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medicinal purposes, New Hampshire has a great variety; the ginseng, so much esteemed by the Chinese, is found here in abundance, and of good quality. Here are produced also the buck-bean, the large flowering dogwood, lobelia, henbane, cicuta, &c.

13. Face of the Country. With the exception of a small tract, 20 or 30 miles in width, along the coast, which is level, or nearly so, this State presents a surface broken up into every diversity of hill, valley, and mountain. The hills increase in height as they recede from the sea, till they swell into the lofty grandeur of the White Mountains. New Hampshire is the most mountainous State in the Union; and, from the great beauty of its lake, mountain, and river scenery, has been denominated the Switzerland of America.

14. Natural Curiosities. Bellows Falls form a remarkable cataract or rather violent rapid in the Connecticut, at the village of Bellows Falls, 5 miles from the town of Walpole. The breadth of the river above the fall is from 16 to 22 rods; a large rock divides the stream into two channels, each about 90 feet wide on the top of the shelving bank. When the water is low, the east channel appears crossed by a bar of solid rock, and the whole stream falls into the west channel, where it is contracted into the breadth of 16 feet, and flows with astonishing swiftness. There are several pitches, one above another, in the length of half a mile, the largest of which is that where the rock divides the stream; the descent in this whole course is 42 feet. Notwithstanding the velocity of the current, the salmon used to pass up this fall, and were taken many miles above. The Indians were accustomed to spear large numbers of them in their descent. There is a bridge across the falls, and a canal half a mile long, with 9 locks, around them on the west side. Amoskeag Falls, in the Merrimack, consist of three successive pitches, falling nearly 50 feet. The neighborhood of these falls was formerly much frequented by the Indians, and many skirmishes took place between them and the early settlers of Vermont and New Hampshire. During their wars, the savages concealed their provisions in the caves among the rocks of the island in the upper part of the fall. There are falls also at Barrington, and extensive caverns in Chester. At Franconia is a singular eminence called the Profile Mountain, being a rugged peak 1000 feet in height, presenting a bold and majestic front of solid rock; a side view of this exhibits a profile of the human face, every feature of which is conspicuous.

POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY.

1. Divisions. The State is divided into 8 counties, which with the county towns are as follows:

Counties.

Coos,

Grafton,

Merrimack,

Sullivan,

Cheshire,

Hillsborough,

The capital is Concord.

County Towns.

Counties.

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County Towns. Dover. Gilmanton. Gilford. Rochester. Portsmouth. Exeter.

2. Canals. Several canals have been constructed round the falls of the Merrimack; Bow canal, half a mile in length, passes a fall of 25 feet; Hooksett canal, 50 rods in length, passes Hooksett falls, with a lockage of 16 feet; Amoskeag canal passes a fall of the same name, with a lockage of 45 feet, and Union canal overcomes 7 falls.

3. Roads, Railroads, and Bridges. There have been incorporated 53 turnpike companies in New Hampshire, which have completed roads to the extent of about 500 miles. The bridges are about 25, without reckoning small ones. These are all of wood. The Nashua railroad, from Nashua to Lowell, is partly in this State; a continuation of this work to Concord, 30 miles, and of the Boston and Maine railroad, through Plaistow, Exeter, and Dover, 30 miles, are in progress; and that of the Eastern railroad, from the Massachusetts line to Portsmouth, 18 miles, is contemplated. Railroads from Dover to Alton, on Winnipiseogee Lake, 28 miles, and from Concord, by the Contoocook valley, to Claremont, on the Connecticut, 45 miles, are projected. The Portland and Connecticut River Railroad Corporation has been formed, with the design of building a railroad from Portland to Haverhill.

