been made to the body of the book, and those errors which have been discovered have been corrected. A map, showing the routes, has been prepared expressly for the book. A map of the mountain region, which will be found to be in every way reliable, also accompanies the volume ; it was prepared by Mr. Chas. H. V. Cavis, the engineer of the Mount Washington Carriage Road, expressly for this Guide Book. S. C. EASTMAN. Concord, N. H., June, 1872. PRELIMINARY VIEW, From the city of New York, the point of immediate departure for Southern, Western, and we may add a large portion of European travel into New England, eight distinct routes, more or less direct, lead to the White Mountain region of New Hampshire. Four of these are laid through the city of Boston ; one through the city of Worcester, Mass., and thence by way of Nashua, N. H., up the valley of the Merrimack River ; one through the cities of New Haven, Hartford, and Springfield, up the valley of the Connecticut River, by railroad to Littleton, within three hours' ride by stage- coach to Franconia ; the seventh by way of the Hudson River, by rail or boat, to Albany, thence to Rutland, and Bellows Falls, Vt., intersecting at the latter place with the route up the Connecticut ; and the eighth by the way of New London and the Connecticut valley. In addition to these, starting from Niagara Falls, there is a route down the St. Lawrence, and approaching the Mountains either on the northern or western side. The general view is as follows : — 1. New York to Boston, via Stonington ; on Long Island Sound by steamboat to Stonington, (V) VI WHITE MOUJ^T^IJ\r GUIDE. thence to Providence and Boston by rail, arriving at Boston at 5^ o'clock, A. M. 2. New York to Boston, via Newport and Fall River, on Long Island Sound by steamboat ; from Fall River by rail, arriving in Boston in season for the morning trains, north and east. An express train also leaves Fall River, at 5.50 A. M. (after breakfast on board the boat), for Littleton and Whitefield, via Mans- field, Framingham, Lowell, Concord, and Plymouth, without change of cars. Cars also run through without change over this route, leaving the Mountains in the morning, and connecting with the boat at Newport. 3. New York to Boston, via New London and Norwich, on Long Island Sound by steamboat to New London ; thence over the Boston, Hartford, apd Erie Railroad, arriving at Boston about half past five, A. M. 4. New York to Boston, by railroad, from 27th Street, via New Haven, Hartford, Springfield, and Worcester ; or by the Shore line, via New Haven, New London, and Providence. The cars leave New York at 8 o'clock, morning and evening (Sundays at 5 P. M.), arriving at Boston about 4 P. M., and 6 A. M. (Mondays at 3 A. M.). Good sleeping cars accom- pany the night trains. On reaching Boston, the tourist has his choice of the three following routes : (L) Boston to Portland, over the Boston and Maine Railroad from Haymarket Square, passing through Andover and Lawrence, Mass., Exeter and Dover, N. H. ; or the Eastern Railroad from Cause- WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. . vii way Street, passing through Lynn, Salem, and New- buryport, Mass., and Portsmouth, N. H. The two roads unite at South Berwick, Me. A third route is by steamers from India and Commercial wharves, at 7 and 8 o'clock P. M., arriving at Portland early in the morning. Arriving at Portland, in four hours from Boston, the traveller can immediately leave (after re- freshment) for the " Alpine " or " Glen " House, Gorham, N. H., by the Grand Trunk Railway, or for North Conway and the Mountains, by the Portland and Ogdensburgh Railway. By either route the Mountains can be reached in less than twenty-four hours from New York, leaving that city in the afternoon or evening. North Conway may also be reached, via the Eastern Railroad to Great Falls, and thence by the Great Falls and Conway Railroad. (2.) Boston to Dover, N. H., by Boston and Maine Railroad ; thence by Dover and Winnipiseogee Railroad to Alton, N. H., at the southern end of Lake Winni- pesaukee ; thence by steamer Mt. Washington over the Lake to Wolfeborough and Centre Harbor, dining on board the boat, and reaching those places in season for a stage-coach to North Conway ; thence to the Mountains by stage and rail the next morning. (3.) Boston to Concord, N. H., by Boston and Maine, Concord, Manchester and Lawrence Rail- roads (Haymarket Square), passing througli Law- rence, Mass., and Manchester, N. H. At the latter place, a train from Boston, via Lowell and Nashua, over Lowell (Causeway Street), and Lowell and Nashua Rail- VIU WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. roads, unites with this route, and both streams of travel pour on together to Concord, N. H. Here connec- tions are made with (a.) the Northern Railroad, which connects at White River Junction witli the route up the Connecticut. Passengers by tliis route reach the Pro- file House, by way of Littleton, the same evening at 7 o'clock, and the Crawford House, at 9. (5.) Tiie Montreal Railroad, by which passengers proceed to the Weirs Station, Lake Winnipesaukee, whence the Steamer Lady of the Lake conveys them to Centre Harbor in season for the afternoon stage to North Conway, via WestOssipee. If the tourist desires to reach Franconia on the same day, he passes by rail upon the same road, to Plymouth, N. H., where he stops to dine at the Pemigewasset House, and takes the after- neon stage for the Profile House, arriving about 7 o'clock P. M., or he may go to Littleton and arrive about half an hour later. Leaving New York in the afternoon, one could reach White Mountain Notch, Francbnia, or North Conway, if he so desired, on the evening of the next day. 5. New York to Concord, N. H., by way of Nor- wich, Worcester, and Nashua. The traveller reaches Worcester by rail through New Haven, &c., or by boat and rail through New London. Connections are made directly with the Worcester and Nashua Railroad, and he proceeds without detention, except for refreshment, to Nashua, N. H. Here he takes the cars of the Concord Railroad for Concord, N. H., and has the choice of the routes enumerated above. The time required is the same as that for the preceding route. (VHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. ix 6. New York to the Profile House, Franconia, OR THE Crawford House, White Mountain Notch, by rail, except the last twelve miles from Littleton or Bethlehem. The traveller by this route leaves New York by the New York and New Haven Railroad, and pro- ceeds as far as Springfield, Mass., without change of cars. At this place he takes the cars of the Connecticut River Railroad, passing through Northampton and Holyoke, and in sight of Mt. Tom on the west side, and Mt. Hol- yoke on the east side of the river, through Greenfield to South Vernon, Vt. From this place the Vermont Valley Railroad passes through Brattleborough to Bel- lows Falls. Thence the route proceeds by Sullivan Railroad to Windsor, Vt. ; thence by Vermont Central Railroad to White River Junction, where the route by Northern Railroad connects ; thence by Passumpsic Railroad to Wells River ; thence by White Mountains Railroad to Littleton, and thence by stage to the Profile or Crawford House. This route, after leaving Hart- ford, continues up the valley of the Connecticut, till it reaches Wells River, and affords a view of the beautiful scenery which makes this valley a " garden of delight." By the train that leaves New York at 8 o'clock in the morning, the night must be passed at Bellows Falls, which is reached at 5.50 P. M., or at White River Junction, which is reached at 8.25 P. M. In the former case the route is continued the next morning at 1L45, reaching the mountains in the evening. If the night is passed at White River Junction, the route is contin- ued in the morning at 8.20, arriving at the mountains before dinner. Leaving New York at 12.15 P. M., X WHITE j\iouj\rTJiiJ\r guide. White River Junction is reached at 11.45 P. M., and where the night must be passed, and the route contin- ued the next morning as before. Leaving by the 3 or 8 P. M. train, the night is passed at Springfield, which is reached at 8.10 P. M., and 1.10 A. M., respectively, and the route continued the next morning at 8 A. M., reaching the mountains in the evening." 7. New York to Franconia, via Albany, Rut- land, and Bellows Falls, Vt. Passengers leave New York by Hudson River Railroad, or by boat, reaching Troy in season for the cars over the Rutland and Washington, or Western Vermont Railroad, to Rut- land, where they remain over night ; leaving by early train the next morning, they reach Bellows Falls in time to connect with the trains north, to Windsor, White River, and Littleton, thus uniting at Bellows Fails Avith the route just named. The time is the same as by route No. 6. This is, without doubt, the most beautiful and satisfactory of all the routes pro- posed. Besides the magnificently varied scenery of the Hudson, one enjoys to the highest degree the ride through the mountain State of Vermont. Her hills are covered with verdure to the very summits, and the little hamlets that nestle in the valleys are the abodes of comfort, and happiness, and virtue. There is, too, "A newer life in every gale," as the fresh mountain air, with its invigorating influ- ence, brings the roses to the cheeks, and vivifies the frame. white moua'-taim guide, xi 8. New York to Franconia and the White Mountain Notch, via Long Island Sound, as in route 3, and thence by rail over the New London Nortliern Railroad, leaving New London at 5 A. M., through Palmer, Grant's Corner, and thence via Brattleboro'j as in route 6, arriving at the mountains in the evening. 9. Niagara to the White Mountains, by boat down the St. Lawrence to Montreal or Quebec, or by cars on the Grand Trunk Railway, and thence by the Grand Trunk Railway to Gorham, N. H. Or, the cars may be left at Northumberland and thence by the White Mountains Railroad to Lancaster, to the Notch or the Profile House. So also at Lennoxville, a connection is made with the Passumpsic River Ratkoad. At Sher- brooke there is a stage connection with Outlet Village, on Lake Memphremagog. Montreal may also be left by the Vermont Central route, via St. Albans. Finally, the Grand Trunk may be left still earlier at Ogdensburg, and the traveller may proceed directly to Rouse's Point, over the Ogdensburg Railroad, and thence over the Ver- mont and Canada and Vermont Central. Note. — We cannot too strongly recommend the necessity, to the tourist, of sufficient and water-proof clothing. The weather is so uncertain among the mountains, that it is well to be prepared to defy the elements. The coolness of the atmosphere renders extra clothing necessary, while rubber boots, capes for ladies, and overcoats for gentlemen, will enable one to enjoy the scenerv, whatever aspect the face of the sky may wear. Xii WHITE MOUJ^TJlIJV GUIDE. Hotels. We are unable to state definitely what will be the hotel fares the present season. It is probable, how- ever, that the Mountain Houses will charge $4.50 per day, and those more accessible to markets, $4.00, — though these prices may be modified by circumstanceSo GUIDE. The Mountain Region. FTER having given this pre- liminary view of the difler- ent approaches to the White Mountains, we propose to pre- sent a particu- lar view o£ the Mountain region. After this is completed, we will give a more detailed account of the differ- ent routes before men- tioned. We shall thus be enabled to give a greater symmetry to the whole book than could be obtained by first giving the routes fo, and then through^ the region to be visited. As the various roads approach the Mountains at diiferent (13) 14 WHITE MOUJVT^IjY GUIDE, points, we shall also avoid much needless repetition. The size of the book will thus be diminished, white its convenience for consultation will be greatly increased.* We will commence, then, at Gorham, N. H., on the eastern side of the Mountains. Gorham is a thriving village, which has been built up on the banks of the Androscoggin by the business which the Railroad and the Hotel have brought. The Alpine House is one of the largest of the hotels in the White Mountain region. It is the most substan- tially built of all. Under the charge of Mr. Hitch- cock, it is admirably kept. Passengers are deposited from the cars directly in front of the house. The main building is one hundred feet in front by fifty in width, and is three stories high. There is an L of the same dimensions. The dining-room is a noble hall, eighty feet by thirty. The house can accommodate between two and three hundred guests. The Alpine House is situated in a valley at the junction of the Androscoggin and Peabody Rivers. The valley is 800 feet above the sea. The breadth of it is so great that the air is more dry, pure, and bra- cing than in the more narrow passes directly under the lofty summits, where many of the larger public houses are placed. On this account it has often been found more grateful and propitious to invalids, who are advised to try the mountain atmosphere. There is a post-office in the hotel. Mails are received every day from Montreal, and twice a day by railroad from Boston and Portland. There is also a telegraph sta- 9 WHITE MOUJSTT^TJV GUIDE. 15 tion connecting with Portland, and a line over Mt. Washington, via the Glen House. The scenery immediately around the Alpine House, in the Gorham village, when the proper points are sought for enjoying it, is very interesting. It is the only point from which the beauty of the range of Mo- riah. Carter, and the Imp, can be seen to advantage. Mt^ Carter is about 5,000 feet in height. The base from which it rises being much lower than the level of the Franconia Notch, the summit of Carter is really higher, as seen from Gorham, than Mt. Lafayette, the highest of the Franconia range, is from the lovely Echo Lake, near the Profile House. And there are few more charming spectacles among the mountains than the heavy shadows that are tangled in the deep- cut stairways of Mt. Carter, contrasted with the soft lights that lie on its steep, unbroken forests in a clear summer afternoon. Mt. Moriah, some 200 feet lower than Mt. Carter, is remarkable for the rolling, billowy lines that flow from its dome along its huge mass to the valley. It is, perhaps, the most graceful in its outline of any of the larger New Hampshire hills. The true position from which to detect its beauty and appreciate its height is at the bend of the Andros- coggin, near " Lary's," about a mile above the Alpine House. If the visitor Avill take this walk just before a clear sunset, he will see the whole ridge bathed in the richest purple — a sight that is one of the most agreeable rewards of a mountain journey. Only the Mountains on the westerly side of the Peabody Kiver 16 WHITE MOUJ^TAIJ^ GUIDE, mm ^^ ;^ g 'II' 111 'M"^!' /*:'(' j»*'Kii l»M are visible from tlie liotel, owing to the hill imme- diately in front of the house. The trees, hoAvever, have been cut aAvay on a portion of it, so that the summit of Mt. Madison now peers down into the val- WHITE MOUJ^TjSIJST GUIDE. i7 ley through the gap. This is the only one of the group standing guard about Mt. Washington visible from this point, though most fascinating views of the range may be obtained by a short walk. The lower mountain that stands between Moriah and Carter is called the Imp. The noble chain of hills to the north-west of the Alpine House is known as the Pilot range. The lines they cut against a clear and burning evening sky are very charming. To the east and south-east, Gorham is walled in by the stalwart and brawny Androscoggin hills. The noblest of these is Mt. Hayes, directly behind the Alpine House. Its name was given in honor of Mrs. Hayes, who was once associated as landlady in the management of the hotel, and who is gratefully remembered by all guests who became acquainted with her. The mountain stands now the noblest external monument to her memory. The first thing which travellers usually wish to know, when they arrive in Gorham, is the distance to Mt. Washington, and the time and method of making the ascent. The base of Mt. Washington is at the distance of eight miles from the railroad station at Gorham. Stages are in waiting, at every train, to convey passengers to the Glen House, which is situ- ated at this point. The ascent of the mountain, since the completion of the carriage road to the summit, is most commonly made in light, covered wagons. Tiiose who prefer horseback riding can still make the ascent in that way over ai most excellent road. Which- 18 WHITE MOUJ^TAI^r GUIDE. ever way may be preferred, parties can start from either hotel. If travellers are iu a hurry to reach the Glen House, and prefer to start from that point, they ride in stages eight miles to that hotel, and take horses or carriages there. The landlord of the Al- pine House also keeps a stable of excellent mountain horses and carriages in connection with his hotel. If travellers desire, therefore, they can have a Avagon f^om Gorham, be driven to the base of the mountain, and with the same wagon and horses, make the as- rent, and stay at the Glen House when they descend, -Dr ride back at once to the Alpine House. The road ys precisely the same, and the expense of ascending the mountain the same, in whichever way the excur- sion is made. It is Avell to know, however, that con- veyance is furnished from Gorham as well as from the Glen ; for it sometimes happens that travellers arrive in Gorham by the eleven o'clock forenoon train from Portland, who would like to make the ascent of Mt. Washington that day, and return to Portland or go on to Montreal the next morning. This is almost always practicable, and has often been done from Gorham. By taking a wagon from the Alpine House, the base of Mt. Washington is reached more quickly than by stage ; the ascent is made in the after- noon, and the conveyance is in waiting to return the passenger, as soon as he descends, to the Alpine House again. But if travellers arc not in a great hurry, they should certainly make their plans to see the striking WIHTE MOUjYT^JJ^ GUIDE. 19 scenery tliat is offered near the Alpine House. No point in the whole mountain region presents more at- tractions within reach of a short and delightful wagon drive, a pleasant horseback ride up a bridle path, or a tolerably easy mountain-scramble. The first of these excursions to which we Avill call attention is that to » The Lead Mine Bridge. The name is derived from an abandoned lead mine about six miles below Gorham, on the eastern bank of the Androscoggin, in Shelburne. The bridge is about four miles from the Alpine House, and can be easily reached in three quarters of an hour. The proper time to visit it is in the latter part of a summer afternoon, when the golden light is on the meadows, and the long shadows are falling athwart the mountains. There is no spot in the whole mountain region Avhere the beauty of the river is joined so charmingly to the majesty of the hills. No river view can be more fascinating than that of the noble Androscoggin breaking around eme- rald islands Avith clean sandy shores, sweeping around the base of a lofty cliff, and joining its parted currents again into one strong tide just above the bridge wdicre one stands. And then, a few miles distant, enthroned over tlie narrow valley, as though the stream flowed directly from their bases, rises the heavy dome of ]Mt. AYashington, in company with the clear-cut, exquisite pyramid of Madison, with the crest of Adams rising directly behind it. The height of the noblest mountains is never apprc- 20 WHITE MOUJ\rTAIJSr GUIDE. ciatecl by going close to their base, if they are fore- shortened by ridges intervening between the eye and the supreme summits. The Lead Mine Bridge is just far enough away from the White Hills to allow their height to make its true impression. And whoever sees Mt. Madison thus, in a clear afternoon, will recall the impression it makes, as perhaps the loveliest picture which the White Mountain journey leaves in *the memory. Three hours from the Alpine House will give ample time for the excursion. Teams and drivers are always in readiness for the accommodation of guests. By taking the day, or even the Avholc after- noon, for the excursion, one cannot do better than to prolong the ride to Shelburne and Gilead along the Androscoggin. Some fine views of the mountains may be thus obtained. Next among the privileges of Gorham we must speak of a drive from the Alpine House to Eandolph Hill. This hill is on the road to the villages of Randolph and Jeiferson, and is about five miles from the liotcl. There is no climbing to be done ; the wagon is driven directly to the summit, which is about six Inmdred feet higher than the hotel, and the road is excellent. By this drive one is taken directly to the northerly base of Madison and Adams. He sees the Avliole northerly wall of tlie Mt. Washington range from crest to valley. The height is far greater tlian tlie wall of the Craw- ford Notch. There is no point where, standing so near, WHITE MOU^rT^fJ\r GUIDE. 21 any of the Wliite Mountains look so lofty and so grand. Certainly no valley view can be gained of Mt. Wash- ington that compares with the grandeur of Adams from this position. The sense of height, the tremendous mass, the grand natural masonry, the rich forest ver- dure, the silence, the twin outlines of the two moun- tains, and the symmetry of the gray and blasted peaks that rise and face each other above the vast wilderness that clothes their sides, combine to make an impression on the eye and soul that years will not efface. Here, too, is peculiarly felt tliat harmony and symmetry of all mountain outlines, wlien massed together, those of the smaller hills being reproduced by the higher summits, all pointing to one common centre of towering preemi- nence. A traveller should not fail to take this view, if possible ; and no discomfort is connected with the excursion. An hour is sufficient for the drive to Ran- dolph Hill from the Alpine House, and three quarters of an hour for the return. AYe must call attention, next, to Berlin Falls. Those who love water-views and cataract-scenery will say that these Falls are the richest of all the attractions that invest Gorham. They are situated six miles from the Alpine House. But the road that leads to them is excellent ; the drive is taken in an hour ; and the scenery on the way, along the west bank of the Androscoggin, is continually noble, wild, and stim- ulatingo The mountains seem to overhang the stream, 22 WHITE MOUJVTJirJSr GUIDE. and add greatly to the interest of the drive. It is no rivulet or mountain cascade one visits at Berlin. The whole Androscoggin, fed from a branch of Lake Umba- gog, and never low even in a drought, like the Upper Connecticut, pours here down a rocky gateway. It is a long, swift rapid, broken here and there by a direct and powerful fall. In the course of a mile the river descends nearly two hundred feet. The road winds directly by the river, and there is no hard clambering or wet walking in the excursion. The first view as one alights from the wagon reveals the river for a quarter of a mile flecked with little white caps at the uppermost rapids, then plunging in a wind- ing rush of foam, then calmed again, and flowing with its rufiled caps towards Gorham. After taking this general look, which is very fascinating, we must select WHITE MOUArT.^]J\r GUIDE. 23 points for observing the heavier pitches of the river, and estimating the force of the cataract. We must go down upon a jutting rock that faces tlie sweeping flood, and see the last leap of the mad tide over a huge boulder, before it settles into conmion rapids again ; we must go up, and stand on the bridge that crosses the narrowest gully, and watch the foam sweep underneath like a race-horse — the backwater from each side over- laying the central current, so that it rushes in wedge shape, through the gorge ; especially must we go last above the bridge, and sit down upon the rocks, to watch, at leisure, the first and deepest plunge of the river. Al- though the bridge is very near, one has no conception, in looking from it, of the grandeur of this portion of the fall. One can sit by it for an hour Avith increasing delight. Visitors have said that it repaid for the cost and time of a visit to the mountains, and that all the other scenery was extra. The power of this part of the fall is so satisfactory, the quantity of water so great, and the flood of foam that sweeps away from it so full of life, that we have never been able to recall, while sitting there, aught that surpasses it, in the suggestion of power, but the English fall at Niagara. We quote the declaration of a prominent poet of New England, given with emphasis on the spot once, in our hearing, when we say that it is better worth visiting than the Falls of St. Anthony. There is a hotel at Berlin called the Berlin Falls House, so that visitors can now have the cool parts of the day, and especially a full-moonlight even- 24 WHITE MOUJ^TAIJ^ GUIDE. ing, for wandering around the banks, and enjoying the rapids and plunges of the river. A visit to the falls is easily made from the Alpine House between breakfast and dinner, or in the after- noon before tea. But one needs to go several times, as at Trenton, and also to have leisure for studying the grand forms and summits of the outer White Moun- tains, which tower, with a symmetry that does not dis- turb their solid and serit)us majesty, a little to the west. In fact, the mountain panorama, visible from the road just above the falls, is one of the most inspiring to be found within the compass of the New Hampshire tour. But noontime is the worst season for a visit to the cata- ract, on account of heat. In July or August, a cool day, or a cloudy one, would be best. It would be among the richest joys of a September visit to Gorham, to give the heart of one of its clear In-acing days to an excursion along the Androscoggin, dining on the rocks above the bridge ; and, returning towards sunset, to face for the most of the way the great White Mountain range, stained with a glorious brown light, and the range of Moriah and Carter lift- ing purple peaks and ridges against the blue southern sky. Here, too, if one has time, the drive may be prolonged, with great advantage, some four miles to Mikm. At this distance from the base, the effects of the foreshortening are removed, and Mt. Washington, which, at the falls, was concealed by Madison and Adams, is now visible above them, manifesting its supremacy. WHITE MOUJ\rTjiIJ\r GUIDE. 25 But besides the attractions to be reached by wagon rides, there are excursions to be made from the Alpine House, on horseback or on foot, that must be spoken of. The Ascent of Mount Moriah is the first to be named. There was formerly an excel- lent bridle-path to the summit, and a large log-cabin for protection against a sudden shower. For the j^ast few years, however, the carriage road up Mt. Washing- ton has attracted the greater part of the travel, so that the path has not been reopened. The mountain is 4,700 feet in heights It can still be reached on foot, and the bridle-path can easily be reopened. The ascent will furnish a very charming excursion for those who care to undergo the fatigue. Now and then, through the trees, a glimpse fs gained of a grand col- iseum of pines on the steep and crescent sides of a near mountain, from which a ravine separates you. Now and then you come upon some bare ledge or shoulder, from Avhich you look down the valley of the Androscoggin for miles, and admire the forethought of Nature in leaving this easy track, among these billowy ridges of land, for the Grand Trunk Railway. Soon you plunge into the woods again, and are borne up and up by the panting horse till the shrubs begin to grow scanty, and suddenly you are on the desolate and jagged peak. What a view ! The whole region seems thrown into wildest confusion. The eye must travel far to the south-west to rest upon any extent of level land. Northern New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine are a 26 WHITE MOUJ^TAI^ GUIDE. vast panorama of solid surges. On the west the dis- tant view is barred by the heavy forms of the great White Mountain range proper. In this respect a visit to Mt. Moriah is more inter- esting than to Mt. Washington ; for here Mt. Wash- ington is part of the Landscape. Its height and mass, and the grandeur of its fellow-peaks, can be re^latively measured, as they cannot when one stands on their ridges. But it may be that the traveller does not care to make an ascent of a mountain so high as this, in addi- tion to the ascent of Mt. Washington, or instead of that ascent. We will call attention, therefore, to Mount Surprise, and the charm of the prospect that is opened from it. This mountain is directly in front of the Alpine House. It is, in fact, one of the spurs of Mt. Moriah, and is about 1,200 feet in height. The bridle-path to the top is not diificult at all in the ascent. Good walkers can gain the crest, Avhich is about two miles and a half from the hotel, without trouble in an hour and a half, and can return in half that time. It is an easy and charming horseback excursion for ladies. And the view wliich the summit offers is different in character from any that we recall in the mountain region. It suggests the marvellous picture of the Notch seen from Mt. AVillai-d. Tlie height of Mt. Surprise is about the same as that of Mt. Willard ; and it commands the great cleft between Mt. Carter and the White Moun- WHITE J[IOUJ\rTJJ/J\r GUIDE. 27 tains, through Avhich the Peabody River flows, as Mt. Willard commands the Notch and the infant Saco. The top of Mt. Surprise is worth visiting, apart from the view it furnishes, for the revelation it offers of the savage ruin which fire and winds can work on the hills. Scores of great tree-trunks, stripped, charred, and half consumed, are heaped and twisted over an acre or two of the crest and side of the hill, in impressive confu- sion. The whole scene is the hieroglyphic autobio- graphy, it may be, of the destructive partnership of July lightning and January gale. The chief payment for the ascent, however, is not this broad " charcoal sketch " of ravage, but the sight, gained amid that dingy desolation, of the grandest portions of the White Mountain ridge. The highest summits of the range rise directly against the eye. There is no intervening ridge or obstacle. You look down 1,200 feet to the bed of the Peabody, which is fed from the great range, and up along the unbroken forests to the peak of Mt. ]Madison, the crest of Adams that overtops it, and, at the south-west of these, the summit of Jefferson, and the mass of Mt. Washington. There is no other emi- nence where one can get so near to these monarchs, and receive such an impression of their sublimity, the vigor of their outlines, their awful solitude, and the extent of the wilderness which they bear upon their slopes. The scene is so Avild and glorious, and the cost of labor to gain it so slight, that it is a pity any visi- lants of the eastern side of the mountains should fail to add it to their treasures of memory. And besides this 28 WHITE MOUJVT^IJV GUIDE. view of the great range, the outlook from Mt. Surprise over the mountains of the North, and up the valley through which the Androscoggin twists its way, is very grand. On horseback from the Alpine House, tlie whole jaunt can be made in two hours and a half, with ample time for the Summit. We have already spoken of Mount Hayes, which rises just behind the Alpine House, beyond the Androscoggin. There is now a bridle-path to the top of this eminence, and it should be celebrated as afford- ing the grandest landscape view of Madison, Adams, and Washington, to be obtained in New Hampshiie. It is also an easy pedestrian excursion, and no one who visits Gorham, and who has a love of mountain scram- bles, should fail to make the ascent of Mt. Hayes. About two hours from the base will be sufficient to gain the top. The picture from the summit can- not be sufficiently praised. The view of Adams and Madison, sweeping from the uplands of Ran- dolph, will never be forgotten. And Mt. Washington shows no such height, or grandeur, when seen from any other point. Mt. Washington does not show its superior height, or look grander in form, than the asso- ciated peaks, from any position in the valleys near Gor- liam and the Glen. But from Mt. Hayes its superemi- nence and majesty are caught and appreciated. That Summit seems to be the chair set by Providence at the right distance and angle to observe and enjoy its ma- WHITE jMOUJVT^IJ^ GUIDE. 29 jesty, its symmetry, and the proud grace with which its *' airy citadel " is sustained against the sky. And by way of dessert to this substantial feast of mountain grandeur, a most charming view of the curves of the Androscoggin for twenty miles, of its exquisite islands, and of the meadows which it threads, is given from Mt. Hayes. There is another pedestrian excursion possible from" Gorham, of which we should not fail to speak. Wc mean the Ascent of Mount Madison, from the foot of Randolph Hill, and a visit to the northerly ridge and summits* of the White Mountain group. To those who love mountain climbing, and the wildest scenery which the hills can exhibit, no more tempting expedition than this can be proposed. Several parties made this excursion in 1857, sometimes camp- ing out in a ravine, or on the ridge. Their reports of the grandeur and magnificence of the views that re- warded their toil are very inspiring. A company of strong pedestrians, starting from the Alpine House, Gorham, early in the morning, and riding to the base of Mt. Madison, at the foot of Randolph Hill, could ascend Mt. Madison, pass^ovcr its summit, around or over the sharp pyramid of Adams, over Jefferson, be- tween the humps of Mt. Clay, and reach the house on the top of Mt. Washington, before sunset. Such a route would lie among and over the largest mountains of the ran^e. Between Madison and Adams 30 WHITE Mouj\rTjiij\r guide. the party would see the noblest outlines of rocky preci- pice and crest which the whole range can furnish, for they would stand directly between the steep pinnacles of those noble hills, that spring from the ridge. Tliey could climb to the sharp apex of Adams. They would see the glorious picture of Washington, that starts out in crossing from Adams to Jefferson. The long east- erly slope is shown from its base in the Pinkham for- ests ; the cone towers sheer out of " The Gulf of Mex- ico ; " and every rod of the carriage-road is visible from the Ledge to the Summit House. And the route brings into view all the great ravines of the range, except " Tuckerman's." One will see the long and narrow gully between Madison and Adams, an'l the tremendous hollow of Adams itself on the north, which was climbed for the first time, in 1857, by a party formed by the now universally lamented Starr King, and which is called by the guides " King's Ravine." He will see the precipitous gulf^ between Adams and Jefferson on the south-east ; the deep-cut gorge in Jefferson on the north-west, whose bones of gray cliff, breaking bare through the steep verdure, will be remembered as the most picturesque of all the scenes which the day gives. Pie will M-ind around the chasm between Jefferson and Clay< divided from the savage " Gulf of Mexico " by a spur of Jefferson that runs out toward the Glen House. And he will gaze off with delight upon the long rolling braces that prop Mt. Pleasant, and Franklin, and the tawny Monroe — tlie boundaries of the ravines that one sees, in riding to WHITE MOUJSTTAIJV GUIDE. 31 Mt. Wasliingtou from the Notch, over the Crawford bridle-path. A path through the forest of Mt. Madison to tlie summit, from the foot of Randolph Hill, has been " blazed" by Mr. Gordon, of Gorham. Mr. Gordon, now deceased, was a most admirable guide, and his memory will long be cherished by those whom he has served. Mr. Calhaine, who owns a farm in the Pea- body valley, near where the view of the Imp is to be had, will be found a worthy wearer of Mr. Gordon's mantle. Travellers can easily learn at the Alpine House how to engage him for any service. Among other excursions that may be made is the ascent of Mt. Washington over Adams, clambering up the ravine. Routes to the Notch. Since the completion of the carriage road on the east and the Railroad on the west side of the Mountains, nearly all the travel passes over Mt. Washington, and comparatively few persons go by the old stage routes. These, however, have not lost their charm, and^ should be mentioned here, so that if the traveller has made the ascent of Mt. Washington, and does not care to pass over the summit, but prefers the pleasures of the moun- tain views from below, he may not be deprived of the trip by ignorance. There are two roads from Gorham to the Notch. One passes through the Glen, the Pinkham Notch, Jack- son, and then up the valley of the Saco, in Bartlett, 32 WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. through the Notch to the Crawford House. The dis- tance from Gorham is forty-three miles. The stages start from the Glen House, and leave about eight o'clock in the morning. To go by this route, one must leave Gorham the night before. We shall speak of this route more at length hereafter. The Cherry Mountain Road is the other route to the Notch. The distance is thirty- two miles. There is no regular stage, but teams can be obtained of Mr. Hitchcock, if desired. The distance to the Twin Mountain House is thirty miles. This has always been a favorite route, for the scenery along almost the whole line of the road is grander than by any other stage route among the mountains. It takes in the glorious spectacle from Randolph Hill, of which we have spoken. It commands every slope and summit of the Mt. Washington range from the north ; and for some twelve miles of the way they are all in view at once, with no intervening hills to break the im- pression of their majesty. Such a view can be gained on no other road ; and the forms of the mountains on the northerly slope are grander than on the southerly side. From the village of Jefferson, through which this Cherry Mountain road runs, not only is every one of the Great AVhite Mountain group visible, but also the Franconia Mountains, the side of the Willey Moun- tain in the Notch, the line of the nearer Green Moun- tains beyond the Connecticut, — in fact, a panorama of WHITE MOUJ\rTAIJr GUIDE. 38 hills, to the north-west and north, almost as fine as the prospect in that direction from the summit of Mt. Washington. To see this picture would richly repay a drive from G-orham and return, if the traveller did not desire to pass on to the Notch. The noblest part of the view can be had, without leaving the wagon, from a hill in Jefferson, about seventeen miles from the Alpine Plouse. At this point, and commanding a noble view of the Avhole White and Franconia range, is situated a well-conducted hotel, called the Waumbeck House, kept by W. P. Merrill. The charges here are very reasonable. It is a favorite place of resort for those who are desirous of obtaining pure mountain air. Starr King Mountain, in the rear of the house, is easily ascended. From the piazza of the hotel, with a glass, people on the summit of Mt. Ayashington can be dis- tinctly seen. The distance from the hotel to the White Mountain Notch is seventeen miles ; to the Profile House, by the way of Whitefield and Bethlehem, twenty- eight miles ; to the Glen House by the road around the base of Madison, tAventy miles ; to Littleton, twenty miles. One should be sure to engage the carriage to go by the way of Jefferson, so as to obtain the fine view from the* Waumbeck Plouse. Should one prefer to go to Franconia from the Alpine House, instead of riding over the Cherry Mountain road to the Notch, an arrangement can easily bo made with Mr. Hitchcock. The road is the same with that just described, till it reaches a point a short dis- tance beyond Jefferson, wliere it diverges Into the valley 34 WHITE MOUJ^TAIJV GUIDE. of the Israel River. Then, passing through the pleas- ant, cleanly, and thrifty town of AYliitefield, it climbs the hills that rise to the plateau of Bethlehem. Leav- ing the Alpine House in the morning, the traveller can take his dinner and his noontide rest at the Waumbeck House, noticed above, in Jefterson, and then spend the hours of the long summer afternoon in the charming ride. Passing through Bethlehem an hour or two be- fore dark, he can reach the Profile House early in the evening, where the weary but thoroughly delighted guest can find a hospitable welcome and abundant cheer. The return ride from Franconia and the Notch to Gorham, by Cherry Mountain, is, in some respects, su- perior to the ride the other way. From Jefferson to Gorham, it is certainly more grand than when facing in the other direction. For several miles we front the foiu* highest moun- tains of the ridge, and seem to be riding into them, with no chance of a detour. How massive they ap- pear as Ave draw nearer and nearer ! The summits seem to be of about equal height, and instead of pre- senting thin and gullied sides, all their lines run out- ward towards us, and are firmly braced in the valley, as though they were immense forts, once upheaved and buttressed with granite ridges, to defend an army of a larger mould than our race against a siege. The Notch itself is hardly more majestic than this quadruple fortification, which glooms and darkens more and more upon the eye as we ride nearer to it, and which springs out of a Avild forest as yet almost uuvisited by man. WHITE MouJVTyjrj\r guide. 35 For several miles the vision lasts. Then Washington drops away from the company, and we are left with Jeli'erson, Adams, and Madison. Next, Jefferson with- draws, and w^c ride by the base of the remaining two. Soon their grand lines untwist, and their rocks seem, as it were, to be dishevelled, till we gain the summit of Ivandolph Hill, overlooking Gorliam, and find that, by inexplicable magic, they have been transformed into superb symmetry again, and hide from the delighted eye every trace of those glorious compeers that had joined with them in threatening the valley of Randolph, a few miles behind. This route can also be taken from the Glen House by a road passing across the Peabody River, along the base of Madison, and joining the road from Gorham just beyond Randolph Hill. An excellent excursion for one who desired to approach the Crawford House from the south, through the Notch, w^ould be to spend a day in a trip from Gorham to the Waumbeck House, back as far as the road here alluded to, and thence to the Glen. The best view of the north side of the mountains would thus be obtained, and yet the advantage of the approach to the Crawford House up through the Notch not be lost. Parties may feel reasonably sure that they can ob- tain excellent wagons and experienced drivers for this Clierry Mountain route, at any time, from Mr. Hitch- cock of the Alpine IIousc, in Gorham. And so many parties are sent in this way to the Notch, that travellers staying at the C'rawford House can often find, on 36 WHITE MOUMTAIJ^ GUIDE. iuqiiiiy, teams about to return to Gorham, that will enable thera to view the magnificent scenery of the return ride. The proprietor of the Alpine House is also prepared to furnish carriages and drivers to parties of any size for a tour of the mountains,- as well as for a visit to the Notch. And now let us turn to The Glen. This charming spot is situated eight miles, as we have said, from Gorham. The drive, taken as it usu- ally is in the morning or evening, is one of great at- traction. The ascent is gradual, with no long hills, and the road winds, for the greater part of the way, along the easterly bank of the Peabody Hiver, which, always within hearing, is frequently within sight. Soon, after leaving Gorham the burly form of Madison bursts upon the view, apparently barring all further j)rogress, while the Moriah range towers up on the left. The changing mountain forms furnish a continual study. Washington and Adams come into view before reach- ing the Glen, and the carriage road is visible from the point Avhere it emerges from the woods almost to the very summit. About two miles and a half from the Glen is a bridge over the Peabody River, which one must cross if he wishes to sec The Imp. This name has been given to a peak of the Moriali WHITE MOU^TT^I^r GUIDE. 37 Mountain, from the marked resemblance which the sum- mit, seen from a point near a farm house, about half a mile from the road, on the opposite side of the river, bears to a grotesque human countenance. The after- noon is the best time for the view. If your party command the team, you can make the view a pleasant accompaniment to the ride from Gorham to tlie Glen ; or the visit can be made directly from the Glen House. The Glen House has been recently enlarged, so that it is now one of the largest and grandest hotels of the White Moun- tain region. In fact, a new hotel, equal in size to the one that formerly occupied the spot, has been built and attached to the old house. The office and receiving hall occupy a spacious apartment between the old and the new. The parlor is a magnificent room, 100 by 50 feet, elegantly furnished. The dining room is a fine hall, in Avhich all the 600 guests, which the hotel will now easily accommodate, may dine at once with- out trouble or inconvenience. From the balcony of the hotel may be had an uninterrupted view of the highest summits in New England, Avhile the parties ascendiug and desceudiug the rus^ged ledires of Mt. Washington may be watched by the aid of a glass. The whole front of the house, facing the mountains and the rush- ing Peabody River, contains rooms that are unusually attractive, while those on the other side are also fa- vored with remarkable and pleasing mountain views. This Hotel is now owned by W. F. «& C. R. Milliken, 38 WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. who keep the house under the firm name of J. M. Thompson & Co. Those who have heretofore been guests of the former landlord will have no reason to fear that any discredit will be done to the name under their management. In spite of its size the House is generally filled, and sometimes to overflowing, during the height of the season. With them is still associated Mr. S. H. Cummings, who is able, by long experience, to antici- pate the wants of the tourist. The Western Union Telegraph Company has lines over Mt. Washington, and connecting with Centre Har- bor, Conway, Crawford House, and Profile House, with a station in the hotel. All the principal places in the mountains are now connected by telegraph, and are in direct communication with the large cities. The Glen House stands on a plateau, 830 feet above the Gorham valley, and 1,632 feet above tide water at Portland, in the midst of a magnificent mountain bow^l. Behind it bend the thin high ridges of Mt. Carter and its spurs, 3,000 feet in height, and green with unbroken forests to their crests. On the south-west, one sees the steep, bony braces of Mt. Washington, running off, one behind the other, into the PInkham forests, and towards Jackson. Directly in front are the outworks and huge shoulder of Mt. Washington itself, and be- hind this heavy shoulder, on a retreating ridge, the pinnacle Avhcre the Summit House stands. Associated directly with IVIt. Wasliington, and bcuiding aroimd to the north-west and north, are Mt. Clay, rising over the WHITE MOUJ\rTJlfJ^ GUIDE. 