The mountains of New England are her choicest possessions-treasures over which physiographers ponder and enthuse in their scientific researches and whose rugged schists and even uplands have earned the appelation of peneplain;-sacred regions where the Great Manitou of the aborigines dwelt in power and splendor;-and glorious retreats where thousands of tourists annually journey in search of health and repose in the most refreshing of climes and amid the most gorgeous of landscape views. All parts of the great Appalachian System, they lie scattered over three states, New Hampshire has her wonderful Granite Hills, the White Mountains; Vermont looks toward her sponsors and patrons the Green Mountains; Maine has her twin peaks, Katahdin and Kineo, (described in a previous issue), while in Massachusetts, the Hoosac and Taconic Ranges and the beautiful Berkshire Hills, afford a wonderful diversity of scenery.

The White Mountain Region proper embraces an area of about three thousand square miles, extending over fifty miles from North to South and a like distance from East to West. Four large rivers, the Connecticut, Merrimac, Saco and Androscoggin have their sources in these mountains and nowhere is there a vista of nature more diversified in its matchless magnificence than the glorious scenes presented among the "Crystal Hills." Rich intervales of deep emerald verdure, surrounded by rising hills, shrouded in a woodland coat of deeper hue; trickling cascades, winding like silvery serpents round rocks and ledges; blossoming fields of fresh, perfumed flowers; roaring cataracts and waterfalls; wonderful grottoes and caverns, wilder and more attractive than the greatest works of sculptor and artist! In this region are some forty different summer resorts, each with its own particular attributes to lure the tourist. Plymouth is the popular gateway, situated near the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Baker's Rivers, which flow through the delightful meadows and intervales of the Pemigewasset Valley. Plymouth is a fitting approach to the further wonders of the White Mountains. The Pemigewasset House, where Hawthorne died while on a visit to the mountains with Franklin Pierce, is the chief hotel, and the same building esrves as hotel and railroad station. From Plymouth, there are two paths

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leading to the center of the monutains; so we will pursue first the course followed by the main line of the Boston & Maine Railroad to Bethlehem Junction. The route lies along the banks of the Baker River through the quaint sequestered villages of Quincy, Rumney and Wentworth across the bridge to Warren, almost at the base of Mt. Moosilauke. Moosilauke is the favored peak of this portion of the mountain district and is in the town of Benton. Like a giant, standing among the lesser hills of Rumney and Wentworth, with no nearer neighbors than the Franconia Mountains, Moosilauke reigns supreme with his 4.811 feet the highest elevation in the state, east of Mt. Lafayette. On the summit, which is a broad plateau, is located the Tip Top House. This hotel has lately been remodelled and can comfortably accommodate fifty guests. The summit is reached by carriage from Warren Station to Breezy Point, where buckboards can be procured for the trip to the top. Breezy Point is a southern spur of the mountain, seventeen hundred feet high, five miles from the sunimit and equally distant from Warren. The Moosilauke is excellent hotel, delightfully situated well up on the spur, and looks after the tourist at this point. Distance lends enchantment to the view, as seen from Moosilauke's summit, and even the outlook from Mt. Washington fails to surpass it in many ways. Glencliff and Haverhill, both farming towns lie en route from Warren, and next is Woodsville, the gateway to the mountains proper. Woodsville has two hotels, the Johnson and the Wentworth. From here the journey leads through Bath and commences the ascent of the winding Ammonoosuc Valley. Beyond Bath, the Ammonoosuc is crossed and the town of Lisbon with its beautiful environs is at hand. Haut's Mountain is reached from Lisbon and Parker's Hill is an eminence nearby which commands an extensive prospect of the surrounding country. Lisbon has three hotels and several good boarding_houses. Sugar Hill, within the town of Lisbon, has a railroad station. About fifteen hundred feet above the sea, this eminence commands a grand panoramic view of the Green Mountains to the west and the nearer valleys and peaks of the Franconia Range. A reverend gentleman stopping some years ago at this heavenly resort, wrote concerning it