4. Towns. The largest town is Portsmouth; it lies at the mouth of the Piscataqua, upon a

peninsula, and is the only seaport in the State. It has one of the best harbors in the world, completely landlocked, never frozen, and accessible to the largest ships. It is defended by several forts and batteries, and contains a number of islands, on one of which is a United States navy-yard. Portsmouth has a pleasant and healthy situation; it contains some handsome buildings, and the town is generally well built. The churches, a court-house, several banks, 2 markets, an academy, an athenæum, containing valuable cabinets, and an almshouse, are among the buildings. This town has a considerable commerce, and the inhabitants own 26,000 tons of shipping. Portsmouth is connected with Kittery, in Maine, by two bridges, one 480 feet in length, and the other 1750; they are built upon 90 framed sections of piers. The town has suffered severely by fires, the most recent and destructive of which, in 1813, consumed 397 buildings. Population, 9,000. Ship-building is extensively carried on here..

Concord, on the Merrimack, is the seat of government, and lies principally on the west bank of the river, in one street, nearly two miles in length. It contains a State house and State prison, both of granite, a court-house, several churches, banks, and printing offices, and 200 houses. On the east of the river is a considerable village, and another is forming in the western part of the town. The State house is a neat edifice 126 feet in length, and 49 in width; it has two stories above the basement, and is surmounted by a cupola. The State prison is a granite building 70 feet long and 36 wide, and is enclosed by a wall 14 feet high, surmounted by 10 additional feet of pickets. The convicts are employed in stone-cutting, coopering, iron work, shoe-making, weaving, and tailoring. Much of the trade of the upper country centres in this place, and the manufactures are considerable and increasing. Sewall's falls furnish a valuable water power. Granite quarries are also worked in the town. Population, 4,500. There are two bridges across the Merrimack in the town. Nashua is an important manufacturing town on the Merrimack, with 5,600 inhabitants.

Dover, 10 miles northwest from Portsmouth, on the Cocheco, 4 miles above its junction. with the Piscataqua, is the oldest town in New Hampshire, and contains a court-house, jail, bank, and extensive cotton manufactories. The river here has many falls, the largest of which is 40 feet. Population, 6,000. Somersworth, near Dover, comprises the manufacturing village of Great Falls, where there are several large manufactories. Population, 3,600. Exeter, 14 miles from Portsmouth, at the head of tide water, on a stream running into the Piscataqua, is a considerable town. It has a court-house, academy, and several manufactories of cotton, powder, starch, paper, oil, &c. Population, 3,500. Population, 3,500. Amherst, on Souhegan River, a branch of the Merrimack, is a pleasant village, having a mineral spring. Keene, Walpole, Hanover, and Haverhill, are also considerable towns.

5. Agriculture. New Hampshire is chiefly an agricultural State. Maize, wheat, rye, oats, barley, flax, grass, &c., are the common products of the earth; and pork, beef, mutton, poultry, butter, and cheese are exported. Agricultural societies are numerous, and great exertions are made to improve the state of tillage. Plaster of Paris from New Brunswick has been used for some years as a manure. On the interval lands, which border the rivers, wheat often yields 20 or 30 bushels to the acre, though generally from 15 to 20 is considered a good crop; maize will average 30 or 40 bushels, and potatoes 200 or 300. Of fruits, there are a variety. No country produces more abundant crops of apples; and cider, by proper management, may be made of the best quality; peaches do not flourish here; but plums, pears, cherries, &c., grow in abundance. Meetings for cattle-shows are annually held, where the distribution of prizes has a considerable effect in exciting competition among the farmers.

6. Commerce. The exports from the northern part of the State, go necessarily to the markets in Maine, and a great portion of those from the middle and southern parts are carried to Newburyport, Boston, and Hartford. The maritime commerce of New Hampshire, therefore, strictly speaking, is confined to the single port of Portsmouth. The staple commodities exported are lumber, provisions, horses, neat cattle, pot and pearl ashes, flaxseed, &c. The inland trade is more important.