39 huge " Gulf of Mexico ; " the stout, square-shouldered Jefferson ; aud the symmetrical, sharp, and splendid pyramid of Adams, with its peak so pointed that it looks unscalable. This mountain is by far the grand- est of all in shape and impressiveness. And next to this, with lines running eastward, is Mt. Madison, which completes the staff of Washington. Thus four of the highest summits of the White Hills are, as we have said, in full view, directly in front of the hotel in the Glen. The height of Mt. Washington is 6,285 feet; Mt. Clay, 5,400; Mt. Jefferson, 5,700; Mt. Adams, 5,800 ; Mt. Madison, 5,361. No public house among the mountains is situated so near the Mt. Washington range as this. There are views of the mountains to be had at a little greater distance that Avill give more pleasure to the artistic sense ; but no view of the chief White Mountain ranjre can be had from a hotel that is comparable with this which the piazza of the Glen House offers. The best time to approach it is in the clear afternoon of a summer day, when the shadows fall soft and rich in the gorges and over the rugged slopes of the chain. Then the mountains look higher, and their grandeur is tempered with a mystic beauty. There is perpetual charm, too, in watching the play of the vapors around the cliffs and in the ravines on a misty and showery day in August. Now they will wrap a long mountain wall in a cold, gray mantle, to the base. Now they will break along a ridge, and reveal the harsh sides of a chasm, or the ramparts of a ridge, hanging seemingly 40 WHITE MOUMTJllM GUIDE. in the clouds. Soon they will thin away belov.^ for a mile, and show the green foreground softened by a moist veil. Next they will knot themselves into thick rolls, and then stretch themselves slowly into thin and sleazy textures. Once in a while they will lift them- selves nearly to the summit of a ridge, and try to plunge down again, — really tiring the eye that watches them Sink by compulsion and laborious flight ; — and sometimes they will break entirely around one of the mountains, Adams perhaps, and show it ])iercing the gray sky, apparently doubled in height by being seen isolated from its brother hills. In May and early June the view from tlie Gleu House is very charming. For then huge patches of snow lie on the upper slopes of the range. But in Oc- tober the spectacle is generally more fascinating than at any other season of the year. Especially when the traveller can see, as we once saw there, the summits stained with snow, rising over forests dyed in orange, brown, and crimson, — and delicate curtains of mists drooping from the sky, and swaying gently along the line of the crests, — will he be charmed with the scene. Stage Routes. Stages leave the Glen House to connect with all th-e trains on the Grand Trunk Railway, at Gorham, and also morning and afternoon for North Conway, to con- nect with the trains on the Portland and Ogdeusburgh, and the Great Falls and Conway Railroads. Persons desiring to go to the Notch connect at Bartlett with stages for that point from North Conway. WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. 41 The larger number of persons desiring to go to the Notch now go over Mt. Washington, descending by the Raih'oad. Baggage wagons accompany the passenger wagons, so that there is now no occasion for the stage line through Bartlett. The chief object of interest now at tlie Glen House, as well as the grand higliway of the mountain travel, is The Ascent op Mount Washington. Notwithstanding the completion of the Railroad, the ascent of Mt. Washington by the carriage road is still popular. The distance from the base of the mountain, in front of the Glen House, to the summit, is eight miles. The carriage road, a triumph of engineering skill, is now completed to the very summit, and furnishes the best road in the whole mountain region. It was commenced in 1855, by a chartered corporation, under the management of D. O. Macomber, and was finished as far as the Ledge, or four miles from the base, in 185G. In 1861 the road was finished to the summit and opened for travel. The average grade is twelve feet in one hundred, and the steepest grade in any part, which, strange to say, is about two miles and a half from the base, is sixteen feet in one hundred for a short distance. It is a thor- oughly built road in every particular. The bridle-path formerly went up the mountain side in almost a straight line, while the road winds around the ledge and up the mountain side, maldng nearly double the distance. But in no part is there any difficulty or danger in the ascent. No more discomfort is experienced than m the same amount of carriage 'riding upon any of the 42 WHITE MOUMTAIM GUIDE. mountain roads. The road was surveyed and laid out by Mr. Cliarles H. V. Cavis, Civil Engineer, who was the active Superintendent of the Carriage Road Com- pany till 1857, when the work was suspended on ac- count of financial embarrassments. The tariff of tolls on the carriage road is as follows : For every person on foot, $0.32 " " " on horseback, .80 " " " in carriages, .80' " " sulky with one horse, .64 " " carriage with 4 wheels for 2 persons, .64 " " " with 2 horses and 4 wheels, .96 " " " Avith 4 horses, 1.28 For every carriage of pleasure or otherwise, tlic like sums, according to the number of wheels and horses drawing the same. The fare for a seat in one of the regular mountain carriages, which leave morning and afternoon, is $5, which includes the tolls on the carriage road. For the first four miles of the way the road winda among the trees of the forest, which cover the sides of all the mountains, permitting only occasional glimpses of the mountain world around. At what is called " The Ledge," the road emerges from the forest, and the glories of the ascent here begin. From this point tlie road winds along the very verge of the deep ravine between Washington, and Clay, and Jefferson, the ui)per end of which is called the Great Gulf. Leaving tiiis, it passes to the easterly side of the mountain, overlooking the valley of the Peabody and Ellis Rivers, WHITE MOUJVTJilJ^ GUIDE. 43 and furnishing a most charming view of the far-famed Saeo valley, Avith a distant sight of the Great Gulf. One here feels a decided sensation of being in the upper air. The wind sweeps almost unobstructed across the mountain, and below or above one may see carriages creeping along the path. The charm of the bridle-path from the White Mountain Notch to Mt. Washington lies in the passage over the tops of four lower summit,s of the ridge, each one a little higher than the last, and in the view thus given of ravines that sweep off each way from the horse path to the base of the range. From the Glen the ascent is made directly up Mt. Washington itself all the way. Down the great ravine already spoken of a most surprising view is offered of Jefferson, Adams, and Madison. They sweep up from the enormous gulfs at the right hand of the path, and are visible from base to crown. There is no view, perhaps, so exciting as this, on the path we have just spoken of from the Crawford Notch. Many Avill think that this spectacle, which grows grander and grander as they rise, is more inspir- ing than the prospect from the peak above. One learns, in looking at those great forms, the decided dif- ference there is in genus between a mountain and a hill. The eye is fascinated by the colors of these rug- ged monarchs — the varied verdure of their lower for- ests, their tawny shoulders, the purple and gray of their bare ledges, the dhn green of their peaks. One will notice, also, the charming lines which the torrents have torn upon their surfaces ; for when we look across a 44 WHITE MOUJfTAIJ^ GUIDE. gulf, or from a little distance below, upon a steep mountain, we find that it is the wrath of the freshets that gives them their finest lines of expression and character. And if the day is blessed with clouds that drift over the mountains, the eye will find unspeakable pleasure in watching the shadows that will droop swiftly from cone to base, and in following the inces- sant flushes and frolics of light and shade that robe them with ever-chans-ino; charm. But to appreciate the beauty and majesty of these mountains that are in view from the Glen House and Gorham path, one should see them late on a bright simimer afternoon, either in ascending or descending Mt. Washington. Then the sun is behind them, sink- hig in the west. Then the richest contrasts of color, of light, and of shadow are revealed. The summit and shoulders of Mt. Jefferson glow with rich orange hues. The slanting light streams between the peaks and burnishes the sides of their ragged pyramids. The "Gulf of Mexico" gapes with more terror as the shadows from its walls, that measure more than a thousand feet, fall far into its base. And as the sun falls nearer and nearer the horizon, the sharp shadows of Mt. Adams and of the neighboring peaks stream down upon the Glen House valley, and march up the opposite slopes of Carter, to dislodge its yellow light Miat melts into purple, and to cover them with dusk. The noon time is the poorest of all seasons to be on the ridge of Mt. Washington ; for then there are no shadows. And it is a pity that the great majority of WHITE MOUJ\''TAIJV GUIDE. 45 those who ascend the range see the scenery during the most uupoetic hours, near midday. From the summit of " The Ledge," where the view of the three great mountains we have been speak- ing of is first gained, the path rises over a series of receding plateaus. Each seems to be the summit, as one looks from below. It is on account of this struc- ture of the cone of Mt. Washington, that it fails to show its real height until one gets far enough off from it in the valleys to escape the effect of foreshortening. During the last part of the ascent one will see the pile of stones that marks the spot where Miss Bourne, of Kennebunk, Me., died, near midnight, in Septem- ber, 1855, and where her uncle and cousin kept sad watch till dawn. They started in the afternoon, with- out a guide, to walk to the summit. Night and fog overtook them, and the young lady perished in the chill and darkness among the rocks, but a few rods from the house they were in search of. - Quite near, also, is the shelving rock, beneath which the remains of an elderly gentleman from Wilmington, Del., were found in July, 1857. He liad attempted to ascend the monutain alone, one afternoon in August of the year before, and must have been overtaken by storm, and cold, and darkness, near the summit. Plis watch, and some bank bills in his vest pocket, were found unin- jured ; though most of the body, and even part of the skeleton, were gone. A little further below, and at the left of the ascending path, the ledge is visible where Dr. Benjamin Ball, of Boston, passed two niglits in the 46 WHITE MOUJ^TAIJT GUIDE. snow and sleet of an October storm, alone, without food or covering. He was rescued when nature was about sinking. His feet were frozen, and he could not speak. How his life was preserved in such exposure is a marvel. It is equally remarkable that, though his feet were severely frozen, they were saved. Since the completion of the carriage road to the summit, however, there seems to be no possibility of any such accident. In the fall of 1862, soon after the first snow, Mr. Thorn, the clerk at the Summit House, made the ascent in a sleigh. A winter visit to the top of Mt. Washington would hardly come within the pur- poses or desires of the pleasure tourist. Yet at present it can be safely and even agreeably made in the early part of the season. A sleighing party to the Summit is by no means without its pleasures, to those adven- turous enough to engage in it. Before the completion of the carriage road such an excursion was attended with great difficulty and danger. The first winter visit to the Summit was made December 7, 1858, by a sheriff, who desired to serve a writ in one of the suits that have arisen out of the disputed title to the riiost elevated land in New England. The party found the houses covered with snow ; and succeeded in forcing an entrance with great difficulty. " The walls and all the furniture were draped with some four inches of frost, and the air was biting in the extreme. It was like a tomb, and a lamp was necessary in this snow cavern to enable the party to distinguish the surrounding objects. As delay was dangerous in the extreme, and having per- WHITE MOUJ^T^IM' GUIDE. 47 fccted their legal duty, the two prepared to return. Upon emerging from the houses they beheld to the south-west a cloud, rapidly increasing in volume, and rolling on towards them. When first seen it was small in magnitude, but it increased in size with alarming velocity, soon spreading over the entire south. They knew it was a frost cloud, and that to be caught in its folds would probably be fatal, and they hastened to avoid it. They had just entered the woods, at the base of the ledge, when it came upon them. So icy and penetrating Avas its breath, that to have encountered its blinding, freezing power on the unprotected height, would have been to have perished with it as a pall to cover them." Since the completion of the Railroad, on the opposite side of the Mountaiu, the Summit has been occupied as a station of the Meteorological Department of the United States Army, and observers have passed the entire winter there. They have experienced no unusual dif- ficulty in making weekly visits to the country below. The wind has sometimes assailed them with a velocity of 100 miles per hour. The lowest point indicated by the thermometer, during the first year of observation, was — 59*^ Farenheit. This extreme cold occurred at the same time with a high wind, which rendered it almost insupportable even indoors. The account of the first winter has been published and forms an interesting vol- ume. Now let us ascend the last part of the steep cone, and stand upon the Summit. The time used in making the iouruey from the base in the Glen to the peak is gen- 48 WHITE MOUJVTAIJV GUIDE, erally about three hours. It is often done in two hours and a half, and has been accomplished in less than two hours. AYhat a stupendous view ! A horizon of nearly six hundred miles bounds the prospect ! The mountain peaks stand on every side as sentinels over the furrowed valleys of New England ! If the day is clear, one can see Monadnock loom, as a pale blue film, a hundred miles oiF on the south-west. Far in the east Katahdin is driven like a wedge into the sky. Westward the eye roams almost to the Cat- skills ; northward into Canada, far beyond the sources of the Connecticut ; southward, to the mouth of the Saco. In a clear morning or evening, if there is a silvery gleam on the south-eastern horizon, it tells that the sun is shining on the sea off Portland. Nearer to us .on the west towers the gloomy ridge of Franconia, subsiding towards the Merrimack. That flash now and then through the opaline southern air is from Winnipesaukee, the most exquisite jewel in the necklace of New England. On the near north the twin-domed Stratford mountains tower. Their barren pallor, seen through the uncertain air, counterfeits snow. The cloven Pinkham Pass lies directly beneath us, bending around to lovely North Conway. Over tliis last village we observe the drooping shoulders of Kearsarge, whose northern sides flow from the sum- mit as softly as full folds of drapery fall from a ring. Mt. Crawford attracts attention by his singular knob- like crest ; and near him, all tlic winding Bartlett hills st;ind up, guarding the shy beauty of the intervales. The lo'ir ;i!!d M»!'(l " Plea;-;! Ill :\i(niniaiii " di-;i\vs tiie WHITE MOUJ^TJiIJ\r GUIDE. 49 eye, set so squarely near the still silver of Lovewell's Poud. And farther south the dim, level, leopard- spotted land stretches wide to the horizon haze. Of course it is unwise to attempt to describe such a view. It is the map of New England printed before us in glowing poetry. Those who look upon the sub- lime diorama for the first time, under favorable circum- stances, are so oppressed by the novelty and grandeur, that they do not appreciate what they have seen till some days afterwards. Then it rises in memory, and becomes a perpetual treasure for " the mind's eye." No one shoidd fail to make the ascent, if health is good. There is no danger worth calculating, and the fatigue that may be incurred is nothing to the. spectacle that is ofT'ercd. Especially arc the temptations to ascend greater now to ladies and partial invalids, since such admirable accommodation is found in the little hotel on the Summit. There have been, and are still, we believe, serious disputes about the title to tlie acre or two of chippy rock tluit make the crov/n of ]Mt. WashinMon. Tlicrc o have even been rival liotels on its apex, the " Tip Top House," and tlie " Summit House." Both the houses have been united now under one management. They ai-{> kept by Mr. J. R. Hitchcock, landlord of the Al- pine House, and are under the immediate charge of Mr. Austin Tvleu, who is acquainted with the capa- bilities of the place ; and every thing that can be done on such a height — 6,300 feet above the sea — for the comfort of guests, will be faithfully attended to by him. 4 50 WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. These houses were built when the ascent was much more difficult than it now is. They were not conse- quently designed to accommodate so great a throng of guests as frequently assemble for dinner. Too much must not therefore be expected. When the new Hotel, which the Railroad Company is erecting, is finished, there will be no good reason for asking for any lower- ing of the standard of a good hotel. The small kitchen of the present house barely enables the proprietor to fur- nish a plentiful supply to the table and limits the variety. Those who ascended Mt. Washington before there was any shelter on the peak from gale or shower, or driv- ing scud, or snow-squall, that often awaited or overtook them, will know how those are favored now who find good protection, fire, and a hot dinner ready on the top. Sheets of paper and envelopes, each with an engraving of the Mouutain House and Summit, are on sale there. Letters written there to friends are mailed to all parts of the country by the proprietors of the hotel. As has already been suggested, the larger number of people travelling from one side to the other, now pass over the Summit. The baggage is all checked at the railroad station and no difficulty is experienced in making the change. This saves a day's delay and a long stage ride. A great many, too, remain over night on the Summit. Unless the weather has long been stormy, or very damp, one can sleep in comfort and safety in the Summit House. A night there, in which one can see a clear sunset, a moonrise, and a WHITE MOUJVT^IJ\r GUIDE. 51 sunrise, is a privilege that is well worth the attempt to gain. One appreciates the height of Mt. Washington more I y looking up in the night to the mighty dome of stars, than by looking off and below in the day. Or, if the night is wild and stormy, the feeling one gains there of the tremendous forces amid which we are placed on this globe, will more than atone for any uneasiness or discomfort. Arrangements for the ac- commodation of guests at the Summit will soon be as complete as at any of the hotels below. What little disconiibrt there may be, is more than neutralized by the magnificence of the views and the novelty of the experience. We advise all who can, to remain over night on Mt. Washington. If the night be clear, the gratification which one receives is unequalled by any experience of mountain travelling. The sunset is magnificent beyond descrip- tion. The light is gradually softened during the after- noon, when the most exquisite views are obtained of all the surrounding country. As the sun slowly sinks iu the west, the shadows of the mountains enlarge in proportions, and extend far and wide. The great py- ramidal shadow of the Summit travels along the eastern landscape, gradually darkening green fields, pleasant lakes, winding rivers, and the snug hamlets that line their shores, till, reaching the horizon, the apex actually seems to lift itself into the haze. Tlie line of ocean is now distinctly visible. The western mountains arc glowing with golden light. The sun goes down in a blaze of glory. Then as the shadows deepen, the mists 52 WHITE MOUJ^TAIJ^ GUIDE. begin to collect on the surface of every lake, and pond, and brook, till it seems as though each little sheet of water was blanketed and tucked in beneath its own coverlet of cloud, to spend the night in undisturbed repose. Soon the Great Gulf, the deep ravines on either side, are filled with vapor, which, accumulating every moment, come reaching up the slopes of the mountains, till all the hollows are full clear to the brim. Then the surrounding summits peer out, lifting their heads above the dense masses. It seems as though one could walk across to Clay, Jeiferson, Adams, and Madison upon this broad platform of mist. Should this phenomenon occur before sunset,, as sometimes it does, the effect is indescribably beautiful and grand, as though bridges of burnished gold had been thrown across the deep chasms from mountain top to mountain top. Through the long twilight these magical and shifting scenes continue, till the hour of retiring comes, and the comfortable beds of the hotel invite repose. At early dawn the traveller is aroused to witness the reverse of the picture which lie saw upon the previous evening. The sun comes up from the sea, the great pyramid of shadow beginning in the west gradually contracts, the little cloud blankets rise from the lakes and float away into the upper air, and the sun, " as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber," clothed in light, " rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race." After such an experience, one can go down into the plain below, better and wiser for his visit among the clouds. WHITE MOUJSrT^IJV GUIDE. 53 But it is time to turn from tlic hospitality of the Summit House, and descend, through the exciting views that lie around Mt. Washington, to, the Glen lliHise once more. We have not spoken of other attractions that belong to its neighborhood. One of these is a ride to " The Imp," which we have already described. On the way there one should not fail lo visit the Gaknet Pools. This scries of basins in the Peabody River is situated near the Gorham road, at the foot of a gentle rise iu the main road, about a mile from the hotel. Follow- ing the path by the bridge to the bank of the Pea- body River, you will fnid the rocks of the river bed for some little distance curiously and delicately hollowed out and polished by the action of the water. In this, as in many other similar places in the mountain region, one is naturally curious to know how long these rocks have been subjected to such influence. A year's action makes no visible impression upon the solid granite, and yet, in many places, the rocks are worn away for fifteen or twenty feet. Garnet Pools is a tempting place for one interested in the studies of rock sculpture. The most pleasurable excursions, however, are to be made on the road to North Conway and the Notch. We would first call attention to Thompson's Falls. This picturesque series of falls is to be found on a 54 WHITE MOUJ^TJllJ^ GUIDE, tributary of the Peabody, about two miles from the hotel, on the road to North Conway. A guide-board informs you of the point at which you turn to the left and follow a path about a quarter of a mile into the woods. The brook is a tributary to the Peabody, and is usually well filled Avitli water. These falls cannot compare in volume to the falls on the Ellis River, nor rival in the height of precipitous leap the cascade in the Notch. But for a series of delightful cascades and Avater-slides, and as furnishing a ramble of an hour or two among delicious bits of wild and romantic views, they may be truly called unequalled. You may follow up the brook for half a mile, without reaching the last of the series. If there were no other attractions, one would always be amply compensated for the toil of the ascent by the view that is gained of Mt. Washington and Tuckerman's Ravine. From no other point so easily accessible is so magnificent a picture of this mountain scenery presented. The Emerald Pool is so well worth visiting that a better path should be cut to it from the road. It is situated at a very short distance from the road, just before reaching the Thomp- son Falls. The water of the river, after tossing and tumbling among the rocks, here flows into this quiet basin, and after reposing long enough to mirror the surrounding scenery, once more emerges, to recommence its toilsome journey. This pool is especially attractive for the quiet WHITE MOUMTAIJ^ GUIDE. 55 aucl seclusion produced by the repose of the water, aud the grace aud coohiess of the overhanging foliage. Let us attend next to The Glen Ellis Fall. This cataract is one of the interesting features of the wild scenery in the neighborhood of the Glen House. Carriages run regularly from the hotel to carry visitors. The fall is about four miles from the Glen House, near the road to North Conway and the Notch. It is very easy of access from the point where you leave the wagon, though it requires nearly half an hour, with ladies, to reach it. Five minutes' walk tlirough the for- est takes one within hearing of the rich roar that an- nounces the nearness of the cataract. A critical ear could construct the form and grandeur of the fall from its voice. Its bass quality, not broad and massive, but youthful, vigorous, aud intense, and the slight splashi- uess that borders and thins its baritone, foretell that we are to come upon a narrow cataract, leaping from a great height, with concentrated stream, into a shallow basin. But the sound does not prepare a stranger for the startling view upon which the forest path suddenly opens. From the carriage road, the foot track is nearly level, leading to a tree that overhangs a precipice of more than a hundred feet. We lean against this tree for support, not witliout misgivings as to its roots, and look down upon a huge wall of rock, over which the Ellis River, stranding the streams of its various brooks into a huge liquid cable, whose constant friction has 56 WHITE MOUJVTJilJV GUIDE. worn a deep groove in the granite, slides at a very sharp angle for some twenty feet, and then leaps, as from the nose of a gigantic pitcher, sixty feet more. The public (as well as the cascade) are indebted to Mr. Siiepley, of Portland, for changing its name from " Pitcher Fall," which was first given to it, to the more appro- priate title of GLEN ELLIS FALL. WHITE MOUJ^TAIJ^ GUIDE, 57 This view, as well as that of Crystal Cascade, is e\igraved from a photograph taken by Bierstadt Bros. To discover the most romantic and charming combi- nations in mountain scenery, one must explore the larger streams on their way to the open valleys. The Naiads know how to turn their course through the most pic- turesque passes, under the richest arches of forest boughs, and down the most bewitching dells. This is one of the glorious perquisites of the devoted trout- fisher, that his profession (for it is really one of the fine arts), leads him along the by-ways of beauty that are hidden from the eyes of ease-loving travellers, and up through winding cascade-aisles to many an adytum of forest wildness or mountain grandeur. Probably some trout-fisher was the discoverer of Glen Ellis Fall, which has been known only a few years. The first sight of it must have given a most impressive joy to the explorer if he were a man of taste. The spot where it pours is more wild, and combines more of the elements of loneliness, untamableness, lawless beauty, and strong contrasts of features, than any other spot in the White Mountain region. The overhanging tree, against which the visitor leans to look down at the water-fall, giving him a footing that undermines his delight with a sense of insecurity and fear ; the steep mountain wall opposite, more than three thousand feet high, and thick set to the top Avitli trees ; the hard granite rampart over Avhich the com- pact white stream slips, and then spouts into the basin 58 WHITE M0UJVTj9IJ\r GUIDE. below, and the smoothly carved groove, telliug of the ages that have been exhausted in that merry rasping of the rock by the water-drops ; the loveliness of the basin itself, when one goes down to it, and conti'asts its green, placid surface with the leaping crystal column that pours into it from eiglity feet above, — these, and the cheerful tripping of the stream on its way again in search of new adventures, after its mad plunge, com- bine to make a mountain retreat, whose wildness and music Scott Avould have delighted to enshrine in his •vigorous verse, and which no visitor of Gorham and the Glen House should leave unvisited. Trenton has not any one scene, or any one cascade, so striking. It has always seemed to me, on a smaller scale, more like the scenery at the Natural Bridge in Virginia, than any other district of the White Mountains. About an hour is required to reach Glen Ellis Fall from the Glen House. Visitors need anotlier hour at the spot. Generally the visitor is too hurried. Twice the time that can be given is generally found to be needed. We must next visit another waterfall, Avhich is one of the most delightful resources of a visit at the Glen House. The Crystal Cascade is gained from an entrance in the woods about a mile from the Glen Ellis Fall, on the way back to the Glen House, from which it is only three miles distant. It pours down from heights opposite to those which feed WHITE MOUJ^T^IJ\r GUIDE. 59 the Ellis river. Its descent is about eighty feet. Part of its water comes from the dome of Mt. WashiDgtou, through Tuckermaii's Ravine. It takes twenty or thirty minutes of forest walking and climbing to reach the Crystal Cascade. The true point to see it is not the immediate foot of the fall, although most persons go there, but a high bank opposite, that overhangs the aged granite, and has plenty of the softest seats cush- ioned with moss a foot or more in depth. If it is wil- derness, and the spirit of strong, bounding, unruly life that fascinates in the spot we have just left, here it is delicate and exquisite beauty. At Glen Ellis the whole stream pitches in one con- cen -1 tide ; here, every pint of water is spread with cliarming economy to the utmost service. Some seventy feet above, we can see the brook pouring in a single stream around the bend. Then the rock broad- ens into a rough stairway, with easy slope, which grows Avider and wider to the bottom, and down these steps the spreading water sheds its white, thin, dancing and broken sheet, showing, now and then, through its gauzy texture, the deep green mosses clinging to the rocks which soften its own fall, and make its cool music more gentle and luscious to the ear. A friend of ours once compared it, quite happily, to an inverted liquid plume — the rill above, where the water is one stream, being the stem, and the widen- ing, fleecy flow its nodding, graceful, feathery spray. As to the form of the cascade, nothing can be finer than the simile. But the delicate texture and color of GO WHITE MOUJVT^IJV GUIDE. the descending rill suggest laces, and Irills, and foam- cnibroidery. It is as thougli laiiy niilliuers had set their wits to work to weave a lUiiled bosom lor the rocky breast of Mt. Washington, out of the snow-flax that falls in winter around his head. ^ 'i-fimk'i-^' . ■ (if 'Mi Mr CRYSTAL CASCADE. There is a youthful and masculine energy in the Glen Ellis Fall. The Crystal Cascade shows rather a WHITE MOUJyT^IJV GUIDE. 61 feminine, maidenly delicacy and grace. There are always two parties among those wlio visit these falls, some contending for the superiority of the first, others for the greater charm of the last. If the reader visits both, no doubt he will adopt our opinion, that neither can be spared, and that they are so diiferent as to re- pel comparison. A long forenoon or afternoon should be taken to make the excnrsion to both spots. We come now to speak of Tucker:\ian's Ravine, whose walls are visible from the Glen House. This ravine is a trcinendons gn.lf, in tlie southerly side of Mt. Washington. It was named in honor of Edward Tuckerman, Esq., who has been a faithful explorer of the White Mountains. He often visited the ravine, before the tide of travel turned to the eastern side of the mountains, to complete his knowledge of the lichens and flora of the region. The hard, bare, thin, and curling edge of the south- rv'estern wall of tliis ravine, as seen from the Glen House, is one of the most striking mountain lines visible from that fascinating spot. Tiie gulf may be readied by climbing djrectly up the stream of the Crystal Cas- cade just spoken of. That stream flows through the centre of the sloping base of the ravine. But the easier way is to follow the carriage road, for about two miles, up Mt. Washington ; strike oif to the left into a forest"])ath, cut by direction of IMr. Thompson, of the Glen House, and cross two and a 62 WHITE MOUJ^TAIJ^ GUIDE. half miles of forest, that lie between the carriage road and " Hermit Lake." The more common way now, however, is to descend into the ravine from or near the summit. The Thompson path is not kept so free from obstructions, since the greater number of travel- lers prefer to descend into the ravine from the Summit. The little sheet of water, called Hermit Lake, so snugly embowered in the wilderness, Avould attract more attention, were it not for the frowning wall of the ravine that looms over it, and draws the eye up- Avards. It lies under the south-east ridi^e. Emero-ino: from the woods here, we see that the ravine is of horse- shoe shape — the opposite outer cliff more than a thou- sand feet in height, the bottom sloping upwards towards the backward crescent wall, and the rim quite level. Explorers must climb along the centre of the gulf, by the bed of a stream, pausing every minute to gaze at the grim ramparts on either hand, and to invent, pos- sibly, some new exclamation of amazement and awe. Facing the party, as they make their way slowly up- ward, Avill be the grand curve of the sheer precipice tliat lies some way oif, and up under the summit of Mt. Washington. It is symmetrical, seemingly, as the wall of the Coliseum. The sight of that stupendous amphitheatre of stono, when one gets near enough to appreciate it, would of itself repay and overpay the labor of the climl). It is fitly called the " Mountain Coliseum." No other Avord expresses it, and that comes spontaneously to the lips. The eye needs some hours of gazing and comparative WHITE MOUJ^TAI^N- GUIDE. 63 measurement to fit itself for an appreciation of its scale and sublimity. One can hardly believe, while standing there, that the sheer concave sweep of the back wall of the ravine was the work of an earthquake throe. It seems as though Titanic geometry and trowels must have come in to perfect a primitive volcanic sketch. One might easily fancy it the Stonehenge of a pre-Adamite race, — the unroofed ruins of a temple, reared by ancient Anaks long before the birth of man, for which the dome of Mt. Washington was piled as the western tower. There have been land slides and rock avalanches as terrible in that ravine as at Dixville Notch. The teeth of the frosts have been as pitiless, the desolation of the cliffs is as complete, but the spirit of the place is not so gloomy as at Dixville. It is sublime rather than awful or dispiriting. At Dixville, all is decay, wreck, the hopeless submission of matter in the coil of its hun- gry foes. In Tuckerman's Eavinc there is a grand battle of granite against storm and frost, — a Roman resistance, as though it could hold out for ages yet, be- fore the siege of winter and all the batteries of the air. Unless the season is very dry, the back wall of this Mountain Coliseum will glitter with innumerable veins of water, which are called " The Thousand Streams." When one has reached the base of this curving preci- pice, it is not a very ditficult task to climb to the sum- mit of Mt. Washington. Parties have sometimes done so, passed the night there, and returned to the Glen 64 WHITE MOUJVT^IJV GUIDE. House the next day. Many also have visited the ravine by descending into it, with a guide, from the top of Mt. Washington. The distance from the summit of the mountain to the bottom of the gulf is about a mile. A visit to Tuckerman's Ravine, in August, will be the more interesting if " The Snow Arch" is formed there. Nearly every year this beautiful spectacle is to be seen. The snow is blown over from the summit of Mt. Washington by the north-west winds, in Avintcr, and is packed in drifts of a hundred feet deep, under the walls of " The Coliseum." The streams of early spring and summer cliannel tlic snow bank, and it gradually melts from tlie roof within, till a vast snow cave is formed, through which a person may walk. In August, 185r), the snow field measured about 300 feet long, 70 in In-eadth, and 15 in depth. The roof of tlie part that was cliannelled was some five feet thick, and very solid. A hatchet was necessary to cut it. The top of the span was about ten feet high inside. The whole roof was wrought into beautiful scallops and chasings by the melting and dropping of the snow witliin. The bank does not disappear till the last of August. The dog-day fogs penetrate and dissolve it. Thus we narrowly escape having a glacier formed near the top of Mt. Washington. Glen IIousp: to the Crawford House. Having now passed a few days, or, still better, a few weeks amidst the wondrous scenery around the Glen House, we leave, with r(ductance, this pleasant WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. 65 hotel, and its hospitable hosts, and continue our journey to the Crawford House, at the Great Notch. Although the greater part of the travel through the mountain region now goes over Mt. Washington, it must not be forgotten that there is a very delightful route around the southern side of the range, and through the White Mountain Notch. This was once the great thoroughfare, not only for pleasure travel but for per- sons having business in Coos County. No stage now leaves the Glen House for the Craw- ford House direct. The stages, which are run twice a day to connect with the trains at North Conway, also take passengers for the Crawford House, and the line that runs between North Conway and the Crawford House, stops at Bartlett to make the exchanges. The distance between the two places is 35 miles. The dis- tance from the Glen House to North Conway is 21 miles. This route is first in a southerly direction through the Pinkham Notch, then w^esterly along the South- eastern flank of the mountains, and finally North through the Great Notch. This is the true way in which the Crawford House should be approached, em- bracing as it does the sublime impression received in gradually climbing up through this noble mountain pass. On leaving the Glen House the road lies directly down the little descent towards the south. On the right, the carriage road to Mt. Washington turns off, and, crossing the rustic bridge over the Peabody River, is soon lost among the trees. Tiie forests, — 5 66 WHITE MOUJ^TAIJ^ GUIDE. with the long festoons of gray moss hanging from the trees, relieved by the soft green moss at their feet, and variegated by the mountain boxberry, the violet-striped orcalis, the linnsea borealis, and the orebis, — now close in on each side ; the open space of Bellows' clearing, which we left, is no longer visible, and we can catch only occasional glimpses through the foliage of the overhanging cliffs of Carter Mountain on the left, and of the lofty hills beyond the river on the right. We are fairly within the portals of Pinkham Notch, and the silence and solitude are relieved only by the tin- kling, and bubbling, and rushing of the Peabody River, as the road follows closely its rocky bed. Here and there are quiet pools much frequented in the warm season by the lover of trouting. About two or three miles from the Glen House the road crosses the river twice in quick succession, and reaches the highest point of the Notch. Here the Pea- body River and the Ellis issue in nearly parallel courses from the forest on the right, so near to each other that a slight amount of labor would turn either stream into the other. Indeed, a part of the water that descends at the Crystal Cascade seeks the ocean by the Peabody River, and a part flows into the Saco by the Ellis. As soon as they have passed under the road, the Peabody turns abruptly down the ravine to the north to unite with the Androscoggin, while the Ellis takes an oppo- site course down the Notch towards the Saco. Between the two streams, on the right, is the entrance to the Crystal Cascade, already spoken of, distant from the road only about a third of a mik\ WHITE MOUJVT^IJV GUIDE. G7 After leaving the entrance to this cascade we cross the Ellis River, and soon pass the Mineral Spring House, an unfinished and uninhabited cottage in the edge of the forest on the right. This house, the only shelter for seven miles, was located here on account of the supposed medicinal character of the spring near by ; but the project has been abandoned, and the building seems going to ruin. Proceeding a little farther, we reach the entrance to the Glen Ellis Falls on the left. This cascade is nearer the road than the other, and is approached by an easy path of plank. The Foot of Pinkiiam Notch. Passing down the Notch for two or three miles, the country opens again, and cleared fields on the intervals of the Ellis River take the place of unsubdued forests. Near this point a glance towards the north-west is re- warded by a fine view of a monster bowlder, apparently rolling down a south-eastern spur of Mt. Washington. The first house is soon reached, and we seek to catch a sight of the inhabitants, whose nearest neighbors on the north are seven miles away. The house is quite large, and is considerably visited by artists and others, who delight in the wildness of the surrounding scenery, and the substantial mountain fare. To this vicinity Capt. Joseph PInkham, and four other hardy pioneers, removed in April, 1790, from Madbury, in the lower part of tlie State. The Pink- ham family came up ovc^r tlie snow, which lay five feet (j8 IVHITE jM0UJ^'Tj1IJ\- GUIDE. deep, and brought all their household goods from Coq- Avay on a hand-sled. They found their log cabin, which had been erected during the previous autunni, almost buried in the snow. One of the sons of the family, Mr. Daniel Pinkham, constructed the Notch road, and gave to it his name. Jackson. A few miles more, through a widening valley, brings us to a sudden turn, which discloses the white spire of the church in " Jackson City." We greet this token of returnins: civilization with somethinsr of the entliu- siasm which a sailor feels on reaching land after a long voyage. It belongs to a Free Will Baptist society, founded in this quiet valley as early as 1803. You should not omit, near this point, to look back at the dark gorges, which open miles away towards Mt. Washington. A little distance on is a quiet but pleas- ant hotel, called the Jackson Falls Hotel, kept by J. B. Trickey. This hotel is within three minutes' walk of the Jackson Falls. There is also another hotel here called the Thom Mountain House. Passengers on the return route from the Crawford House to the Glen House dine here. Here may almost always be seen a few artists, and other guests, attracted by the delightful scenery and the rural comfort of the hotel. In this vicinity is some of the best trout fishing to be found among the mountains, and those who are fond of the piscatorial art cannot do better than make these hotels their home for a WHITE MOUJ^TALW GUIDE. G9 sliort time. Just at the north-west of the house is a romaatic cascade ou the AVild Cat Brook, a tributary of the Ellis River. While the horses are chauging you will have time enough to visit these falls, and will be amply compensated for the trouble, if there be the usual quantity of water leaping from rock to rock. From the portico of the hotel there is gained a fine view of the surrounding mountains. Facing the south you see Iron Mountain, rising to the height of 2,900 feet on the right, and the bald peak of Tin Mountain on the left. Soon after leaving the hotel the two noble peaks of Doublehead come into view in the north-east. The nearer peak is 3,000 feet high, and the farther a hundred feet higher. Jackson has vast mineral re- sources, possessing, besides many less important metals, iron, copper, and tin. The last was discovered here before it had been found in anj other part of the United States. This town was first named Ncav Madbury, then Adams, in honor of the great statesman, and finally received its present name when Adams and Jackson were competitors for the presidency, — all its voters but one being in favor of the latter. Between this place and Goodrich Falls, the large and heavily wooded hills lie wide from the road, and bend around the pastures like the Avails of huge coli- seums. Here and there a glimpse is caught of the hard summits of the Washington range, which have been hidden for several miles by the nearer ridges, when suddenly a view of them opens by a sharp turn in the road, which, for grandeur, surpasses any aspect they 70 WHITE Mouj\rTJiij\r guide. present from other points. Artists prefer this point to any others that are accessible for studies of the mas- siveness and sublimity of the imperial ridge. On leaving Jackson, one should not fail to be on the alert for a view of Goodrich Falls. A mile below Jackson, just before crossing the new trestle bridge over the Ellis River, you* can obtain a line view of Goodrich Falls. Leaving the road a little above the bridge, and proceeding a few rods to the right, you come to an old bridge in front of the cata- ract, from which a good view can be obtained. Tlvs is the largest perpendicular fall to be seen among the mountains, and after heavy rains appears quite grand. At any time the view down the river between the steep wooded banks is exceedingly picturesquCo A sliort scramble on the opposite side of the river will be amply rewarded by the nearer view of the falls which is thereby gained. The drivers on all the mountain routes are very kind and accommodating, and will readily allow time for the ramble. Indeed, we may here say that generally — for stage drivers are human, and will not always wait — the tourist will find them ready to stay as long as he may desire to obtain view's of the fine scenery in any part of the route. In this vicinity the traveller first notices that pleasant clement of mountain scenery, the little girls standing by the road-side with tiny birch baskets filled with berries for sale. Buy some raspberries, or some blueberries, and WHITE MOUJVT^IJ^- GUIDE. 