with invisible beings, who indicated their presence and manifested their power by storms and tempests, which they were believed to control with absolute authority.  The savages, therefore, never attempted to ascend the summits, deeming the undertaking perilous, and success impossible.  But, though thus cherishing a superstitious respect for their utmost elevations, they still frequented the environs and mountain defiles, and propogated many marvelous stories of what they alleged could there be seen.  Among other things, they gave accounts of immense carbuncles seen far up the steep and inaccessible sides, which shone in the darkness of night with the most brilliant and dazzling splendor.

[Illustration:  Peabody river and Mount Washington.]

[Illustration:  The bourne monument.]

The first white men who visited these mountains, were Messrs. Neal, Jocelyn, and Field, who explored the region carefully in the year 1632.  They were incited partly, no doubt, by curiosity, but more probably by the hope of finding mineral treasure.  They were disappointed in finding gold, however, but they gave a glowing account of their adventures, and of the extent and grandeur of the mountains, which they called Crystal Hills.  A few years later, Captain Richard Vines and others were attracted there by the reports they heard.  They remained some time in their vicinity, but returned without anything more than a knowledge of their romantic scenery and the fine facilities they afforded for game.  Since then, they have been frequented by hunters and men of science, and within a number of years they have become one of the most fashionable places of summer resort in the United States.

[Illustration:  Franconia mountains, from Thornton.]

The White Mountain plateau is approached by travellers from four directions, namely:  from the east by the Grand Trunk, Eastern, and Ogdensburg Railroads; from the south by Lake Winnipiseogee and the Pemigewassett rivers; from the south-west by way of Connecticut River and White Mountain Railroad at Littleton, and from the north by the Grand Trunk at Northumberland.  The approach is grand from all sides, and the mountain combinations picturesque and beautiful.  From five to six thousand feet above the plain, these mountains rise presenting every variety of mountain scenery, slopes, ravines, precipices, towering cliffs, and overhanging summits.

To the south of the mountains and nestling among the foot hills, lies Lake Winnipiseogee—­“Pleasant Water in a High Place,” or “The Smile of the Great Spirit,” as the aborigines termed it, with its surface broken by hundreds of islands:  one, they say, for every day of the calendar year; and its shores the delight of artists in search of the picturesque, as well as of the sojourner after pleasure.  Its waters smile eternally pleasant, and the visitor will not find the fountain of perpetual youth of the swart old navigator a fable; for here he will regain lost youth and strength in the contemplation of scenes as beautiful as poets’ dreams.  O!  Lake Winnipiseogee, we recall the sails across thy bright waters with delight, and long to see thy rippling tide once more murmuring beneath the keel of our boat.