7. Manufactures. The preparation of lumber, fire-wood, pot and pearl ashes, ginseng, and maple sugar, furnishes sources of profit to this thrifty people, and some mines and quarries are advantageously worked. The large manufacturing establishments are not numerous, but the aggregate product of mechanical industry is considerable. Thus, in a great many villages, we find that leather, boots and shoes, carriages and wagons, mechanical and agricultural implements, hats of fur, wool, and palm-leaf, furniture of all kinds, buckets and casks, &c., and in fewer instances cotton and woolen goods, glass, paper, gunpowder, and pottery, are produced for

exportation, giving employment to many hands. Dover, Somersworth, Exeter, Newcastle, Nashua, and Amoskeag, are the principal seats of the large manufactories, and there is abundant water power at Concord, and many other places, not yet used. There are in the State, 60 cotton mills, 32 woolen mills, 952 saw mills, 609 grist mills, 15 oil, and 20 paper mills, &c.

8. Fisheries. 60 or 70 vessels, from 20 to 75 tons each, besides smaller craft, are employed during the fishing season, from the 1st of March to the latter part of November, in the bank and mackerel fisheries. These vessels take from 38,000 to 45,000 quintals of cod and pollock, and 6,000 barrels of mackerel yearly.

9. Education. Dartmouth College, in the town of Hanover, was established among a score

Dartmouth College.

of log huts, in 1770, and has now grown into a very respectable institution. It received its name from the Earl of Dartmouth, one of its early benefactors. The buildings are several handsome edifices, containing rooms for students, a laboratory with commodious lecture rooms, a chapel, and a dining hall; the libraries contain 20,000 volumes. The officers are a president, and 10 teachers; the number of students about 200, besides medical students. Phillips Academy, at Exeter, is one of the oldest and best endowed academies in the country. It was founded by John Phillips in 1781; it has a library and philosophical apparatus. There are also many other incorporated academies, and common schools are supported by

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law; the number of school districts is 1,698; schoolhouses, 1,600.

10. Religion. Perfect toleration is allowed, and no person without his consent can be called upon for the support of any religious society. The Calvinistic Congregationalists have 180 societies, and the Unitarians 17; the Presbyterians, 10; the Episcopalians, 10; the Calvinistic Baptists, 90; the Freewill Baptists, 100; the Christ-ians, 23; the Methodists, 71 ministers; the Quakers, 15 societies; the Universalists, 20; the Shakers 2, and the Sandemanians, 1. These last are the followers of Robert Sandeman, who came to this country in

1764.

11. Inhabitants. The origin, habits, and character of the people are similar to those of the inhabitants of New England generally, of which we have already given a sketch. The south part of the State is the most thickly settled.

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12. Antiquities. In Sanbornton, on Lake Winnipiseogee, at the head of Little Bay, are the remains of an ancient Indian fortification; it formerly consisted of 6 walls; one extending along the river and across a point of land into the bay, and the others at right angles, connected by a circular wall in the rear. Traces of these walls are yet to be seen, though most of the stones and other materials of which they were composed, have been removed to a dam in the river. Within the fort have been found numbers of Indian relics, and others also on an island in the bay. When the first settlers of these parts arrived, the walls were breast high, and large oaks were growing within their enclosure. Near the west shore of Ossipee Lake, is a circular mound 45 or 50 feet in diameter, from which have been taken skeletons, tomahawks, &c.

13. Government. The constitution of New Hampshire was established in 1792. The legislature consists of a Senate and House of Representatives. The senators are chosen in districts, and the representatives in towns. The legislature meets annually in June. The governor and executive council are chosen annually by the people. The judiciary system is

the same as in Maine and Massachusetts. The annual revenue of the State from taxes and the product of funded stock is about 50,000 dollars. The representatives to Congress are 5 All residents who pay taxes are voters.

