The Portland daily press., 1865-10-13
Remote Lakes, Woods, and Mountains o.
Maine. ~
q INDIAN Rock, Sept. IS, 1855.


beautiful valley in which Phillips is situated,
and rougher country opens to our view-so
rough that nobody but New Highlander would
ever have thought OF settling in it. Yet there
are occasional log-cabins and frame houses,
and clearings with sheep and cattle about Us;
and here and there green and fertile field
stretching away up or down the hill, SHOWS
that the land is susceptible of high improve
meat. = .-er enn# Res&& !
But the scene as we advance becomes more
wild. the clearings more meagre; there is no
Lecel land. and the ancient forests hold posses
sion of the mountain sleeps. Up, up, up, our
course carries us, over the hips of Saddle Back
mountain untilh hoary head, although near
" mile in perpendicular height, seems de-
pressed beneath its cap Of clouds, and the as
cent thereto comparatively insignificant.
Anonwe pass the nest of white houses and
their shop, known as Madrid, ThepIs lonely,
pond, one of the sources of Sandy River, va
res the view, with fight Of Wild ducks, and
a single sportsman in wherry, to. give ami
nation to the scene; and rafting down, into a
shady valley, we soon come upon the borders
Of CLASSY lakelet, hinged with forests, and
darkened by mountain activities very
head waters Of the Androscoggin River if the
sixty miles of intervening lakes to Errol, be
considered asconnecting links. Onward, the
road follows the course of an impetuous noun
tain stream, which seems Co rejoice in the
loneliness Of its surroundings
Presently the broad Oquassuc pensinto view,
over the woods, q sea Of silver against its
neither dark blue mountain sleeps. Only
moment does itremain in sight, and sudden
descent brings us upon the pleasant clearing
and neat ta1ern-house Of Mr.. Prescott, at the
extreme head of the lake, in Green Vale Plan
tation.a s0fu seffEs hHr ggwB4 e9xCG
| Somebody has said that .@about the best por-,
tior, of day of travel is the dinner hourw
of .gastronomy, I hold the remark Jsensible;,
and from what followed our arrival at Green
Vale, can heartily recommend to the travel
ers hereabouts who may chance to feel the eff
fects Of hard travel in a keen appetite, to sub
NIT their case TO the kind-hearted landlady of
the Prescott" and think can warrant a
cure. fr stl-4l ~ ,, "a
The land in this vicinity is exceedingly fer
tile; and a ramble Of three or four miles after
dinner, along the head of the lake into Range
ly,, revealed some extensive and beautiful
farms, whose smooth green fields showed that
they had long been cultivated. Large crops
of hay, wheat, rye, oats and potatoes are here
the almost certain reward of the farmers Ia
bors. Wheat does best on high lands, where
it generally escapes theravages of the weeYiI;
and one Of the settlers informed me that on
his newly burnt, hill side lands, he had raised
thi1ty-fVe bushels to the acre,-and that he
considered twenty bushels an ordinary crop.
Yet he was about disposing Of his place and
removing to the far West with the expectation
of bettering his condition. nx4G arlruI /
The demands Of the lumberers have largely
conduced to the settlement of this region, and
through them q ready market is always found
forthe farmers crops, at his own door Q Some
of the early settlers have thus become quite
wealthy. Withal, in Green Vale. at least, they
are almost freed from taxation, for, on the
first call for volunteers for the war, enough
young men came forward, without bounties,
to more than fill the plantation's quotas for
that and all the succeeding caIls-and the
whole State assessment on the inhabitants is
less than six dollarsi '--A s's3 Y a 1 ~ "a
| A nights rest in clean beds and well-yeni-
lated rooms, rendered the bracing air and soft
| sunshine of the morning following, the more
appreciable. Then came turn at Cunning in
/ the woods, during which we succeeded in
shooting every partridge, save one, that came in
sight, and he ran away on the first sign of our
intention to reload after we had brought down
his conlpaniOniA AA4E@B SSH =
! A trip on the lake in the afternoon, accom-
panied by the obliging landlord Of the ''Pres-
eottp andlhis pleasant lady, who proved her
self as expert with the rod as the best of us,
was equally successful. Here our friend E.
| performed the memorable feat of taking his
first trout. How he played him, how he gave
him the line and reeled him in again, how he
wearied him out and succeeded at last in get
| ting him on board our wherry, have probably
been chronicled ere this in his piquant heb
aomidal. Thenceforward trout, the rich red,
juicy flesh Of the noble lGkers, became the CHIEF
| dish-at more than half our meals.
| There are many prospects ofromantic inter
| est in the vicinity of Prescott's. The giimpses
| from the neither hil1-sides, of the lake and the
rural scenery Of Rangely are beautiful; the
1 impetuous stream that connects the lakelet
called Long Pond, and 0quassuc, with its over
arching trees, its bordering masses of fall-as-
ters, golden rod, and sprawling vines now en-
| erimSoned by ripeness, affords many pictures
| qqevieYs; and in the ravine Of a wild, rocky
stream that descends from old Saddleback, are
| two waterfalls which in their forms and sur
/ roundings reminded me of the Crystal Cascade
and Glen Ellis Falls, of the White Mountains
Certainly they are quite as difficult Of approach
Tan important matte in rendering such OBJ
lects iamous), ardin their accessories of sleepy
cliffs, beetling woods, and dank moses, every
way as romantic. Az
Having spent couple of days at Green
Vale, we started on trip down the lake, in
an open, wherry, with our host Prescott fol
| propelling power. The wind was directly
ahead. Indeed, from my experience on oquas,
| sue, / should incline to think that the wind
here has the popularity Of always BLOWING
;. against you, whichever way you go-or, per
haps, it blows round and round, and we had
always the misfortune to be on the wrong
shore From some such experience, and. fol-
the purpose Of better accommodating the in
creasing travel, Mr. Prescott has it in contem-
olation to have small steam propeller on the
lake the next year. '. s.i 4. VI,
| After hard pull Of three hours, at which
We Dassengersin turn took spell-(mean-
while touching at a woody island midway in
inc lake for few moments rest) we lost sight
the settlers clearings, and all became as
| wild and SOLITARY j - ~ 49, s.,,.,o,,5 z.a.