Through the Wilds; A Record of Sport and Adventure in the Forests of New Hampshire and Maine (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1892 Excerpt: ... the swift little steamer shot ahead, the captain laying his course for the Narrows. It was a lovely morning, with just breeze enough to ripple the water, and the whole party expressed themselves delighted with the scene around them. From the foot of the Narrows they had a fine view of the White Mountains, but not so complete as that from Umbagog. Speckled and Saddleback Mountains in Grafton Notch also formed a prominent and pleasing feature of the landscape, and between Jackson Point and the Narrows the Parson made a sketch of the lake and mountains. At the foot of the Narrows they saw two loons, and for fifteen minutes the boys bombarded them, without any result beside wasting cartridges. Occasionally, one of the loons would dive, and when he reappeared, give utterance to a mocking cry, and the girls declared the loons were making fun of the marksmen. "Are there many loons shot on the lake?" inquired Lucie of the captain. "I should say not. From what I can judge from observation, I think it takes about one thousand shots for every dead loon. They have a way of diving at the flash of a gun, which makes it difficult to OLD MIDDLE DAM CAMP. kill them. Yet there are times when one is shot at the first trial, and the funniest loon story I ever read or heard is given in the 'Androscoggin Iakes Illustrated.'" The strait or sound known as the Narrows, through which the steamer was passing, is two miles long, and from an eighth of a mile to a mile wide. Before the building of the new Middle Dam, a natural wall of rocks that extended along the north shore was always in sight at a medium or low stage of the water, but the building of the new dam, since the date of this story, has changed the appearance of the two Richardson Lakes very much, and i...