71 you will nijfkc many a little heart glad, as well as secure the neat baskets as souvenirs of your trip. Valley of the Saco. Soon after leaving Goodrich Falls we reach the Saco valley, and crossing the Ellis E-iver, the Rocky Branch, and the Saco, in quick succession, turn ab- ruptly towards the west. For the remainder of the distance to the Crawford House we are passing over the same road as those who came up from Centre Har- bor and Conway. The Rocky Branch, which here joins the Saco, at the time of the Willey slide rose so rapidly as to sur- round a log cabin on its banks before the inmates could make their escape. They soon found themselves floating down the swollen stream, but were at last lauded in safety on the summit of a little hill. As we proceed vip the Saco, the beautiful level inter- vals, on each side of the stream, are worthy of our attention, as well as the hills, which rise boldly on each side at no great distance from the river. Before us, a little to the left, are the three peaks of Tremout Moun- tain, about 3,500 feet in height, and directly behind, for a long distance, we can see the noble pyramidal form of Kearsargc, sometimes called Pequawket. On its summit, at the height of 3,400 feet, is distinctly seen the large hotel, erected some years ago for the accom- modation of visitors. It is now unfortunately unin- habited and in ruins. The solitariness of Kearsargc gives it a lonely dignity scarcely equalled by any other mountain in the region. 72 WHITE MOUMTAIJ\r OUIDE. The part of the Saco valley through A\4iich we are now passing forms the town of Bartlett. It is nearly coincident with a tract of land granted to Capt. Wil- liam Stark and Vere Royce, as a reward for services performed in Canada during the French and Indian war, and was settled about 1770. There is no com- pact village in the town, but the houses are scattered at considerable intervals along the valley. The Bartlett House, in this town, is the half-way sta- tion between the Glen and the Notch. Mr. Frank George is the landlord. It is the dinner station and will make its appearance none too early in the day. It is twenty miles from the Glen and fifteen from the Crawford House. The passengers from the first train; from Portland, over the Portland and Ogdensburgh Railroad, via Conway for the Notch, also dine here. After proceeding a short distance from the Half-way House, which we have just left, we pass a high rock, close to the road, on the left hand, called S A water's Rock, and famous for its association with the discovery of the Great Notch. The story is narrated by Mr. AYil- ley, in his well known White Mountain Incidents. In early periods the land on the north side of the moun- tains was almost valueless on account of the long cir- cuit which must be made to reach it. It is supposed that the Indians had been acquainted with the pass, now called the Notch, and had taken their prisoners WHITE MOUJ^TAIM GUIDE. 73 through it to Canada ; but it Avas still unknown to the white inhabitants, until about 1771 a solitary hunter, named Nash, happened to climb a tree on Cherry Mountain to look for game. Casting his eye towards the south-east he thought he perceived an opening through the mountains. Making his way in that direc- tion, he arrived at last at the narrow opening called the Gate of the Notch, and passing through tlie gorge he proceeded to Portsmouth, and announced the long wished-for discovery to Gov. Wentworth. Hunters had before scaled the mountains on foot, so the gov- ernor determined to test the feasibility of the pass, by pi-omising Nash a large tract of land on the north side of the mountains, — since known as Nash and Sawyer's Location, — if he would get a horse through and bring him to Portsmouth. This was by no means an easy task ; but by the aid of Sawyer, a fellow-hunter, he suc- ceeded in bringing the horse through, sometimes draw- ing him up high precipices Avith ropes, and then letting him down on the other side. When tiiey let him down the last rock on the southern side. Sawyer drained the rum from his bottle, and, dashing it on the rock, ex- claimed, " This shall hereafter be called SaAvyer's Rock ! " — and so it is. A little beyond this point the road turns to the north, as it follows the great bend of the Saco round Hart's Ledge on the opposite side of the valley, and soon crosses a small stream, called SaAv^yer's liiver. At the source of this brook, three or four miles to the Avest, is Beamis Pond, a small sheet of Avater, often resorted to for trouting by the guests of the ]\It. Crawford House. 74 WHITE MOUJVT^IJ\r GUIDE. Nancy's Brook and Bridge. The forests and the mountains now begin to close in, as if to prepare the traveller for the contracted atmos- phere of the Notch, and a little brook comes leaping down the mountain side with a winning air of wild freedom. This is Nancy's Brook, and the rustic struc- ture thrown across it is Nancy's Bridge. The ravine, over which this bridge is thrown, is about 200 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 35 feet deep, and seems to liave been chiselled from the solid granite. Mr. Oakes, in his AVhite Mountain Scenery, says that this ravine is a beautiful specimen of the trap dike of geologists. The granite crust of the earth has been lifted and cracked, and into the fissure thus formed the hot liquid matter has been injected from below, cooling afterwards into trap rock. In the course of time the trap rock falls to pieces, and is carried away by the force of water, leav- ing the perpendicular walls of granite on each side standing, with an empty space between them. It was near this spot that a disconsolate maiden perished with fatigue and cold, when she had walked all the way from Jefferson, through the snow and darkness, in pur- suit of her recreant lover. She was found stiff and cold, sitting at the foot of a tree near tlie bank of this brook. The incident has already afforded material for the pen of the novelist, and the skill of the pencil has been repeatedly employed in portraying the picturesque beauty of Nancy's Bridge, and its setting of wild rocks, and trees, and bubbling cascades. The best view is to WHITE mou:n'taijv guide. 75 be obtained at a little distance down the stream. A saw-mill, unfortunately, covers the upper half of the charming scene. Half a mile beyond this bridge we come to the build- ing formerly called the Mt. Crawford^ House. This hotel, once one of the most popular houses of the region^ has of late years been closed. It was formerly much frequented by sportsmen, who will be glad to learn that it is now to be open by Mr. George, of the Bartlett hotel, as a boarding-house. There is a path from this point to Mt. Washington, styled the Davis Road, which is longer than the others, but inferior to none in roman- tic interest. We arc now in the midst of Hart's Loca- tion, which borders the Notch on the southern side, while Nash and Sawyer's approaches it on the north. On this very spot old Abel Crawford, styled the " Patriarch of the Mountains," lived and reared his family. At the age of seventy-live he made the first ascent ever made to Mt. Washington on horseback. When he was eighty he was so robust as to think nothing of walking eight miles before breakfast to his son's house at the Gate of the Notch. His son, Eth;m Allen Crawford, called the " Giant of the Hills," cut the first bridle path to Mt. Washington, in 1821. He resided, at that time, near the Giant's Grave, on the north side of the Notch, and the path was nearly, if not quite, coincident with the one now called "• Fabyan's Path." All the paths on the western side of the moun- tains were cut by the Crawfords. Ethan was a great 76 WHITE MOUJ^TAIJV GUIDE. hunter, and used to delight his guests with quaintly- related stories of many a daring adventure. Both he and his father acted as guides to the travellers wlit>, in their time, visited the mountains. At the time of the AVilley slide, tl^e Saco rose so rapidly and so high as to flood the lower story of Mr. Crawford's house, be- ibre the family could escape. He himself was away from home, but the rest retired to the upper story, and during the raging tempest, Mrs. Crawford stood at the north window, clearing away with a pole the logs and other drift Avhich pressed with so much force against the house as to threaten it with instant destruction. This intrepid woman was the mother of eight sons. The Approach to the Notch. As we proceed up the Saco, Mt. Crawford and the Giant's Stairs are distinctly visible beyond the river on the right. The southern peak, Mt. Crawford, is 3,200 feet high, and the northern, 3,500. Between them is Mt. Resolution. Over these eminences passes the Da- vis Road to Mt. Washington. After crossing the Saco twice, the road now turns a little towards the north-west. Tliis road was the tenth turnpike constructed in New Hampshire, and was incorporated in 1803. It extends through the Notch, and through Nash and Sawyer's Location, twenty miles, and cost forty thousand dollars. On account of the immense travel over it, it neverthe- less paid well. At the present time, however, owing to the railroads around the mountains, there is little travel except in the summer. Before it was laid out WHITE JllOUJVT^lJSr GUIDE. i7 the common coimty road crossed the Saco thirty-two times in making its way up the valley. A little fur- ther on Ave pass through a forest of gigantic white lurches, and catch an occasional view of a lofty over- hanging moimtain directly in front. At last the great Notch bursts upon our view in all its sublime majesty, and, looking up the gorge, we be- hold the frowning AYebster on the right, the scarred sides of the fatal Willey on the left, and the rounded summit of Mt. AYillard just appearing far away in the middle of the picture. This view of Mt. Webster from the end, is perhaps the most impressive way in which it can be seen. We cannot help wondering if human foot has ever dared to tread its apparently inaccessible heights, or to explore its mysterious recess. Well was it named for him, wdiose overhanging, thoughtful brow these majestic cliffs so much resemble. Descending rapidly into the Notch, the road passes over the dehris of the first slide, now covered with a considerable growth of white birches. Bowlders are scattered around in wild confusion, and the atmos- phere of death and destruction seems still to lingep' about th^ place. A few rods bring us to the second slide, and we catch the first sight of The Willey House. This famous edifice, situated on the left hand of the road directly under Willey Mountain, was the scene of the great disaster which caused the loss of the whole Willey family. Only the northern and smaller 78 WHITE MOUJ^TAIJ^ GUIDE. portion of tlie present building was standing at that time, the southern part having been added in later years to accommodate guests who sometimes stop here. The original building Avas erected by a Mr. Hill, for a public house, not far from 1820. Previous to this period there was no habitation between the Old Crawford House and the Rosebrooks', a distance of 13 miles. Its hospitable roof was often greeted with gratitude by many a traveller, who would, per- haps, otherwise have perished in the awful snow-drifts so common in the Notch during winter. After occu- pying the house for a few years, Mr. Hill left it, and it stood empty for several months. At last, in the autumn of 1825, Mr. Willey moved in with his fixmily, and passed the ensuing winter very comfort- ably. In the June following, however, there was a slide from the mountain, Avhich somewhat terrified them, but did them no permanent injury. It proved to be a warning of the great disaster which was to follow. On the night of Aug. 28, 1826, a violent tempest raged about the Notch, and a vast amount of soil and of rocks on Willey Mountain was precipi- tated into the valley below, overwhelming tlie whole family, consisting of Mr. Willey, his wife, five chil- dren, and two hired men. Mr. Willey had been an- ticipating a slide, and had built for himself a shelter farther down the valley, in what he supposed would be a safe place for refuge. It is supposed that the family were endeavoring to reach this place when they were overtaken by the slide. The house itself was WHITE MOUJVT^IJV GUIDE. 79 not injured, though the cabin, which it is possible they reached, was carried away. A pile of stones alone marks the place where the bodies of most of them were found. The father, mother, and two children rest in the burial place of the family, near the bound- ary of Bartlett and Conway. The house Avas desert- ed for a year after this event ; but at last a family named Pendexter moved in, and it has been generally occupied since that period. Of late years it has be- come important as a show-place, twelve and a half cents being charged for showing each person through the house. There is, however, nothing within the ru- inous edifice of sufficient interest to warrant even this trifling expenditure. In the rear is seen the great rock, once thirty feet high, which separated the slide, and thus saved the house. The top of it is now almost level with the ground around it, and a pole thirty feet high has been erected close by, to assist the inexpe- rienced mind in forming a correct conception of the former height of the rock. So kindly is sight-seeing here made easy for beginners. From the top of the rock, a beautiful path, quite the most attractive ele- ment of the scene, winds among the birches on the slide, far up the mountain. In front of the house is still standing the ruin of the stable, which was half demolislied by the avalanche. Before remounting the coach, you should not fail to drink some of the excel- lent water to be found at the upper end of the piazza. It is sometimes wondered tliat any one dares to inhabit so perilous a spot as tliis ; but it must not be 80 WHITE MOUJVT^JJ\r GUIDE. forgotten that the side of Willey is now so bare, that there seems nothing more to come down but the solid rock of the mountain. On the opposite side of the river, however, Mt. Webster rises, apparently perpen- dicular, to the height of 2,000 feet above the valley, and almost threatens to overwhelm it. In every tem- pest the inhabitants of the Willey House hear the enor- mous rocks crashing down its precipitous sides, with the sound of thunder, wliile lightnings play about its awful brow. But there is in reality no danger. The Head of the Notch. After leaving the Willey House, the road winds up the narrow ravine for about three miles, ever and anon crossing the rushing stream, and bending around pro- jecting rocks. This part of the trip is generally per- formed at the close of the day, when the lengthened shadows add a gloomy grandeur to the scene. Shut in by dismal walls 2,000 feet high, our hearts sink Avithin us with a feeling of utter insignificance. The steep sides of Willey Mountain are diversified by tier above tier of wand-like white birches, the stems being peculiarly apparent on account of the steepness of the mountain. At the top of this mountain, on a sort of plateau, is a little lake called Ethan's Pond. Near as this is to the Saco, it yet finds its outlet towards tlie south-west into the Pemigewasset, and so into the Merriniack. On each side, far above our heads, little torrents come pouring down over the rocks in cas- cades, wliich will be examined more at our leisure^ WHITE MOUJVTjilJV GUIDE. 81 in excursions from the Crawford House. As we pro- ceed, the " Old Maid of the Mountain," a great stone face, just above the road on the right hand side, on a spur of Mt. Webster, and an overhanging rock on the same side of the road, near the gate of the Notch, called the " Devil's Pulpit," come into view. On the face of this, with imagination, can be seen another profile, called " The Infant," which is said to have been discovered by Ex-Governor N. B. Baker, now of Iowa. Directly opposite the Devil's Pulpit is another profile, called the " Young Man of the Mountain." In front, far up on Mt. Willard, which has now assumed gigantic pro- portions, appears the black mouth of the "Devil's Den," Just before arriving at the Gate, the road turns a little to the right, with a bend in the Notch itself, and we suddenly emerge from the wondrous gorge between two chaotic piles of rocks and uprooted trees. The Crawford House is now in sight, and a short ride over a level road brings us to the * piazza. We must not be surprised at the number of spectators who come to see our debarkation, for the arrival of the evening coaches is one of the most exciting events of the day here. The Crawford House and Vicinity. The Crawford House is a large and new edifice, very commodious and agreeable for a summer hotel. There are pleasant piazzas on the outside, and fine halls, much used in the evening for promenading, run the entire length of the house within. The parlor is largo 6 82 WHITE MOUJVT^IJV GUIDE. and well furnished, the dining-room ample in its pro* portions, and its table always supplied with the delica- cies of the metropolitan markets, as well as such sub- stantial articles of mountain production as delicious berries and the richest milk and cream. The office is situated in the central part of the house, and generally presents as busy a scene as the great square in a city. Hither every one comes to talk over his plans, and to make arrangements for various excursions, or for con- tinuing his journey to other points of interest. The bridle-path is still kept open ; and, if you desire to ascend by this once favorite route, it will be well to make known your plans, and engage a horse. The price of a horse to the summit and back, with guides for the party, is $5. Here also is the post-office of this wild region. The lodging-rooms of the house are well furnished and pleasant, especially those which have win- dows towards the Notch. Connected with the hotel are a bowling-alley for rainy-day and evening amusement, and extensive stables, furnished with a large number of horses, to be used either under the saddle or in car- riages, for the delightful rides in this vicinity. This hotel is now owned by Messrs. A. T. & O. F. Barron, wlio are also the proprietors of the Twin Mountain House. The house has been newly furnished and re- paired, and is in excellent condition throughout. Tiie reputation gained by the Twin Mountain House will be fully sustained here, while the guests of the house will also find that the standard of excellence has not been lost sight of, which has long characterized the " Notch WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. 83 House." A more cheerful and pleasant resting-place cannot be found in the mountain tour, and visitors will find it agreeable to spend a few days in exploring the beauties of the neighborhood. The hotel is lighted with gas throughout, and all the sleeping-rooms are on the first and second floors. There is also a station of the Western Union Telegraph Company at the house, with communication over the summit of Mt. Washington, to the Glen and to the Profile House, connecting also with the line to Boston. The Plateau. We are now in the midst of a little plateau, about two thousand feet above the sea. It is the highest point of the valley, and the water flows from it in both directions, the spring near . the house discharging its contents down through the Notch into the Saco, and that at the stables emptying itself into a tributary of the Ammonoosuc, and reaching the sea through the Connecticut. In front of the house there is a beautiful fountain, and farther on, a tiny lake, which forms the head waters of the Saco. Down near the gate of the Notch, on the left hand, are the ruins of the old Notch House. This was erected by Ethan Allen CraAvford and his father, and kept for a public house by Thomas J. Crawford, a brother of Ethan. Many a thrilling tale is narrated of the adventures of the early guests at this house who attempted to ascend the mountains 84 WHITE MOUJVTJIIJV GUIDE. under the guidance of the Crawfords, or sometimes even without guides. The appearance of the Notch House is familiar to almost every one, from its having WHITE MOUNTAIN NOTCH. been pictured so often in our common school books. It was the largest house of the region for a long time after it was built, and the upper story projected over the arch-topped sheds below in a peculiar manner. After the Crawford House was erected, the building- was used for lodging the supernumeraries, who could not find quarters in the large hotel. WHITE MOUJ^TAIJ^ GUIDE. 85 Mt. Willard. This mountain is easily ascended, to the very sum- mit, in carriages, which are furnished for the excursion at a reasonable rate, while those who prefer to make the ascent on foot will find the walk, through groves of maple and mountain ash, pleasant, and by no means fatiguing. Were the ascent less attractive in other respects, the ease and safety with which it can bo made, even by an invalid, must render Mt. Willard a favorite ; but it is very generally conceded by tourists, that the view from the summit of this mountain affords more pleasure than that from its more pretentious neighbors. By a gradual ascent, over heavily- wooded slopes, you reach an elevation of more than two thou- sand feet above the Crawford House, and stand upon a little plateau, which is broken by the precipitous south- ern front of the mountain, and thickly strewn with delicate and beautiful mountain harebells. Directly in front, at your very feet as you emerge from the scanty and stunted growth which marks the approach to the summit, lies the Notch — then only fully felt when, after having gazed upward from its gloomy fastnesses at the massive barriers -which hem you in, you learn from this standpoint how well its grandeur and mag- nificence will bear calmer and more protracted scrutiny. Here you catch at a glance the conformation of the entire valley. You can trace the carriage road wind- ing like a ribbon down through the wooded pass. In the distance lies the Willey House, above which 86 WHITE Mouj\rT^iJ\r guide. " "Winds underground or Avaters forcing way Sidelong have forced a mountain from his seat, Half-sunk with all his pines," — while on every hand are indications that such a catas- trophe as overwhelmed its inmates is not even now impossible. Down the rugged face of the mountains to your left, across the Notch, can be traced innumera- ble cascades, glistening in the sunshine, and assuming each moment some new phase of wonderful and varied beauty, where " Like a downward smoke, the slender stream. Along the cliff to fall, and pause, and fall doth seem." Far above, tower those more noted and eagerly wel- comed peaks, which envious hills and forests snatch from the gazer below. The Avhole landscape, seen " through varying lights and shadows," is perhaps as attractive and winning as any thing in the vicinity of the Crawford House. Of this view, Bayard Taylor speaks as follows, as he saw it upon a recent visit : — ••' The effect was magical. The sky had, in the mean time, partially cleared, and patches of sunny gold lay upon the dark mountains. Under our feet yawned the tremendous gulf of the Notch, roofed with belts of cloud, which floated across from summit to summit nearly at our level ; so that we stood, as in the organ- loft of some grand cathedral, looking down into its dim nave. At the farther end, over the fading lines of some nameless mountains, stood Chocorua, purple with distance, terminating the majestic vista. It wa- WHITE MOUJVTAIJV GUIDE. 87 a picture which the eye could take in at one glace ; no landscape could be more simple or more sublime. The noise of a cataract to our right, high up on Mount Willey, filled the air with a far, sweet fluctuat- ing murmur, but all round us the woods were still, the harebells bloomed, and the sunshine lay warm upon the granite. "I had never heard this view particularly celebrated, and was therefore the more impressed by its wonderful beauty. As a simple picture of a mountain pass, seen from above, it cannot be surpassed in Switzerland. vSomething like it I have seen in the Taurus, otherwise I can recall no view with which to compare it. A por- tion of the eifect, of course, depends on the ilhunina- tion, but no traveller Avho sees it on a day of mingled cloud and sunshine will be disappointed." The Devil's Den. Near the summit of Mt. Willard, on the southern side, is the remarkable cavern called the " Devil's Den," wliose black mouth was distinctly visible in coming up the Notch. Tliis cavern, which is only accessible by means of ropes, was explored, in 1856, by Dr. Ball of Boston, Avho secured as trophies of his exploration two hawk's feathers, and effectually dissipated the impression that the cavern Avas of im- mense extent, and frequented tlirough another entrance by beasts of prey. The Den proved to be only about twenty feet wide, fifteen feet high, and twenty deep, and so cold and damp that not even the birds take 88 WHITE MOUJVTJlIJV GUIDE. refuge iu it. The story of its previous exploration by one of the Crawfords, who discovered large quantities of bones and the usual accessories of all famous cav- erns, must be a myth. No one who visits the Crawford House should fail to make an excursion down through the Notch, even if he has just come up from Bartlett. The view in this direction is so much more impressive, the masses of Willard, Webster, and Willey being almost before you, that the effect is much more grand and sublime. You must take this path also to visit the various ob- jects of interest in the Notch itself. The first of these is about three fourtlis of a mile from the hotel, and is called The Flume. The part of the little mountain stream, which here is crossed by a small bridge, derives its name from the narrow and deep gorge through which the waters rush with great rapidity. The chasm, like many others in the mountains, though doubtless formed by some con- vulsion of Nature, seems chiselled out of the solid rock. Where the rivulet descends from the mountain side above, there is a fall of some two or three hundred feet, and on the opposite side you can still hear, though you cannot see, the water rushing down still farther to join the current of the Saco, which winds its way through the whole length of the Notch. You may be tempted to an exploration, but your path, though not dangerous, will be very difficult. A little distance farther down the Notch you will WHITE MOUJVTjiIJ\r GUIDE. 89 come to the most beautiful of all the falls on this side of the mountain, the Silver Cascade. This is also sometimes called the Second Flume, from a similar formation, immediately beneath the bridge, to the one already described. But its chief charm is in the perpendicular descent of water for a distance of almost four hundred feet. As you stand on the piazza of the hotel, you see this same stream far up the mountain, full a mile distant, leaping over the rocks and flashing in the sunlight like a silvered pinnacle of some mountain shrine. But as you stand on the bridge, or at the very base of the fall, Avhich you can reach with care, the water seems pouring over the edge of the precipice. Just after a heavy rain the huge rock, which just below the summit usually divides the current, is almost entirely con- cealed by the spray. Like the most of mountain falls, it rather glides over the surface of the ledge than leaps in a clear, unbroken sheet from the summit to the base. At first the water is diffused over a broad surface, and in times of a drought is divided into several small streams. Before it reaches the base, however, all the water is compressed into a very narrow channel. Then, hurrying along over a comparatively level bed, it again, as it reaches the bridge, plunges down a dis- tance of some twenty feet, and, driving through the flume, disappears among the bushes on the opposite side of the road. There is, perhaps, no place on this 90 WHITE MOUJ^TAIJT GUIDE. side of the mouutains which so enchains one by its loveliness as the Silver Cascade. You may spend hours around it, and yet long to return to its solitary beauty. The very height of the mountains, rising al- most perpendicularly on each side of you, causes you to feel the impressiveuess and power of the rushing torrent. These cascades will appear to particular ad- vantage, if you are fortunate enough to walk down into the NotQh on a moonlight evening. Carriages, also, often leave the Crawford House on other excur- sions, such as to the Willey House, and to Ammonoosuc Falls, which will be described below. The fare to these Mis, when a carriage is sent for the purpose, is fifty cents for eachj)assenger. Sparkling Cascade and Sylvan Glade Cataract. Mr. King, in his admirable " White Hills," speaks of these falls as follows : — " But a more wild and beautiful waterfall than any hitlierto seen on the western side of the mountains was discovered at Mount Willey, in September, 1858, by Mr. Ripley of North Conway, and Mr. Porter of New York. An old fisherman had i-eported, at the Craw- ford House, that he had once seen a wonderful cascade on a streamlet that pours down that mountain and empties into the Saco below tlic Willey House. These gentlemen drove through the Notch to the second bridge below the Willey House, which crosses a stream with the unpoetical name of Cow Brook, and followed up the rivvilet into the wild forest. An ascent of nearly WHITE MOUJ^TAIJ\r QUIPE. 91 two miles revealed to them the object of their search, enclosed between the granite walls of a very steep ravine, whose cliffs, crowned with a dense forest of spruce, are singularly grand. They saw the cascade leaping first over four rocky stairways, each of them about six feet high, and then gliding at an angle of forty-^\e degrees, a hundred and fifty feet, with many graceful curves, down a solid bed of granite into the pool below The cascade is about seventy-five feet wide at the base, and fitty at the summit. " Exp] )ring the stream, nearly a mile higher, other falls Avere discovered, each one deserving espejcial no- tice, and one or two of most rare beauty. The finest of these upper falls was christened, we believe, by the discoverer, the ' Sparkling Cascade,' and the larger one below^, the ' Sylvan Glade Cataract.' The brook itself has been named since in honor of Mr. Ripley, and the ravine, of Mr. Porter. We hope, however, that the name ' Avalanche Brook,' which we believe the ex- plorers first gave to it, may be the permanent title of the stream, since it flows near the track of the fatal laud slide of 1826, and that Mr. Ripley's name may be transferred to the cataract. " Mr. Champuey, who visited the falls about a fort- night after their discovery, is inclined to ascribe to them a nobler beauty than any other thus far known among the mountains. He 46scribes the picturesque rock- forms as wonderful, and their richness in color and making, in mosses and lichens, as more admirable than any others he has had the privilege of studying in the 92 WHITE MOUJVT^IJV GUIDE. mountain region. And this cascade is only a sample, probably, of the uncelebrated beauties in the wilder- ness around the White Hills." GiBBs's Falls. There is near the CraAvford House a series of cas- cades which are well worthy the attention of the tour- ist. By entering the woods near the stables of the Crawford House, and following the aqueduct which supplies the hotel with water, the traveller soon reaches a brook which presents a succession of falls that in romantic loveliness are inferior to none in the White or Franconia Mountains. To the most striking of these the name of one of the landlords of the Crawford House has been given. Gibbs's Falls is about a quar- ter of a mile from the point at which the aqueduct issues from the brook, and is easily accessible in half an hour's walk from the hotel. The water at this point makes an abrupt descent of thirty or forty feet in two distinct sheets, which are separated by a projecting cliff draped in ^a scanty verdure of lichens and mosses, and crowned by a single monster pine. Tlie contrast between the emerald greenness of the projecting islet and the foaming torrents which encompass it on either hand is picturesque in the extreme, and these hitherto nameless falls are well worthy the attention of the artist and the lover of nature. The greatest feat to be performed during your stay at this hotel, and that for which the others are only preparative, is the WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. 93 Ascent of Mt. Washington from the Crawford House. By far the larger number of people make the ascent over the railroad, which is attended with no more fatigue than the same time spent in similar conveyances on level ground. But there are attractions about the old bridle- path which still cause it to be selected by many. The distance is about nine miles, and ten hours are usually occupied in the trip. At least one guide always accom- panies the party. The clothing should be warm, and a kind that can be easily and securely fastened. It is also well to remem- ber, that the high winds, which nearly always prevail on mountain peaks, are specially adapted to making sport with hats. Alternations of sunshine and rain are by no means uncommon, and to pass from the brightest sun- shine into impenetrable mists upon the summits is of almost every day occurrence. It often happens that the summit of Mt. Washington is wrapped in clouds, while the lower peaks over which you pass in ascending by the bridle-path are bathed in sunshine. When this is the case, these views are the most satisfactory to be obtained in the mountain region, and well deserve a separate trip. Sometimes the ascent is made on foot, but the length as well as the roughness and steepness of these moun- tain paths render this mode of travel too wearisome for enjoyment. It is never safe for one unacquainted with the route, to attempt it without a guide, Tis it is quite 94 WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. easy to lose oue's way in a fog, which may come up quite unexpectedly. The horses are mounted at the piazza, and the path passes directly into the forest on the east of the hotel. General View of the Range. The first mountain Avhicli we ascend on this path is Mt. Clinton. It belongs to the great range, which ex- tends from the Notch north-easterly to Mt. Madison, a distance of fourteen miles. The whole mountain region of New Hampshire is about forty miles square, but the name, " White Mountains," is sometimes ap- plied, for the sake of distinction, only to this particular group, of which Mt. Washington is the culminating point. The following list gives \he name and height of each mountain of the range, in its order, commenc- injr at the Notch : — Mt. Webster, 4,000 ft. Mt. Washingtor I, 6,285 ft. Mt. Jackson, 4,100 " Mt. Clay, 5,400 " Mt. Clinton, 4,200 " Mt. Jefferson, 5,700 " Mt. Pleasant, 4,800 " Mt. Adams, 5,800 " Mt. Franklin, 4,900 " Mt. Madison, 5,400 " Mt. Monroe, 5,400 " One of the Indian names of these mountains was " Agiocochook," which signifies " the place of the Spirit of the Great Forest," or, according to Judge Potter, "the place of the Storm Spirit," and another, WHITE MOUJVT^IJV GUIDE. 95 " Waumbekketmethna," alluding to the ivliiteness of the mountains. The distinctive title of "White" has always been applied to them on account of their peaks being white with snow during ten months of the year. Even in July and August the bare rocks have a grayish cast, when seen from a distance, which almost entitles them to the name of ivhite. These noble hills were first visited in 1732, by a man named Darby Field. The great advantage of this route to the summit of Mount Washington consists in the passage over sepa- rate mountain peaks, from each of which views of great beauty are obtained. It often happens, too, that when the summit of Washington is wrapped in an impenetrable mantle of mist, these lower summits, and all the surrounding landscape, are in clear light, and often, indeed, bathed in sunshine. When this is the case, those who ascend by this route have the pleasure of enjoying the peculiar excitement of standing on the clear mountain top. Neither should one regret an occasional cloud or shower. No mountain effect can be finer than that produced by the dense masses of boiling vapor, as they gather in the valleys, now all on fire from the rays of the sun, shading off into golden tints, and now a dark sombre gray, needing only a little less light to become tlie " I'aer perso" of Dante's Inferno, slowly yet steadily rolling up the mountain side, concealing the depths of the ravine, and at last enveloping you with its penetrating moisture. Theu 9G WHITE MOUJ^TAIJV GUIDE. the mist leaves you as suddenly as it came, and opens to your vision an abyss yawning at your very feet and reaching to the mountain's base. Such sights as these are ample compensation for the passing shower. Then at another time, both here and on the summit, you may often see the light fleecy clouds floating about the ravines, climbing the slopes, or hurrying over the val- leys, casting long shadows over tlie green mountain sides, and spotting the fields with a deeper color. We shall see these clouds " Lie couched around us like a flock of sheep," when the haze has been swept from the horizon, imme- diately after a rain-storm. This is unquestionably the pleasantest time to ascend the mountains. The fatigue of the long horseback ride is greater to those not accustomed to it than the ascent in a car- riage. But there is more romance attending this mode of conveyance ; there is a different class of views to be obtained, and perhaps more which will be pleasant to look back upon when passed. Mr. Taylor calls it *' by far the most compensating road to the summit." The Ascent of Mt. Clinton is commenced immediately on entering the woods. The Summit is two or three miles from the hotel, and more than four thousand feet above the level of the sea. The path lies through a dense forest, winding in a wet gully worn out of the mountain side, with an occasional cor- WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. 97 diiroy bridge. The change in the character of the trees, from beech, birch, maple, and ash to the evergreens, as yon ascend, all other kinds finally yielding to a kind of dwarf fir, often so intertangled as to render it impossible to walk through them, is especially noticeable. Just before reaching the top, a region of dead trees, supposed to have been killed by the intense frosts of 1812 and 1816, is passed. View from Mt. Clinton. The path lies a little to the north of the summit of Mt. Clinton, and as we wind around it over the bare rocks, the first noble mountain view bursts upon our sight. Almost directly before us, towards the east, is the conical summit of Kearsarge, and apparently near it some little silver lakes, with a blue setting oC many mountains ; and behind we can discern Willard, and the other mountains around the Notch, mottled here and there with the shadows of passings clouds. As we begin to descend to the narrow ridge, which joins this mountain to the next, we gain a view of the nearer objects beneath us. On the right, at a depth of 2,000 feet, is a vast forest, through which winds the Mt. Washington River, and beyond is a long range of giant hills, which, like these we are on, seem march- ing in solemn procession towards the great central shrine. On the left, at a similar depth, the Ammonoo- suc is seen threading the forest, and at last finding its way to the open country in the distance. The first ex- perience of real mountain travel is gained as wc slide 7 98 IVIUTE MOUJVT^IJV OUIDE. down the rocks, and wind along the bleak ridge, which connects Mt. Clinton with Mt. Pleasant. The path generally pursued passes around the south- ern side of this mountain several hundred feet below its summit, although there is one directly over, which the horses by no means fancy, and can very seldom be in- duced to take. A guide-board should be erected here, as the descent on the other side of Mt. Pleasant is very difficult, and parties, in advance of the guide, sometimes take the wrong road. As we pass along the narrow path, we come to a delightful spring, where we can, if we choose, drink from a glass kept there for the pur- pose. It is remarkable that both men and horses always drink inore upon the mountains than they do below, perhaps on account of the increased rapidity of evapo- ration. In the vicinity of this spring, as at other shel- tered sunny spots along the path, excpiisite little spring flowers, such as anemones and bluebells, are found just opening in August. The season here resembles the arctic summer, the snow not disappearing till July, and coming early again in September. During tw^o months vegetation comes on with wonderful speed, and the whole cycle of growth and fructification is com- pleted. You must not allow your horse to turn out of the beaten path to crop the tender grass, as he desires, for often serious accidents are the result of such yield- ing. Here, if he should lose his foothold, you would be precipitated a great distance down the side of the WHITE MOUJ^rJilJV GUIDE. 99 moimtain. Neither, if you dismount, should you allow your bridle to leave your hand, with the expectation that your horse will patiently await your return. Es- pecially if you lead the line are you liable to serious disappointment if you do. Mt. Pleasant has a pecul- iarly rounded top, and presents a beautiful appearance at a distance, Avhence, probably, its name, somewhat incongruous when compared with those of all the others of the patriot group. On the northern side are im- mense slides, which are supposed to have occurred, like most of those among the mountains, in the memorable storm of 182G. After passing around Mt. Pleasant, Ave come to an extended sort of a plain lying at the foot of Mr. Franklin. This is a very irregular, flattened peak, about a hun- dred feet higher than the last. The arduous ascent to its summit is an excellent preparation for the ascent of Mt. Washington, by which alone it is surpassed in diffi- culty. It is almost fearful to look up at the more ad- vanced of our party Avinding along the lofty crags far above our heads, but we soon climb the rocks in safety, and look down in turn upon those below. The path passes a short distance to the north-west of the summit, but there is no danger in turning out a little way to the right, and attaining the highest point. The view thence towards the south-east is extremely grand. Far to the south api)ear the four l)cautifid peaks of Chocoriui {Clw-c6r-v-ay),\\\Q. one to the right being higher and more conical than the rest. Thousands of feet bcl(»\v^ 100 WHITE MOUJ^TjIIJV GUIDE. US stretches the interminable forest, like a carpeting of rich, dark grass. The mountain on the eastern side is almost perpendicular, and, as we leave it behind, we can see the long scar left by a slide, which occurred one stormy night in the summer of 1857. Mt. Monroe. We are now approaching the two majestic peaks of Mt. Monroe, which is inferior to Mt. Washington in height rather than in symmetrical beauty. We pass around the south-eastern side, several hundred feet be- low the summit, over what we are now prepared to consider an easy path. Far down to the right is the frightful abyss known as "Oakes's Gulf." The other side of this ravine is formed by the same range of mountains, which, farther back, we observed across the wide valley, approaching the central cluster. As we gaze down into the dizzy depths, and see huge rocks scattered in confusion on the bottom, and perpendicu- lar craggy precipices forming the sides, we cannot help being impressed with a feeling of awe. Sometimes clouds are entrapped in this fathomless gulf, and whirl round and round in vain attempts to escape. On the northern side of Mt. Washington is a similar ravine called the " Great Gulf." Approach to Mt„ Washington. Winding around Monroe, we gain our first view of Mt. Washington, towering nearly fifteen hundred feet above us. It appears to consist of an irregular pyram- WHITE MOUJVTAIJV GUIDE. 