14. History. New Hampshire was discovered by Captain Smith in 1614. The original patent was granted to John Mason and Ferdinando Gorges, in 1622; in this patent, the country was named Laconia. The first settlements were made at Dover and Portsmouth, in 1623. In 1641, all the settlements by a voluntary act submitted to Massachusetts, and were comprehended in the county of Norfolk, which extended from the Merrimack to the Piscataqua. In 1679, a new government was established, and New Hampshire was made a royal province by commission from Charles the Second. The first General Assembly met at Portsmouth in March, in 1680. The union with Massachusetts was renewed in 1689, but a separation took place in 1692. From 1699 to 1702 it was connected with Massachusetts and New York, and from 1702 to 1741, with Massachusetts alone, after which it remained a separate government. This State suffered much from the early Indian wars; one of the incidents of which may be related here, as illustrative of the vindictive and ferocious character of the savages.

In 1675, Major Waldron, by a stratagem, made prisoners of about 200 Indians, who had menaced the settlements with hostilities; 7 or 8 of these who were known to have committed some atrocities, were immediately hanged, and the rest sold into slavery. The Indians of the neighborhood were exasperated by this proceeding, and swore implacable revenge against Waldron. In 1689, after a lapse of 13 years, they found means to accomplish a scheme of vengeance. Waldron then dwelt at Dover, and the inhabitants of the town, unsuspicious of any hostility, were utterly off their guard, and allowed the savages to sleep within their garrison, so far were they deceived by their artful dissimulation. On the evening of the 27th of June, they assembled in the neighborhood of the town, and sent their squaws to apply for lodging at each house marked for destruction; these were admitted without suspicion.

In the dead of the night, the doors were thrown open at a concerted signal, and the Indians rushed from their ambush upon the defenceless inmates. Waldron, though 80 years old, made a gallant defence; he seized his sword and drove back those who broke into his chamber, but when returning for his weapons, was overpowered by numbers and struck down with a hatchet. The Indians dragged him into his hall, seated him in an elbow-chair upon a long table, and insultingly asked him, "Who shall judge Indians now?" Each one then with his knife cut gashes across his breast, saying "I cross out my account." When, weakened with the loss of blood, he was about to sink, his own sword was held under him, upon which he fell and died.

CHAPTER VII. VERMONT.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

1. Boundaries and Extent. Vermont is bounded north by Lower Canada, east by Connecticut river, which separates it from New Hampshire, south by Massachusetts, and west by New York, from which it is separated mostly by Lake Champlain. It lies between 42° 44′ and 45° north lat., 71° 33′ and 73° 26' west long., being 157 miles in length, from north to south, and 90 miles in breadth at the northern extremity, and 40 at the southern. It contains 10,000 square miles. No part of the State is nearer the ocean than 70 miles.

2. Mountains. The Green Mountains occupy the centre of the State throughout its whole length. This range begins in the State of Connecticut at West Rock, near New Haven, and extends north into Vermont. Tracing the course of these mountains from the southern limit of this State, we find them stretching northerly to the 44th parallel of latitude. At this point they divide into two branches; one of them called the Height of Land, continuing in a northeasterly course, forms the northern boundary of New Hampshire and Maine. The western range runs to the north, and terminates near the extremity of the State, in a succession of small hills. The highest summits of the Green Mountains belong to the western range, although the northeastern branch forms the ridge separating the tributary streams of the Connecticut from those of Lake Champlain, and some of these latter pass through the western range. The streams which arise on the west of the mountains in the southern part of the State, flow into the Hudson. From the southern limit of Vermont, to the point where the mountains are divided into two branches, the range is lofty and unbroken by the passage of any large stream; in these parts the communication between the districts, on the opposite sides, is difficult. The

western range beyond the fork is high and precipitous, but the rivers which cross its course have opened convenient passages, and the communication from east to west is much less obstructed than in the southern division. The northeastern branch is nearly uniform in height, and has no prominent elevations, but it diminishes on approaching the Canada line.

