34 BIOLOGICAL SURVEY OF 



TERRITORY 



The Mount Desert Region named in these publications is the 

 territory of the Island of Mount Desert, Maine, and its imme- 

 diate surrounding's in the extreme northeastern part of the 

 United States. Latitude 44° 20', longitude 68'' 20^ In this 

 area of approximately 100 square miles is found a combination 

 of sea and mountains with accompanying bays, rivers, brooks, 

 lakes, swamps, valleys, and flats, that is not found in any 

 other place on the globe. 



In the center is the Island whose mountains rise from the 

 sea to a level of over a thousand feet. Between mountain 

 peaks numerous lakes are found ; some at a considerable eleva- 

 tion, while others are lower. Approaching the sea level, 

 swamps or 'heaths' are formed, where the water is fresh 

 from the land drainage above or salt from the sea's pene- 

 tration. 



Outside is the open ocean, while between it and the Island 

 are smaller islands forming a sheltered thoroughfare and the 

 harbors of Seal, Northeast, Southwest, and Manset; and from 

 there the fjord called Somes Sound penetrates toward the 

 center of the Island for some miles. 



On the east the open waters of Frenchmans Bay are checked 

 in their sweep by smaller islands which, with Mount Desert 

 Island, enclose a large stretch of water between them and the 

 mainland to the north, and on which Bar Harbor is located. 

 This bay is quite distinct biologically from the M'aters to the 

 south. 



Into the bay flow several brooks. Some are real brooks 

 draining adjacent terrain, while others are tortuous channels 

 from the sea extending many miles inland with a swift current 

 moving one way or the other, due to the shifting tides which 

 rise and fall normally about 10 feet. On the mainland toward 

 the north are brooks and lakes, varying in accordance with 

 their method of formation. 



Still farther to the west, and beyond the Narrows, is the 

 Western Bay. Fed by several large brooks and the Union 

 River, the life here is in many ways quite different from that 

 in Frenchmans Bav. 