101 idal pile of shattered grayish brown stones, standing as steep as they can without rolling down. Too often this long-expected view is lost on account of the almost perpetual mists which surround the summit. Before reaching the foot of the cone, we must pass over an extended plateau, which is at first quite smooth, and al- lows the horse to trot for a short distance. Nearer the mountain, however, it is scattered with innumerable bowlders, which appear to have been deposited here at the same time that the pyramid of similar stones before us was thrown np. The path winds among these rocks, and is occasionally pointed out by small heaps of stones piled up for that purpose many years ago. This plain extends a long way to the right, and is nearly a mile above the sea. Little patches of coarse grass and small ponds are found here and there upon it. In the western part is a beautiful sheet of water, called the " Lake of the Clouds," from which the Ammonoosuc issues. Leaving the path, and passing along the plain towards the east, we should come to the most wonder- ful of all the gorges in this region, — Tuckerman's Ivavine. See page 61. Ascent of the Last Peak. The ascent of the cone of Mt. Washington is made by parties from the Crawford House, on the south- western side, where the rocks appear to stand almost perpendicular, although in reality less steep than on the southern side. The path appears to have been formed by rolling the great blocks and slabs of stone 102 WHITE MOUJ^TAIJ^ GUIDE. on each side, leaving a partially clear way between. Up this we wind slowly to the very summit. The rocks are of the most miinteresting character, con- sisting principally of a dull-brown mica slate. Dur- ing the first part of the way a great abundance of a delicate Alpine plant, with small white flowers, is ob- served among the rocks. It is curious to discuss the manner in which the seeds of the plant were first brought here, for it is entirely unlike any other plant found in this part of the world. But at any rate it is here, and relieves the scene of much of its gloominess. Higher up there is nothing but bleak, bare rock. If you propose to pass the night on the mountain, and wish to ride down, you must have another horse sent up, when you are ready to return. The few steps which separate us from the top are easily passed over on foot, the horses being left here merely for the con- venience of the guides, so that they shall not become mingled with those from other paths. A finger on a guide-board, elevated upon a pile of stones, points out the path, the buildings on the summit being as yet hidden from view. The Summit. The acre of comparatively level surface on the top of the mountain is so completely covered with irregu- lar angular rocks, that one can scarcely find a smooth place to stand upon. Tlie building which first appears in sight is the Tip-Top House. This is used at present as a dining-room. A little to the east, and somewhat WHITE MOUJrTAIJ^ GUIDE. lOg below, is the Summit House, the first building ever erected on the mountain. Both of these have thick walls of the native rock, and are very low, with roofs quite low, so as to present as little surface as possible to the fierce winds. The Summit House was erected in 1852, by the united efforts of Mr. Hall and Mr. Rosebrook, two farmers* of Jefferson. It was com- menced in June, and sufficiently completed towards the close of July to form a comfortable shelter. It was bound down to the mountain by several large cables, which passed over the top of the roof. The interior is divided into two principal rooms, each of which is heated by a stove. Around these fires the shivering guests crowd, and present about the same appearance as travellers in January stopping to warm themselves at a country inn. The thermometer does not perhaps indicate a temperature below 50°, but the constant wind produces the effect of even thirty degrees below that point. In the rear of the main rooms are narrow dormitories, furnished since the opening of the carriage road with comfortable beds and other appli- ances for a good night's rest. Above are also other " sleeping-places," separated from the rooms below by wooden slats. Every inch of space within the building appears to be turned to some account. The tops of the lower rooms are ceiled with cotton cloth, and the sides, formed of rough stone walls, well pointed with mortar, like a common cellar wall, are now ceiled with boards and papered, adding to tlie comfort and dryness of the room. In deep recesses are good glass windows, 104 WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. increasing very materially the comfort of the place. This, and the Tip-Top House, erected some years afterwards, together form a hotel, at which we can stop as long as we choose. All the materials for these houses, as well as the furniture, except the stone, were originally brought up on horseback over the steep paths. Stone and water are the only materials to be obtained on the Summit, a never-failing spring of the latter being found a few rods north of the Summit House, a little down the mountain. After the completion of the car- riage road a frame stable was erected for the Glen House carriages and horses. The opening of the rail- road also secured the building of a depot, in which the observers passed their first and second winters in com- parative comfort. The railroad company is now en- gaged upon the construction of a much larger building, which will be completed by the summer of 1873, and will be used both for depot and hotel. This hotel will be kept on the same plan as those below, and will be quite as comfortable. The discomforts which now at- tend upon a night on Mt. Washington will then be only a memory of the past. If the tourist wishes to devote his whole time to the view, a luncheon taken at the hotel will make an excellent substitute for the dinner in the Smnmit House. The Summit has become quite an " Exchange." Par- ties are arriving over the different routes and from the various hotels. The houses on the Summit are also often filled to their entire capacity with guests, who remain to obtain the eveuiu"^ and morniuoj views. WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. 105 Hence it is now no uncommon occm'reuce for three or four hundred people to meet here for a^short time, and then separate to pursue their various paths. The View. Although the view from the Summit has already been described in connection with the ascent from the Glen, the following enumeration, from Oakes's White IVIountain Scenery, of the objects of interest, visible on a clear day, may be of use to the tourist. " In the "west, through the blue haze, are seen in the distance the ranges of the Green Mountains; the remarkable outlines of the summits of Camel's Hump and Mans- field jMountain being easily distinguished Avhen the atmosphere is clear. To the north-west, luider your feet, are the clearings and settlements of Jefferson, the waters of Cherry Pond, and, farther distant, the village of Lancaster, with the waters of Israel's River, The Connecticut is not visible, but often, at morning and evening, its appearance is counterfeited by the fog rising from its surface. To the north and north-east, only a few miles distant, rise up boldly the great north- eastern peaks of the White Mountain range, — Jefferson, Adams and Madison, — with their ragged tops of loose, dark rocks. A little farther to the east are seen the numerous and distant summits of Maine. On the south-east, close at hand, are the dark and crowded ridges of the mountains in Jackson ; and beyond, the conical summit of Kearsarge, standing by itself on the outskirts of the mountains ; and farther, over the low country of Maine, Sebago Pond, near Portland. Still 106 WHITE MOUJVT^IJV GUIDE. farther, it is said, the ocean itself has sometimes been distinctly visible. The White Mountains are often seen from the sea, even at thirty miles' distance from the shore, and nothing can prevent the sea from being seen from the mountains but the difficulty of distinguishing its appearance from that of the sky near the horizon. Farther to the south are the intervals of the Saco, and the settlements of Bartlett and Conway, the sister ponds of Lovwell, in Fryeburg, and still farther, the re- markable four-toothed summit of Chocorua, the peak to the right much the largest and sharply pyramidal. Almost exactly south are the shliang Avaters of the beautiful Winnipesaukee, seen Avith the greatest dis- tinctness in a favorable day. To the south-west, near at hand, are the peaks of the south-western range of the White Mountains *, Monroe, with its two little Alpine ponds sleeping under its rocky and pointed sum- mit ; the flat surface of Franklin, and the rounded tops of Mt. Pleasant, Avith their ridges and spurs. Beyond these the Willey Mountain, with its high, ridged sum- mit ; and beyond that several parallel ranges of high, wooded mountains. Farther Avest, and over all, is seen the high, bare summit of Mt. Lafayette, in Fran- conia. " At your feet is the broad valley surrounded by mountains, through Avhich Avind deviously the sources of the Ammonoosuc, Avith its clearing at its farther extremity, and the Mt. Washington House ; and be- yond this, at twenty miles' distance, the little village of Bethlehem is dimly visible.'* WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. 107 In spite of the assertion of Mr. Oakes, there are two places in v/hich, it is said, the shining waters visible are parts of the Connecticut. The Descent is usually made between two and three o'clock, ivhen the trains start on the railroad. Though the path is steep, there is really no danger. The views are in many places even finer than on the ascent, and the ride is very enjoyable till the summit of Clinton is reached. Beecher*s Falls is also one of the attractions of the Notch. An easy path through the woods to the right of the hotel leads one to a mountain brook, which, even in the dryest sea- son, is well filled with pure mountain water. On this brook, for a third of a mile, will be found a series of delightful cascades, not excelle«i for beauty in the wh,ole range of mountain travel. At the head of the upper- most fall, called the Flume Cascade, on the broad shelv- ing rocks, a full view of the summit of Mt. Washington is to be had, which will well repay one for the ascent, which is by no means difficult. The Falls are named for Rev. H. W". Beecher, of Brooklyn, N. Y., who is said to have taken an involuntary bath in one of the basins at the foot of a cascade. The mountain, in the same direction from the hotel as the Falls, whose summit has been disclosed by cutting away the trees of the hill near the house, has been named Mt. Lincoln. 108 white moujn-taij^ guide. Ascent of Mount Washington by Rail. The Mt. Washington raih'oad also furnishes another route of ascent which is accessible either from the Crawford House, or from the White Mountain House. The bridle-path from the Crawford House approaches the summit of Mt. Washington over a succession of intervening and inferior mountains. The views which it affords of the abutting ranges and ravines on the one hand, and on the other of a broad expanse of check- ered light and shade, are unsurpassed in grandeur and beauty. But the fatigue of this method of ascent is by- no means slight. The railroad was designed to obviate this difficulty, and furnish a means of ascent as easy and comfortable as the usual conveyance by rail. The road was com- menced in 1866, under the superintendence of Sylves- ter Marsh, the inventor, and after three years spent in construction, is now open to the public. The success which has attended the enterprise has been so marked as to almost revolutionize the travel in the mountain region. Few people now visit Mt. Washington, with- out making the journey one way, at least, by rail. This road has also served as the model of a road up the Rhigi in Switzerland, the working plans for which were furnished by Mr. Marsh. Carriages leave the Crawford House and the Twin Mountain House at 8 o'clock in the morning. From the Crawford House, the road for the first five miles is over the highway towards the Profile House. At the old Fabyan place, just after crossing the Ammonoosuc, WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. 109 the highway is left with an abrupt turn towards the south. This is a turnpike, but the tolls are included in the fare, which is paid to the proprietors of the hotel. This turnpike, which has now become a very good road, presents the appearance of being, as it really is, the most travelled road in the mountain region. It is also one of the most pleasant. The ride is taken in the early morning or late in the afternoon. For nine miles, you follow a winding road, which is gradually taking you into the very heart of the mountains. On the one side there rises, in regular and gentle slopes, the southern boundary of the pass, made up of the mountains, trav- ersed by the bridle-path from Crawford's, while on the other there brawls and bubbles a mountain brook, which, ever and anon, dashes across your pathway, assuming always some new phase of loveliness. About three miles from the turnpike gate you reach the Upper Ammonoosuc Falls. These deserve a sepa- rate visit. The teams usually stop here on the return to afford an opportunity for a cursory examination. It is a scene of exquisite beauty. The river, confined within narrow gorges, seems to have broken through the rock with the utmost violence ; with a zigzag course it con- tinues its way, wearing the foamy whiteness of its boiling waves, as a conqueror his well-earned crown. The perpendicular walls of granite stand on either side at different heights, as though to guard this scene of beauty from unwarrantable intrusion. At some remote period the river must have flowed at a higher level than at present. Large " pot-holes," 110 fVHlTE MOUJ\rTJilJ^ GUIDE. six or eight feet in diameter, may be found several feet above the present current, and many smaller ones upon the surface of the upper rocks. In one of the largest may be counted, growing as though in a dimin- utive parterre, seven or eight different species of vege- tation. The rock has been hollowed out with chiselled precision, the soil has gradually accumulated, the seeds have been wafted from various localities, and now the plants, having germinated and grown in their circular, rock-environed garden, furnish another, out of num- berless indications of the ftiithfulness of nature, in adorning every unsightly object with her creations of beauty. One can follow the stream through its windings from the top to the bottom of the fall, by clambering along the sides of the miniature precipice, or, by following along the safer patli through tlie woods, can reach the desired point with less trouble and far more security. By taking a station at the foot and looking up through the cleft of the massive rocks, the whole beauty of the Falls can be seen at a glance. The fall of water must be more than fifty feet in a distance of three or four hundred feet. The peculiar structure of the rocky banks, the music of the waters, the requisite inter- mingling of light and shade, the distant prospect of forest and mountain, make this spot one of the loveliest places of resort for the tourist to be found in the neigh- borhood. For the whole distance of the turnpike ride you are drawing nearer and nearer to the mountain fastnesses, WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. Ill and the great charm of the ride is that you have the full view of the mountains at all time. You gradually ap- proach an impenetrable mountain wall, which allows no outlet, save by the narrow thread, which winds around the flank and up to the brow of Mt. Washington. At every point, too, this Regal Mountain stands the monarch of the hills in the centre of his court. The whole chain of dependent peaks may be seen, from Clinton on the south to Madison on the north, with Clay, Jefferson, and Adams standing guard towards the east. The terminal station of the railroad is called Marsh- field. Besides the railroad buildings, there is a hotel here, at which some fifty guests can' be accommodated, which has been erected since the railroad was opened. The railroad is nearly three miles long, and ascends 3,625 feet, starting from a point 2,668 feet above tide- water. The maximum grade is 1,980 feet to the mile, or a little more than one foot in three, while the average is very nearly one foot in four. The construction of the road was commenced in 1866, and it was completed in 1869. The whole cost of the road and equipment is not far from $150,000. The road is built in the most sub- stantial manner, of timber, interlaced and bolted, resting on the solid rock of the mountain side. Besides the usual rails, there is a centre rail of peculiar construction, to receive the motive power. It consists of two bars of iron, with connecting cross-pieces at a distance of every four inches. This rail may well be called " Jacob's Ladder," and thus preserve the memory of one of the steepest parts of the old pathway on the same location. 112 WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. A centre cog-wheel on the locomotive plays into this rail, and secures a sure and steady mode of ascent and descent. The locomotive, as it first comes out of the house, has the appearance of being ready to fall over. As soon as it commences the ascent it stands upright, the slant being given to it to secure more uniform action. The driving- wheel is geared into a smaller wheel, which connects directly with the crank. Four revolutions of the engine are required to make one of the driving-wheel, thus sac- rificing speed to power. The engine is not connected to the car, but simply pushes the car up the track. On the return it allows* the car to follow it down at a slow rate of speed. To protect the train from accident, a wrought-iron dog constantly plays into, notches on the driving-wheel, so that, if any part of the machinery gives way, the train is arrested where it is. There are also the usual fric- tion brakes, and in addition atmospheric brakes on each side of the car. These last alone are sufficient to stop the car, and hold it in any position. The cars are comfortable and easy, and the trip is made without danger or fatigue. The cars are provided with seats placed at an angle, which brings them nearly on a level on the ascent. They all face down the mountain. There is, however, an aisle in the car, and platforms at each end, so that views may be had from all directions. The fare up the mountain is $3 ; up and back $5, — down the mountain $o. Trunks are carried at a price WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. 113 determined by the size, hand-baggage only being car- ried free. ' Capt. John W. Dodge, the Superintendent of the Mt. Washington Railway Company, is always present at the hour for starting the trains, and generally makes the ascent. His genial pleasant countenance can be ac- cepted as a true index of his disposition. He takes great interest in the successful working of the road, and has been the superintendent since it was opened to the Summit. The tourist will find him ready and willing to explain any peculiarities of the construction of the road or of the manner of operating it. The time occupied by the ascent on the railroad is about an hour and a half. The engine has to stop sev- eral times on the way to take in water. At first start- ing, this method of travelling being, to say the least, novel, the attention is naturally directed to the manner in which you are gradually forced up hill. Too much" time should not, however, be spent in observing the 'mechanism. Unlike the other roads, almost from the moment when you leave the depot, a series of views is spread out before you of unsurpassing loveliness. The elevation of the track, which is nowhere absolutely on the ground, is sufficient to enable you to see over the tops of the trees and enjoy an uninterrupted view of all the country spread out at your feet. At first you look back upon the valley through which you have passed, and easily trace the windings of the turnpike. You catch an occasional glimpse of the river as it plays in and out of the forest. As you gain the 8 114 WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. ascent the view widens, and Cherry Mountain, Jefferson, and a broad vista of plain and mountain breaks upon the view. Gradually the trees of the temperate zone are left behind, and the shrubs and flora of Labrador and Greenland make their appearance. You can soon, also, see over the south wall, which so jealously limited your vision as you drove up the valley. On reaching the main ridge between Clay and Washington, you have on the left of the track, facing up the mountain, the huge " Gulf of Mexico," an immense amphitheatre or ravine, down which you can look for an almost sheer descent of a thoui^aud feet. Here you come upon a view to the east, towards the ocean, and at the base of the mountain, in the Peabody Valley, is the Glen House. The train is now near the top, and the depot is in sight. We have already spoken of the view, so that it is not necessary to repeat the description here. The corporation is now erecting a more spacious building for a depot, which when completed will be also used as a hotel. The time occupied in the descent is less than is re- quired for the upward trip. Steam is not used, the atmospheric brakes being sufficient to regulate the speed. Crawford House to Profile House. This trip is performed in stages, which leave the Crawford House every morning about eight. The dis- tance is twenty-seven miles. Stages also leave for White- field to connect with the cars, which is about seventeen miles distant. WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. 115 Five miles from the Crawford House is the old Fabyan place, where the turnpike diverges towards Mt. Wash- ington. Here is to be built a large hotel, which will probably be opened for another season. The view of the mountain range at this point is not to be overlooked. The scars on the side of Mt. Pleasant have been imag- ined to represent an Indian chief with tomahawk The lengthened scars themselves, a thousand feet in height, are at least worthy of notice. Grand as is this view we need not leave it with such reluctance as we should were we not to carry the pic- ture with us for hours, as we ascend the hills to Bethle- hem. There is a tradition that, owing to some Indian curse, no buildings will ever remain here, the former hotels havinoj been burned^ The White Mountain House, about half a mile farther on, is kept by Messrs. Rounse- ville and Colburn. It is a very pleasantly situated, and quiet house in the midst of an open tract of country. In the rear is a fine view of the White Mountains, and in front, beyond the Ammonoosuc, rises the lofty range which connects the Great Notch with Franconia. This is an excellent starting-place for excursions along the Ammonoosuc. There are also many exceedingly inter- esting rambles in the neighborhood of this hotel, and many hills of moderate size, from which views of a great range are gained. 116 white moujsttaij^ guide. Lower Ammonoosuc Falls. At a short distance farther, on the left of the road, are the famous falls of the Ammonoosiic. This stream iz said to be the wildest and most rapid of all the rivers of New Hampshire, falling more than a mile in its course of thirty miles from Mt. Washington to the Connecticut River. It has many cascades, some of which are higher than this, but none more attractive. Here the water issues from a forest of evergreens, and leaps down thirty feet over broad steps of granite. The rocks on each side seem laid in courses, as if by the hand of a mason. When the amount of water is large it rushes into the pool below with such force as to throw it into heaps several feet in height. This cascade unites the wildness of nature with a close resemblance to the nice workmanship of art, in a most surprising and beautiful manner. It is so near the road that it is not necessary to leave the coach in order to enjoy its full effect, although one might pass several hours very pleasantly in a ramble along the banks of the river. The Twin Mountain House is about four miles from the turnpike gate. It is situated at the junction of the roads, from Whitefield and from the Profile House. It is just a convenient distance from the railroad station at the foot of Mt. Washington, and yet so near Whitefield as to enable the tourist to reach the morning trains, if he designs to leave the mountains, without starting at a very early hour. WHITE MOUJVTjIJJV GUIDE. 117 The House is owned and kept by the Messrs. Barron, who are now proprietors of the Crawford House. Dur- ing the two or three years that it has been open, it has established an excellent reputation and attracted a large number of guests. Ammonoosuc Bridge. After proceeding several miles with the Ammonoosuc on our right, we suddenly cross it by a strong wooden bridge. The history of the bridges which have been erected here, as narrated by Mr. Willey, is somewhat interesting. When Bethlehem was first settled in 1790, under the name of Lord's Hill, Capt. Rosebrook cut a road from his house through the forest, about twelve miles, to the new settlement. A log bridge was thrown across the river, which was, however, soon washed away by the spring freshets. At last the newly formed town of Bethlehem voted, in 1800, to build a bridge at this place at a cost of $390. There was such a scarcity of provisions at this time that the workmen were forced to live on milk porridge. Bethlehem. Two or three miles, over gently rising grounds, brings us to Bethlehem, a beautiful airy village, about seven- teen miles from the Notch, famous for its view of the whole range of the White Mountains. You feel a greater satisfaction in surveying them from this place than from any other point where the view is so com- prehensive. Towards the north-west are some noble white marble mountains in Vermont, appearing clothed in a varment of snow from base to summit. The whole 118 WHITE MOUJ\rT^IJ\r OUIDE. northern and western horizon is jagged with mountain summits, softening into beauty and grace in the mellow light of summer sunsets. Bethlehem is a place of great attraction for persons spending the summer in this region. There are several houses where board may be obtained at a reasonable rate. The Sinclair House, by Durgin and Randlett, is a large and comfortable hotel, occupying a prominent and commanding position. The whole village is so elevated above the valleys to the Notch, that the view from all parts of it is extensive and varied, while a short walk brings the observer into full view of the Franconia range on the south. First View of Franconia. From Bethlehem there are two roads to Franconia Notch. Whichever we take we must ascend a high and toilsome hill, but the view from the summit repays us for all our delay. This view, comprehending the whole of the grand Franconia range in front, with the head of Lafayette standing majestically above them all, and on the right the dark opening of the Notch, with long extent of valley and interval between is one of the finest views in the day's ride. It remains in sight for some time while you are descending the hill and crossing the valley of the south brancli to the Aramo- noosuc. Then begins the slow ascent of the Notcli. Yv^inding through its shady ravines, along the west base of Bald Mountain, we come at last to the Profile House. fviiite mou^taim guide. 119 Franconia Notch and its Neighborhood. The Franconia range of hills, though properly be- longing to the White Mountain range, is still so dis- tinct and peculiar in its character as to deserve a length- ened notice. The beauties of the surrounding scenery entitle it to all the admiration which the tourist be- stows upon it. Indeed, by old habitues of the region, Franconia is considered the gem of the mountains. There is not the overpowering grandeur which belongs to the White Mountains, while the greater variety of interesting objects amply compensates for the absence of more stately scenes. The quiet beauty and the repose of nature in the Franconia Notch may well in- troduce the traveller to the higher sublimity beyond, or refresh him as he retires from the powerful influence which he has felt before the majesty of the Notch. There is a tranquillity in the former feeling, and a sense of relief in the latter, which prepares or soothes the mind. Here is rest ; here is comfort. Beneath the shadow of these solemn mountains the weary soul finds composure. Selfishness and worldliness are rebuked. The most thoughtless are hushed to reflection, and a better understanding of life grows up in the midst of Nature's grand instructions. We do not suppose our tourist is in quest of mere pleasure ; we believe him to be a better and nobler man than to spend his days thus. He is open to every good influence that will make life more rich, and beautiful, and fair. There is no better influence than that of Avhich he will be sensible in the still retreat of Franconia. 120 WHITE MOUJVT^IJV GUIDE. The Profile House, a new and large hotel, of the very best and most com- fortable accommodations, is situated in the immediate vicinity of Echo Lake, Cannon Mountain,. Eagle Cliff, The Profile, and Mount Lafayette. It is on a level plain, a few acres in area, in the bosom of the hills. It has two approaches : on the north, from Bethlehem and Littleton — on the south, from the Flume House and the Pemigewasset Valley. Of the approach from Lit- tleton, we have elsewhere written. From Bethlehem, over the road from Crawford's, the approach is some- times startling in its effect. The views shift with great rapidity ; at one time are wholly concealed, at an- other break forth upon the traveller with surprising abruptness. Going up the slow ascent of the hill east of Bethlehem, with the Mount Washington range be- hind, the Franconia mountains on the left, and all northern New Hampshire on the right, the landscape is most enchanting. One almost wishes the hill longer. The village of Bethlehem itself is most picturesquely situated, and commands a view of wide expanse. But beyond it is a hill tedious to climb, with scarcely a compensating scene to 'look upon, and one begins to wonder where the vaunted glories of the region are to be found. But on reaching the top of the hill a magnificent prospect stretches before him. Across the wiUTK Mouj\i"rMJ\r guide. 121 Franconia valley rise the lofty summits of Lafayette, with his seamed and scarred sides, and the kindred mountains standing like sentinels to guard the pass against profane intruders. Their irregularity is most picturesque, while, at the same time, they are most finely grouped. They stand out in most august pro- portions, relieved by the dark blue of the clear summer sky. We ride down the hill into the little village of Franconia, in a :State of mingled admiration and awe. Then, entering the forest, we pass beneath its leafy arches to the rest and enjoyment of our temporary home. The Profile House, improved by successive enlarge- ments, is now excelled by no hotel in the State. The parlor wing, with a parlor 100 by 50 feet, contains many new rooms. The new dining-hall is a fine room, of about the same size as the parlor. The public rooms and hall are lighted with gas. The hotel is also sup- plied with bath rooms. About four hundred guests can now be accommodated in this hotel. During the heighth of the season, the spacious corridors and piazzas present a lively appearance. Two cottages for families have also been built just south of the house. Messrs. Taft and Greenleaf, the proprietors, have been so long identified with the locality, that their reputa- tion, as well as the good name of the house, is en- tirely independent of any praises of a guide book. If faithful attention, clean rooms, — such as Izaak Wal- a profuse table, and beauty of locality 122 WHITE Mouj\rTjiiJ\r ouide. can furnish a desirable resting-place for the traveller, these are all to be found in this favored spot. The location of this hotel between the fnountain peaks, the clear bracing air of the Notch, and the pure water of the hills, combine in giving one an excellent appetite and good digestion. This hotel has long been a favor- ite tarrying place for those accnstomed to spend their leisure time among the mountains, and every year only adds to its popularity. The American Telegraph Com- pany has an office in the hotel. Echo Lake. In the woods, to the north of the hotel, a short dis- tance from the road over Avhich we have just travelled, lies embosomed Echo Lake. It is a sheet of water of great depth and transparency, and, as it sleeps there in its secure repose, seems the very type of rest. All around rise the green hills of the region, Lafayette lift- ing his rocky summit high above them all. The setting is appropriate for this exquisite gem. One never wea- ries of the quiet scene. A little boat with paddles con- veys the passenger to the middle of the lake, and to the different points where the best views may be ob- tained. Here are the centres of the most marvellous echoes. The sounds of a tin horn, blowm with skill, will be returned in oft-repeated notes like the sw^eetest music. The human voice, shouting distinctly, will be reechoed Avitli wonderful eff^ect, as thougli the invisible inhabitants of the hills were holding a colloquy with " the babbling gossip of the air." The report of a cannon fired on the shore -will reverberate like peals of WHITE MOUJ^T^rJ\r GUIDE. 123 tliimdcr among the fastnesses of the moimtains. In the stillness of morning, or in the quiet of the evening at the sunset hour, the lake is the resort of those who best know and can appreciate the wonders of the place. The wind is whist ; the waters sleep ; the mountains are silent ; the purple glow is on all the trees and rocks. Then is the time to wake the slumbering echoes, and hear the many voices that reply. He who has not visited this lovely spot at this bewitching time, does not understand half the magical, secret beauty which lingers around Echo Lake. Eagle Cliff. Almost directly overhanging the hotel, on the north, is Eagle Cliff. It is a huge, columnar crag, sepa- rated from the crest of the mountain, and rising per- pendicularly, with jagged rocks, seemingly ready to topple from its place in wide-spread ruin beneath. This precipitous cliff derives its name from the fact that it was chosen for an eyry by a pair of eagles several years ago. They were often to be seen circling around its summit, and looking down, as though with disdain, upon the gazing crowds below, who have invaded their solitude. But two or three years ago they were driven away by some over-curious explorers of their nests. No prouder position could be chosen for a habitation by this noble bird. It stands out in the picture a most projninent and majestic peak. Approached from the south, it is finely portrayed upon the backtrround of the sky. A point about three fourths of a mile distant, 124 WHITE MOUJfTJilJ^ GUIDE. upon the border of Ferrin's Pond, or Profile Lake, fur- nishes the finest view. Its lofty crags are distinctly seen, as though rising from a bed of deepest green, formed by the luxuriant birches and vines that attempt to clamber up its sides. At sunrise or sunset, when all is dark in the valley, the rosy light softens the rude outline, and it shines out in clear brightness above the mists below. As you sit on the piazza of the hotel the clifi" looms before you in gigantic proportions, a study for the present, and a glorious memory for the future to recall. Profile Mountain. Directly opposite Eagle Cliff*, on the south side of the Notch, rises Cannon, or, as we prefer to call it. Profile Mountain. The former name is given on account of a supposed resemblance to a cannon which a rock upon its summit exhibits. The latter more appropriately belongs to it, since it bears upon the southern extremity of its crest the " Great Stone Face." The mountain is ascended by means of a footpath which seems to lead almost dii'ectly from the front of the hotel to the summit. The ascent is somewhat difficult, requiring about two hours of wearisome climbing. But the extended prospect at the end of the journey amply compensates all the toils of the way. The view from the platform of denuded rock above, down the valley of the Pemi- gewasset, surpasses description. Nothing more beauti- ful will be found in this region. The silvery stream, WHITE MOUJVl'MfJV GUIDE. 125 the quiet forests, the verdant meadows, the placid lakes, the clustering village;^ along the winding road, unite in a picture of enchanting loveliness. The surrounding peaks, and the towering heights of Washington and its peers, with the softly-swelling hills sloping away to the south, present all that one can imagine of the grand and of the beautiful in mountain scenery. A visit to Franconia is incomplete without the ascent of Profile Mountain. An outlay of a few dollars would complete an excellent saddle-path to its summit. Bald Mountain. There is, also, another pleasant mountain trip, even more immediately within the reach of every one than the ascent of Profile Mountain. The carriage road to this summit is out of repair. But the distance from the hotel is only a mile and half, and the walk is by no means difficult. The path leaves the highway to the right, at the top of the hill, about a mile from the Profile House. This is now a favorite sunset view, and there is no other point, near the hotel, that will so amply repay one for the slight exertion required. From the sum- mit, you see spread out before in the foreground, the broad basin of the Franconia valley, with the Bethlehem hills and the peaks of northern New Hampshire and Vermont in the distance. Towards the south, you have a fine view of the Notch, with Profile Lake at your feet, and Lafayette towering up above you toward the east, whose rugged rocks, glowing in the evening sunshine, change to purple as the shadows of Mt. Cannon creep 126 WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. up from the valley. Carriages can be had, if desired, in which you can ride to within. half a mile of the summit. Cascade. Immediately behind the Profile House there is a cascade, which, from the facility with Avhich it may be reached by the tourist, deserves our notice. A path, entering the woods in the rear of the old Lafayette House, and following the aqueduct which supplies the hotel with water, conducts, in a short and pleasant walk, to a brook, which, Avhen swollen by a recent rain, presents a succession of cascades that will amply repay a visit. The bed of the brook lies for a long distance over a shelving ledge of sufficient extent to impress one adequately with the gigantic framework of our granite hills. This feature of the scene, together with the charming glimpses of Echo Lake and the surrounding mountains which are caught in the ascent, will render a visit to this cascade pleasant at any time. At one point a most exquisite view is obtained of the northern part of the Ammonoosuc valley. But only after a heavy rain, or amid melting snows, is this cascade seen to advantage, and one will often desire some such arrangement for displaying its capabilities as exists at the Catskill Falls. The best time to make a visit to this spot is at the close of day, before sunset, when, through the openings of the wood, the surrounding scenery appears in all its beauty. The view of Echo Lake and of the hills and woodland beyond, reaching far towards the Ammonoosuc, is of such exquisite WHITE MOUJVTjlIJy GUIDE. 127 beauty that it aloue will repay one for a visit to the cascades. The great marvel and pride of this region is the Profile. As we walk down the road to the south of the hotel, we soon come to a rude bench by the wayside, and, attracted by the guide-board above it, inscribed witli the single, simple word, '■'" Profile," as we direct our eyes to the point which it indicates, the huge face, with all its features thoroughly delineated, stands out in bold outline before our sight. There it is, a colossal, completely symmetrical profile, looking down upon the valley from its lofty height, perfectly distinct and clear. The tourist may possibly think that this, like other wonderful stories of which veracious guide-books tell, may be a myth, and that the similarity may exist only in the fancy of the writer. But no ! This time, at least, he Avill acknowledge that there is no delusion. Nature has carved out, with the most accurate chisel- ling, this astonishing sculpture. Every portion of the face is there upon the solid mountain steep. There is the stern, projecting, massive brow, as though stamped with the thought and wisdom of centuries. The nose is straight, finely cut, and sharply outlined. The thin, senile lips are parted, as though about to utter the thunders of majestic speech. The chin is well thrown forward, w^ith exact proportionate length, betokening the hard, obstinate character of the " Old Man," who has faced, with such unmoving steadiness, the storms 128 WHITE MOUJVT^IJV GUIDE, of ages. The Sphinx of the Desert must acknowledge its inferiority to this marvellous face upon the moun- , tain. When seen in the morning, as the mists float up from the valley beneath and along its ponderous fea- tures, it looms into larger proportions still, and with the heavy gray beard, which sometimes settles upon its chin, and down its breast, it seems like the face of some hoary patriarch of antiquity. Some one has made the remark that " as men are accustomed to hang out before their shop doors certain signs to desig- nate their respective occupations, so here God has sculptured this great Face to show that in these regions he makes men." " It is not advisable," says one of the admirers of the Old Man of the Mountain, "to go to take your first look at him when the sun lights up the chasm of his granite cheek and the cavernous mystery of his bent brow. Go to him when, in the solemn light of evening, the mountain heaves up from the darkening lake its vast wave of luxuriant foliage. Sit on one of those rocks by the roadside, and look, if you can, with- out awe, at the Granite Face, human in its lineaments, supernatural in its size and position, weird-like in its shadowy mystery, but its sharp outline wearing an expres- sion of mortal sadness, that gives it the most fascinating interest." The view in the margin is an exact repre- sentation of the Profile alone, as it appears to the observer. It was doubt- WHITE MOUJ^T^IJ^ GUIDE. 129 less an object of veneration to the aboriginal in- habitants. Various traditionary tales are yet extant respecting the superstitious homage once paid to it by the Indian tribes who frequented the locality. Relics of their life, and singular utensils of a former genera- tion, have been found near it. To the whites, however, it has been little known till within the last forty years. In the early part of the present century the road that passes along this way was laid out, and in clearing the land of the trees that impeded the path the Profile was discovered. Since that time it has been an object of the most absorbing interest. The genius of Hawthorne lias embalmed it in our literature, and his story of "The Great Stone Face" can only be read apprecia- tively beneath its shadow. We give a view of the " Old Man," engraved from a photograph. To those who are curious in exploration, the oppor- tunity is easily improved of ascending by a footpath across the summit of the mountain to the point above the profile. It has been ascertained that the licight of tlie " Old Man " is very nearly fifteen hundred feet above the level of the little lake below it, and that the length of the face is from sixty to eighty feet. In the many conflicts witli the elements which it has endured, it has been roughened and scarred. But from the road no such appearance is presented, except througli a telescope, and the face appears fair and smooth. Tlic precipice, of which it forms the extrem- ity, is not unlike the palisades of the Hudson in appear- ance. It extends for nearly two miles along the escarp- 9 130 WHITE MOUJ^TAIM GUIDE. ^"^^^^O U^-. \V' '^'^/r'^^^ ment of the mountaiu, and is a prominent part of the scenery of the section. The Profile itself undergoes niany changes, according to the point of observation. It changes from its severe facial outline to a jagged and apparently shapeless mass of rocks, or to a face with a flat forehead, or with a huge Roman nose, or to the unmeaning and retreating countenance of some wild animal. It is only at the place where the guide -board is erected that the Profile is to be most distinctly seen. One can spend an hour or two no more profitably than by gazing upon its fascinating and wonderful linea- WHITE MOUJ^TAI^r GUIDE. 131 ments, and he will return to look upon it once more, that it may be the last remembrance, ere he bids fare- well to this delightful spot. Profile Lake. Immediately below the Face, as though Nature would provide for her creation an appropriate mirror, nestles the beautiful sheet of water known as Ferrin's VoND. Why not call it by a better and more appro- priate name? Let it be baptized Profile Lake; or, if one desires a more fanciful title, The Old Man's jMiiikor. The more prosaic call it The Old Man's Washbowl ! By whatever name it may be called, no appellation will ever detract from or add to its simple loveliness. It lies there, surrounded by rich, rolling ibrests, and above it the precipitous mountain. Its crystal depths reflect the overhanging trees, and its bright expanse smiles joyously in the sunlighto The very finest trout live in its waters — as though only the choicest and most delicate of fish were suited to inhabit such a pure abode. We cannot help thinking how the Greek love of the beautiful would have peopled all this region with the creations of its sacred mythologyc. Even the cold fancy of Occidental nature warms beneath the genial influence, and breaks forth in the most de- moutjtrative admiration. Mt. LxV FAYETTE is twelve hundred feet below Mt. Washington in height, 132 WHITE MOUJN-TAIJ^ GUIDE. and the view from its summit is thought by many to equal that from its rival's crest. A good footpath leads up its rocky sides, and the persevering lover of Nature, who is not afraid to make exertion, and is willing to expend his strength, will be most abundantly rewarded for his labors. Horses are kept in readiness for the ascent of this lofty peak, at the stable at the base of the mountain. Sojourners at the hotel, by re- cording their names, will be called for, carried to the stable, and furnished with horses and guides, at an ex- pense of $3.00 each. The ascent and return occupy about five liours. Entering the woods from the road, about two and a half miles below the Profile House, the ascending path immediately commences. Near the point of divergence once stood the Lafayette Plouse, a comfortable hotel, which received its due share of patronage. It was de- stroyed by fire in the spring of 1861, and the ruins of the burned edifice lie scattered about the place. From this spot, for a few miles, the ascent is somewhat steep and difficult, leading up the side of the mountain. The thick forest, vocal with the songs of woodland birds, overhangs the Avay, rendering the ride an agreeable ex- perience. Emerging from the woods, upon the bare rock, opposite to, but higher than the Profile Mountain, one can look down into the mouth of the Notch upon the plateau on which the Profile House is situated, and out into the valley of tlic south branch of the Ammo- noosuc beyond. The northern view is, from this point, delightful, and in a clear day exliibits a beautiful pano- WHITE MOUJ^TAIJ^ GUIDE. 