The Green Mountains are from 10 to 15 miles wide, much intersected with valleys, abounding in springs and streams, and exhibiting that perpetual verdure which has conferred upon them their name. Their sides are completely covered with woods, and their rocky summits are clad in a coat of green moss. The trees appear old, but small; they are chiefly of the evergreen kinds, pine, spruce, hemlock, and fir, intermixed with shrubs and bushes. Vegetation decreases on approaching the top of the mountains; the trees diminish in size, and frequently terminate in a shrubbery of spruce and hemlock, two or three feet high, with branches so interwoven, as to prevent all passage through them. Trees of this height, with shrubs and vines producing berries, and a species of weed called winter grass, mixed with the moss of the rocks, are all the vegetation which the summits of the mountains produce. The sides of the mountains are generally rugged and irregular; some of them have large apertures and caves. The thick, green moss which coats their tops is so compact and firm, and lies in such extensive beds, as to reach from rock to rock, and they will sometimes bear the weight of a man without being broken through. These immense spongy masses receive the moisture supplied by the clouds and rain, and while a part of it runs down the sides of the mountain, much of it is absorbed, and penetrates the whole mass. In this manner several of these mountains are continually wet on their tops, and have large marshy spots, which are the constant resort of water fowl during the warm season. The roads across them are frequently wet and miry, when the valleys below are dry. The loftiest summits are Killington Peak, near Rutland, 3,675 feet; Camel's Rump, between Montpelier and Burlington, 4,200 feet; and Mansfield Mountain, a few miles further north, 4,280 feet above the level of the sea. Ascutney, a single mountain near Windsor, is 3,320 feet in height.

3. Rivers. Except the Connecticut, which washes the eastern border of the State, all the rivers of Vermont are small, and have their origin among the Green Mountains; 35 of these run easterly, and fall into the. Connecticut; 25 run westerly into Lake Champlain, and 2 or 3 in the same quarter fall into the Hudson. In the N. E. are 4 or 5 which fall into Lake Memphremagog, through which they finally reach the St. Lawrence. There is but one river in the State navigable to any extent; this is the Connecticut, and strictly speaking, this is within the boundary of New Hampshire. The chief streams flowing into the Connecticut, are, beginning at the north: 1. the Pasumsic, which rises from a pond in Westmore, a little to the S. E. of Lake Memphremagog, and flows southerly 45 miles to the Connecticut at Barnet, receiving in its course 10 small streams: 2. White River, formed from 2 small branches, and falling into the Connecticut, after a course of 50 miles 3. West River, which joins the Connecticut near the south boundary of the State.

On the west of the mountains, there flow into Lake Champlain, 1. the Missisque, rising in Belvidere, passing into Canada, returning to Vermont and falling into the lake at Missisque Bay; this river is navigable 7 miles for boats: 2. the Lamoile, rising in Glover, and running into the lake at Colchester; this river is 75 miles long, and is a smooth, pleasant stream, watering a rich, fertile, and level country; it has 14 tributaries: 3. Winooski or Onion River, rising 30 miles east of the Green Mountains, and running northwesterly about 80 miles to the lake; it is navigable for small vessels 5 miles from its mouth; above this it is obstructed by falls 4. Otter Creek, which rises in Bromley and runs north 90 miles to the lake at Ferrisourgh; it is navigable to the falls at Vergennes, 5 miles.

4. Lakes. Lake Champlain, which bounds this State on the west, is 128 miles long, varying in breadth from 1 mile to 15; it is sufficiently deep for the largest ships, and contains a surface of 600 square miles. It embosoms above 60 islands, and discharges its waters northward through the river Sorelle, into the St. Lawrence. From the 20th of April to the 20th of June, the waters of the lake generally rise from 4 to 8 feet. Early in the winter the shores are frozen, but the whole lake is not often covered with ice till the middle of January. Early in April the ice disappears. Many marks on the rocks along the shore, indicate that the level of the waters was much higher in former years than at present; though no perceptible alteration has taken place since the discovery of the country. This lake took its name from Samuel Champlain, a Frenchman, who discovered it in 1608, and was afterwards drowned in its waters. Many considerable towns are situated on its shores, the principal of which are Burlington, St. Alban's,

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