112 



TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



do not last so long. Streams that once furnished an ample power all the year round, 

 now atl'ord it only in spring and autumn, while some have degenerated to mere torrents. 



In 1822-23, a great lire — still remembered as the great fire — swept over almost the 

 whole N. E. part of .Maine, sweeping off the undergrowth, killing the huge pines and 

 hemlocks, and leaving them to become dry ; though still preserving their value as lum- 

 ber. Nature quickly recovered herself, however, and the country was soon covered with 

 a growth of young trees of different kinds. I should have said, that many swampy and 

 wet portions of the country — along the borders of the rivers, etc., and some elevated 

 ridges — called technically, hard wood ridges — escaped wholly, or in part the effects of 

 the fire. 



In 1837 or '38, in an extremely dry season, fire again spread over a portion of the coun- 

 try, previously burned — killing the young growth, consuming the dead trees, and in 

 some sections taking off the very surface of the soil — leaving it unfit for any present 

 use. I remember that the Matamiscontis stream after this, became dry, or rather low, 

 much earlier in the season than ever before, while the drought lasted longer. No one 

 could tell the reason — as we seemed to have as much snow and rain generally as before, 

 — but I now see that it was in consequence of this destruction of vegetation. 



Upon revisiting, a year or two since, a stream familiar to me in childhood and youth, 

 and then known as almost never failing in its supply of water for milling and factory 

 purposes ; I found great complaint of the insufficiency of the supply of water during 

 the summer and winter months ; so that there was serious talk of introducing steam as a 

 more reliable servant. The stream has its source in a lake some six or seven miles in 

 length by two or three in width. The borders of the lake being, generally unfit for cul- 

 tivation, were covered with a thick growth of hard wood trees, birch, beech and maples, 

 intermingled with spruce and hemlock ; but the wood-chopper had been at work, the 

 banks of the lake had been nearly stripped of their protecting forests, the second growth 

 was very thin, and consequently the well known result followed — quick rises after rains, 

 as quickly flowing off, and drought in summer, commencing early and lasting long. 



The traveler in New England often wonders at finding the old roads running so gen- 

 erally over the hills, while it is no farther around their bases, and at the same time 

 with the advantage of comparatively level ground. It arose from this fact, that while 

 the country was wooded, the ridges and hills were the only parts dry enough for roads 

 and habitations. Boussingault in his "Economie Rurale" gives a very striking illus- 

 tration of this point, as falling under his own notice in Venezuela. He says : " One of 

 the moet interesting parts of Venezuela is, no doubt, the valley of Aragua. Situated 

 at a short distance from the coast, and endowed from its elevation with various 

 climates, and a soil of unexampled fertility, its agriculture embraces at once the crops 

 suited to tropical regions and to Europe. Wheat success well on the heights of Vic- 

 toria; bounded on the north by the coast chain, on the south by a system of moun- 

 tains called the Llanos ; the valley is shut in on the east and west by lines of hills which 

 completely close it. In consequence of this singular configuration, the rivers which 

 rise within it, having no outlet to the ocean, form by their union, the beautiful lake of 

 Tacarigua, or Valencia. This lake, according to Humboldt, is larger than that of 

 Neufchatel. It is at an elevation of 1400 English feet above the sea, and its greatest 

 length does not exceed seven English miles. At the time of Humboldt's visit, the 

 inhabitants were struck by the gradual diminution which the lake had been undergo- 

 ing for 30 years; in fact by comparing the descriptions given by historians with its 