133 rama of river, plaiu, village, and surrounding hills. The path now strikes off to the right towards the summit, which is in plain sight for the remainder of the way. The same phenomena of vegetation appear here as upon Mount Washington — the stunted trees, the alpine flowers, the mosses clinging to the rocks. Still the path winds gently on, approaching the summit by a long, but not wearisome ascent. At last the goal is reached, and comfortable shelter is found in a house erected in that lonely spot for the accommodation of visitors. After a momentary rest, the wide prospect invites the eye. The southern valley of the Pemigewasset opens its beauties, showing its charming contour for a distance of forty miles, as far as Plymouth. On the east, Washington rears his im- perial head, Avith his attendant range. North-east- wardly, pointed Katahdin cleaves the air, and the Avliite hills of Stratford gleam in the north. Passing around the horizon, the eye rests admiringly upon the softened outline of northern New Hampshire and Vermont, the rounded summits of the Green Mountains, the sloping country of the south-west, broken by Monadnock and Kearsarge. Directly beneath the eye are the Pro- file, Echo Lake, — like a crystal gem in its emerald set' ting, — the pleasant farms of Lisbon and Landaff ; whilt* a little farther yet, as it were nestling around its base, are the villages of Littleton and Bethlehem, and farther still. Wells River, and the towns in the Connecticut Valley. Altogether, it is a view more beautiful, in some respects, though it may be less grand and majestic, 134 WHITE MOUJVT^TJ\r GUIDE. than that from Washington. Here, indeed, as Bryant sings of Monument Mountain, — * * * " Thou Shalt not look Upon the green and rolling forest tops, And down the secrets of the glens And streams that, with their bordering thickets, strive To hide their windings. Thou shalt gaze, at once. Here on white villages, and tilth, and herds, And swarming roads ; and there on solitudes That only hear the torrent, and the wind, And eagle's shriek. * * * The scene Is lovely round ; a beautiful river there Wanders amid the fresh and fertile meads, The Paradise He made unto himself. Mining the soil for ages. On each side The fields swell upward to the hills ; beyond, Above the hills, in the blue distance, rise The mountain columns with which earth props heaven." There is upon the mountain, located on one of its most inaccessible points, a strange-looking stone, of large size and unusual form. It was named by those who discovere*d it, "The Altar," from a fancied resem- blance which they discerned to the old Runic remains of a similar character. The mountains have always been sacred places. Olympus has its classic fame as the seat of Jove ; Sinai, Horeb, and Carmel have their divine associations ; Olivet is held in affectionate ven- eration, as there seem to linger, even yet, among its wooded heights, the accents of the Saviour's voice of prayer. Lafayette might well awe the rude wor- shippers of the forest and the wild, and teach them of the presence of the Great Spirit. Besides these attractions immediately about the Pro- WHITE MOUJVT^IJV GUIDE. 135 file House, there are others in tlie Valley of the Notch, and within easy reach, which the traveller must not fiiil to visit, unless he would render his tour incomplete. The Trout House is about a mile south of the hotel, where several hundreds of this beautiful fish are kept for breeding purposes. The fish are nearly all in the house and have become quite tame. Walker's Falls are not much visited, but are not the less attractive on that account. Half a mile below the clearing, where the bridle-path up Lafayette begins, a mountain brook crosses the road. By following up this, or by striking into the woods a little earlier will be found, after a walk of half a mile, the first of the falls to which this name is given. As the quantity of water is never very large,' and the perpendicular descent less than in many other mountain streams, these falls will doubtless be over- looked by many. But ' In the wood's dark coolness, "Where the path grows rougher and more steep, Where the trees stand thick in leafy fulness, And the moss lies green in shadows deep," — is one of the most picturesque of the mountain cascades. Were the water away, you would see a regular succes- sion of stone steps extending across the whole breadth of the bed of the stream. For a distance of about thirty 136 WHITE Mouj\rT^iJ\r guide, feet the water glides over these, dissolving into spray, in which a rainbow is almost always to be seen as you stand at the base. But clambering through the woods, you stand at the head of this cascade, and now, imme- diately above you, the water rushes down a descent of not less than tifty feet. The fall is irregular, being broken here and there by the huge blocks of granite, against which the water dashes with a rage which is lost in foam. Half a mile farther on there is a longer and more picturesque fall. It descends at one leap a distance of about sixty feet, while above this, too, there are long and tumultuous slides over the rocks which tenant all the hill-sideSo The sides of the brook are of precipitous rocks, somewhat resembling those of the Flume, though not so high nor so contracted. A forenoon or an after- noon will suthce for the ramble, which will be found exceedingly satisfactory. Proceeding another mile to the south, we reach The Basin. The waters of the Pemigewasset, flowing from Pro- file Lake, after tumbling in many a beautiful cascade over the rocks that lie in their course, find their way, with many meanderings, to this point near the road- side. Here they fall over a rocky ledge, a few feet in height, into a-deep hollow in the solid granite. The diameter of this rocky basin, formed by the continual action of the water and mingled stones and bowlders from above, is about thirty feet in its shortest width, WHITE MOUJ^T^IJ^ QUIDE. 137 and forty feet in its longest. Its circumference is not far from sixty feet. Its depth is of such proportions, — ordinarily of fifteen feet, — as to form a by no means shallow bowl, which is always filled with cold, pure, and pellucid water. On one side the rocks jut ever the mimic depths, forming a dam for the flowing stream, thus producing the most exquisite of waterfalls. The embankment surrounding it is covered, in the proper season, with green mosses and sweet flowers, with their delicate bells " Tolling their perfume on the passing air." At the other extremity, where the delivered waters, free from their temporary imprisonment, make their way out, singing as they go, is a fissure in the rock, forming another little waterfall. Upon one side is a peculiar conformation of the gi-anite, which, by a slight stretch of the fancy, can be said to resemble a titanic leg and foot, scooped out and polished by the ever- flowing current. As you look down into these trans- parent -waters, the bed of the basin can be distinctly seen, so fair and clear is their emerald purity. One is almost tempted to fling aside his outer garments and plunge into this luxurious and delicious bath. It is certainly fit for the ablutions of a goddess. There is a peculiar and almost magical charm about the basin, which enchains you to its margin, and will not let you go free. You are obliged at last to tear yourself away, with many regrets that the time of your sojourn amid these beautiful haunts of Nature is so brief. But' "A thing of beauty is a joy forever." 138 WHITE MOUJ^TAIJ^ GUIDE. and your recollection will often recur to these distant scenes, as you live over again, in delighted memory, the joys of other days. Cascades. A rude bridge of logs is thrown across the brook at the outlet of the Basin, more for purposes of con- venience than as an enhancement of the beauty of the spot. Crossing this, and following up the path for about two hundred rods, one discovers a succession of cascades of the most exquisite loveliness. The path is not very well worn, but can be easily traced. The tourist must follow it to its end, and he will pronounce this to be one of the most enchanting places in the region. The cascades show an infinite variety of beautiful forms, and end at last in a water- fall through a narrow cleft in the rocks of the hillside, of twenty or thirty feet in height. The banks of the stream are lined with the richest foliage, and open- ings among the trees disclose at intervals the rugged sides of Lafayette. The majority of travellers do not explore this region, but are contented with a passing glance at the Basin, and thereby lose almost the finest portion of the scenery o Tlie best way to enjoy these places is to ramble about at one's own sweet will, and meet with surprises at every step, as Nature pre- sents her pictures. Let no one forget to examine the course of the little stream now before him. He will find all along its way the most numerous objects to give him pleasure and satisfaction. WHITE MOUJVT^IJ^ GUIDE. 139 A mile or two farther, aud we reacli the Flume House. No site can be more full of beauty than that wliicli is occupied by this hotel. Directly in front is Mt. Lib- erty, with its fancied resemblance to the profile of George Washington, closing the view of the '' forest primeval," with its shades of rich green foliage, its quiet groves, and its soft and pleasant paths. On the uortli is the picturesque Notch, with all its surroundings, in bold outline. From the southern piazza, the whole Pemigewasset valley is in sight, unequalled for the variety which the wide prospect exhibits. No one can sit on this piazza at the close of day, to watch the glories of the sunset, and note the charming effects produced on " hill and dale, and pleasant intervale," without rejoic- ing in the good fortune which led him to make the Flume House his temporary home. The hotel, though having rooms for only forty guests, is new and commodi- ous. It is kept by the proprietors of the Profile House and a hotel is now open on this site for the first time for several years. The Flume and the Cascades. In the immediate neighborhood of the Flume House arc tlic three chief remaining objects of interest at the Franeonia mountains. These arc the Flume, the Cascade, and tlie Pool. The former is in a south- easterly direction from the hotel, about three quarters of a mile distant. A good road leads to the lower 140 WHITE MOUJ^TAIJ\r GUIDE. part of the Cascade below the Flume. Thence, a footpath leads up the course of the stream. Cross- 'ing and recrossing at intervals, clambering up the sides of steep rocks, again following the bed of the stream itself, one finds at every forward movement something to admire. The Cascade is a continuous fall — a sheet of molten silver, on the smooth and pol- ished* rock — of more than six hundred feet. The descent is very gradual, with occasional abruptness. With the murmur of its waters in the ear, and its marvellous beauty in the eye, we ascend to the Flume itself. No more wild and striking view can be im- agined. For seven or eight hundred feet or more the stream pours its volume along a rocky bed, vv'hich breaks it up into numberless waterfalls, between two mural precipices, that lift themselves on either side, crowned with the abundant foliage of the forest. The height of these walls is from sixty to seventy feet. The width between them is a general average of twenty feet, except at the upper end. Here the walls ap- proach each other. Suddenly contracting to about ten feet, they hold, suspended between them, about midway up their sides, a huge bowlder of granite. So nicely is it adjusted, and so slight appears its hold, that one would think the gentlest touch suffix cient to push it from its resting-place into the ravine below. By what process it has fallen into its present position — indeed, in what manner this remarkable fracture of the rock has taken place — is a puzzle for scientific heads. Its presence greatly adds to the TVJIITE MOUJ^T^IJ\r GUIDE. 141 wildness of the scene. We are content with that, and do not care to speculate about its cause. In general, one can follow the stream through this narrow gorge, — not without trepidation as he passes beneath the suspended mass, — and, by climbing the rocky heights, can obtain a capital view from above. The trunk of a tree lies across the chasm, forming a temporary and precarious bridge. We would suggest to the propri- etors of the hotels to fell one or more trees, and give a safer foothold to those adventurers who are desirous of seeing all the wonders of the place. In the au- tumn, when the forests are rich in purple, crimson, and 142 WHITE MOUJ^TJim GUIDE. gold, or in the winter, when the ravine is filled with snow, and icicles hang from the cliffs, and the little stream bursts through its partial confinement, the scene is one of great grandeur. In the luxuriance of sum- mer it is more fresh and glowing, the verdure of the woods relieving the nakedness of the rocks. In all seasons it is a place for study, for reflection, and de- light. The scene most forcibly suggests to one the follow- ing lines from Shelley's Cenci : — " But I remember, Two miles on this side of the fort, the road Crosses a deep ravine ; 'tis rough and narrow, And winds with short turns down the precipice; And in its depth there is a mighty rock, "Which has, from unimaginable years. Sustained itself with terror and with toil Over a gulf, and with the agony With which it clings, seems slowly coming down ; Even as a wretched soul hour after hour Clings to the mass of life ; yet, clinging, leans, And, leaning, makes more dark the dread abyss In which it fears to fall : beneath this crag, Huge as despair, as if in weariness, The melancholy mountain yawns — below. You hear but see not an impetuous torrent Raging among the caverns, and a bridge Crosses the chasm ; and high above there grow, With intersecting trunks, from crag to crag. Cedars, and yews, and pines, whose tangled hair Is matted in one solid roof of shade By the dark ivy's twine. At noonday here 'Tis twilight, and at sunset blackest night." Returning from the Flume, wc find the path to the WUITE MOUJ^TAJJ\r GUIDE. 143 Pool, directly in front of the hotel, leading straight into the woods. A walk of three quarters of a mile, beneath the overhanging branches, brings us to this famous and wonderful formation. A deep excavation, as though hewn by human hands, in the granite, holds the waters, wliich enter by a cascade from the upper, and escape through an opening in the mass of rocks at the lower extremityo The width of the Pool is about a hundred and fifty feet ; its depth about forty feet. From the brink of the wall above to the surface below, the dis- tance is very nearly one hundred and fifty feet. It is a place of the most wondrous attraction. It may not have the charm of the Basin and the Cascades, but it is more secluded, and the sight of it is a sufficient return for the toils of the way, if toils they may be called. The rambling wood-path, and the stroll along its pleasant way, can never be toilsome to the true lover of Nature, even though so Avorthy an object of admi- ration as is the Pool were not at its termination. An old enthusiast, who appears to live in a boat of some- what novel construction, upon the waters of this retired Pool, will, for a small gratuity, give any one who de- sires it a ride in his ark-like dwelling, and will pro- pound a theory of creation not found in standard authorities. He has also constructed a path from the Pool to the Flume, which much shortens the distance between the two places, but which is somewhat diffi- cult, though not wholly impracticable, to ladies. 144 WHITE MOUJVTJilJ^ GUIDE. Georgianna Falls. About tAvo miles below the Flume House, a path leads the tourist into the woods, to an object of ex- quisite beauty. A small farm-house stands upon the side of the Plymouth road, through the yard of which the way is taken directly to the banks of a small brook that empties into the Pemigewasset. Following up this brook into the clefts of the mountain that rises above it, there will soon be found a series of the most charming cascades. As the adventurous traveller pushes on through the forest, now over the surface of the rock, and now upon the soft, green bank, the cap- tivated eye witnesses the loveliest landscape views, through the openings of the trees, to be found in this quarter. For nearly a mile the cascades continue to pour along their silvery flood. Resolutely proceeding, the tourist will at length arrive at a waterfall of larger magnitude than any previously discovered among these mountains. For a hundred or a hundred and fifty feet the water falls sheer down the precipice, through the mountain gorge. To one looking up, it seems as though it came from some perennial spring upon the summit that was pouring down its inexhaustible sup- ply of never-failing water. From the top of the fall a view of the fertile meadows of the Pemigewasset may be seen, of indescribable beauty. The accommodating and obliging guide, wlio may be found at the farm-house already mentioned, Avill show to the tourist a beautiful little sheet of water in one of WHITE MOUJ^TjSIJV GUIDE. 145 the hollows of the rock, which is called " The Mirror." It is described by those who have seen it in extrava- gant terms of admiration, while its surroundings are of the most lovely and charming character. The place was visited for the first time by a party of gentlemen in September, 1858, and the name "Georgianna" Avas given to the falls, with all the ceremonies usual upon such festive occasions. The honor of discovery is disputed by a party of students from Harvard College, wlio gave the name of " Har- vard Falls" to the beautiful cascade, doubtless with similar ceremonies. Let no one leave the Franconia Mountains without a visit to these falls, however named. Having now completed the circuit of the mountain region, the traveller may fmd conveyance to reach the cars at Littleton, and return home by any of the vari- ous routes hereafter described. Or he may proceed through the lovely valley of the Pemigewasset to Plymouth, and thence by cars to Boston, visiting Lake Winnipesaukcc on the Avay. 10 146 white mouj^taij\r guide. Lake Winnipesaukee. Before proceeding to the account of routes, we will give a brief description of Lake "Winnipesaukee, as it is usually visited on the way to or from the Mountains, and may be approached from different directions. The lake lies in the two counties of Carroll and Belknap, and is very irregular in form. At the west end it is divided into three large bays ; at the north is a fourth ; and at tlie east end there are three others. Its general course is from north-west to south-east. From one extreme end to the other the distance is not far from twenty-five miles. The width varies from one to seven miles. The towns of Moultonborough, Wolf borough, Tuftonborough, Centre Harbor, Mere- dith, Gilford, and AUon lie upon its borders, while from the high land of more distant towns fine views can be obtained of its placid waters. The waters of the lake descend four hundred and seventy-two feet in finding their way to the Atlantic. A rapid river of the same name with that of the lake, over which the railroad passes at Sanbornton Bridge, serves as its outlet to the Merrimack. The Avaters of Lake Winnipesaukee are remarkably clear, so that their finny inhabitants can be seen with great distinct- ness playing among the stones at the depth of many feet. The fish, of which there is a great variety, can frequently be caught at the steamboat wharves. The '' oldest inhabitants," wlio know the haunts " where WHITE MOUJVT^I^ GUIDE. 147 fish do congregate," can convoy you to rare sport. There are several places about the lake where, for about two weeks, large numbers of smelts can be caught. Theu all disappear, and none are seen till the recur- rence of the same season. Formerly, before so many dams obstructed their course, the shad came up here from the sea, to leave their spawn in the shallow bays. An effort is being made, by the erection of fish-ways at the dams, to restore their ancient privileges. Lake Winnipesaukee is a mountain lake. Yet it lacks almost all those wild, rough features of mountain scenery which usually characterize inland waters in mountainous regions. The mountains rise on all sides, but the shore, seen from the distance, is comparatively smooth and level. The islands, far from being pre- cipitous and rocky, are covered Avith verdure, and seem to float like fairy barks upon the broad lake-mirror. The lake is usually approached in the calm and still- ness of the noon-day sun. The spirit of repose, inci- dent upon the hour and upon the escape from the hot, dusty cars, harmonizes with the green foliage of the islands and the quiet surface of the water. By and by, soon after starting, a mild, balmy breeze just ruf- fles the surface of the lake, and, giving yourself up to its .genial influences, you no longer wonder at the Indian admiration which gave it the name of " The beautiful water in a high place," or, " The Smile of the Great Spirit," as some maintain. The route by way of this lake is the finest ap- proach to the White Hills. Here is a vast antecham- 148 WHITE MOUJ^TAIJ^ GUIDE. ber, the entrance hall, from which you look up through the valley of the Saco to the towering peaks of the Mountains, Yet neither this, nor the impres- sion of lofty mountain scenery, constitutes the charm of the lake view. It consists rather in the feeling of quiet and repose, the freedom from the care and tur- moil of busy life, engendered by the exquisite harmo- ny of the outlines of the surrounding mountains, seen either from the lake or from the hotels on the shores, and the inviting aspect of the little islands which every where glisten like emeralds on its bosom. The ever- varying hues of the landscape, running through the whole scale from sunrise to sunset, transforming the lake into an opal, in the eyes of Mr. King, are sources of perpetual delight. While among the mountains one is constantly incited to activity and to rambles requir- ing exertion ; the tendency here is to enjoy the beauty of the scene while at rest, depending for variety upon the effects of sunlight and cloud. But not at all times does the lake thus calmly receive its visitors. Geo. Wm. Curtis thus describes a visit to the lake, and a passage through a thunder-storm : — " Let it be a moist, even showery, summer day in late July or early August, with heavy, dark clouds rolling and breaking, fringing with silver rays and shrouding in soft, evanescent mists the tops and sides of distant hills, while towards the west and south there are cool, sweet, tranquil depths of "blue air above, and a sparkling, opaline sheen upon the shore. As you leave the Weirs in that neat, and pretty, and comfortable little WHITE MOUM-TJllJ^ GUIDE. 149 steamer, the Lady of the Lake, the green headlands near by will be brilliant with sunshine, but Red Hill will be muffled with solemn cloud, peering gravely through at times, and Ossipee will be utterly obscured, while on Belknap, at your right, the ground will seem to heave and roll, — so suddenly shifting are the dark cloud -shadows and bursts of sun. As you emerge upon the broader lake, far to the south the happy regions lie, calm skies and rosy peace. But as you head northward towards Centre Harbor, alluring coves and bays open and stretch away on every side to dusky mist and storm. A thick black cloud envelops Red Hill, shuts out the friendly shore, leaves only the nearer quiet w^ooded points, while the lightning darts, the thunder booms angrily, sullenly haunting the winding bottoms of the hills, or cracks and rattles sharply over- head, and the freshening breeze, that foreruns rain, scuds darkling and sparkling over the water, nearer and nearer, until with colder blast and deeper roar the serried legions of the storm dash furious on, and we are instantly enveloped in rattling, blinding rain, and fierce, chill gusts that extinguish the shores. " The tremendous rain streams by, and close before you lie the little white church and spire, and the clus- ter of neat houses that make the village of Centre ILarbor, upon the very shore of the lake, and at the foot of hills that rise backward to heavy evergreen sides and summits ; wliile at the right, as you face the village, Red Hill emerges, dark, and cool, and crisp, with even foliage, from the cloud that clings along the heights, 150 WHITE MOUJfTJilJV GUIDE. but ravels into shreds of mist around the base and up the dells." There are two steamers that ply upon the lake ; two points at which it may be approached from the south, and two points of departure for the mountains. The steamers are the Lady of the Lake and Mt. Washington. Both are new. The former runs between the Weirs, Centre Harbor, and Wolf borough, and the latter be- tween Alton Bay, Wolfborough, Centre Harbor, and Meredith Village. The Boston, Concord, and Montreal Railroad connects with the former at Weirs, and the Boston and Maine with the latter at Alton Bay. Coaches leave Centre Harbor for Ossipee daily, con- necting at that point with the Great Falls and Conway Railroad for Conway. At Wolfborough, there is a rail connection with the same road by the Wolfborough branch. At the Weirs we embark in the new steamboat Lady of the Lake, under the charge of Captain A. E. BiCKFOKD. Near the Weirs, at the head of the river, had we time, we might see the old " Endicott Rock," with its quaint and curious carving. It was discovered a few years since by accident as a dam was building. It is supposed to be a monument or boundary mark made by two surveyors sent out by Gov. Endi- cott of Massachusetts. But the tinkling of the signal-bcU soon gives us warning tliat we arc to leave the Avharf. We wind our Avay through the numberless islands that crowd our WHITE MOUJ^TAIJ^ GUIDE. 151 path. Red Hill now appears in sight, and then is lost behind an intervening island. An opening strait gives you a view of Rattlesnake Island. The reptile after which the island is named is even now to be found here. None have been seen elsewhere about the lake for many years. Mt. Belknap or Gunstock is also to be seen on the right, and on the opposite quarter Ossipee rears its bare head. This mountain the tourist will find difficulty in escaping. The road towards the Notch winds around its base, and not till a good part of it has been passed over on the way towards North Conway will the peak be fairly left behind. About three miles from the Weirs we reach Bear Island, which is nearly four miles long. Upon one of these numerous islands there re- sided, in 1851, "solitary and alone," an aged spinster, familiarly known as " Aunt Dolly." In this wild and romantic spot, almost entirely cut off from the world, she lived in hermit independence, taking care of her corn, her few sheep, and occasionally rowing her own skiff to the main land. At length, after a sail of ten miles, we reach Centre Harbor. It is of this trip that Edward Everett speaks as follows : "I have been something of a traveller in our own country, — though far less than I could wish, — and in Europe have seen all that is most attractive, from the Highlands of Scot- land to the Golden Horn of Constantinople — from the summit of the Hartz Mountains to the Foimtain of Vaucluse ; but my eye has yet to rest on a lovelier scene than that which smiles around you as you sail from Weirs' landin^: to Centre Harbor." 152 WHITE MOUJVT^IJV GUIDE. Should the traveller have leisure to spend upon this beautiful lake, he cannot do better than continue his journey to Wolfborough. The distance from Centre Harbor is about twenty miles, and is usually accom- plished in two hours. For the first mile or two the course pursued is the same as that over which he has just passed. But he soon leaves the old path, and passes through a broader portion of the lake than that just traversed. It is a most delightful trip in a clear morning or pleasant evening. At sunset, particularly, and when the evening shades begin to prevail, is had the finest view of the distant mountains, with their ever- changing aspects. Alton Bay is the most southern point of the seven great bays of Winnipesaukee Lake. The hotel, depot, and steamboat wharf, constitute almost the only build- ings of the place. Should the tourist wish for a quiet resting-place for a few days, Mr. O. C. Coffin, the land- lord of the hotel, will render him every assistance to while away his time. Board may be had here at the rate of $10.00 per week and upwards. There is an excellent livery stable connected with the hotel, and there are many pleasant drives in the vicinity. Among these may be mentioned Sharp's Hill, from which an admirable view of the lake can be had. Lougee Pond, about six miles distant, is noted for tame fish. The plcasautest excursion, however, is to the summit of Mt. Belknap, about ten miles distant. The fare for a party in a mouSntain wagon is $1.50 each. The excursion will occupy all of one day, and the delight WHITE J\IOUJVTjiIJ\r GUIDE. 153 will amply repay one for the time spent. If for no other purpose than this, one should arrange to spend a day at Bay View House, Alton Bay. The steamer Mt. Washington, is a new iron steamer built expressly for the Lake. It makes regular trips, connecting with the railroads at Alton Bay and Wolf- borough, and with the stages at Centre Harbor. Tlie tourist will find Capt. A. Wiggin, formerly captain of the steamer Chocorua, a gentlemanly and agreeable commander. Capt. Wiggin is thoroughly acquainted with the lake, having been long connected with the lake steamers. The distance from Alton Bay to Wolfborough is about ten miles, and to Centre Harbor about thirty miles, thus sailing nearly the entire length of the lake. In fact no one who visits ^he lake should fail to take a trip to Alton Bay, if he come by the other route ; nor should he fail to take the trip to the Weirs, if his first impressions are received by the Alton Bay route, as there are beauties of scenery, which should not be lost, peculiar to each. Alton Bay, originally christened " Merrymeeting Bay," seems entirely shut in by the hills which rise on each side, and by what, as you advance, proves to be an island in the distance. It is hardly necessary to do more than allude to the picturesque and varied scenery of this pleasant sail. The boat winds its way among the numerous islands, giving the traveller occasional glimpses of the distant ranges of mountains in the 154 WHITE MOUJVT^IJ\r GUIDE. north, as well as abundant opportunity to study the contour of the peaks upon the immediate borders of the lake. If it falls to the lot of the traveller to be near the lake on some bright moonlight evening, he should not fail to inquire if a moonlight excursion is to take place. These excursions are frequently made by parties from neighboring towns, who charter the boat for that pur- pose. The Island House is on Dimond Island, about equally distant from the Weirs, Wolfborough, and Alton Bay. The House, which is kept by Mr. Wiley, will accommodate about forty guests. The Lady of the Lake makes a daily stop here. Excursion parties usually stop here for dinner or supper, and for picnics. Wolfborough. The village of Wolfeborough is delightfully situated on two beautiful slopes of land rising from a bay of the lake. The Pavilion, which is one of the largest and most comfortable houses in the region, is admirably situated on the rising ground. Both rooms and ve- randa command a lovely view across the beautiful bay, out upon the open lake, and across that to Belknap, Avhose noble form is grandly outlined against the south- ern sky. Mr. E. A. Hardy is landlord of this hotel. Visitors will be sure of receiving every attention they can desire, and will find the tables supplied with all the WHITE MOUJTTAlJr GUIDE. 155 delicacies of the season, and the rooms neat and airy. The hotel is a modern erection, and has jnst been en- larged by the addition of some thirty rooms. It has long been known to the travelling commnnity, and has been a favorite resort for those who wish to spend a few weeks upon the shores of the lake. Horses and carriages can be obtained at tlie livery stables. Boats for fishing parties or sailing excursions are also to be had. CoppLE Crown Mountain, about 2100 feet high, is five miles from Wolf borough, and may be easily ascended. Carriages from the hotel convey you within about a mile of the summit, from which point horses can be obtained for the ascent if desired. The carriage fare is $1.00, and the charge for the horse for the ascent fifty cents. The view from the summit is thought by many to equal that from Red Hill, and is certainly very delightful. The lake, which forms a part of all views in this vicinity, is visible for nearly its whole length. Belknap and Grun- stock, with the mountains of the Merrimack valley, stretch away towards tlie west. To the south is a fine view of the more level part of the State, forest and meadow, with ponds and villages distinctly visible. The Ossipee and Sandwich ranges tower above the lake to the north-west. Almost due nortli, Chocorivi, with Mount Washington proudly preeminent above it, indicates the region of the White Mountains. In a clear day the ocean can be seen. 156 WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. On the north-east is a smaller mountain, called " Tumble-down-Dick." This is more easily ascended than Copple Crown, and the view is quite similar. The Wolfborough Railroad is a branch of the Great Falls and Conway, about twelve miles long. By it a close rail connection is had with Conway, and cars also run direct to Boston, via Portsmouth. By the express trains a little over four hours is required to reach Wolfborough from Boston, leaving that city over the Eastern Railroad. Between Conway and Wolfborough the time is now about an hour. The distance from Boston is 110 miles. During the season of mountain travel, Pullman cars will be run on the express train. Between Boston and Portsmouth the road runs by the seashore. The opening of this branch road and the extension of the main line to North Con .vay have made Wolfborough the most important point on the lake. The Pavillion is also the largest Lad most modern hotel of the Lake region, having fine, large and airy rooms. Centre Harbor is on the northern shore, near Squam Lake. The location is a beautiful one, and it has always been de- servedly popular. The Senter House, by J. L. Hun- tress, faces the lake. The view, from the piazza, of the quiet bay, sheltered by the hills, and guarded at its en- WHITE MOUJ^TJlI^r GUIDE. 157 4rK^?^" trance by a little island, of the lake beyond, gleaming in the sunlight, and of the mountains which surround the lake, is exquisitely lovely. It has been often painted and engraved. The hotel, one of the best in the mountain region, is commodious and well furnished, and has been long and favorably knowni for the con- venience of its arrangements, the perfection of its table, and the courtesy of the proprietor. An extensive liv- ery stable is connected with the hotel. Moulton's Hotel, a smaller house near by, is well kept. T'lc cliief object of interest in the immediate vicin- ity of Centre Harbor is 158 white moujvt^ij^ guide. Red Hill. From this liill, about four miles distant, in Moul- tonborough, the best view of the lake and circumja- cent scenery can be obtained. Its height, two thousand five hundred feet, places before the eye of the observer an extensive, varied, and picturesque tract of country, perhaps nowhere excelled in New England. It is by no means difficult to climb. There is a wagon-path to the base, and thence well-trained horses convey you to the summit. The top is destitute of trees and bushes, and affords an uninterrupted prospect far and wide. In clear days the peaks of the White Mountains are dimly discernible in the far north ; the Ossipee Moun- tains appear in the east ; a little to the north, Chocorua, recalling its Indian tradition, rears its craggy summit ; and still farther away the mountains of Maine close in the view. Kearsarge and Monadnock are plainly vis- ible at the south-west, with Belknap at the south-east. Squam Lake, six miles long, with its beautiful green islands, fringed with beaches of white sand, is glittering in the sunshine on the west. But to the south and east lies Winnipesaukee, the gem of all New England lakes. The ascent of Red Hill is usually made in the forenoon ; but, to enjoy the exquisite loveliness of Winnipesaukee, it should be made in the afternoon or in the early morning. In the middle of the day the blinding glare of the sun upon the water almost robs it of the quiet beauty of its softness and harmony. But in tlie afternoon the sun WHITE MOUJ^TJIIJ^ GUIDE. 159 illumines with a genial glow the calm expanse of the distant surface of the lake ; the rippling wavBs just reflect its image ; the hundred islands assume their peculiar form of grace and loveliness ; the mountains on the opposite shore, from a glow of crimson, change to a brown purple, as the lingering rays of the setting sun leave them one by one ; while the advancing shadows of those nearer to you change to a new form the fairy outline of the lake. Beyond extends " A slumb'rous stretch of mountain-land, far seen, When the low westering day, with gold and green, Purple and amber, softly blended, fills The wooded rales, and melts among the hills." If, too, you are early riser enough to see, from its summit, the sun roll up majestically from behind the opposite hills, you will acknowledge that Lake Win- nipesaukee possesses a charm and beauty peculiar to itself. Coaches leave Centre Harbor for Conway and North Conway regularly every day, soon after the arrival of the morning boats from the Weirs and Alton Bay. Ample time is allowed for dining on board the boats, or after landing at the excellent hotel just spoken of. The distance to North Conway is thirty-five miles. The route to North Conway is through Moulton- borough, just touching upon Squam Lake to Ossipee, and thence by the Great Falls and Conway Railroad. Moultonborough was formerly the seat of the Ossipee Indians. 160 WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. Banks Hotel in Ossipee is a small but comfortable country hotel Avhich occupies a commanding position. The ascent of Chocorua can be conveniently made from this place. The best view of this mountain (" The Old Bear") may also be had here. The mountain is one of the most notable of the lower peaks of the White Mountain range. It is 3,358 feet high, and without veiretation, other than such as a few blueberries or cranberries create. It is, in fact, a granite mountain, with pinnacles and precipices, sharp, angular peaks and unexpected descents — a countless myriad of great bowl- ders, hurled together by more than Titanic force. One of the peaks of Chocorua is the scene of the tragic inci- dent from which the peak derives its name, so beauti- fully narrated by Mrs. Seba Smith. Conway, though the gate to the mountain region, is one of the most level towns in the State. In itself it possesses few objects of interest. In the vicinity, however, are brooks well stocked Avith trout. Most of the objects of interest in North Conway, also, are accessible from this place. The Conway House, kept by L. H. Eastman, an excellent hotel, and one of the best and most thoroughly built and convenient houses among the mountains, has just been newly furnished. This is one of the favorite houses among that class of people who desire to spend a few weeks quietly in the full enjoy- ment of the bracing mountain air. WHITE MOUJ^'TJIIjX GUIDE. IGl Five miles beyond Comvay, in the valley of the Saco, and surrounded on all sides by mauntains, lies North Conway, the favorite resort of our New Eugland artists. Many families visit this place in the summer season to avoid the noise, bustle, and expense of large hotels. The Saco River here is from ten to twelve rods wide, and usually about two feet deep. It has been known to rise thirty feet in twenty-four hours. The Kiarsarge House, by Thompson, Son, & Andrews, is a new and large hotel, such as has long been needed at this place. It is newly furnished, lighted with gas, and has ac- commodation for 300 guests. The price is $4.00 per day, with a liberal deduction by the week. The other hotels are the McMillan House, by John McMillan, tlie Washington House, by J. M. Gibson, the North Conway House, by N. R. Mason, the Sunset Pavil- lion, by F. H. and M. L. Mason, the Intervale House, by Mudgett and Eastman, and the Randall House, by James T. Randall. The price at these houses is from $2.50 to $3.00 per day. There are also many boarding-houses in the town. Tlie village of North Conway is situated on the upland overlooking the intervals of the Saco. On the east is the range of hills, tht larger of whicli is called Middle Mountain, witl Kearsarge or Pequawket rising in lonely dignity a little to the nortli. On the west 11 162 WHITE MOUJVT^TJK- GUIDE. bank of the river can be seen the group called Moat Mountain, with the peaks of Chocorua in the distance. But the chief and surpassing glory of the place is the view up the Saco Valley, with Mt. Washington in the distance. A finer view can nowhere be obtained of Mt. Washington and the attendant peaks. Although the appearance of the mountains is ever varying, — now by the position of the sun, now by the fogs and mists, and now by the clouds which sometimes entirely ob- scure the summits, — still the best time to gaze upon them is Avhen they are illuminated by the slanting rays of the sun at the close of a pleasant day. The shadows can be seen stealing up the mountain sides one by one, hastening with greater rapidity as they near their goal ; the summits farthest east of Washing- ton then lose their golden raiment, and adopt a more sombre hue ; then the peaks to the west, and finally Mt. Washington, as it was the first to greet, so it is the last to say farewell to the lingering rays of light. During the day the preeminence of Washington was distinctly visible, but now relieved against the sky it appears still more plainly. With the aid of a little imagination, a lay figure may be seen from their out- lines — Adams and Jefferson forming the head, Wash- ington the breast, and Webster and the other mountains the remainder of the body. , There are several walks and drives in the vicinity of North Conway. The first of tliese excursions, to which we would call attention, is that to white moujvt^ij\r guide. 1c3 Artist's Falls. To reach this charming, though quiet and retired spot, you must retrace your steps for a short distance towards Conway. Just after crossing the bridge at the foot of a small hill, you turn abruptly to the left, leav- ing the road, and, after a walk of half a mile, you will reach the place. A little stream of water, which once turned a mill-wheel, glides down a short descent. There is nothing wonderful or striking in the volume of water or the greatness of the descent ; yet the beauty of the whole scene, the picturesque grouping of the rocks, and the grateful shade of the forest trees, have caused it to be frequently portrayed upon the canvas. Those who see it often are most impressed by its charms. Echo Lake, Cathedral, and the Ledges. These can perhaps be most conveniently visited in a single afternoon's ride. They are all situated on the opposite side of the river, about three miles distant. Echo Lake, a beautiful sheet of water lying at the very base of Mote Mountain, is well worth visiting, even were it wanting in the wonderful echo from which it derives its names. The stillness of the sunset hour seems most inspiring to the genius of the place. The " White Horse," which is visible from the vil- lage, is a figure of a horse pictured upon the perpendic- ular sides of the cliffs. These cliffs extend along the mountain side for a distance of four or five miles. 164 WHITE Moujvr^ij\r guide. They vary in height from one to eight hundred feet. A ride directly along their base will give one a far better idea of their size than that gained from a distant view. The road is quite pleasant, winding along the bank of the Saco, and has many extended views. It is in one of these cliffs that "the Cathedral " is situated. This is a natural cavity formed in the solid granite. The wall, rising some eighty feet, gradually inclines out- ward, forming a magnificent arch, roofed with solid rock. Trees, which have been for many years attain- ing their present size, form the other wall of this nat- ural temple. The floor, which is some twenty feet in width, is strewn with large blocks of granite, Avhich have evidently fallen from the roof above. Though the ascent to the Cathedral is somewhat arduous, it is worth while to make the attempt. Diana's Bath is situated on the same side of the Saco, a little farther to the north than the Cathedral. It is one of the most beautiful places about Conway. It is necessary for one to see, in order to realize its exquisite beauty, as no description, however minute or elaborate, can convey an adequate idea of its peculiar charms. The approach is along a pleasant woodland path, from which you descend upon a slightly inclined table of granite, over which the water gently flows here and there in rivulets, broken into miniature falls by the jut- ting rocks. As you ascend the stream a little w^ay you discover a beautiful flxll, of some ten feet in height. WHITE MOUJVTJlIJSr GUIDE. 