The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1865-10-03
REMOTE 1AKns, WOODS AND NOUN
TAINs OF MAINE.
INpIAN Roox, Sept. %, 1s'


desire. to know what there was beyond the
huge. hazy giant, toward the Canada line;
longing with which my companion E. seemed
equally imbued. We had run away from the
cares of business, were bound to no where in
particular-and what should hinder us in max
ing the ascent? The subject was preached OF
our ready landlord, Blanchard, who at once
proposed to join us in the trip
Behold us on a sultry, humid morning, with
the clouds staggering about the sky as if dubi-
Gus which way to go,-but with the prospect,
according to the indications Of my friend Els
bones, of clear weather by noon, issuing forth
from the Basin of Phillips, our means Of loco
motion being smart team and an easy-goins
wagon.
We soon struck into more rough and ster-
lie region, where several of the rugged farms
were deserted, and their buildings going to
swift decay. Some Of their owners, perhaps,
had found more fertile fields to work, in the
far West, and some, having gone forth to bat
tie for their countrys integrity, and the rights
of man, had yielded up their lives on the er-
sanguined fields of Virginia, or in the desper-
ates strifes of the Mississippi and Tennessee
or had fallen victims to the miasmata ofsouth-
ern swamps. Many an one is THUS missed from
the households in this region-and In some
cases, rgtfi
sThey came of the array whose arm in former days
Had scathed the rose on England's banner,I q q
descendants of the revolutionary VETERANS,
they were ready on the first call, to 60 forth to
battle for cause Of higher import even than
that which demanded the energies of their ia
theirs. sfs0 sttr :.
From the nomenclature of the region, as
well as from the arid ruggedness ofthe scenery
we might have fancied ourselves amidst the
hills of Palestine Mt. Abraham was before
us, and Jerusalem and Sidon not far away
and here we come into Salem's streets; but
the sgoIden towers" and sbsarded priests was
wanting. Indeed, our information was to the
effect, that there is not minister, a doctor or
lawyer within the limits of the township
Of among the hills again wego, by blind path
ways, and finally arrive at the pleasant farm
house of Mr.. Bartlett Lovejoy and the end of
the road, under the wooded heights of Abra-
ham, and our guide, who had in advance re-
celved notice of our coming, is in waiting for
us-an ready. While discussing the practica-
bility of doing the space between us and the.
topSof the mountain, within the limits of an
hour or SO, Mr.. Lovejoy questioned us as to
our appreciation of the distance. about two.
miles" replied E. Not an inch less than four
miles, was the rejoinder, "and as long miles
as you viii ever want to trayelp' It wassallI
the same, and olive started. f.yrvg
For half a mile, the ascent was through OPP
en- rocky pasture lands, where hundreds of
sheep, gave evidence by their plumpness, that
they found excellent feed. Then we struck in
to the woods, and commenced harder scram-
Bile up, amidst their everlasting twilight. In
some fifteen minutes being pretty well 'blown,n
we halt for short rest, and a distant roar,
GAS of thousand rapid wheels sss5
Deep in some thronging city,
arrests our attention. 1t comes of the wind
that has sprung up, surging among the pines
on the opposite activities of the mountain !;
and through openings in the bonghs overhead,
we catch glimpses of the clouds that had been
so uncertain as to their whereabouts all the
forenoon, pouring across the sky as if rushing
to the attack of opposing forces. Presently
the gale is thrashing among the tree-tops
above us, and an occasional swirl Of great rain
drops pattering around, warns US of the fierce
ness of the melee But we are. bound to as.
cend Mt Abraham, rain or shine and on we
go clambering up steep after steep, the outside
conmotion increasing as we increase our alti-'
tude. There is no lookout from the base to
within few rods of the summit, the ancient
bearded trees oversha downing, on every
side. - "a - *
Two hours of undated contest with the
mountain activities, and the increasing light
and the sfirieking of the winds among the
sharp cliffs tell us that we are near the sum-
nit, Presently we lifted ourselves from out a
growth of scraggy andb tasted spruces, and
scene of wildness, grandeur and gloom, met
our view, which I can never forget. We.were
looking northward and westward over the
~milion acres" A wilderness of mountains
was before us, with abrupt, deep vany's be-
tween, like host of embattled giants, some
of them shattered into enormous precipices,
others erect and defiant, overshadowed and
blackened by canopy of dense clouds that
wheeling together and convolved, seemed like
volumes Of pitchy smoke generated in their
midstl Dante, in his loftiest moments of in
spiratien, could not have imagined more fit
ting vestibule to the Tartarian Regions, than
that huge array of gigantic columns with its
impending canopy of agitated gloom. Par
rnachene, which we expected to discover, was
hid among the torturous declivities, but lake
Kenebago shone like a belt of liquid silver, in
full sight, by contrast rendering the wildness
of its surroundings almost terrific. Ever and
anon, shreds and patches torn from this aggre-
cation of mists thus clinging to this stern ar
my of anal1im,s would fly by us with the speed
of lightning, and the gale shrieking among
the cliffs, beset US with such power, THAT it was
with difficulty we kept ourselves from being
blown down the preeipicss.s However, by
searching, we found shelters among the rocks,
and were enabled to canvas the scene on ev-
cry side. a}ss3A -
Northeasterly to the right of the sharp cones
of Mt. Bigelow, under the low-sloping cloud
curtains, we could see Ms6aeAead Lake, spread
out like the ocean, agitated and uncertain as
to its boundaries, with queer line Of 1op-sid-
ed and hump-backed mountains apparently on
its neither side; and beyond, 9assitwere, re-
treating into another world, was the dim out
lines of huge mountain ridges, which we took
to be Katahdin. Southwesterlys were the lof-
ty humps of Saddleback, with. the ragged
clouds exploring their passes, and to- the left,
over a,billowy sea of intervening hills, seventy
miles distant or SO beneath a. ealmer sky,
grand and beautiful, rose the loftier peaks