"An agreeable surprise awaits everyone who comes here for the first time to find how near he is to the mountains and yet not of them. Long ranges of mountain peaks are before him; the grand slopes and curves coming gracefully almost to his feet, yet he stands upon a rich limestone and slate soil, and the waving grain and the luxuriant foliage of the forest-a fitting dress for the Shenandoah Valleyplease the eye on every hand." Some elegant summer hotels, about ten in all, are located here. Littleton, a few miles beyond Sugar Hill, on the line of the railroad is one of the most prosperous towns of northern New Hampshire. It has a considerable summer colony and half a score of hotels to care for them, besides a number of cottages. Eustis Hill. just to the south of the town; Main's Hill, one and a half miles distant and Morrison's Hill, about a mile along the Franconia road present views of mountain scenery as fine as are to be found throughout the region. On the road to Bethlehem, the entire extent of the White Mountain Range is brought into view. Wing Road is the railroad junction point from where the traveller can continue north to the dominions of Coos County or turn to Bethlehem, Fabyans and Profile House. Profile House and these other mountain centers have another approach however, and far more entrancing and pleasing to the eye is the way of the Profile Notch! From Plymouth, the journey on a branch of the railroad is through Campton Village in the valley of the Pemigewasset, where the vista of meadow and woodland, blended with their variegated tints of foliage, the gray tips of the nearby hills and the shimmering surfaces of green-fringed mountain streams, have produced the rich result so earnestly sought after by landscape lovers and artists. West Campton, West Thornton and Woodstock all share the joys and benefits of the blessed Pemigewasset and all are amply equipped with hotels and boarding houses.

At North Woodstock, the stage leaves for the trip through Franconia Notch. North Woodstock is in full view of the Notch and is one of the most beautiful spots in the White Mountains. It is remarkable for its great variety of views and the numerous points of interest nearby. Among the many visiting places are "The Eddy," "The Sweetheart Rocks," Mt. Cilley, the Ice Caves, Mirror Lake, Loon Pond and Cascade, Bells Cascade and the wonderful Lost River, a region replete with natural curiosities and never discovered until 1895. North Woodstock contains ten large hotels some of the most luxurious of the mountain inns. The

stage is the means of transportation through the "Notch," a wonderful moun

tain pass, about six miles long. It lies between the Franconia and Pemigewasset Ranges. The commencement of the Notch is at the "Flume" a deep and narrow gorge, the bottom of which is a ravine seven hundred feet in height, with cascades and waterfalls scattered about everywhere. Here is located the Flume House and the trip from here to the Profile House, Starr King says, "contains more objects of interest to the mass of travellers than any other region of equal extent within the usual compass of the White Mountains tour," and he especially recommends this course to "Those who would thoroughly enjoy and taste with eye and ear the freshness of the forest, the glancing light on a mountain stream, the occasional rare beauty of the mosses on its banks, the colors at the bottom of its cool, still pools, the over arching race of its trees, or the busy babble of its broken and sparkling tide." Among the natural attractions which are plentifully observed throughout the mountains, the Notch has first call; the pool is a rocky basis surrounded by high cliffs in the midst of the forest and catches the waters of the rushing Pemigewasset as it courses from the cascade above. The Basin, about one and a half miles from the Flume House, is a large rocky bowl, hollowed in the rocks by the wearing of the waters and filled to a depth of fifteen feet with the clear waters of the Pemigewasset; Echo Lake, a beautiful, crystal like sheet is guarded by Eagle Cliff; Bald Mountain is close by and Mt. Cannon is about three quarters of a mile north from the Profile House at the head of the Notch. A short distance south, at the foot of Mt. Cannon, is another body of clear, limpid water, Profile Lake. Mt. Cannon is a precipitous peak, nearly four thousand feet high, composed of huge exposed areas of granite ledges. "The Profile" or "Old Man of the Mountains" is a remarkable profile in rock of a man's features. It looks towards the southeast and is formed by three separate ledges of granite. This wonderful natural phenomenon has been admired by and written of by thousands of travellers from all parts of the globe. Hawthorne's story on the "Great Stone Face" is a tale of the Profile. The Flume House is a magnificent hotel with accommodation easily for one hundred, while at the end of the stage ride is the Profile House. The new Profile House, which was opened in June. is one of the most elegant and costly hostelries in New England.

South of Wing Road and north from Profile House but a few miles, is Bethlehem, the mountain mecca, the paradise of the upland regions. Bethlehem is the highest of New England's villages and is