165 The overhanging trees throw a pleasant shade around, inviting one to agreeable repose. Above this, and indeed in many places below, are great numbers of holes or basins in rock, smoothly polished by the ac- tion of the water. It is from these, or perhaps from the largest, which is not less than ten feet in diameter, and more than ten feet deep, that the place derives its name. As you look into the limpid water Avith which they are filled, sparkling like crystal in the sun, or calm and quiet under the shadow of some overhanging tree, so that you may almost see the water sprites float- ing in the depths, you will i:eadily acknowledge it to be such a bath as the goddess would have chosen for her- self. An hour or two may be very agreeably spent in exploring the hidden beauties which are disclosed only to the observing eye. Mount Pequawket or Kiarsarge. which is about three miles distant from the village, is 3,367 feet above sea level. Several years ago a hotel was erected upon its summit, which has been recently repaired. It is kept by Andrew Dinsmore, and adds much to the attractiveness of the scene. The view from the observatory is superior to that obtained below, as it is unobstructed by the foreground. At a house near the base, horses and a guide can be obtained for the ascent. $2 are charged for each horse, and $2 more for the services of the guide. The ascent, however, is by no means dilficult for pedes- 166 WHITE JHOUJVTJilJ^ GUIDE. trians, and can safely be made without the guide. The time required for the ascent is not far from two hours. The path can be ascended with horses to the very summit. As this is the highest peak south of the mountains in this direction, the view from its summit is especially fine. The whole White Mountain range is visible, with Mt. Washington most prominent. Nothing inter- venes to cut off the view of the whole of the latter peak. The minor hills, which somewhat obstruct the view below, are entirely lost sight of by the great ele- vation. Then towards the south-east is seen the broad expanse of comparatively level land toAvards Portland. Sebago Lake, Lovewell's Pond, and many other smaller bodies of water, agreeably diversify the face of the country. AVinnipesaukee Lake is hidden by the moun- tains upon its shores. The sharp peaks of Chocorua, with the Moat and Middle Mountains in the fore- ground, can also be seen with great distinctness. The course of the Saco can be traced almost from its source, as it Avinds its way, among the intervals, and finally bends away into Maine. A good glass will be of material aid. This mountain should by no means be neglected by those Avho are desirous to obtain the best views of the mountain ranges. It is undoubtedly the best point, on this side of the White Mountains, to obtain a good view of Mt. Washington. The Hotel on the summit is kept by A. A. and J. W. Whitaker, and the price of btnird is $4.00 per day. Trains from Portland reach North Conway at 10 WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. 167 A. M. and 3.45 P. M., and leave for Portland at 6.05 A. M. and 12.10 P. M. The time between the two places is about two and a half hours. Trains leave Boston over the Eastern, Portsmouth, Great Falls and Conway Railroads arrive at 1 and 7.30 P. M. The time by express trains will be about five hours. Stages leave for the Notch and the Glen at 8 A. M. and 2 P. M., daily. The distance to the Glen House is twenty-one miles ; fare, $3. The distance to the Crawford House is twenty-eight miles ; fare $3.50. A pleasant ride of two miles brings us to Lower Bartlett. Just beyond the village we join the travel between the Glen House and the Crawford House. For a further description, see page 71. 168 WHITE MOUJVT^JJ\r GUIDE. DETAIL OF ROUTES. ROUTES FROM NEW YORK TO BOSTON. 1. New YoKiv to Boston, via Stoiiiugtoii and Prov- dciice ; on Long Island Sound by steamboat to Ston- ington ; thence to Providence and Boston by rail, ar- riving at Boston about six o'clock, A. M. Fare $5.00. The new steamers Stonington and Narkagansett leave pier No. 33 North River in New York, at five o'clock in the afternoon, and arrive at Stonington about two o'clock in the morning. These are new and 'safe boats, and furnished with everything that will contrib- ute to^the comfort of the passenger. This is an " in- side line," avoiding the roughness of the passage around Point Judith. Starting from New York late in the afternoon, the passage is made through the East River into Long Is- land Sound before sunset. The other boats for Boston also start about the same time, and pass within view of the same scenes. As they pass, on the one side, the quiet suburbs of Brooklyn, AVilliamsburg, and Green WHITE MOUJVTjIIJV GUIDE. 169 Point, and on tlio other the busy piers and streets of New York, the green islands, — Blackwell's, Randall's, and others, — which lie like emeralds upon the soft bo- som of the river, the changing scenery from urban bustle and activity to rural stillness and solitude, the passenger on board will enjoy the calmness of the hour, and the varied pleasure of the panoramic view. II. New York and Boston, via Newport and Fall River, on Long Island Sound by steamboat, from New- port or Fall River by rail, arriving at Boston at six A. M. and nine A. M. The magniiicent steamers Bristol and Phovidence leave pier No. 30 North River, daily at five R. M., and arrive at Fall River about four o'clock A. M. These boats are superior to any on the Sound. The state-rooms are large, and are lighted by gas. The route is over the whole length of Long Island Sound and a part of Narragansett Bay. The distance by boat is more, and that by rail less, than by any other route, though the time and fare are the same as by the pre- ceding. If the tourist designs going directly to the Mountains, via Concord, N. H., he can obtain breakfast on board, and, at 5.50, step into a parlor car, and without change ride all the way to the Wiers, Plymouth, Littleton, or Bethlehem, by an express train. The express train from the mountains also connects with the boat at night. 170 WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. By the returning trip Boston is left at 5.30 P. M., (Sundays, at 6.30). III. New York to Boston, via New London and Norwich, on Long Island Sound to New London ; thence by rail over the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad, arriving at Boston about 6 A. M. Fare 15.00. The new and commodious steamers City of Boston and City of New York, leave pier No. 39 North River, in New York, at 5 P. M. These boats have few equals for elegance or comfort, and this route is considered by many the most convenient and favorable. On the return, this line of steamers affords good accommodation, as the train that leaves the Franconia mountains in the morning, connects with this boat via Worcester, enabling the traveller to reach New York the next morning. The trains down the Connecticut via the New London Northern, also make the same connection. Going towards Boston, New London is reached about 1 o'clock, A. M., where the passengers leave the steamer and take the cars. If the tourist designs pass- ing on to Concord, N. H., and thence to the moun- tains, he will take the train over the Norwich and Worcester Road, and proceed by way of Worcester and Nashua. Should he design going by way of the Connecticut valley, he may wait till 5 A. M., and then proceed as stated hereafter. WHITE MOUJ^TAIJV GUIDE. 171 The two o'clock train goes on to Boston, arriving there at about the same time as by the other routes. IV. New York to Boston, by raih-oad, via New Haven, Hartford, Springfield, and Worcester. The New York and Boston Express line — land route — is formed by the New York and New Haven, New Haven, Hartford, and Springfield, Western, and Boston a-nd AYorcester Railroads. The cars leave New York at 27th and 32d Streets at 8 A. M., 3 — , and 8 P. M. The time to Boston is nine hours by the day train, and ten hours by the night train. Comfortable sleeping cars are always connected with the night train. The fare is $6.00. V. New York to Boston, by railroad, via New Haven, New London, and Providence. This is what is called the Shore Line," and leaving the same depot in New York as the Springfield line, instead of fol- lowing up the Connecticut River at New Haven, pro- ceeds along the shore of Long Island Sound to New London, and connects with Boston by means of the Stonington, and Boston and Providence Railroads. The trains leave New York at 12.15 P. M., and at 8 P. M., and arrive in Boston at 9 P. M., and 6 A. M. Sleeping cars accompany the night trains. Xlie fare is $G.OO. By this route, also, one can leave the train at Providence and proceed to the mountains via AYorcester and Concord. On Sunday evenings these trains leave at 5 o'clock. 172 WHITE MOUJVTJITJ^ GUIDE. From Bost(3n to the Mountains there are, as before indicated, four distinct routes. I. BOSTON TO GOPvHAM, N. H., VIA PORTLAND. Express trains are now run over both the Boston and Maine, and Eastern Raih'oad, leaving Boston at 8.30 in the morning, and reaching Porthind in season for dinner. At 1 o'clock the cars leave the station of the Grand Trunk Railway for Gorham, N. H. There are also other trains during the day, besides a night express over the Eastern. There is, also, communication by steamboat be- tween Boston and Portland. Leaving Boston about seven in the evening, Portland is reached at five in the morning. Then by the first train on the Grand Trunk Railway, the traveller arrives at Gorham at 11 A. M., and at the Glen House, if he desires, by stage in season for dinner. The fare from Boston to Gorham, by a through ticket on the cars, is $6 ; by steamboat and cars, $5. The distance from Boston to Portland by the shorter of the two railroad routes, is 107 miles ; from Portland to Gorham, N. H., 91 miles. On the route from Portland to Gorham there is nothing especially attractive in the scenery — nothing WHITE MOUJ\rTjiTJ\r GUIDE. 173 that promises or hints the grandeur in reserve, imtil the train reaches Bryant's Pond. This lake in miniature, tlic source of the Little Androscoggin River, charmingly set among hills several hundred feet in heiglit^ is twenty- nine miles from Gorham. The pond and the track of the railroad lie about seven hundred feet above the sea level. Bethel which is the next point of interest, is the chief town of Oxford county, Maine, and probably the loveliest village of that State. It is twenty-one miles from Gorham. Travellers are as yet but little acquainted with its attractions. Bethel is, in truth, the North Conway of the eastern side of the Hills. If the ter- minus of the railroad were here, or if passengers were compelled to leave the cars at this point, and take stages to Gorham and the Glen, Bethel would be a dangerous rival to North Conway, and the ride from Bethel to Mount Washington would be pronounced superior, on some accounts, in charm, to the famous ride from Conway through Bartlett to the Notch. The meadows of Bethel are very lovely ; and on a clear afternoon, when the golden light falls aslant upon the fresh grass, throwing out long shadows from the trees, and the eye follows northward the narrowing line of hills along the course of the Androscoggin, and 174 WHITE MOUJVT^IJV GUIDE. catches the sharp edges of the great White Mountain range sweeping across and closing up the vista, it is difficult to conceive where an artist can find a more tempting picture in New England. There are several hills, too, in and near the village, easily accessible, around which the most fascinating panoramas of forests, hills, rivers, lakes, meadows, and mountain majesty are displayed. Bethel will, we predict, at some time not very far distant, be sought as a board- ing-place during the summer by those who love charm- ing scenery with more quiet than the prominent White Mountain routes and hotels afford. The Chandler House, by F. S. Chandler, is the principal hotel in the place. It Avill accommodate from 75 to 100 guests. Travellers can procure teams from him to visit places of interest in the neighborhood. Like Conway, Bethel is a favorite place of resort for persons seeking a quiet boarding place among the mountains. There is a delightful drive of twelve miles to the grand water sculpture of the Albany Basins, which are worn out of the solid granite. Eighteen miles in the opposite direction one finds the Rumford Falls. The road to these falls is excellent, the scenery on the way very lovely, and the falls themselves hardly inferior to any in New England. The full tide of the Androscoggin makes a descent here of one hundred and sixty feet in three pitches, and within the space of a quarter of a mile. There is one sheer descent of seventy feet. The drive may be one way on one side and the return on the opposite side of the Androscoggin, through WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. 175 beautiful meadows, with fine views of Kiarsarge, Cho- corua, and -the White Mountain Range. The Green- wood caves are also to be visited on this route. Lake Umbagog is best visited from this point. It is 26 miles from Bethel, with a regular stage connection. On leav- ing Bethel, the Androscoggin is followed for six miles to Newry Corner. Thence the route lies up the Bear River, a small mountain stream to the well-known Poplar Tavern, kept by Charles Bartlett, which is twelve miles from Bethel. Three miles from this place, at Fanning's Mills are the " Screw Auger Falls," which are well worth visiting. Starting early in the morning from Bethel, this portion of route can be visited and Bethel reached the same night. If possible, how- ever, the journey should be continued through the Bear River Notch, also called, we believe, Grafton Notch, which is the most impressive mountain pass in this section of the State. The Lake House, kept by li. R. Goodwin, is on the shore of Umbagog Lake. Dixville Notch, which is nineteen miles from this place, is accessible from this point. The route is by steamer across the Lake to Errol Dam, and thence by private conveyance ten miles further. We shall speak of Dixville Notch, more at length hereafter. Angler's Retreat is sixteen miles above the Lake House. It is a "rreat 176 WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. place of resort for fishermen from all parts of the country. It is kept by the proprietor of the Lake House, and has accommodations for about thirty guests. The spotted brook-trout are the only trout found in the chain of lakes of which Umbagog is the lower. They range from one to eight pounds in weight, and the fishing in this vicinity is probably unsurpassed in New England. From Bethel to the station in Gorham the scenery through which the cars pass is very fascinating. Three villages, charmingly located to increase the beauty of the landscape, lie in full view from the train, — West Bethel, Gilead, and Shelburne. About a mile from the station in Gilead the boundary line of Maine is passed, and the traveller is among the New Hamp- shire hills. Especially fortunate are those Avho see this scenery for the first time in the rich light of a clear summer afternoon. The sight of the brilliant meadows, spotted with elms, — of the graceful curves of the An- droscoggin, studded with islands ; of the brawny hills that guard it, among which the train flies along a twisted track ; and, now and then, of the long, firmly- cut lines of the White Mountain ridge shooting across the north, until in Shelburne, Madison, and the peak of Jefferson, and the bulk' of Washington, spring out for a few minutes in full view, — almost banishes the fatigue of a hot day's ride, and prepares the visitor for the pleasures in store after his arrival in Gorham, at the Alpine House. WHITE .MOUNTAIN GUIDE. 177 The route through the mountain region from this pohit is described on the 14th and following pages. But we must here speak of two excursions to other points of interest connected directly with the White Mountains on their eastern side. WiLLOUGiiBY Lake must not be overlooked. This is a small sheet of water, six miles in length, and from one to two in width, charmingly set between steep granite moun- tains in the northern part of Vermont. There is a fine hotel on the border of the lake, kept by Alonzo Bemis. Passengers can leave Gorham about noon by cars, stop at the Island Pond House for dinner, and take the stage thence for Willoi>ghby Lake, which will be reached by tea-time. More will be said of this lake in another connection. MEMPIIREMAGOa LaKE may also be reached from Island Pond by stage„ The distance to Newport, at tlic head of the lake, is about the same as to Willougiiby. The traveller may also continue his journey to Sherbrooke, whence a stage- ride of sixteen miles will convey him to Outlet Vil- lage, on the northern shore of the lake. The lake will be described more at length hereafter. The fare to Newport or Willoughby Lake from Ishmd Pond is one dollar. \<^ 178 WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. Island Pond is the "half-way" station between Portland and Montreal. It is a charming spot. The pond is directly in front of the station-house. DixviLLE Notch. The Dixville hills lie in the extreme northern por- tion of New Hampshire, some sixty miles beyond the Washington range. It is very seldom that a tourist strays so far from the regular routes ; but the geolo- gists have long been acquainted with the interesting scenery of the region, and have called attention to it in reports of their surveys. Dr. Jackson, in his great work on the -Oeology of New Hampshire, speaks of the Dixville Notch as more Alpine in its character than any other pass of our New England mountains, and predicts that its grandeur will yet make it a place of large resort. Since the completion of the Grand Trunk Railway, it has become easily accessible, and should be more widely known. One can leave Boston at seven o'clock in the morning, and sleep the same night within ten miles of the Notch, reaching it early in the forenoon of the second day ; or take the eleven o'clock train from the Alpine House in Gorham, and in an hour and a half be landed at North Stratford, which lies on the Con- necticut River, thirty-six miles from Gorham. The WHITE MOUJVT^JJV GUIDE. 179 railroad ride is very pleasant. The track lies along the narrow and winding valley of the Androscoggin, hemmed in by grand and gloomy hills, until it bends toward the more cheerful Connecticut. Then it winds up around the base of the singular, bleached, twin cones called the Stratford Peaks. At North Stratford a wagon-stage is in readiness, on the arrival of the noon and evening trains, to con- vey passengers to Colebrook. If there is no stage, an extra wagon can be hired at slight expense. The ride to Colebrook, up the Connecticut, is charming. Fre- quently a view of a broad interval, with the glittering river sweeping through it in a lordly curve, will mako a man regret that the slow pace of the horses could not be retarded, in order that he might more leisurely feast his eyes. Colebrook may also be reached by stage from Lan- caster, the terminus of the Boston, Concord, and Mon- treal Railroad. The train that leaves Boston at 7.30 A. M. from the Boston and Maine and Lowell Railroad depots, as explained hereafter, arives at Lancaster about six o'clock. From this point, as suggested above, conveyance may be had to Colebrook and Dix- ville, passing through the beautiful valley of the upper Connecticut. Colebrook is quite a flourishing village on the New ILanipshire side of the river, and lying in the eastern shadow of a massive and majestic mountain which the inhabitants call Monadnoc. This hill lies just beyond the river in Vermont, and is really quite imposing by 180 WHITE MOUJ^TAIJ^ GUIDE. its bulk aud glorious verdure. It must spring more thau two thousand feet from the stream at its base. One arrives in Colebrook usually about four in the afternoon. Dixville Notch is only ten miles distant. But there is no public house near it, and it is best to pass the night at the inn kept, we believe, by Mr. Cummings, in Colebrook, and called the Monadnoc House. There is also a new hotel here called the Parsons House. One had better leave the hotel about seven the next, morning for the Notch, and give the whole day to the excursion. The road is very good, but rises steadily the whole distance ; so that the ten miles demand three hours' riding. Travellers will be much struck with the general excellence of the land along the Avay. It is the best farming region of the Granite State ; and the fields are so free from stones that it is quite impossible to have stone walls for boundaries. The last two miles of the ride wind through the grandest forest one will find in his moun- tain travels. Every variety of tree is represented along the way, and generally of much larger growths than are met before. A person will begin to doubt whether there is any mountain magnificence near, so closely is the road shut in by the forest. Suddenly the heavy walls of the Dixville range begin to show them- selves ahead. And while one is admiring their dark and grave sides of shadowed foliage, wondering where the pass he is in search of can open, a turn of the road to the right brings the wagon in front of the bare and savage jaws of the Notch, at its western entrance. WHITE MOUJVT^I^r OUIDK. 18X 3?l ,^ ?t «'l^% , { ^";= The first view of it is very impressive. It opens like a Titanic gateway to some region of vast and mysteri- ous desolation. The pass is much narroAver than cither of the more famous ones in the White Moun- tains, and, through its whole extent of a mile and a quarter, has more the character of a Notch. One can- not but feel that the mountain was rent apart by some volcanic convulsion, and the two sides left to tell the story by their correspondence and the naked dreariness of the pillars of rotting rock that face each other. So narrow is the ravine (it can hardly be called a pass) that a rough and precarious roadway for a single car- riage could only be constructed by building up against the mountain's side a substructure of rude masonry, while the walls slope upward so sharply on either 182 WHITE JMOUJVT^^IJK- QUIDE. liaud that a considerable outlay is demanded of the State every year to clear it of the stones and earth which the frosts and rain roll into it every winter and spring. No description can impart an adequate conception of the mournful grandeur of the decaying cliffs of mica slate which overhang the way. Tliey shoot up in most singular and fantastic shapes, and vary in height from four hundred to eight hundred feet. A few centuries ago the pass must have been very wild, but the pin- nacles of rock, which give the scenery such an Alpine character, are rapidly crumbling away. Some have decayed to half their original height ; and the side walls of the Notch are strewn vritli clehris, which the ice and storms have pried and gnawed from the decre- pit cliffs. The whole aspect is one of ruin and wreck. The creative forces seem to have retreated from the spot, and abandoned it to the sport of the destructive elements. One might entertain the thought that some awful crime had been committed there, for which the region was blasted by a lasting curse. The only life in the Notch belongs to the raspberry vines. It seems to be the paradise of this delicious fruit. One should climb the highest pinnacle, called Table Rock, which juts out from the southerly wall of the pass, and stands about eight hundred feet above tlie road. It is no easy task to keep the footing in the steep ascent over the loose and treacherous ruins of slate that strew the way. Hands and feet are neces- sary. Table Rock is a narrow, projecting ledge, only WHITE MOUJTT^IJ^ GUIDE. 183 some six or eight feet wide at the summit, and about a hundred and fifty feet long, rising in an almost un- broken precipice on each side for several hundred feet. The descent is even more arduous than the ascent. It will be found, however, that the view from the summit repays the toil of the scramble. It is no small trial for weak nerves to Avalk out upon the side of the Notch upon this cliif, not more than six feet Avide and eight hundred feet sheer down. No part of the ride up Mt. Wasiiington makes the head swim so giddily. From it one can easily see into Maine, Vermont, and Canada. Only a few miles east lies Lake Umbagog, where the moose congregate in the evening to stand up to their neck in water and " fight flies," as the guides express it. About ten miles north is Lake Connecticut, a beautiful sheet of water, mother of the noble river which is the pride of New England. A tourist might spend a few days very profitably in exploring the novelties of the districts that lie around the Notch. On the face of this cliff, seen from below, some locate the usual Profile, without which a mountain pass is regarded as incom- plete. After about an hour's stay upon tlie pinnacle, one should descend and ride through the pass to a flume just before the eastern gateway is reached. Nearly opposite the entrance to the flume will be found a re- markably cold spring. On the opposite side of the road, in the woods, just beyond the Notch, there is a series of beautiful cascades, extending nearly a mile, surpassed in beauty and volume by none in the whole 184 WHITE MOUJSTT^IJV GUIDE. White Mountain region. There is no path to these, and it will be found a dilhcult task to reach them. Tlie "-rand distinctive features of Dixville Notch are desohition and decay. How charming, then, the sur- prise, in passing through the Notch eastAvard, to ride out from its spiky teeth of shite into a most lovely plain, called '' The Clear Stream Meadows," em- bosomed in mountains, luxuriantly wooded to the crown. It is something like descending from the desolation of the Alps into the foliage and beauty of Italy. The only house near was accidentally burned ^ a few years since. The graves of the earliest settler and his wife are there, fenced off rudely, and over- grown with the tall weeds which nature wears for them. How many of the great and Avealthy of our land will find such a cemetery? A mountain range for a monument ; a luxuriant valley for a grave ; such silence to sleep in as no Mt. Auburn can assure, and their story told to visitants from far-off portions of the land ! Returning through the whole length of the Notch, Colebrook is reached again by supper-time. The next morning, one can take the stage-Avagon to North Strat- ford, and thence reach Gorham by cars early in the forenooUo Thus the Avhole journey from the Alpine House, or Glen House, to Dixville Notch, and back again, can be made in tAvo days, and nearly the Avhole of one day Avill be passed in the Notch. It is also one of the cheapest excursions Avhich the mountain region affords. WHITE MOUJ^TAIJ^ GUIDE, 185 Tourists, who prefer a longer excursion, can provide themselves at the Alpine House with a light wagon, stout horses, and careful driver, and make the circuit through Dixville Notch at their leisure. Instead of returning by the same roiite, they would in that case pass on from the Notch to Erol Dam, at the head waters of the Androscoggin ; spend a few days on Umbagog and its sister lakes, of which Theodore Win- throp writes so pleasantly, and return to the White Mountains through Grafton Notch in Maine, and the beautiful meadows of Bethel. To the sportsman, no trip can be more attractive, for nowhere are the trout finer or more plentiful. The scenery, too, is very fine. Grafton Notch, of which we had never heard until Ave Avere at its portals, and saw the gleaming pennant of a mountain-king flung out athwart the emerald fresh- ness of its southern slope, is destined yet to be immor- tal. In the loveliness of its scenery, and its manifold objects of interest, it may contest the palm Avith Fran- eonia. There is a Avonderful chasm here, Avhose. Avails are as high and as perpendicular as those of the Flume. It is only accessible from above. At the bottom flows a large and noisy stream, Avhich, as if the gloom of the lofty Avails Avliich hem it in, and the som- bre stillness of the surrounding forest did not sufR- ciently guard its privacy, plunges beneath a huge mass of superincumbent rock — a rock AAdiich Avould be a landmark in Massachusetts or Rhode Island — and disappea,rs from sight, Lox^al tradition gives to this striking' spot the name of Moose Chasm. It Avas dis- 186 WHITE MOUJ^TAIJV GUIDE. covered by a hunter, whose game suddenly disappeared from his sight, and left him gazing down into the dark abyss, which the deer had in vain sought to leap. The roads Avhich are traversed on this route are hilly, but, with the exception of that through Dixville Notch, in good condition. Hotels are scarce, but an abundance of good, homely fare can be obtained at the scattered farm-houses, and a comfortable night's rest could be had before the Avar for a shilling. The trav- eller in this region would do well to keep a day's ra- tions by him in case of emergency ; but it is generally safe to rely on the country through which you pass. PORTLAND, ME., TO NORTH CONWAY, N. H. Distance, sixty miles. The cars of the Portland and Ogdensburgh Railroad are now running between Port- laud and North Conway. At the former place they connect with the trains to and from Boston. This rail- road was projected to afford a western connection to the city of Portland more direct than those already built, and is designed to go through the White Mountain Notch and cross the State of Vermont. Two trains rua daily each way. The road passes by the shores of the beautiful Sebago Lake, from which the city of Portland is supplied with water. There is a small steamer on the lake, by means of which a very pleasant excursion can be had by stopping over for one train. The road passes through many pleasant villages ; following the Saco, WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. 187 after leaving the lake. About nine miles from North Conway is Fryebukg, the seat of a flourishing Academy. The Oxford House in this place is kept by Mr. John Smith, for many years stage owner and driver between Conway, N. H., and Portland, Me. There are many places of interest in this town. Stark's Hill, about five hundred feet high ; Jockey Cap, somewhat cele- brated for its peculiar geological formation ; Lovewell's Pond, on the shores of which Capt. Lovewell, in 1725, fought a battle with the Pequaket tribe of Indians, under their chief, Paugus ; and Pine Hill, are all within a short distance of the hotel. Pleasant Mountain, about nine miles distant, in an easterly direction, in full view from the village, is about three thousand feet high ; there is a public house on its summit for the accommodation of visitors. Fine distant views of the mountains are gained all along the route. Conway and the route to the Notch are spoken of on the 160th and following pages. II. BOSTON TO WHITE MOUNTAIN NOTCH, VIA DO- VER, ALTON BAY, WOLFBOR0UGH, CENTRE HAR- BOR, AND CONWAY. Distance from Boston to Alton Bay, ninety-six miles. The distance from Boston to Centre Harbor, by this route, is greater than by the route through Concord, 188 WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. N. H. But the ride by rail is seven, miles shorter, while an additional twenty miles of Lake Winnipesaukee is traversed on board the steamer. The new steamer Mt. Washington, under the charge of Capt. A. Wiggin, now runs in the place of the old steamer Dover. This is a most comfortable and rapid boat, and Capt. Wiggin is a very pleasant and gentlemanly commander, and has been connected with the steamer Dover since it was first built. The time is nearly the same as by the route via Concord. The cars leave Boston at the same time, and the boat reaches Centre Harbor about half an hour later than by the Concord route, but in season for the stages for Conway. The tourist leaves Boston by the cars of Boston and Maine Railroad, from Haymarket Sc^uare, at 7.30 A. M., reaching Alton Bay about 12 o'clock. Tlie train that leaves Boston at 12 o'clock reaches here about 4.30 P. M., connecting with the steamer Mt. Wash- ington for Wolfeborough and Centre Harbor. For a further description of the route and of the lake, see page 14G. III. BOSTON TO WHITE MOUNTAINS, VIA CONCORD, . N. H. The traveller leaves Boston for Concord, either by the cars of the Boston and Manie Railroad, from Haymarket Square, or of the Lowell Railroad, from Causeway Street. Should he take the former route, he will pass to Lawrence, where the Manchester and WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. 189 Lawrence Railroad diverges from the Boston and Maine, and passes on to Manchester, where a union is effected with the train on the Concord Raih^oad from below. On leaving Boston by the Boston and Lowell Rail- road, the traveller will pass through Lowell and Nashua to Manchester, where the trains intersect as above. Eighteen miles farther is Concord, the capital of New Hampshire. The amount of railroad building, work, furniture, etc., here visible, is probably greater than in any place of even twice its size throughout the country. It is the depot of four distinct railways, and at the hours of half past ten and three, when the great trains, northward and southward, are made up, a scene of apparently irremediable confusion is presented to the spectator, not unfrequently adorned with quite novel and amusing incidents. From Concord four distinct routes to the mountain region present themselves to the traveller. One is over the Northern, and the other three over the Montreal Railroad. 1. Concord to Franconia, via Northern, Connec- ticut, and Passumpsic, and White Mountains Railroad. Distance 140 miles ; from Boston, 212. Fare from Boston to Franconia, $9.00; from Concord, $6.75. Time from Boston, 12 hours. The Northern Railroad extends from Concord to White River Junction, following the course of the Merrimack as far as Franklin, when it crosses to the Connecticut over the high lands of central New Hamp- 190 WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. shire. The road is admirably conducted, aud furnishes a favorite route. At Fisherville the road crosses the Contoocook River and Dustiu's Island, so named from its being the camping ground of a party of Indians, from whom a captive woman, Mrs. Dustin, made her escape in colonial times. Just before reaching Franklin the traveller will notice, upon the right of the track, the former residence of the late Hon. Daniel Webster. It is a comfortable, old-fashioned house, among the trees, and just the place to furnish repose to the statesman jaded in the conflicts of party and of the forum. Franklin is a busy village. At Pot- ter Place may be seen, on the left of the track, Mt. Kearsarge. This is the mountain for which the steamer was named that was afterwards immortalized by the de- struction of the " Alabama." Near the summit, and commanding a fine view of the surrounding country, is an excellent hotel, named in honor of the commander of the " Kearsarge " the Winslow House. Mr. S. D. Baker, the landlord, has been connected with other summer hotels, and will spare no paius to make a stay here pleasant and agreeable. The ascent to the summit from the hotel is easy, and the view will amply repay for the slight fatigue. The mountain is 2,461 feet high. At Danbury the train stops a few minutes for re- freshments. Cardigan Mountain may be seen from Grafton. At Enfield is a beautiful pond, on whose shores a comnuuiity of Shakers have a neat settle- ment. Through Lebanon and East Lebanon the train passes to WHITE MOUJVTAIjY GUIDE. 191 White River Junction, where the road crosses the Connecticut, and a union is effected with the trains from the valley of the Connecticut. This place is im- portant only from the fact that it is the convergent and divergent point of the eight railroad trains, Avliich here meet and separate over the Passumpsic, Northern, and Vermont Central Ilailroads. It is distant from Nev/ York, 265 miles ; from Boston, 152 via Fitch- hurg, 142 via Lowell ; from Wells River 40 ; from Willoughby Lake 80 ; and from Franconia Notch 60 miles. There is often considerable confusion here, occasioned by the arrival and departure of the numer- ous trains, and by the efforts of passengers going in different directions to secure their proper conveyance. In the calmest state of mind, however, let the tourist, after refreshment, for which there is ample time, step into the cars of the Fassnmpsic Railroad, sure that he is right, and he Avill soon go ahead through, perhaps, the most delightful region of country which he has yet seen. The Connecticut and Passumpsic Rivers Railroad connects White River with the Grand Trunk Railway at Lennoxville, and forms the most direct line between New York and Quebec. The extent and variety of the scenery on this por- tion of the route are greater than is ever imagined by those who have never visited it. The great diversity and contrast of the views are alone sufficient to aston- ish and delight. Hill and valley, precipice and plain, 192 WHITE MOUMTJilJV GUIDE. — sharp, angular declivities, without a vestige of ver- dure, and smooth, smiling meadow lands, covered ! with the greenest sward and the heaviest crops ; a great surface of river on the one hand, unruffled and seemingly motionless, a little mountain stream on the other, dashed into foam by the speed of its descent, — all these to'tally different and dissimilar prospects are so intermingled with one another as to be a con- stant source of surprise and satisfaction. But, divested of these more distant views, there is still something startling in the sudden changes pre- sented to the eye over the very track itself: at one instant the cars are sweeping smoothly along the most beautiful of meadows ; the next they are, appar- ently, penned within the solid rock, that rises fifty feet upon either hand ; they dash out upon a great em- bankment, that is invisible, and seemingly fly across the chasm which is beneath ; they tremble along the lofty grade, which falls precipitously into the darkness and resonance of a bridge ; emerge to sunlight by the side of some beautiful pond, and slowly draw to a halt in a quiet New England village. Mt. Cuba, Sunday Mountain, Black Mountain, Mt. Sago, and Moosilauke are among the peaks near the railroad, and visible in this part of the journey. Newbury, thirty-five miles from White River, is chiefly noted for its Sulphur Springs, as infallible a specific as patent medicine for many diseases. Mt. Pulaski is not far distant. From its summit a lovely view is presented of the Connecticut valley, its wide- WHITE MOUJ^TTAIJ^ GUIDE. 193 spread farms and thriving villages. Passing through a tremendous cut in the solid rock, we reach Wells River, the junction of the Montreal, the Passumpsic, and the White Mountains Railroads. The latter is the road necessary for reaching Franco- nia. There is no detention, and the cars are soon making their way up the Aminonoosuc River. Littleton is the terminus of railroad travel for persons going to the Profile House, and is reached about five o'clock, P. M. Stages are in readiness to start immediately for the Franconia Notch, distant twelve miles. Fare $2.00. Having taken on board the evening mail for the denizens of the mountain region, the stage-coaches are off upon their course for the long-desired goal. For twelve miles the road winds along in the valfeys, and ascends the hills through the scattered village of Franco- nia. The land rises on either side, its highest elevations softly burnished by the setting sun. The mountains in the distance glow with a more radiant light. Gradually the shadows steal up their sides as the sun goes down. Darkness settles in the valley. The passengers beguile the way with " Stage Coach Stories," or gaze in ad- miring silence on the varied landscape, as the " last rays of departing day linger and play upon the sum- mits" of the neighboring hills. The peaks of the Franconia Mountains loom up with gloomy outline on the evening sky. An occasional cabin is now only to be seen along the roadside. Soon even this slight symptom of human life disappears. In the deepening 13 194 * WHITE jyWVJ\-TJlJJV GUIDE. shades of evening the coach rattles, for two or three miles, through a gloomy piece of dark forest, and by eight o'clock the careful driver has brought his pre- cious freight safely to the door of the hotel. The bright lights, the cosy fire in the open chimney, the sounds of merry voices, and the cordial greetings of friends, welcome the arriving party to the abundant cheer and the generous hospitality of the Profile House. Passengers for the Twin Mountain House or the Crawford House do not leave the cars here, but con- tinue on to Bethlehem, where they take coaches for their destination. The cars go on to Lancaster and Nortlnimberland, where they connect with the Grand Trunk llailway. Lancaster, N. H. This is the shire town of Coos county, "and is set amid some of the noblest and loveliest scenery of New England. The whole range of the White Mountains, the great Franconia hills, the Stratford Peaks, and many of the Green Mountains are in full view from some of its streets. Then, too, the Connecticut mead- ows are among the finest here which the river can boast in its whole extent. The drives in the neighborhood, on either side the Connecticut, are unsurpassed, proba- bly, in New England ; for the roads are excellent, and the views are very various. The Lancaster House is a spacious hotel kept by E. Stanton & Co., which will afford attractive accommodation to travellers. There are few points among, or near the mountains, where so much quiet pleasure could be experienced in a visit of a few weeks as in Lancaster. WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. 195 Lakes Willoughby and Memphremagog. Those who desire to visit Lakes Willoughby and Memphremagog, will continue their journey from Wells River over the Connecticut and Passumpsic Railroad to St. Johnsbury and Newport, without change of cars. At West Burke, thirty-seven miles from Wells River, stages leave for Lake Willoughby on the arrival of the cars. The distance is five miles. Those who intend to proceed directly to Lake Mem- phremagog, will continue their journey twenty-eiglit miles to Newport. The ride from Wells River up the valleys of the Connecticut and Passumpsic Rivers is very charming. The Connecticut is left at Barnet. Now continually crossing and recrossing the Passumpsic, the road winds its Avay through a wild and picturesque portion of the country. At every village there is a fall. In- deed, a mill seems to have been the occasion of the clustering houses in the early settlement of the comi- try. Several of these invite a much closer inspection than the hurrying train will allow. The traveller Avill do Avell, if he can, to particularly observe the ra})ids and falls just before reaching the town of Lyn- don. The railroad crosses the river just at the head of the fall. St. Johnsbury, which is twenty miles from Wells River, is the most considerable town on this portion of the line. 196 WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. Willoughby and Memphremagog should not be omitted from the programme of pleasure travel. They abound in pleasant scenery, and can now be reached at a moderate expense and with comparative ease. The lakes and streams emptying into them, and the circumjacent ponds, abound in trout and other kinds of fish. The hills upon the shore lie pleasantly basking in the sunshine, and the whole place ever breathes the sweet influence of contentment and peace. Those who know the region, and the route thither, need not be reminded of its quiet and repose, while those who have yet the pleasure in reserve, need but a single suggestion to induce them to test its attractions. Willoughby Lake is a beautiful sheet of water, between six and seven miles in length, and varying from half a mile to two miles in width. It is of a crescent shape, with little inlets and promontories along its shores. As you ap- proach from the south, there suddenly rise up before you two mountain peaks, so near and so like each other, that you are almost persuaded that they have been separated by human effort. Between these, and extending still fiirther to the north, lies the lake. It is within a gap or chasm of the Green Mountain range, and forms a great reservoir for the brooks in the immediate vicinity. The waters of the lake dis- charge, througli a small stream, into the St. Francis, and thence into Iho St. Lawrence. The brooks and WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. 197 rivulets, however, wliicli are crossed a few rods before reaching the hotel, flow into the Passumpsic and down the Connecticut. The loveliness of the lake is greatly enhanced by the rough and precipitous scenery around it. The lake is all beauty and repose, while the mountains, rising so abruptly from the shore that there is room for little more than a carriage-way, are rough and an- gular. At some remote day the two peaks that now tower on either side of the lake undoubtedly formed a single summit, and were separated by some of the volcanic throes whose traces are so visible throughout this region. Mt. Ananance, the peak upon the eastern shore, is one thousand nine hundred and fifty feet high. It receives its name from a chief of the St. Francis tribe which once lived here. A modern attempt to christen it " Pisgah " has fortunately been unsuccessful. The unnamed summit confronting Mt. Ananance, on the opposite side of the lake, is fifteen hundred feet high. Here, a short distance from the water, there is a sparse growth of pine, fir, spruce, cedar, and hemlock, rapidly dwindling into dwarf birch and shrubs. The soil they cover is thin and rocky, evidently a detritus from the mountains. This vegetation is on an angle, from the side of the mountain, of at least forty-five degrees, and extends up about six hundred feet. It is terminated by the solid rock, which rises from above the tree-tops a thousand feet perpendicularly. A forest of stunted pine and hemlock bristles around the summit, 198 WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. cleared away, however, for a little space on the highest elevation, so as to afford a view of the surrounding country. From this observatory, easily attained on horseback, and nearly reached with a carriage, there is a most beautiful landscape visible. Lake Memphremagog and Owl's Head Mountain are twenty miles to the north ; Lake Champlain and its shipping fifty miles to the westward ; every prominent part of the White Moun- tains, the entire range of the Green Mountains, Massa- weepee Lake, — the beautiful pond in Westmoreland Burke and Newark, — are all fairly visible from the summit of Mt. Ananance. Near the "Devil's Den," — a doubtful-looking hole in the rock, about midway down the lake shore, — it is said no soundings can be obtained, although fabulous quantities of line have been expended in the attempt. Above this spot, some six hundred feet on the hillside, and just at the base of a precipitous rock, there is what has been named the Flower Garden — a spot where all varieties of wild plants grow and blossom. And still higher than the Flower Garden, in the rock itself, where the foot of man never trod, and probably never will, is the Eagle's Eyry. All these spots, and the traces of many an avalanche and land-slide, may be seen "by the tourist in sailing down the lake. The WiLLOUGHBY Lake House, by Alonzo Bemis, is a three-story edifice, located about one hundred rods from the lake, and commanding a fine view of it. There is a large piazza extending around the liouse and WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. 199 a promenade deck along the roof. The house is well arranged. The sleeping-rooms are spacious, the par- lors well furnished, and the tables Avell provided. Fish abound in the lake, and especially the muscalonge, a species of pickerel peculiar to the lake. Mempiiremagog Lake. Newport, situate on Memphrcmagog Lake, is sixty- five miles from Wells River. The railroad station is in the basement of the Mempiiremagog House, a new and fine hotel. This hotel is about 90 b}^ 50 feet, four stories high, with an addition 125 by 50 feet, five stories high. It is an excellent hotel, and is kept by Messrs. Bowman & Rydell. As the steamer leaves Newport in the morning and returns at night, the tourist can, if he chooses, make this hotel his head- quarters, and spend the day upon the lake. The lake is a beautiful sheet of water, extending nearly forty miles to the north. It lies partly in Ver- mont and partly in Canada. "^ Its width varies from one to six miles. The islands, though not numerous, add much to the loveliness of the scene. On the western side the shore rises abruptly in many places to the height of several hundred feet, while on the eastern it is comparatively level and well cultivated. As you sail along the lake, you see the farm-houses, eacli with its meadows and woodland near at hand, indicating a prosperous agricultural community. There are sev- eral towns and villages of respectable population along the si lore. 200 WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. At half-past seven o'clock in the morning the steam- boat Lady of the Lake will be ready at her wharf, near the hotel, to receive her freight. This steamer is of iron ; and it was built on the Clyde, expressly for this service. By frequently crossing and recrossing the lake, the trip from Newport to Outlet Village is not less than fifty miles in length, though the lake does not exceed forty. Capt. Fogg, who is as pleasant and ac- commodating as he looks, was the builder and owner of the steamer for which the present was named. He is never happier than when he has under his pro- tection a party who thoroughly enjoy the beauties of the lake. Soon after leaving Newport, he will, if re- quested, point out a full-length reclining figure, formed by the contour of the hills and mountains beyond Owl's Head. About half way down the lake, on the western side, is situated, on the very shore, Owl's Head Mountain, and, nestled in a lovely nook at its base, the Mountain House. Owl's Head is 2,743 feet high. A footpath leads to its summit, which can be reached in one or two hours' climbing. The origin of the name is as yet a puzzle. The mountain is well Avooded almost to its very summit. But as you emerge from the shelter of the woods to the bare rocks on the north- ern side, a most beautiful view breaks upon you. Immediately at youl* feet lies the lake, visible for its entire length. Every bay and island can be clearly seen. Beyond is the level plain, thickly studded with farm-houses, with here and there a village and a pond. WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. 201 To the south you see, near at hand, the twin peaks of Willoughby, as if guarding the gate to the towering peaks of the AYhite Mountains, blue in the distance. Lake Champlain lies in the west, Massaweepee a little to the north, while the St. Lawrence and St. Francis can be clearly discerned still farther away. On a clear day you can even discover the white towers of Montreal glistening in the sun. Owl's Head, from its compara- tively isolated position, seems to stand sentinel over the golden treasures of the Canadian autumn. You feel, while gazing towards the north, that you have escaped from the mountain region. The Mountain House, by A. C. Jennings, is situ- ated at the \QYj base of the mountain. It is so sur- rounded by water, hills, and rocks, that, as you approach, you almost wonder how it found a resting- place in so sfecluded a spot. The house is three stories high, Avith verandas in front, and is well furnished. The table is well supplied, not only with the luxuries of the lake, but also with every variety obtainable in the region. Mr. Jennings was formerly landlord of the Island Pond House, and is well known to the public. One of the chief attractions of the place is the abun- dance of fish. The Muscalonge, a species of fish peculiar to the region, is caught in great abundance. Twenty pounds is by no means an uncommon weight for them to attain. Trout abound in the small ponds near by, Avhich can easily be reached. About a mile north of the hotel the rocks rise almost perpendicularly from the water to the height of 202 WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. some seven Imndred feet. The water near the shore, though never sounded, probably is as deep as the rocks are high. An old fisherman, who lives upon the shore, has firm faith that an immense sea-serpent lurks here, and has spent days in trying to catch him. Capt. Fogg will tell you the story. Outlet Village, so called from its situation at the outlet of the lake, where, by Magog River, the waters are poured into the 8t. Francis, is the terminus of the sail. A good dinner may be obtained on board the boat. A stage ride of sixteen miles brings you to Sherbrooke, where the cars of the Grand Trunk Rail- way may be taken for Montreal or Quebec. The rail- roads up the valley of the Connecticut, the sail over Memphremagog, and the Grand Trunk Railway from Sherbrooke, form one of the pleasantest and shortest routes between New York and Montreal. The time is about the same as by other routes, and the variety greater. At Magog, in addition to the stage connection with Sherbrooke, there is a line of coaches to Waterloo, on the Stanstead, ShefFord & Chambly Railroad. The Lady of the Lake makes but one trip a day, leaving Newport in the morning and returning in the afternoon, reaching Newport about six o'clock. Capt. Fogg, however, lives at Georgetown, about half way down the lake, to which he returns on Saturday night, after completing his trip to Newport. Of this opportunity for a sail all the young people along the shore between Georgetown and Newport avail them- selves. They go down to Newport, and return in the WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. 203 evening. The steward furnishes music, and the prom- enade deck a ball-room. The guests at the Mountain House, who are to stay over Sunday, will do well to avail themselves of this weekly festival, especially if the evening be a moonlight one. The fare from Newport to Owl's Head is 75 cts. ; to Outlet Village, $1.50. 2. Concord to White Mountains, via Montreal Railroad. Three different routes are presented to the tourist over this road. (1.) He may go to the Wells River, thence over the Wliite Mountain Railroad to Little- ton, and to Franconia by stage, as by the Northern Railroad just described. (2.) He may leave the cars at Plymouth, and proceed directly to the Profile House by stage. (3.) The cars may be left at the Weirs, and the traveller may pursue his journey to the AVhite Mountain Notch and Glen House, via Centre Harbor and Conway. 1. Cars to Littleton and Bethlehem. This route is shorter than by the Northern Railroad, though passengers arrive at the Profile, or the Crawford House, at the same time.- It has the advantage of skirting the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee. The distance is 124 miles ; from Boston, 198, Fare from Boston to Franconia, $9.00. Time from Boston, twelve hours. During the summer months an express train is run from Plymouth in the afternoon, reaching the moun- tains nearly two hours earlier than by the regular train. 204 WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. Oq the return, it leaves nearly two hours after the mail train in the morning. This express train does not con- nect with the trains over the Passumpsic Railroad at Wells River. Morning Train to Lancaster. In July and August, besides the regular afternoon train to Lancaster, there is a special train, leaving Plymouth daily at 7.45 A. M., and arriving at Lan- caster at 11 A. M., connecting with stage to Profile House, arriving there at 1 P. M. This connects at Wells River with the morning train from Newport, Vt., and with the morning train from White River Junction. Returning, the stages leave the Crawford House at 12.30 P. M., and the Profile House at 3 P. M. ; and the train leaves Whitefield at 4.30 P. M., arriving at Plymouth at 7 P. M. This train also con- nects at Wells River with train up and down the Pas- sumpsic Railroad. Should the preference be given for the route over the Montreal Railroad, the tourist will find the cars of the road ready to start upon the arrival of the train from Boston. The road crosses the Merrimack River soon after leaving the Concord station,* and continues up that river, upon its eastern bank, through the villages of Canterbury, Northfield, Sanbornton Bridge, — where the road crosses a portion of Lake Wiuuipesaukee, called the Great Bay, — Laconia, and Lake Village to " Weirs." Here the steamer Lady of the Lake, is ready to start for Centre Harbor. A description of this lake is given on the 146th and following pages. WHITE MOUJ^TTAIJ^ GUIDE. 205 The ride by rail from Concord to the AVeirs, occupy- ing a little over an hour, is one of the most agreeable to be found in the whole mountain trip. Soon after leaving the station at Concord the road winds over the intervals of the Merrimack, crosses the river, and rises to a considerable elevation above the river bed. This enables one to catch some beautiful views across the valley of the Merrimack, with Mt. Kearsarge, in An- dover, forming the chief attraction. After leaving Sanbornton Bridge, where the River Winnipesaukee is crossed, the road lies along Lake Winnisquam, or Great Bay, a portion of which is crossed at Laconia, the stopping-place for Gilford, where the traveller Avill find a good hotel kept by A. L. Morrison. Mt. Bel- knap, four and a half miles distant, is much visited. The Canterbury Shakers are only twelve miles distant — a pleasant ride. The citizens are very hospitable. The lake, also, may be visited from this place. Still following the course of the Winnipesaukee River, which presents a continual succession of beautiful views, with Mt. Belknap constantly in sight, the Wiers is reached. Those who do not go by the way of the lake, con- tinue their journey through Meredith Village and Holderness, and arrive at Plymouth soon after noon. Having fortified the inner man Avitli the good cheer of our host, we return to the cars, and proceeding tlu-ough Quincy, Rumucy, Wentworth, Warren, and lliiverliill, with Carr's Mountain, Moosilauke, and the spurs of the Franconia range in sight, reacli AVells River. From thi.> point the train proceeds, without 20 G WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. detention, up tlie»valley of the Ammonoosuc, over the Wliite Mountain Haih-oad to Littleton, arriving there about 4 o'clock. See page 194. MoosiLAUKE Mountain, as has just been said, is in sight from the road between Plynaouth and Wells River. As this mountain is one of the highest in the vicinity, some tourist may desire to visit it. To do this, he should leave the cars at Warren, twenty miles from Plymouth. The Moosilauk House, D. G. Marsh, pro- piietor, just enlarged, will here provide for the accom- modation of guests. Three or four miles from the vil- lage is a lead mine, which is now abandoned. The distance from the depot to the base of the mountain is five miles. From the base, a carriage road four miles long has been built to the summit. A comfortable hotel, like those on Mt. Washington, has been erected, which is kept by David Q. Clement. His price is $4.00 per day. Prof. A. Guyot also made an excursion to this mountain, and we are permitted to make tlie following extract from a letter written by him, descrip- tive of the view : — '' The panorama which is before your eyes at the summit of Moosilauke is nearly the most extensive I have found in New England, not excepting even that from jNIts. Washington and Lafayette, over which it possesses many advantages. This is due to the insu- lated position of that moimtain outside of the group of the White Mountains proper, combined with its great elevation, which surpasses by 1,000 feet to 1,500 feet the surrounding heights, Avhile it is less than 500 feet JVHITE JirOUJVT^IJ\r GUIDE. 207 below tliG summit of Lafayette. The eye thus cm- braces at a single glance in the north and north-east all the chains of the AVhite Monntain group from Lafayette and Mt. Washington to the high peaks of the central, southern, and eastern chains in Sandwich and Conway. Towards the north-M'est the view ex- tends into Canada ; on the west and south-west the whole State of A\n'mont, Avith its long and continuous chain of the Green Mountains ; towards the south and east the Avhole State of New Hampshire, with its innu- merable scattered hills and lakes, among which Winui- pesaukee is conspicuous, and a part of Maine, complete the grand, instructive, raised map Avliich is opened be- fore the beholder. Moosilauke, which is now so accessible by the way of the Boston, Concord, and Montreal Eailroad, and by means of a path recently cut through the forest to the summit, deserves to take a distinguished place among the high summits visited by the lovers of mountain scenery." The trip from tlie depot to the summit may be made in about four hours, and the price for the carriage ride up the mountain is 84.00. The fare at the hotel will probably be 84.00 a day. It is in contemplation to construct a road from "SVarrcn to Franconia. If this is done, it will be the sliortest route to Franconia, the distance being only fourteen miles from the railroad. From the summit of IMoosilauke to Franconia the distance is only eight miles. 2. Fk.vxconia, via Plymouth. The traveller, as 208 WHITE MOUJ^TAIJ^ GUIDE. we said before, may leave the cars at Plymouth and proceed directly up the valley of the Pemigewasset to Franconia. This is, by far, the shortest and most direct route to this part of the mountain region. The distance from Boston to Franconia is 145 miles ; from Concord, 75. The time from Boston is nine hours. Leaving New York by the evening boats, one may be in Franconia in season for tea the next day. Fare, from Boston, $8.00 ; from Concord, $5.25. Leaving Concord in the cars, as indicated on page 203, we arrive at Plymouth in season for dinner. There are many objects of interest at Plymouth, and if one desires to remain and become acquainted with the charms of the locality, tlie Pemigewasset House is a desirable tarrying place for all in quest of health or pleasure. Plymouth Village has a lovely situation, in the midst of the finest scenery. From Walker's Hill can be obtained a capital view of the village and the river. Livermore's Falls, two miles north of the village, present a remarkable appearance. They are probably the result of volcanic action, and invite tlie attention of the student of science and the lover of nature. Prospect Hill alFords an unsurpassed view of the most diversified character, and an excursion thither is one of the most agreeable methods of spending a leisure afternoon. It is but four miles distant from the hotel, and a good carriage road has been built to its very summit. Mountain, valley, lake, and river, interspersed with fertile meadows, shining cottages, and thrifty vilhiges, williiu a circuit of thirty miles, WHITE MOU^TT^IJV GUIDE. 209 meet the delighted eye in every direction, while in the north the rugged cliifs and peaks of the Franconia and White Mountain ranges rise like everlasting towers. This is considered by some, the finest view south of the mountains. The late Gov. Hill, who visited the summit several years ago, spoke of it in the most en- thusiastic terms. The towns in both the valleys of the Pemigewasset and Baker's River, are to be seen below. Chocorua in the east, Belknap in the south, Monadnock in the south-west, Moosehillock in the north-west, and the Franconia and White Mountain ranges in the north, lift their summits before the delighted eye. The silvery sheen of Squam and Win- nipesaukee brightens the landscape. The beautiful valley of the Pemigewasset, dotted with elms, winds gracefully to the south, indicating the course of the river, by its fertile meadows, far in the distance. The Pemigewasset House, at Plymouth, Avhich is situated on the side of the railroad track, is a new and excellent hotel just erected. The old Pemigewasset House, which stood on the same site, was destroyed by fire in 18G2. The new hotel, Avhich is without ex- ception the finest in the State, is 230 feet in front, with a wing of 80 feet, and is four stories high. There are 130 sleeping rooms, all of Avhich are lighted by gas, and are large and commodious. There are also many suites of rooms for families. The parlor is a large and spacious apartment, elegantly furnished, fronting the soutli. The dining-room is a spacious hall, on the main floor, lighted by large windows, and without a 14 210 WHITE MOUJ^TAIJ\r GUIDE. single column or pillar to mar its symmetry. The office is also a commodious hall in the centre of the house, Avith a stairv\'ay leading from the railway plat- form below. On the roof is a large observatory, from Avhich may be had a fine view of the valleys of the Baker and Pemigewasset Rivers, and also of Lafayette, Osceola, and almost the entire range of the Waterville and Francouia Mountains. No pains have been spared to make this hotel complete in every particular, to finish it in a style of which even city hotels need not be ashamed, and it is well adapted to the wants of a first-class summer hotel. It is now under the charge of C. M. Morse, manager, who will make every exertion to give satisfaction. The passenger depot of the Boston, Concord, and Montreal Railroad is in the basement, rendering it very convenient for those passing through Plymouth to dine. Plymouth has always been a favorite place of resort, and will now be doubly so since the erection of the new hotel. Good trout-fishing may be found at Waterville, eighteen miles distant. This village is a very delight- ful retreat, and by the initiated is considered the gem of this locality. It Avas formerly the resort of a fcAv visitors Avho " kncAV " the mountains, and Avhose tales of beautiful scenery, magnificent trout-fishing, and the like, stimulated public curiosity. ' Devil's Den is a cave from three to four hundred feet deep, and is situated in Camp ton Hollo av, six miles distant from Plymouth. WHITE MOUJ\rT^fJV GUIDE. 211 If the traveller desires to be independent of stage coaches and raih-oads, in his farther travels through the mountains, he can obtain horses and drivers at the livery stables in the village. Should the tourist prefer the stage eoa(;h to the rail from Plymouth, he will enjoy a most delightful ride of twenty-nine miles to the PiiOFiLE House, tracing the course of the Pemigewas- set River. The road in some places is rather rough, but the weariness of the way is amply compensated by the variety of beautiful objects that are every where presented to the view. The river meanders in its winding course, now with placid and quiet current through green meadows, and now in rapid and head- long torrent over its pebbly bed, while little cascades are bursting from the hills, falling in sheeted foam over the opposing rocks, to make their way to the welcom- ing stream below. As the route leaves the village, the mountains begin to appear in the distance. As the dis- tance lessens, the white porticos of the Flume House are seen, welcoming our approach. The hotel seems like a " nest among the mountains," as it is relieved by the dark mass amid which it rests. The littlxi vil- lages of Campton and Thornton are the resort of artists, who spend weeks in the vicinity, sketching for future studies. Campton is said to contain more points for fine prospects than any town in the neighborhood. A quiet little inn upon the roadside looks the abode of comfort. Woodstock and Lincoln are small towns, of no particular note. The road is now in the midst of the mountain region. The dark hills loom up on every 212 WHITE MOUJ^TJlIJ\r GUIDE. side as the clay departs. The Pemigewasset, now re* duced to a little brook, murmurs at our feet. We have seen the summits of the hills brighten in the rich glow of sunset. The clouds are tinged with golden light, changing to soft purple and the gray of evening. The stars come out ; the moon sends her gentle rays down into the valley. In the late twilight, after a half day's exquisite enjoyment, we enter the delightful and quiet scenery of the Notch road, passing the Flume House, and soon alight beneath the grateful shelter of the Profile House. The stage fare from Plymouth is $3.50. 3. White Mountain Notch, via Conway, Lake Winnipesaukec, and Concord. Distance from Boston, 172 miles ; time, 36 hours ; fare, $10.00. At the Weirs (thirty-two miles from Concord, 106 from Boston, and seventy-three from White Mountain Notch), we leave the cars of the Boston, Concord, and Montreal Railroad (see page 203), and find ourselves on Lake Winnipesaukec. The route from this point is described on the 146th and following pages. The trav- eller can leave the lake as there indicated either at Centre Harbor or Wolf borough, or he can return to the Weirs and proceed, via Plymouth, as already sug- gested. The route via Conway is the most leisurely approach to Mount Washington, but yet one of the most attractive. V. New York to Concord, N. H., by way of Worcester, Nashua, and Manchester. The traveller WHITR MOUJVT^IJ\r GUIDE. 213 may leave New York in the morning by route No. IV., page 171, and go to Worcester. From Worcester he will proceed to Nashua, and arrive at Concord at eight P. M., and leave for the mountains by routes above at 10.30 the next morning. Distance, 275 miles. Fare, $7.50. Or lie may leave in the evening over the same route, or by the boat to New London, route No. III., page 170, and, waiting at Worcester till morning, proceed to Concord, arriving in season to go to the mountains by the same trains as before. Fare by boat, $6.75. Sliould the preference be given to the Railroad line, the traveller Avill take the cars of the New York and New Haven Railroad, which skirts the northern shore of Long Island Sound for a considerable distance, thence passing through New Haven, Hartford, and Springfield to Worcester. Here we join the line of travel from New York, via New London, already described. From Worcester our route lies over the Worcester and Nashua Railroad, which passes tlirough a number of small towns of considerable thrift. We at length reach Nashua, and, changing to the cars of the Concord Railroad, continue the route as described on the 190th and following pages. VI. New York to Franconia, via Springfield and Bellows Falls. Distance to Bellows Falls, 222 miles ; fare, $0.00. Cars leave New York at eight o'clock, A. M., arrive at Bellows Falls at six o'clock, P. M., stopping at Springfield half an hour for dinner. 214 WHITE MOUJVT^IJ\r GUIDE. Railroads : New York and New Haven ; New Haven and Springfield ; Connecticut River ; Vermont Valley. From New York to Springfield the route is the same as described on the 212th page. At Springfield, wo take the ears of the Connecticut River Railroad, and continue up the valley of the river. Also leaving the depot on 27th Street, New York, at 12.15 (noon), the train arrives at White River Junction at 11.45 P. M. Passing the night at the hotel near the depot, the tourist may leave White River Junction at 8.20 the next morning, and arrive at the Profile House at 1 o'clock. Another train leaves New York at 3 o'clock P. M., arriving at Springfield at 8.20, where the night must be passed. The next morning* at 7.50 the train leaves for the mountains, arriving at Littleton at 5 P. M., in season for tlie even- ing stages to the Profile House and White Mountain Notch. Another train leaves New York at 8 P. M., arriving at Springfield at 1 A. M., Avhence the tourist may proceed at 7.50 A. M., as just mentioned. New York may also be left by boat to New Haven from Peck Slip, arriving at Springfield at 10 P. M., and proceeding the next morning as already described. All these routes are by the pleasant Connecticut River, whose scenery is unsurpassed. The distance from New York to the Profile House is 322 miles, being shorter than by any other route. On the return, leaving the Profile House in the morn- ing. New York is reached by rail at 10.45 P. M. Or leaving the train at Springfield at 6 P. M., time is af- forded for tea, and by the steamboat train a connection is made with the New Haven boat, arriving at New WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. 215 York the next morning. By leaving the Crawford House at 12.30 P. M., and the Profile House at 3 P. M., New York may be reached at 12.30 P. M. the next day. The Connecticut River Pailroad extends from Spring- field to South Vernon, Vt. At this place an oppor- tunity is presented of visiting Keene, the most impor- tant town in south-western New Hampshire, by taking the cars of the Asliuelot Railroad. From Keene, the traveller can proceed over the Cheshire Railroad to Bellows Falls, within sight of Monadnock. Should he choose not to diverge at South Vernon, he will take the cars of the Vermont Valley Railroad, and at six o'clock P. M. will be very glad to step from the cars at Bellows Falls, distant from New York 222 miles. This is a delightfully situated village, on the Vermont side of the Connecticut River. The Island House, by White & Ball, a short distance from the station, occupies a favorable site. It is a new and well-built structure, and furnishes a quiet home cither for the invalid or the pleasure-seeker. Directly in the rear rises a lofty hill, presenting a fine view from its summit, which is easily readied. There is also a view obtainable from the bridge over the Connecticut, ill this place, well worthy of the tourist's attention. Tlie river, which above is deep, broad, and tranquil, with a width of about a thousand feet, and which below 216 WHITE MQUJ^TAIJ^ GUIDE. expands to an equal or greater surface, is, at this spot, beneath the bridge, compressed within a very narrow channel. Through this channel, confined on either side by a high granite wall, the whole volume of the Connecticut is forced, with a power and rapidity which wliiten its waters like a tide of snow-flakes. The fall is in no place perpendicular, but in the distance of half a mile the waters descend forty-two feet. These falls were formerly a favorite resort of the Indians for pur- poses of fishing. Salmon were caught here in great numbers till within a recent period. Just below the bridge, on the west side of the river, will be noticed a large flat rock, covered with hieroglyphics and rude portraits, supposed to have been cut by the aboriginal frequenters of this place. On the following morning we proceed north over the Sullivan Raih'oad, leaving Bellows Falls about noon. Twenty-six miles from Bellows Falls the road again crosses the river. As the cars run up the valley, the traveller will notice Mt. Ascutney, on the Vermont side, 3,200 feet high, and of easy ascent. Along the banks of the river, and at the base of the hills, the eye will be gratified with the sight of numerous neat and pleasant farm-houses, whose outward appearance be- tokens the comfort and happiness of their inmates. Taking the cars of the Vermont Central Railroad, we continue our journey, through Hartland and North Hartland, to White River Junction. The remahider of this route is the same as described on the 19 2d and following pages. white mouxtain guide. 217 New York to Franconia, via XiOng Island Sound and New London Northern Railroad. New York is left by same boat as route III., page 170. On arriving at New London, instead of proceeding to Boston, the traveller can rest quietly till morning on board the boat. The train leaves on the New London Northern Railroad at 5 o'clock A. M., arriving at Palmer at 7.45, wdiere twenty minutes is al- lowed for breakfast. There is one change of cars at Brattleboro', dinner at White River Junction, and the time of arrival at Newport, Profile House, or the Crawford House, is the same as by the other lines. The advantages are a good night's sleep and less travel by rail. On the return, leaving the mountains in the morn- ing, connection is made with the boat at New London at 9.23 P. M. Supper may be had on board the boat or at Palmer, as may be desired, and New York will be reached at 6 A. M. This route carries the tourist across the States of Connecticut and Massachusetts and through the valley of the Connecticut River. As far as White River Junction, the line is now controlled by the Vermont Central Railroad Company. If, the tourist is on his way to Mt. Mansfield, hereafter described, he will con- tinue hisjourney from White River Junction to Water- bury, Vermont, when he will take a stage for Mansfield. For Montreal he will continue on the same route, via St. Albans, while for Quebec, this forms now the most direct route, via White River Junction, and the Pas- sumpsic Railroad. 218 WHITE MOUJ^TMJV OUIDE. VII. New York to Franconia, via North River and Bellows Falls, Vt. Distance to Bellows Falls, 287 miles. Leave by boat or railroad, 6.30 and 7 A. M. ; arrive at Rutland, 9 P. M. Leave Rutland, 5.45 A. M. ; arrive at Bellows Falls 8.30 A. M. Fares, by boat to Albany, $5 ; by rail, $7. Rail- roads : Hudson River ; Washington and Rutland, or Western Vermont ; Rutland and Burlington. The Hudson River, sometimes called the Rhine of America, is so well known and so well described in guide-books written specially for the route, that it needs no comment here. For the journey to Albany, the summer tourist has his choice of travel. If he desires speed, he can step on board the comfortable Hudson River Railroad cars, and run his own risk of sight-seeing. If he wishes to enjoy the scenery, let him select some fine day, and take one of the day boats to Albany. A few miles above Albany is Troy, on the east bank of the Hudson. It can be reached by rail to West Troy, and thence by carriage, or by the more popular route from Albany by ferry to Greenbush, and thence by rail to Troy, — the cars running at short intervals, and connecting immediately at both places Avith all the trains north, east, south, and west. Leaving Troy, the traveller has a choice of two routes to Rutland, Vt., one over the Troy and Boston Road to Eagle Bridge, connecting there with the Rutland and Washingon Railroad, or over the same road to North Bennington, connecting there with the Western Vermont Railroad. WHITE MOUJ^'TAIJ^ GUIDE. 219 The route over the Western Vermont Railroad passes through Shaftesbury, Arlington, and Sunderland, all pleasant villages, to Manchester, one of the finest towns in this section of Vermont. A capital hotel has been opened here, Avithin the last few years, called the Equinox House, and is beginning to be a place of great resort, on account of the natural beauties of the place, the fine drives in the neighborhood, and the reasonable l)rices for the excellent accommodations which are afforded. There is a third route from Troy to Rutland by way of Saratoga, passing through Ballston. Leaving Saratoga by the Saratoga and Washington Railroad, the traveller passes to Castleton, there joining the Rutland and Washington Road. The times of arrival on all these routes are very nearly the same. Rutland is the shire town of Rutland county, and is one of the most important places of central and southern Vermont, containing about 4000 inhabitants. The central village is a thriving, comfortable place. The Bardwell House, situated very nearly opposite the Railroad Station, is a fine structure of brick, contain- ing one hundred commodious rooms, and is altogether just such a home as the tourist desires after a hard day's travel. The charges are moderate, the table is well furnished and attended, the rooms are neat, clean, and abundantly supplied ; all substantial comforts are pro- vided without offensive display. Situated as Rutland IS, at the junction of four railroad routes, and within easy distance of Lakes Champlain and George, and 220 WHITE MOUJ^rJilJ^ GUIDE. almost in the midst of the mountains, it is a most de- sirable place for summer resort. The extensive Marble Quarries, the Springs at Clarendon, celebrated for their medicinal qualities, Sutherland Falls, called by Willis '' one of the loveliest places in the world," and Killing- ton Peak, nearly" 4000 feet high, the loftiest peak of the Green Mountains in this region, are all in the im- mediate vicinity, and can be visited at a small expense ; while " mine host " will see that in-door arrangements for good living are not wanting. The disciple of Izaak Walton will find the best of trout-fishing in the neigh- boring streams, ponds, and lakes, and declare with Izaak, that angling " has a calmness of spirit, and a world of other blessings attending upon it," as he spends the long days of summer in his favorite sport. Rutland is distant from Troy 83 miles ; Albany, 93 ; New York, 234; Bellows Falls, 53; Boston, 167; Whitehall, N. Y., 25 ; Saratoga Springs, 63 ; Lake George, 60 miles. On the north is Burlington, 67 miles, and farther still, Montreal, 167 miles. Fares are as follows : from Burlington, $2.75 ; Montreal, $6.00 ; Troy, $3.50 ; Albany, $3.65 ; New York, by railroad, $6.50 ; by steamboat, $5.50 ; Whitehall,. $1.20; Saratoga, $2.55; Bellows Falls, $^.30; Bos- ton, $6.25. On leaving Rutland, should the tourist prefer to ride across the country by carriage, sending his baggage by rail, he can easily procure horses, and proceed to White River Junction, through a most delightful region of country. A daily stage also runs between WHITE MOUJVTJiIJ\r OUIDE. 221 Ivutliincl, "Woodstock, and White River. The distanco is nearly forty miles, and can be travelled in a day, if one chooses, though the attractions of the way niiuht well cause him to linger on the route. This road passes through the Green Mountain range to Wood- stock. This quiet and charming town is the county seat of Windsor county, and contains a celebrated Med- ical College, and an Arsenal belonging to the United States. It has a population of little more than 3000. Should the choice fall upon travelling by rail, the tourist will find the pleasantest scenery all along the Rutland Railroad. The stations are at some distance from the villages, Avhose inhabitants the road acconyno- dates, with but one or two exceptions. The trains arrive at Bellows Falls in 2^ hours from Rutland. Bellows Falls, by this route, is distant from New York 287 miles. Fares by this route from New York, by rail, $7.00 ; by boat to Albany, $5.00. From this point he continues np the valley of the Connecticut to White River, and thence by Littleton to Franconia, as on the 192nd and following pages. VIII. NEW YORK TO PROFILE HOUSE AND WHITE MOUNTAIN NOTCH, VIA ALBANY AND LAKE CHAM- PLAIN. Distance from New York to Whitehall, 223 miles ; Whitehall to Burlington, by steamer, 70 miles ; Bur- lington to Profile House, 160 miles. Fare, by day boat, $14.35 ; by night boat, $13.85 ; by H. R, R., $14.95. Burlington to White Mountain Notch, 173 222 WHITE MOUJVTjIIJV qui Da:. miles. Fare from New York, by day boat, $15.85 ; by night boat, $16.35 ; by H. K. R, $16.45. By this route the traveller leaves New York by the same conveyance as in No. VII. From Albany to Whitehall the route lies through Saratoga Springs, giving the tourist an opportunity of tarrying at this favorite place of resort. From Whitehall there is direct communication by steamer over Lake Cham- lain to Burlington. From Burlington, by the Vermont Central Railroad, the route lies across the State of Vermont, passing through Waterbury, the station for Mansfield Mountain, to White River Junction, and from this point to Littleton and the Mountains, as on ' page 192. If it is desired to include Lake Greorge in the trip, the cars may be left at Moreau, sixteen miles from Saratoga, from which place a stage-ride of eighteen miles brings one to Lake George. The steamer Min- nehaha traverses thirty-six miles on the lake to Pell Place, from which a stage-ride of four miles brings us to Fort Ticonderoga, where the steamer is taken for Burlington. IX. NIAGARA FALLS TO THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. I. The tourist, in reaching the White Mountains from Niagara, generally proceeds by steamer to Mon- treal, and thence by the Grand Trunk Railway to Gor- ham, N. H. The whole distance is about 650 miles, and the time, allowing one night at Montreal, a little over two days. The fare varies from one season to WHITE MOUJVTjiIJ\r GUIDE. 223 another, and often even during the same season. Through tickets to Boston can be purchased at Niagara for about $16, allovvdng the traveller to stop over at Montreal and at the Mountains, and then to resume his journey by the way of Portland. But it should be observed that the merest trifle, gave the relief from the trouble of frequently purchasing tickets, is gained by this course. On the contrary, much may be lost in respect of freedom in the choice of routes at subsequent points of the trip. The tourist on this route is advised, therefore, at the first to secure tickets from Niagara to Montreal only. II. Some travellers prefer to cross the head of Lake Ontario to Toronto, about 40 miles from Niagiara, and then to proceed the remainder of the Avay by rail, thus avoiding the night on the lake. Leaving Niagara in the afternoon, tl\flK arrive at Toronto in time for the nig Jit mail train on the Grand Trunk Railway, and reach Montreal the next morning. By such a course several hours in the middle of the day can be passed at Montreal, and the Mountains still be reached the next morning after, w^ithin forty-five hours of leaving Niagara. This is the quickest route. If, however, the tourist prefer a quiet night at Toronto, the Express Train will take him to Montreal the next day in about thirteen hours, and allow him to reach the Mountains just as soon as if he had made the whole trip by the steamer, and spent the night on the lake. III. Some tourists entirely avoid the lake, which is often very rough in crossing to Toronto, by proceed- 224 WHITE Mouj\rT^ij\r guide. ing round the head of it by the Great Western Railway- to Toronto, a distance of ninety miles, occupying not far from four hours. They have still the opportunity of taking a steamer at the foot of the lake in time to pass through the Thousand Isles and the far-famed Rapids. IV. The cars may be left at Sherbrooke, and the tourist may visit the beautiful Lake Memphremagog, and thence proceed down the Connecticut to White River Junction, and thence to Franconia or the White Mountain Notch, as is described on page 192. V. Montreal may be left by the Champlain and St. Lawrence Railway to St. John's ; thence by the Vermont and Canada to Essex Junction ; thence by White River Junction to Franconia. VI. The Grand Trunk may be left at Ogdensburg, and the traveller may proceed dirQqfjhf to Rouse's Point over the Ogdensburg Railroad. By this route the sail down the St. Lawrence is lost, and the city of Montreal left unvisited. Mansfield Mountain. By route V., just mentioned, the tourist passes very near to Mt. Mansfield, situated not far from the beau- tiful village of Stowe, Vt. We should fail to do our duty did we not call the attention of tourists among the mountains to this charming spot, which is so attrac- tive for its mountain views, and is so near one of the great highways of travel. Stowe is distant 10 miles from Waterbury, a station ^ WHITE MOUJ^TJilJ^ QUIDE. 225 on the Vermont Central Railroad, 70 miles north of White River Junction. The mail and express trains both stop at this station. Tourists from Montreal, via Rouse's Point, pass through it, while those leaving the mountains, via Littleton, have only to take the train on the Vermont Central Road at White River Junction. Through tickets from Boston to the summit of Mans- field Mountain can also be obtained at the office of the Vermont Central Railroad in Boston. % Waterbury is a small and quiet country village. A company has been organized, and has erected a large and commodious hotel near the depot, which is now open for the accommodation of guests. Camel's Hump in the immediate vicinity, is the highest peak of the Green Mountains, except Mansfield Mountain, and is easily accessible from this place. The summit is 4,188 feet above the sea-level, and com- mands a magnificent view in all directions. It is easy of ascent, and the trip can be accomplished with incon- siderable fatigue. A few miles below the village are Bolton Falls, exceedingly picturesque, and the delight of beauty-loving travellers. Stages leave Waterbury for Stowe regularly on the arrival of the mail trains ; and special stages leave on the arrival of the other trains when any considerable party desires conveyance. The distance is 10 miles, over what was once a plank rpad, and is now a very comfortable stage road. The time is an hour and a half or two hours, and the fare $1.00. 15 226 WHITE Mouj\rTJiiJ\r guide. The Mansfield House will be reached by the traveller from the south about half past six o'clock P. M. This is a new hotel just erected by the Mansfield Hotel Co., under the im- mediate superintendence of their accomplished Presi- dent, W. H. H. Bingham, Esq.* Mr. Bingham resides in Stowe, and, by his unceasing labors and thorough acquaintaiibe with the mountains here, has gained for himself the title of " King of the Mansfield Moun- tains." The hotel occupies the site on which formerly stood the modest inn that once sufficed for the wants of travellers, and which now forms one of the wings of the new building. It is a large and elegant struc- ture, with a piazza running the entire length of the front. Being newly and thoroughly built, with all the modern improvements of plumbing, and of bathing rooms, lighted throughout with gas, with large parlors, spacious lodging-rooms, a fine, large dining-room, and a hall over the dining-room of equal size for dancing and evening entertainments, it cannot fail to be an at- tractive place of resort. It is the largest and best ap- pointed hotel in the state of Vermont. The manager, Mr. Bingham, is well known to the many people who have visited Stowe and its pleasant environs. The public can be assured that this hotel will be well kept and deserve their patronage. The price per day is $3.50, with a considerable discount by the week. There are many objects of attraction at Stowe, and many beautiful rides and excursions can be made to * See Addenda. WHITE MOUJ^TAIJ^ GUIDE. 227 the •country in the vicinity. The chief of all, however, and the one to which we would first call attention, is the Ascent of Mansfield Mountain. This mountain is of peculiar shape. By an exer- cise of the imagination, the summits can be made to resemble the profile of the human face, lying supine. The forehead, the nose, the chin, are all thus projecting upwards. The chin, the highest summit, is at an ele- vation of about 4,400 feet above the sea-level, and is the highest of the whole Green Mountain range. The ascent from Stowe is made by carriage to within a mile and a half of the nose, and the rest of the way on horseback. The distance from the hotel to the summit is nine miles. For five miles the road is over the usual travelled highway. At the mountain base the road branches ofi" and the ascent commences. The path, however, is not very steep, and is kept in excel- lent order. Two miles and a half of a pretty steady ascent, for the greater part of the way through a pleas- ant forest, brings the traveller to the half-way house. One must not fail to improve the time, while w^aiting for the ponies to be saddled, to look at the magnificent view spread out before him. At his feet lie the lovely valley of Stowe, which has just been left, and th(* smooth, green farms, and, beyond, the hills and higher summits of the Green Mountains. If the *air be very clearj^the summit of Mt. Washington is dimly visible, though almost hidden by the nearer hills. A clear spring of p\ire water, a little distance from the stable, 228 WHITE MOUJN-TAm GUIDE. may be visited before starting on the ascent of- the remainder of the peak. The bridle-path is by no means steep or tiresome. On account of the short distance to be traversed on horseback, this mountain presents peculier attractions to those who dislike horseback exercise. For the greater part of the way the view is hidden by the trees, but here and there we catch glimpses of a wooded ravine extending to the very base of the mountain and far away to the north towards Smuggler's Notch, through whose frowning walls are pleasant vistas, closed in the distance by beautiful green fields. The Summit House. is situated at the very base of the Nose. It is owned by the Mansfield Hotel Company, and is under the charge of Mr. William P. Walker. The main part of the house, in which is the large reception room and ofiice, as well as sleeping rooms, is fifty by thirty feet. The ell is forty by twenty-four feet, and contains the dining-room, while the kitchen is still farther in the rear. The house is neatly and thoroughly finished and furnished, and is quite as comfortable as many larger hotels nearer sea-level. It is a far more complete hotel than any other summit house in New England. It is also more favorably situated, being near the sum- mit of the ^mountain, full 4000 feet above sea-level, and yet commanding the fine view towards the west of the valley of Stowe, the wooded side of Mansfield being visible to its very base, with no intervening sum- • WHITE MOUJ\rTJlIJ\r GUIDE. 229 mit to obstruct the vision, and the scene being closed in only by the White Mountain range. It is distant nine miles from the Mansfield House ; the time of the ascent is usually about three hours, and the price for each person, including pony, is $3.00. The company own the livery stable near the hotel, and have a good supply of trusty horses for this as well as for other excursions. Orders can be given at the office of the Mansfield House, wliicli will be promptly attended to. The price of board at the Summit House is $3.50 per day. The Nose and the Chin. are the names of the two highest peaks. The former towers directly over the Summit House. It is ascended by a rough path on the western side, far more resem- bling a flight of stairs than the slope of a mountain side. The northern side presents a steep and sheer precipitous descent, down which you may look from the summit at least 500 feet. Several large pieces of the cliff have been detached from time to time and fallen in ruins below, and it seems by no means im- probable that others may share their fate. The Nose is only a short walk from the hotel. To ascend the Chin, however, requires more time, though the journey is less fatiguing. There is no such precipitous ascent, but the mountain slopes gently away towards the hotel. It is distant about a mile and a half from the house, and consequently takes a longer time than the ascent of the Nose, as you must walk 230 WHITE MOUJ^TAm OUIDE^ the whole distance. It is some 300 feet higher than the Nose, and commands, in consequence, a more ex- tended view. The scene that is spread out before the eye, on either of the summits, is extremely beautiful. It diiFers from the views from the greater part of the White Moun- tains, as there, in whatever direction you look, nothing is to be seen but the rugged mountain tops, with the valleys here and there between. While here, besides a similar view towards the east, you have spread out before you, on the west, the fertile land of Western Vermont, comparatively level, though here and there diversified by hills, bordered by the silver waters of Lake Champlain, with the blue Adirondack Hills in the far distance beyond. To one fresh from the White Mountains, this view is singularly attractive. You see the farm-houses clustering into villages ; you can follow the courses of the winding streams among the hills and forests ; you can clearly see the dark green of the waving grain, and can almost distinguish the farmers at their toils. Among the peaks of the White Mountains you only see occasional traces of civilization, and it is the wildness that chiefly is im- pressed upon the mind. But here there seems to be another and a different sensation. The beauty of the landscape, the feeling that all this pleasant land is filled with life, together with the suggestion of the distant Adirondacks, that within their dark recesses is con- cealed an undiscovered world of loveliness, combine to enchain one irresistibly to the spot. WHITE MOUJVT^IJ\r GUIDE. 231 To the north may be seen the hills of Montreal, and, in a sunshiny day, the glistening spires of that city. Burlington can be identified on the lake shore by the same means. The whole of Lake Champlain, from Fort Ticonderoga to the extreme north, lies stretched out before you. Owl's Head, on the shores of Mem- phremagog Lake, lies away to tlie north. Eastward you can see the White Mountains closing in the field of view. In the south rise Camel's Hump and others of the Green Mountain range. From the Chin you may look down into the Smuggler's Notch, and even de- scend into it, if you have time and endurance. On the way to the Chin may be seen, in many places, parallel lines marked on the rocks, in a uniform north and south direction, left here it is supposed when the mountain was covered with snow, and the glacier car- ried huge stones in its cold embrace. In one place are two large bowlders deposited on the mountain top, with the lines they made in reaching the eminence vis- ible a few feet from them. These drift scratches have attracted much attention from geologists. To make this excursion to the Chin, and not be hurried, a night should be spent upon the mountain. On the eastern side of the Nose the host of the Summit House will point out to you the " Old Man of Mansfield Mountain," if indeed you have not already noticed it. Tlie profile is quite excellent, though not, of course, rivalling in regularity of features the " Old Man" of Francouia. 252 WHITE MOVJ^TAI^r GUIDE. Moss Glen Falls. Another trip to be made from the Mansfield House — and for this we would advise an early morning ride — is to Moss Glen Falls. These falls are to be found in a ravine of singular formation about four miles from the hotel, on one of the lower ridges on the north-eastern slope of Worcester Mountain. The source of the stream is a small pond on the table land above the bluff, which is about two hundred feet in height. The solid cliff seems here to have been cleft asunder, and the perpendicular walls are left standing in their majesty. The same arrangement exists here, as at Catskill Falls, for increasing the volume of water, which in summer is often very low. But the dam and head of water are , under the control of the proprietor of the saw-mill, Avho does not approve of having the water run to waste for the mere amusement of visitors. You will be fortunate, then, if you happen to visit the falls when there is a good head of water. The best point of view is about fifty feet up the cliff, on the side near- est the highway. The charge for a team is $2.00 if less than three go, and 75 cents each for a larger number. The Smuggler's Notch must also be visited. It is a narrow mountain pass, said to be worn out by the action of water, to whicli a carriage road has jpst been buih. A small hotel has WHITE MOUJ^TjlIJ\r GUIDE. 233 been erected in it- by the Hotel Company, so that shel- ter can always be had. It is nine miles distant from the Mansfield House, and the charges for conveyance are the same as to the summit. The pass is wild and impressive. Huge bowlders have fallen from the mountain side, on which large trees are now growing. To the largest of them has been given the name of Brigham's Rock. There is here also a mammoth spring, with clear cold water flowing at all times in great abundance. There are traditions that this pass was formerly used by smugglers to carry on their con- traband trade, and it seems well suited for that pur- pose, if the object was to cross easily from one side of the mountain to the other. We have completed the description of the routes to the Mountains, as well as the description of the Moun- tains themselves. We have seen that all the various routes from New York are condensed, in reality, to three, as we approach the mountain region : one leaves us at Gorham, on the eastern side ; the second at White Mountain Notch ; and the third at Franconia. Upon what particular route the choice may fall, we would urge that the whole range, from Franconia to the " Glen," be visited if possible. In no other way can a complete idea of all the beauty and loveliness of this "Switzerland of America" be gained. It is w^ell, also, to go by one and return by another route. Tickets to and throucjh the region should not be pur- 234 WHITE MOUJ\rT^rj\r guide. chased at a distance, as circumstan«es may render it desirable to vary from a plan first laid down. Travel- lers coming from the Canadas, either by Rouse*s Point or by the Grand Trunk Railway, should especially avoid purchasing through tickets with privilege of visiting the mountains on their journey. To use these tickets, travellers are compelled to leave the mountains at the place where they first approached, and must thus, frequently, needlessly retrace their steps. For a more detailed description of the routes along the sea coast, and for a full description of the various places of resort on the sea shore in New England, from Newport, east, see " Eastman's Eastern Coast Guide." GENERAL YIEW OF ROUTES. NEW YORK TO THE WHITE MOUNTAINS BY WAY OF BOSTON. I (a). To GoRHAM. By boats from their respective piers on North River via New London, Stonington, or Nev^port, or by rail from 27th St. via Springfield, and Worcester, or via New London and Providence to Boston ; thence by Eastern or Boston and Maine Railroad, or by boat from India Wharf daily (except Sunday), at 7 P. M. ; or from Com- mercial Wharf Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, at 8 A. M., to Port- LANt) : thence by Grand Trunk Railroad to Alpine House ; stage to Glen House. 1(6). To Boston as above; thence by Boston and Lowell, and Con- cord Railroads, or by Boston and Maine, and Concord, Manchester and Lawrence Railroads, to Concord, N. H. ; thence by Boston, Concord and Montreal Railroad, to Weirs ; thence by steamer to Centre Harbor or WoLFBOROUGH;*thence by stage and rail, via North Conway to Glen House. Or, from Boston by Boston and Maine Railroad to Dover, N . H. ; thence by Dover and Winnipiseogee Railroad to Alton, steamer and Btage.* I (c). To Portland as by I (a). Thence to North Conway over Port- land and Ogdensburgh Railroad, and thence by stage to Glen House.* I {d). To Boston as above. Thence by Eastern, and Great Falls and Conway Railroad, arriving at North Conway to dinner. Thence by Btage to Glen House, arriving in season for supper. II (a). To White Mountain Notch. Same as I (6), (c), and (d). U (b). To Boston as above ; thence by Boston and Lowell, or Boston and Maine Railroad, and Concord, Manchester and Lawrence R. R., to Concord, N. H. ; thence by Boston, Concord and Montreal, or by Northern and PasBumpsic Railroad, to Wells River, Vt.; thence by Wliite Moun- tains Railroad to Bethlehem, N. H. ; thence to Crawford House by Btage. III (a). To Franconia Notch. Same as II (6). Stages run from Littleton, on arrival of the care from Boston by either route, to the Profile House. Ill (6). To Concord, N. H., from Boston by Boston and Maine, o» Boston and Lowell R. R. ; from Concord by Boston, Concord and Mon- treal R. R. to Plymouth, N. H. ; thence by stage to Profile House up the beautiful valley of the Pomigewasset River, * Over night at North Conway, N. H. 236 WHITE MOUJ^TAI^r GUIDE. NEW YORK TO MOUNT MANSFIELD VIA BOSTON. New York to Boston via either Sound lines ; Boston to Waterbury via Concord, N. H., and White River Junction ; thence by stage to tho Mt. MANSFIEIiD HOTEIi. • NEW YORK TO THE WHITE MOUNTAINS BY WAY OF WORCESTER. I (a). To GoRHAM. Boat to New London, and Norwich and Wor- cester Railroad,* or by railf from 27th St. via Springfield to Worces- ter ; thence by Worcester and Nashua and Concord Railroads to Con- cord, N. H. ; thence by Boston, Concord and Montreal R. R. to W«ir8; thence by steamer to Centre Harbor or Wolf borough; thence by stage to North Conway and up the valley of the Ellis River. II (a). To White Mountain Notch same as n (a), preceding page. Stages run from Centre Harbor to Crawford House via North Conway and the valley of the Saco.t II (6). From Worcester to Concord, N. H. aa above; thence by Bos- ton, Concord and Montreal, or by Northern and Passumpsic R. R., to Wells River ; thence to Bethlehem ; thence by stage to Crawford House. III (a). To Franconia Notch. To Concord, N. H., as above; thence to Littleton as above ; thence by stage to Profile House. Ill (6). To Concord, N. H., aa above; thence by Boston, Concord and Montreal R. R. to Plymouth ; thence by stage to Profile House. NEW YORK TO THE WHITE MOUNTAINS BY WAY OF THE VALLEY OF THE CONNECTICUT RIVER. I. To the White Mountain Notch, or to Franconia Notch. By rail from 27th Street, or by steamer from Peck Slip, via New Haven and Hartford, to Springfield, Mass. ; thence by the Connecticut River R. R. to Greenfield and South Vernon, Vt. ; thence by the Vermont Valley R. R. to Bellows Falls ;^ thence by the Sulliwin R. R. to Windsor ; thence by the Vermont Central R. R. to the White River Junction ; thence by the Passumpsic to Wells River ; thence by the White Mountain R. R. to Littleton, N. H. ; thence by stage to Craw- ford House or Profile House. NEW YORK TO THE WHITE MOUNTAINS BY WAY OF ALBANY AND RUTLAND, VT. I. To White Mountain or Franconia Notch. By rail or boat to Albany and Troy; thence by Western Vermont, or Troy and Boston Over night at Xorth Conwat, N. H. Over nifiht at Concord, N. II., and^ORTH Conwat. I Over night at Bellows Falls. WHITE MOUJVTAIJV GUIDE. 237 R. R., or Rutland and Washington R. R., to Rutland, Vt. ;* thence by Rutland and Burlington R, R. to BELiiOws Falls; thence by Sullivan, Vermont Central, Passumpsic, and White Mountains Railroads to Lit- tleton ; thence by stage to Crawford House or Profile House. I (a). Saratoga Springs to Franconia or White Mountain Notch. Saratoga and Washington, Rutland and Washington R. R. to Rutland ; Rutland and Burlington R. R. to Bellows Falls ; thence to Littleton as above; Stage to Profile House or Crawford House. 11(6). Saratoga and Whitehall R.R. to Moreau; Stage to Caldwell-, thence by Steamer to Lake George ; Stage to Old Fort Ticonderoga; thence by Steamer on Lake Charaplain to Burlington ; thence by Ver- mont Central R. R. to White River Junction ; stopping at Waterbury for Mount Mansfield ; thence to Littleton ; Stage to Profile House or Crawford House. NIAGARA FALLS TO THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. 1(a). ToGorham. By rail to LEWisf on; thence by Steamer through Lake Ontario, and down the St. Lawrence River, or by Great Western Railroad to Hamilton, C. W. ; thence by Grand Trunk Railroad to Montreal ; thence by Grand Trunk to Northumberland or Gor- ham. II (a). To THE White Mountain Notch and Franconia Notch. To Montreal as above, thence by Champlain and St. Lawrence Rail- road to Rouse's Point ; thence by Vermont and Canada and Vermont Central Railroads t to White River Junction ; thence by Passumpsic and White Mountains Railroad to Littleton and Bethlehem; thence by stage to Crawford House or Profile House. n (6). To Lewiston by rail; thence by Steamer to Ogdensburg; thence by Northern (N. Y.) R. R. to Rouse's Point; thence to Little- ton and Crawford House and Profile House as above. n (c). Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Lewiston Railroad to Lewiston; Steamer to Montreal through Lake Ontario and down the River St. Lawrence ; Grand Trunk to Sherbrooke ; Stage to Outlet Village, Lake Memphremagog, Steamer Mountain Maid to Newport, Vt. ; Con- necticut .and Passumpsic River, and White Mountain Railroads to Lit- tleton; Stage. n (fZ). By New York Central Railroad via Rochester to Albany; thence by Rutland and Washington R. R. to Rutland, Vt. ; thence by Rutland and Burlington R. R. to Bellows Falls; thence to WiiiTB River Junction, Wells River, and Littleton ; thence by stage. * Over iii.i,'ht at IfuTi.AND or Hf.i.lows Fai.i.s. t Stup at VVAiKKisuKy lor Stowk and Mansfield Muuniains ALTITUDES. Alpine House 802 feet Bethlehem 1,450 Bridge, 1,221 Concord (R. R. Station), 237 Conway Intervales 471 Crawford House, ........ 1,920 Fabyan Place 1,551 Franconia Village 921 " Notch (highest point), 2,014 Flume House, 1,431 Gilmanton Hill, summit between Franconia and Littleton 1,329 Glen House, 1,632 Lancaster, 860 Littleton, 817 Pinkham Notch (highest point), 2,018 Plymouth, 473 Profile House, 1,974 Willey House, 1,335 .Winnipesaukee Lake, 501 / o •'*•'■■ 2- »^ r-^ .'' BOARDING HOUSES. The following is a list of most of the Private Boarding Houses in the mountain region. The name of the proprietor is followed by the number of persons he can accommodate, and then the price per week, depending on the accommoda- tion required. BARTLETT. Frank George, 30, $7 to 12 Arthur L. Meserve, 20, 6 to 10 LOWER BARTLETT. W. M. & A. Pitman (East Branch House), . . . 7 to 10 50 Cornelius Stilphen, 20, 6 to 8 LOWER BARTLETT (P. 0., No. Conway). Edwin C. Stokes, 50, 7 to 10.50 Cyrus A. Tasker, 25, 7 to,;2 BERLIN FALLS. Mount Forest House, 30, 7 to 14 BETHEL, MAINE. C. T. Bartlett, 6 to 10 Abiel Chandler, Jr., 6 to 8 Rev. S. L. Gould, 6 to 10 G. A. Hastings, 8 to 12 Mrs. I. C. Kimball, 6 to 10 Charles B. Lock, 6 to 8 Woodson Mason, 6 to 8 John Russell, 6to8 240 WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. J. A. Stockbridge, ^7 to 10 Alphin Tvvitchell, • • . 6 to 10 C. L. TwitcheU, 6 to 8 A. W. ValentiBe, . 6 to 8 C. P. Grover, W. L. Grover, WEST BETHEL. BETHLEHEM. Myron Bailey J. K. Barrett (Howard House), 60, 7 tol2 T. W. Bean (Blue Blind House), 20, . C. E. Bunker, 50, C. G. Eastman, 10, Joseph Philbrick, 12, Joseph Plummer (Cottage House), 25, . William Simpson, T. J. Spooner, . Simon H. Thayer, 20, ....... • J. N. Turner, 20, H. W. Wilder, 20, . . S. F. Winch (White Mountain House), 30, . C. B. Young, CAMPTON VILLAGE. Joseph Cook, 40, 7 to 10 Charles Cutter, 20, . . . . • • . 7 to 10 Henry Durgin, 20, Ephraim Elliott, 10, George Foss, 25, Osman C. Foss, 50, 8 to 10 S. D. Kinsman, 16, 7 to 10 Timothy W. Mitchell (Fountain House), 30, . . 7 to 9 This house is situated on high table land, between th. Pemigewassett and Mad Rivers, within three hours' drive of the Franconia Notch, with all its beautiful scenery. The view, overlooking the range of the White Mountains, is WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. 241 grand. A coach runs from this house daily, to connect with the trains at Plymouth. Dr. WilUam Smith, 16, $7 to 10 William Thornton, 2Q, 7 to 10 Charles G. Webster, 10, 7 to 10 S. C. Willey, 16, 7 to 10 WEST CAMPTON. Joseph Blair, 40, 7 to 10 T. J. Sanborn, 60, 7 to 10 CENTRE HARBOR. Almon Benson, 50, 8 to 14 R. L. Coe, 15, . . . 7 to 14 G. N. Emery, 20, 7 to 12 S. F. Emery, 75, 8 to 14 Timothy C. Gordon, 12, 7 to 14 A. M. Graves, 20, 8 to 14 L. B. Hanson, 10, 7 to 12 J. L. Huntress (Senter House), 175, . ... . 15 to 20 B. F. Kelsea, 50, . . 8 to 14 G. W. Kelsea, 20, . . . . . , . , 6 to 12 J. H. Sturtevant, 30, » . . 8 to 15 C. H. Weeks, 12, 7 to 12 B. F. Wentworth, 15, 8 to 15 Stephen Wentworth, 14, 7 to 10 FRANCONIA. Bent and Knight, 20, . . . . . . . 7 to 10 Jason Comey, 15, 7 to 10 Milo J. Corliss, 15, 7 to 10 Charles Edson, 25, 7 to 10 E. H. Goodnow, 25, 7 to 10 D. K. Priest, 15, 7 to 10 Milo F. Shattuck, 25, 7 to 10 Joel Spooner (La Fayette House), 50, . . . . 7 to 10 HOLDERNESS. Nathaniel C. Collev, 242 WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. JACKSON. J. M. Mesterve, 35, . . $7 to 10 50 LISBON (Sugar Hill). Hiram Noyea, 30, 7 to 10 LITTLETON. Widow Ward Cobleigh, 8, 7 to 12 Mrs. E. Eastman, 12, 7 to 9 Jefferson Hosmer, 18, 10 to 14 William Jennison, 20, 7 to 14 C. C. Knapp & Co , 70, 10 to 14 Dea. John Memll, 12, 9 to 12 MOULTONBOFvOUGH. B. M. & W. H. Mason, 20, 7 This house is situated at the eastern base of Red Hill, within an hour's walk of the summit. It commands fme views of Ossipee, Chocorua, and Sandwich ranges, and is witJiin an hour's drive of the celebrated mineral spring and picturesque Ossipee Falls in Ossipee Mountain. Horses, carriages, &c. Children half-price. NOKTH CONWAY. Albert Barnes & Co., 35, $7 to 12 A. W. Barnes, 30, 7 to 10.50 John Albert Barnes, 25, 7 to 13 Mrs. E. F. Densmore, 28, 7 to 14 Joseph F. Densmore, 25, 7 to 12 Alfred Eastman, 45, . . 7 to 12 J. Cummings Eastman, 18, 7 to 12 Thomas C. Eastman, 20, 7 to 12 This house is pleasantly situated at the south end of the village, overlooking the Saco Valley, and commanding a fine view of Chocorua, Mjote Mountain and the Ledges, with a full view of tlie Mt. Washington range. Livery Stable and Bowling Alley connected with the house. WHITE MOUNTAIN GUIDE. 243 Mrs. Isaac E. Merrill, 45 $7 to 13 Mrs. Solomon D. Peudexter, 3G, 7 to 12 Willard Russell, 30, 7 to 12 John M. Seavey, 30, 7 to 12 Levi Wheeler, 30, 7 to 12 Charles H. Whitaker, 20, 7 to 12 J. and E. Whitaker, 20, 7 to 12 James C Wille}', 30, 7 to 12 PLYMOUTH. William G. Hall, . A. C. Hardy, 7 to 10 E. Smith, THORNTON. W. M. Merrill, WEST THORNTON. Charles Weeks, 'iVATERVILLE. Merrill Greely, WOODSTOCK. James Darling, 10, 6 Isaac Fox, C. F. Parker, 15, 7 Stephen S. Shanon, 18, 7 NORTH WOODSTOCK. Thomas Brewer, William Dearborn, 12, 7 George F. Russell, 25, 7 TABLE OF FARES. New Yokk to Boston, by cars, . . . . $6.00 " " " " boat and cars, . . 5.00 Boston to Gorham, N. H., by cars, . . . 6.00 " " " " boat and cars, . 4.85 (Tt)RiiAM to Glen House (staf^c), 1.00 Glen House to Crawford House (stage), . . 4.00 " " " North Conway " . . . 3.00 Ascent of Mt. Washington, by carriage road, in- cluding toll, .... 5.00 " *' " " by bridle path, . 5.00 " " " " by rail, . . 3.00 up and back by same train, 4.00 .Descent" " " 3.00 Crawford House to Bethlehem ■> (stage), . 2.00 *' " " Profile House " ". . 4.00 '• " " North Conway *' . . 3.50 Profile House to Littleton '♦ . . 2.00 " " " Plymouth " . . 4.00 Boston to Centre Harbor, via Lake, . . .3.60 " " Wolfeborough, " " . . . 3.40 '* '* " " Eastern R. R., . 3.65 Centre Harbor or Wolfeborough to North Con- way (stage), 3,50 Boston to Alton Bay, via Dover, .... 2.90 North Conway, via Dover, . . 6.90 '♦ Eastern Railroad, 5.00 Portland and Ogd. R. R. and boat, . 3.00 White Mountains, via Dover, . . 9.90 Franconia Mountains, via Dover, . . 13.40 Crawford House, via Concord, . 8.50 " " " Eastern Railroad, 8.50 Profile House " " . . 8.50 " " " Plymouth (stage) 8.15 Littleton (B. C. & M. or N. R. R.), . 6.50 Plymouth, 4.15 Profile House, via Northern Railroad, 8.15 Crawford House, via " " * 8.50 TABLE OF FARES. 245 Boston to Lake Memphremagog, . . . $8.20 " " Wateubury, Vt., .... 7.25 Crawford's to Montreal, via Lennoxvllle, . . 12.60 " Quebec, " " . . 12.50 Wateubury to Mansfield House and Summit House, and return, 4.00 New York to Glen House, via Worcester, or New- port and Lowell, Concord, and North Conway, . . . 13.75 '♦ *' " North Conway, via same, . . 11.75 " " Centre Harbor, " " . . 8.25 " " " wolfeborough, " " . . . 8.55 " " Plymouth, <« <« . , 8.20 " " " Profile House, " " and Plymoutli, 12.10 " " " " " " and Littleton, 11.00 " "Crawford's, " " and Bethlehem, 12.00 " " " Profile House, via Conn. River, . 11.25 " " Crawford's, " " " . 12.75 " " " Profile House, via New London and Connecticut River, . . . 11.00 " " *' Crawford House, via same, . 12.50 '* " " Profile House, via Albany and Rut- land, 14.35 " " " Crawford's, via. same, . . 15.85 " " " Glen House, via Boston, Eastern R. R., and No. Conway, . . 12.00 " " " Crawford House, tj/a same, . 13.50 " " North Conway, " " . . 10.00 " " " WoLFEBOROUGH, uia Boston and Eastern R. R., all rail, . . . . 8.65 " " " Plymouth, via boat to New Haven and thence rail, 9.70 New Y(»i;k to Profile House, via Lake Champlain and Day Boats, $14.35 ; Night Boats, . . 13.85 New York to Crawford House, via Lake Cham- plain and Day Boats, $15.85 ; Night Boats, . 15.35 N FAV York to Profile House, via Lake Champlain and H. R. R., 14.95 New York to Crawford House, via Lake Cham- plain and H. R. R., 16.45 White River Junction to Profile House, . 4.60 " •• " " Crawford's, . . 6.60 «' ♦* *' " Meao'iiremaggg Lake, 4.15 INDEX. Alpinb House, 14 Altitudes, 238 Alton Bay, 150,152 Ammonoosuc Bridge, .... 117 Artist's Falls, 163 Ascent of Bald Mountain, . . . 125 Copple Crown, . . . 155 Moosilauke, .... 206 Profile Mountain, . . 124 Red Hill, 158 Mansfield Mountain, . 227 Mt. Clinton, .... 97 Mt. Franklin, ... 99 Mt. Hayes, .... 28 Mt. Kiarsarge, . . . 165 Mt. Lafayette, . . .131 Mt. Madison, .... 29 Mt. Moriah, .... 25 Mt. Surprise 26 Mt. Washington, 17, 41, 93, 108 Mt. Willard, .... 85 Owl's Head, .... 200 Prospect Hill, ... 208 Bald Mountain, 125 Basin, 136 Beecher's Falls, 107 Bellows Falls, 215 Berlin Falls, 21 Bethel, Me., 173 Bethlehem, 117 Boarding Houses, 239 Boston to Franeouia, via Concord and Plymouth, 189, 208 Concord, Plymouth, and Littleton, .... 189, 204 Concord, White River Junc- tion, and Littleton, . . 189 Boston to Gorham, by boat, . . 172 by cars, . 172 Boston to Lake Willoughby, 189, 195 to Mansfield Mountain, 224 to Memphremagog, 189, 195, 199 Boston to WTiite Mountain Notch, via Concord, Lake Winnipesau- kee, and Conway, . 189, 212 Concord, Plymouth, and Littleton, .... 189, 204 Concord, White River Junc- tion, and Uttleton, . . 189 Dover, Ijake Winnipesaukee, and (Jon way, .... 187 Bryant's Pond, 173 Carriage Road to Mt. Wash- ington, ...... 41 Cascades (Basin), 138 Cascade (Profile House), . . .126 Cathedral, 163 Centre Harbor, 156 ■ Centre Harbor to No, Conway and Crawford House, . 150, 159 Cherry Mountain Road, . . . 32, 65 Chocorua, 160 Clinton, Mt., 97 Colebrook, 179 Concord, 190 Concord to Franconia, via Plymouth 208 Plymouth and Littleton, . . 204 White River Junction, . . . 189 Concord to White Mountain Notch, via Lake Winnipesaukee and Conway, 212 Littleton, 189 Conway, 160 Copple Crown Mountain, . . . 155 Crawford House, 81 Crawford House Plateau, ... 83 Crawford House to Profile House, 114 Crystal Cascade, 60 Devil's Den, 87 Diana's Bath, 164 Dixville Notch, 178 Eagle Cliff, 123 Echo Lake (Conway), 1C3 Echo Lake (Franconia), .... 122 Emerald Pool, 54 Fares, Table of, 244 Flume (Franconia), 139 INDEX. Ul Flume (Notch), 88 Flume House, 139 Franoonia Notch, 119 Franklin, Mt., 99 Fryeburg, 188 Gaknet Pools, 53 General View of Routes, . . . 235 Georgianna Falls, 144 Gibbs's Falls, 92 IQlen, 36 Glen Ellis FaU, . 55 Glen House, 37 Glen to Crawford House, Cherry Mountain, 36 by Notch, 40,64 Glen to North Conway, . . . 40, 64 Goodrich Falls, 70 Gorham, N.H., 14 Gorham to Crawford House, Cherry Mountain Road, 32 by Glen, 64 Gorham to Franconia, Cherry Mountain lload, ... 33 Gorham to Glen, 17, 31 Great Gulf, 100 Hayes, Mt 28 Hermit Lake, 62 Imp, 36 Island House 154 Island Pond, 178 Jackson, 68 Jackson Falls Hotel 68 Jefferson, 33 Kearsauge, Mt., 190 Kiavaarge, Mt., 165 Lafayette, Mt 131 Lalie of the Clouds, 101 Lancaster, 194 Lary's, View from, 15 Lead Mine Bridge, 19 Littleton, 193 Lower Ammonoosuc Falls, . . . 116 Madison, Mt,, 29 Mansfield House, 224 Mountain, 226 Marshfield, Ill Memphreuiagog, Lake, . . 177, 199 Monroe, Mt 100 Moosilauke Mountain, .... 206 Moriah, Mt., 25 Moss Glen Falls, 232 I Mountain House, 201 Mountain Region, 13 Mt. Crawford House, ..'... 75 Mount Washington Carriage Road, 41 tolls on, 42 Nancy's Brook and Bridge, 74 Newbury, 193 Newport, Vt., 199 New York to Boston, Tia Stonington, 168 New London and Norwich, 170 Newport and Fall River, . . 109 " Shore Line," 171 Springfield, 171 New York to Concord, N. H. ,; Tia Worcester, .... 212 New York to Franconia, via Lake Champlain, .... 221 Boston and Concord, . 169, 190 North River and Bellows Falls, 218 Springfield and Bellows Falls, 213 New London Northern R, R., . . 217 New York to White Mountains (Gorham), via Boston juid Portland .... 168, 172 New York to \Vhite Mountain Notch, via Boston, Concord, and Con- way, 168,212 Boston, Dover, and Con- way, 168, 187 Boston, Portland, and Con- way, 168,186 Niagara Falls to White Mountains, 222 North Conway, 161 to Crawford House, . .71,167 to Glen, 71, 167 Notch, White Mountains, ap- proach to, 76 Notch, Head of, 80 Oakes's Gulp, 100 Outlet Village, 201 Owl's Head Mountain, .... 200 Pavilion Hotbl, 154 Pemigewasset House, 209 Pleusaut, Mt., 9S Plymouth 208 Pool, 143 Portland to Conway, 186 Preliminary View, 5 Profile, The 127 Profile House, 120 Profile Lake., 131 INDEX. Profile Mountain, 124 Railroad up Mt. Washington, 108 Randolph ffiU, 20 Red Hill, 158 Routes, General View of, ... 235 Rutland, 217 Saco Valiet, 71 Sawyer's Rock, 72 Screw Auger Falls, 175 Senter House, 156 Silver Cascade, 89 Smuggler's Notch, 232 Suow Arch, . 64 Sparkling Cascade and Sylvan Glade Cataract, 90 Squam Lake, 159 Stowe, Vt., 224 Summit House, Mt. Washing- ton, 49,103 [S. H.]., Mansfield, 228 Surprise, Mt., 26 Summit of Mt. Washington, 47, 102 Telegraph at Crawford House, .... 83 Glen House, 38 Gorham 14 Profile House, 122 Thompson's Falls, 53 Thousand Streams, 63 Tip Top House, .... 49, 104 Tuckerman'a Ravine, .... 61 Twin Mt. House, 116 Umbagoq Lake, 175 Upper Ammonoosuc Falls, . . . 109 Upper Bartlett House, .... 72 View op Berlin Falls, ... 22 Carter and Imp Moun- tain from Gorham, 16 Centre Harbor, . . . 157 Crystal Cascade, . . 60 Dixville Notch, . , .178 The Flume, . . . . 14L The Gate of the Notch, 13,84 Glen Ellis Fall, ... 56 The Profile, . . 128,130 Walker's Falls, 185 Washington, Mt., ... 41, 93, 108 Washington, View from Mt., 48, 105 Washington, Night on, . . . . 50 Waterbury, Vt., 224 Waterville, 210 Waumbeck House, 33 Weirs, 160 Wells River, 194 White Mountain House, .... 115 White Mountain Range, ... 95 White River Junction, . . . .192 Winnipesaukee Lake, .... 146 Willard, Mt., 85 Willey House, 77 Willoughby Lake, .... 177, 197 Winslow House, 190 Wolfeborough, 154 Wolfeborough to North Conway and Crawford House, . 150, 153 -NTAINS. B72. NWAT "hite Moun- ae route on 1.00 P.M. 8.10 „ e Trains to 100 P.M. 6.00 „ 1.00 „ 6.00 » 25 miles 20 miles $5.00 8.50 7.00 .S between )unt Wash- 6.00 A.M. 8.00 „ 1.00 P.M. 230 „ 8.10 „ 3, including orite route, tes, also all leral Office, x-xijiiouc^rr, cjupx;. E. B. K. > Y- i\ MAP of the wiini ai>J)imJiia.c^ i;.^ \[ ^J^^" VICINITY. iSr^ Wr ""'*'' ^^"> ,^^^'\ ./^"^B ^--~~^« ' Frrpiredfir Eastmans \mif ^t"""^ i ' '^/?l*y ■"^'^■""^ . L ''^^'^ a ,./ GuKUbyC.H.y.CAYIS. \ 248 Profile R: Railro. Randolp] Red Hill Routes, ( Rutland. Saco V^ Sawyer's Screw Ai Senter H Silver Ca Smuggle, Snow Ari Sparklinj Glad Squam I Stowe, V Summit ton, [S. H.]., Surprise Summit Telegb. Cra\ Gler Gorl Prof Thomps( Thousan Tip Top Tuckern TwinMt NEW ROUTE TO WHITE MOUNTAINS. 1872. EASTERN R.R. 1872. SEA-SHOEE KOUTE TO NOKTH CONWAY AND WHITE MOUNTAINS. New, shortest, quickest, and only route to North Conway and White Moun- tains without change of Cars. Two special fast Express Trains will be placed on the route on and after June 24, Leaving Boston 8.10 A.M. Arriving at North Conway 1.00 P.M. „ 2.40 P.M. „ „ „ 8.10 „ A fast Line of Coaches will run in connection with the Trains to Crawford's and Glen, Leaving North Conway 8.00 A.M. Arriving at Crawford's 100 P.M. 2.00 PM. „ „ 6.00 „ „ „ 8.00 A.M. „ Glen 1.00 „ „ 2.00 P.M. „ „ 6.00 „ DISTiLITCIIS. North Conway to Crawford's 25 miles „ „ Glen 20 miles No other route offers so good advantages. 31 miles shorter to North Conway, 62 „ „ „ Crawford's, 50 „ „ „ Glen, Than via any other route. Boston to North Conway # . . $5.00 „ „ Crawford's . . 8.50 „ „ Glen 7.00 The only line running the celebrated PTJIiIjMAN CARS between Boston, North Conway, and White Mountains. It is the only line whereby passengers can leave the top of Mount Wash- ington in the morning and reach Boston same night. TIME. Leave Mount Washington 6.00 A.M. Arrive Glen (Breakfast) North Conway (Dinner) j \^^^ ; 8.00 „ 1.00 P.M. 2.30 „ 8.10 „ „ Boston Passenger Trains are equipped with all modem improvements, including Westinghouse Air Brake, and Sliller Coupler Buflfer and Platform. Be sure and ask for Tickets via Eastern R.R., the short and favorite route, to be obtained at all the principal Ticket Offices in the United States, also all the principal Houses iu the White Mountains. Seats in Parlor Car can be secured by letter or telegraph at General Office, 134 Washington Street, Boston, Mass. , GEO. F. FIELD, General Pass. Agent. J. PRESCOTT, Supt. E. B. B. TO TOURISTS AND TRAVELLERS. THE COItORD, mm, AID FAll mWi Mi Forms the most direct and best route between New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, and White and Franconia Mountains, Lancaster, Littleton, Centre Harbor, Plymouth, North Conway, Laconia, Bethlehem, Concord, Manchester, Nashua, and Lowell. i?,oxjTE i^ploim: ist:ei'^77- -stoics:. Papsengers should take the magnificent Steamers of the Fall River Line, the BRISTOTj or I'ROVIDENCi:, leaving Pier No. »3, North River, at 5.15 P.M. ; arriving at Fall River at 5 a.m. BREAKFAST. — Those who wish can procure a good Breakfast on board of the Steamer before taking the train. EXPRESS TRAIN. — The Steamboat Express Passenger Train Will leave Fall River . . . . at . . 5.50 A. M Passing Taunton ,, . . 6.30 ,, Mansfield „ . • 6.55 „ „ South^ramingham ..,,.. 7.55 „ Arriving at Lowell „ . . 8.45 „ „ Nashua „ . . 9.18 ,, „ Manchester ....... 9.52 „ Concord ,< . . 10.35 „ „ "Weirs, Lake "Winnipesaukee „ . . 12.00 M. „ Plymouth . . . . . „ . . 12.50 P.M. ( Titere slopping for Dinner ) „ Littleton . . " . . . „ . . 3.30 „ „ Bethlehem ....... 4.00 „ There connecting with Stages for Sinclair House, 3 miles; Twin Mountain ITou.'iC, 4 miles; White Mountain IIou.se, 8 miles; Crawford House, 13 raiies ; Mount Washington Railway Depot, 14 miles. Arrive at Crawford House, White Mountain Notch, at 6. 30 p.m., — making the best route for all White Mountain travel. For North Conway and Centre Harbor, passengers will leave the train at Weirs, Lake Winnipesaukee, at 12 00 m., and take the New Steamer '^ JjAJ>Y of TllfJ LAKE,'' and .sail 10 miles over the most inter- esting portion of the Lake, and arrive at Senter House, ('entre Harbor, at 1.00 p.M Stop one hour for dinner, then take staL'e for a distance of 14 miles to West Ossipee, and there connect with train for North Conway, 1(5 miles, arrive at 7 P m., making tJiis the shortest and most interesting route for the pU'u;3ure travel. FOR PROFILE HOUSE. — Passengers for the Profilo House can leare the train at Plymouth at 1 00 P.M., there taking dinner ; then take stjige for a distance of 28 miles up the Pemigewasset Valley to Profile House, Franco- nia Mountain, arriving there at 7.00 p.m. ; or continue on by rail from Plym- outh to Littleton, arriving there at 3 30 p M., there connecting vrith stage for Profile House, 11 miles, and arriving at 6.00 p.m. m^^ Passengers ivill arrive at all points in the White Mountains two hours in advance of any other line. Tourists journeying leisurely can delay at the various points of interest along the line, and will find the best of hotel accommodations. TO UsTE^^T^ -S'OI^IS:- Express Train will Leave Northumberland ,, Lancaster ,, Bethlehem „ Littleton . ,, Plymouth at ... . 9.00 A.M. .... 9.30 „ .... 10.00 „ .... 10.30 „ .... 1.00 P.M. „ Weirs, Lake Winnipesaukee, ,, .... 2.00 ,, Connecting with Steamer *' Lady of the LaUe " from Centre Harbor, bringing passengers from there and North Conway. Also, stages from differ- ent houses at mountains arrive at different points of taking cars, and connect with this train. Arriving at Concord at 3.30 P.M. Passing So. Framingham at6 55 P.M Leave Concord ,, 3 36 ,, „ Taunton ,, 8.00 ,, ,, Manchester ,, 4. 15 „ ,, Fall River ,, 8.30 ,, „ Nashua ,, 5.00 ,, Arriving at Newport „ 9.00 „ „ Lowell ,, 5.45 „ There connecting with Steamers Sristol or Providence^ arriving in New York at 5.00 a.m., in season for the early morning trains going West and South. Elegant Dratving-Booni Cars are to be placed upon this line on and after June 17, and run between Lancaster, N.H., and Newport, R.I., without change. Travellers will find this to be unsurpassed by any other route. The Steamers are superior to any, and elegant State-roouis on Steamers, or apart- ments in Drawing-Uoom Cars can be secured at t!ie ticket f)ffice of Fall Hiver Line in New York, or at any of the principal hotels and ticket offices at mountain houses and railroad stations on the line. Experienced attendants will accompany each through car, and pay every attention to the welfare of pa.<(sengers. It will be readily .«een that via this route passengers will avoid the tedious delays, frequent changes of cars, and transfers of baggage, which exist via other routes . Sure Connections are made via this Line. Through Tickets, and Bagga,5e Checked through, to and from all Important Points. Ask/or Tickets via Concord, Lowell, and Fall River Line. A. P. BACON, Supt. Steamers N. S. S. Co. J. R. KKNDRICK, Supt. 0. C. & N. R. R. A. E. SWAZEY, „ T. B. R. R. H. A. BLOOD, „ B. C. & F. R R. J. B. WINSLOW, ,, N. & L U. K. II. E. CHAMI5EIiLAIN, „ Concord R. R. J. A. DODC.E, ,, B. C & M. R. R , and White Mt. R'y. 3DIRECT ROXJTK TO LAKE WINNIPISEOGEE, NORTH COflWAY^ WHITE AND FRANCONIA MOUNTAINS. Via Boston 8c Maine R. R., Dover 8c Winnipiseogee R. R., and New Steamer iVIount Washington. Less Railroad and Twenty Miles more by Steamboat on the Lake, from Eas-- ton to Centre Harbor, than by any other Route. Boston to the Lake without change of Cars. Baggage checked through to Wolfboro' or Centre llarbor. SUMMER A.ItItANGEMENT, JULY 1, 1872. C®~ Passenger Trains will leave Boston and Maine U.U. Station, Ilaymarket Square -.^ FlKST Train at 8.30 a.m., amving at Dover at 10.45 A 11., Alton liay ac 11.4J A..\i., connecting with Steamer Mount Washington for Wolfboro', ami arrive at Cent)-e Harbtj- at 1.45 P.M. ; thence by Stage, same day, for Conway, North Conway, and Plymouth* Second Train at 12.30 p.m., arriving at Dover at 3.00 p.m., Alton llay at 4.10 p.m., Wolt- boro' at 4.45 P.M., and Centre Harbor at 6 p.m., connecting with Stage next day. Third Train at 3.15 p.m., arriving at Dover at 6.08, and Alton Bay at 7.15 P.M., and remain over night at Bay View House, and take steamer next morning. Fourth Train at 5 p.m., arriving at Dover at 7.40 p.m., stop over night, and proceed next morning. , Trains leave Alton Bay for Boston and Portland at 6 45, 10.15 a.m., 4.05 p.m. ! Passengers from Portland, Saco, and all stations east of Dover, by taking the 6.15 A.M. train from Portland, can connect at Dover with (he 10.45 A.M. train for Alton Bay, Wolf- boro', and Centre Harbor, and return to Portland same day. Passengers from all ^>tatiou8 on Boston and Maine, Portsmouth and Concord, and Lowell and Lawrence Railroads, ttnd from Newburyport, can traverse the entire length of the Lake and return same daV STAGE CONNECTIONS. — Stages leave Centre Harbor daily, on arrival of 8.30 A.si. train from Boston, for Conway, North Conway, and White Mountains; also from Centre Harbor to Sandwich and Centre Sandwich; leave Wolfboro', Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, for Tuftonboro', Moultonboro', Sandwich, and Centre Sandwich ; leave Alton, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, for Laconia. Returning, leave Laconia, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, for Alton, in season to connect with trains for Boston and Portland. Also leave Gonic every Saturday, for Stratford Corner, North Strafford, Ujiid North Barnstead. I5@~ Travellers will find this to he unsurpassed by any other route, .-©a Lake Winnipiseogee, with its 365 islands, lies directly in the path of the traveller, giving an opportunity to view the most beautiful and picturesque scenery that can be found in journeying to and from the White Mountains. No place can surpass it as a place of summer resort for the Angler, the Artist, the Gunner, the Man of Leisure, or the Invalid. The conveyance over the Lake is by the new Steamer MOUNT WASHING- TON, Captain A. WlOGlN. This steamer leaves Meredith Village on Tuesdays, Thurs- days, and Saturdays, at 6.30 A.M., for Alton Bay and Boston, via Centre Harbor and Wolfboro'; leave Centre Harbor daily for Alton Bay and Boston, via Wolfboro', at 8.00 A.M. and 1.45 P.M.; leave Wolfboro' daily for Alton Bay at 9.15 a.m. and 3.00 P.M. Returning, leave Alton Bay daily at 11.45 a.m. (a good dinner will be served on this trip) and 4.10 P.M. for Wolf boro' and Centre Harbor; leave Alton Bay for Meredith Village, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, at 4.10 p.m., for Wolfboro' and Centre Harbor. Thus traversing Thirty Miles (the whole length of the Lake), and affording an entire view of its scenery, which can be had on no other route. Tourists journeying leisurely can delay at the various points of interest along the road, and find the 'best hotel accommodations. ■eST" TICKETS for this route can be procured at all the principal stations on the Boston & Maine Railroad, and on board the steamer for Boston or Portland. 'Passengers for tho Mountains, via Lake Winnipiseogee, >vill call for tickets via Dover and Alton Bay. CO- LAKE WINNIPISEOGEE HOTELS.— The following first-class hotels are on the borders of this beautiful Lake, where guests can be provided with good living, fine rooms, horses, carriages, boats, etc. Bay View House, at Alton Bay, O. C. Coffm, proprietor; Pavilion, at Wolfboro', E. A. Hardy. Proprietor; SerUer House, Centre Harbor, J. L. Huntress, Proprietor; JIfouUnn House, Cantre Harbor. S. F. Emery, Proprietor; Nerv Hampshire House, Dover, A. IL Rowe, Proprietor; Elm House, Meredith Village, G. M. Burleigh proprietor. C®~ Passcugei-8 will find at Boston and Exeter ftrst-claiis DlNlNO-ROOSlh. WM. MERRITT, Supt FALL RIVER LINE, TO JTJEJ^ irOKK. Via OLD COLONY AND NE^WPORT RAILWAY. Cars leave the Station of the Old Colony and Newport Railroad, Corner of Kneeland and South Streets, Boston (DAILY), at 4.30 P.M. by the Accommodation Train, at 5.30 P.M. by the Steamboat Express Train (via Fall River), for the world-renowned Steamers PROVIDENCE and BRISTOT^. TICKETS for this Line Steamers, Berths, and State Rooms obtained at No. 3 OLD STATE HOUSE, Corner "Washington and State Streets, Boston, and at the OLD COLONY AND NEW- PORT RAILROAD STATION, Corner of Kneeland and South Streets. iKg=- Hall's Brass, String, and Reed Band, engaged for the Season. Passengers are landed in the immediate vicinity of the New Jersey, Pavonia, and Desbrosses-Street Ferries (California and European Steamers). THROUGH TICKETS to Philadelphia, Wilmington, Bal- timore, Washington, West, South, South-West, California, &c. Bagcage checked and transferred in New York. TO SHIPPERS OP FREIGHT. — This line, with its well-known Depot accommodations in Boston, and large Piers in Fall River, Newport, and New York, is supplied with facilities for Freight and Passenger Business which cannot be surpassed. Freight forwarded with despatch. New York Express Freight Trains leave Boston at 1 30 p.m. Goods arrive in New York next morning about 6 A.M. Freight leaving New York at 5. 15 p.m. reaches Boston on the following day at 9.45 A.M. A. P. BACON, Superintendent. H. H. MANGAM, General Freight Agent, Pier 30 North River, Neio York. GEO. SHIVERICK, Freight and Passenger Ag't., No. 3, Old State House, Boston. EASTMAN'S EASTERN COAST GUIDE, With Map of the Eastern Coast, and of the Railroads and Townships of New England; also a Map of Cape Cod Railroad. This book is very useful to Travellers and Tourists, and interesting to the general reader ; being a complete GUIDE BOOK to Newport, Nan- tucket, Martha's Vineyard, Cape Cod, South Shore, East- ern Railroad and Coast, Hampton, Rye, Old Orchard, and other Beaches, Mount Desert, and further East. This is a cowpanion book to Eastman^s " Wliite Mountain Guide.'''' 16mo. Flexible cloth. Price $1.50. Sent free by mail on receipt of price. The Commonwealth, Boston, says: "The Eastmans of Concord, N.n., did good service with their ' White Mountain Guide.' They now have pre- pared an ' Eastern Coast Guide,' which is a hand-book of the coast from New- port to Mount Desert, — very full, very accurate, and jus* the thing for the season." The Salem Register says : " Eastman's Guide Books are always good.'' EDSON C. EASTMAN, Publisher, Concord, N.n. NORTHERN (N. H.) RAILROAD. WHITE, FRANCOIA, AND MANSFIELD JMOXJlVTA.ir^S Willoughhy and Magog Lakes. VIA THE NORTHERN (N. H.) RAILROAD. Passenger Trains leave Concord on arrival of Trains from Boston, Worces- ter, Portsmouth, &c., for Wells River, Littleton, Whitefield, St. Johnsbury, Newport, and Magog Lake, Mansfield Mountain, Burlington, Route's Point, Montreal, Ogdensburgh, the West, &c., at 10.35, Express (Drawing-room Car from Boston with this train), and 10.40, A.M. ; also at 8.35 p.m., for White River Junction, Montpelier, Mansfield Mountain, Rouse's Point, Montreal, Og- densburgh, and the West, reaching Montreal and Ogdensburgh the next morning. Trains leave White Elver Junction, at 1.50,* A. M., 12.20, and 5.20, V. M., or on arrival of trains from the Vermont Central, Passurapsic, and White Mountains Roads, with passengers leaving Magog Lake and the Mansfield, White, and Franconla Mountains the same morning, for Boston, Portsmouth, Lawrence, LowoU, Worcester, Providence, New- port, New York, &c. Trains each way stop at White River Juncflon, for passengers to dine. VISITORS TO THE WHITE AND MANSFIELD MOUNTAINS AND FEANCONIA NOTCH, from Boston, Newport, New York, and the South, via Portsmouth, Lawrence, Lowell, Nashua, Worcester, Norwich, Providence, Concord, Northern, Passumpsic, and White Mountains Railroads to Littleton (which is about twelve miles from the Franconia Notch, and twenty miles from the White Mountain House, and much the nearest point to * This train is run through to Boston on Suuday. the Notch of the Franconia and the White Mountains reached by cars), will find this a pleasant route, through tlie Valley of the Merrimack and Connecticut Rivers, by Dartmouth College, Norwich University, the Sulphur Springs of Newbury, Vt., — and as cheap as any other route. Newport Station, on the Passumpsic River Railroad, is at the head of Magog Lake. Willougliby Lake is five miles from West Burke Station, on the same road. Waterbury Station, on the Vermont Central Road, is ten miles from Mount Mansfield House. THE MOUNTAIN REGIONS OF VERMONT. The mountain regions of Vermont present attractions to the seeker after pleasure unsurpassed by any spot in New England. The Green Mountains are justly celebrated, and the view from Mount Mansfield (the highest peak) is most splendid. This mountain Is five thousand feet high, and from it may be obtained a magnificent view of the whole range of the Green Mountains, also the Valley, Lake Chara« plain, with its numerous islands and busy steamers. Burlington, Tl- conderoga, and Plattsburgh are directly before the eye, and the Adi- rondac Mountains, in New York, in the distance. Montreal, seventy miles, and the White Mountains, one hundred miles distant, can bo seen with tlie naked eye. Fifty villages, and every county in the State, are visible from the summit. There is an excellent Hotel upon the summit, and at the foot of the mountain, that splendid Hotel, the "Mansfield House," ofi'ers attractions to make one's stay agreeable; and all who become the guests of its hospitable proprietors, can ex- claim, with truth, " I am at home ! " Passengers make quick connection at White River Junction, and proceed to Waterbury, on the Vermont Central Railroad, from which point they take passage to Stowe by stage. The ride to Stowe (10 miles) is over a beautiful road, wJiere is found the new Hotel, the "Mansfield House," with all the modern improvements; and the vil- lage itself cannot be surpassed for a quiet summer residence. Tickets to Detroit from Boston, Concord, and Portsmouth, and intermediate points, via tliis route, $15.00. From Bellows Falls, Mont- pelier. White River .Junction, and other stations in Vermont, $l(t. Good for ten days. From Boston to Detroit, and return, good for thirty days, $30. Fare from Detroit to Chicago, $S.50. This Line is supplied with good Sleeping and Smo-kiiig Cars, and Refresliment Saloons, unsurpassed by any other route. Also new and elegant Drawing-Room Cars on day Express Train from Boston. 11^°* General Office, JVo. 6S Washington Street, Boston, Mass* I.. MILLIS, Gen. Agent Vermont Central Line.