May 1891.] 



AND OOLOCxIST. 



69 



On one o{ these nide-nhijdfx, wliile examining a 

 deserted woodpecker's hole, in a dead siuuee, 

 about fifteen feet from the ground, an extda- 

 niation from one of the party attracted my 

 notice, and I saw, flashing back and forth like 

 a ray of light, with anxiety depicted in 

 every movement, a Hummingbird. We could 

 scarcely believe our eyes: a Kuby-throat away 

 u)) here, miles from a human habitation, — but 

 such it was; and there in the next spruce, 

 thirty feet from the ground, saddled upon a 

 branch about four feet from the trunk, near 

 a fork, and looking like a lichen-covered 

 excrescence, was the nest. Not a limb for 

 twenty feet, but Nash was after it, and when 

 Nash gets after anything he generally ends up 

 by procuring it; and he was soon on the limb, 

 while the bird w-as brought down by a shot as 

 it dashed by. Two eggs rewarded the climb, 

 and they were worth the trouble. I do not 

 think that for three times their intrinsic value 

 would lirother Nash pait with them. 



Soon the ground began to fall more rajiidly, 

 and the brook which we had followed for 

 miles disappeared in a gorge, and we could 

 hear it as it fell over the rocks in numberless 

 cascades, now disappearing beneath the fallen 

 boulders, and gurgling, struggling and stum- 

 bling as it worked its way out once more into 

 the light, when with a Hash and spatter it 

 plunged over a little cliff and splashed into a 

 crystal pool below. We managed, in s))!te of 

 the rough climbing, to cairy away in miniature 

 the feeble counterpart of sonre of these cas- 

 cades, which serve to keep alive the memory 

 of the scene, with the liquid silver framed by 

 banks overhung with a tangled maze of deli- 

 cate green, a mass of mossy, dripping, lilmy, 

 feathery fern. 



As we jouiiH'vcd along the crest of the cliff, 

 the noise of the brook .seemcil to grow louder 

 and louder until it culminated into too much 

 of a roar to be the work ol a mere rapid. 

 .Nothing could be seen from the top, so we 

 selected what seemed to be a somewhat easier 

 descent than usual and clambered doun the 

 side of the cliff. 



Heaching the bottom we broke through 

 the fringe of shrubs which covered the 

 bank, and tlie grandeur of a water-fall burst 

 upon our view. One hundred and twenty- 

 five feet above us the waters of this brook fell 

 over the edge and striking its side, which 

 inclined at an angle which gave it a slope of 

 about 1.50 feet, slid down at lightning speed, 

 breaking the pool below into a mass of foam. 

 On cither side the walls rose U]) in almost inac- 



cessible precipitousness, while below a contin- 

 uous series of cascades carried the water to the 

 valley of the Saco, 700 feet below. 



It was hard to leave the scene. 



('(mtinuing our journey, at noon ne came 

 out on the side of the mountain above Ava- 

 lanche Station, near where we entered three 

 days before. But what a change. Then the 

 sky was overcast, and the murky clouds hung 

 low over the mountain-tops, hiding the tops of 

 some of the higher ones from view; banks of 

 mist came rolling down the Notch, temporarily 

 hiding it from view, and the drizzling rain 

 made all uncomfortable. But now all was 

 transformed. The air was as clear as possible 

 in these high altitudes, where the very atmos- 

 phere seemed so transparent that it almost 

 dazzled the brain; the Deception Mountains 

 showed their stony wall rising at the head of 

 the Notch .seven miles away as clearly as if it 

 were but one; and we improved the opportun- 

 ity by photographing the scene in what is, we 

 think, the most remarkable view ever taken 

 with a small Kodak camera (unfortunately the 

 plate was damaged by the stupidity of the 

 operator who developed the film, but even now 

 it stands as one of the choicest scenes in my 

 album of reminiscences). 



No train would run do« u the Notch until the 

 next morning, so we deposited our heavy lug- 

 gage at thi> station, to be forwar<led by express, 

 and we continued on down the valley, now fol- 

 lowing the railroad and again taking the road, 

 as the fit seized us, passing the outlets of 

 Washington Kiver, which carries off a portion 

 of the deposited moisture of the Old (iiant, and 

 Nancy's Brook, which drains the i-egion of 

 Mountains Nancy and Oarrigan. 



Frankenstein Trestle and the old Crawford 

 House, with their many associations, Avere left 

 behind, and at li.'Vo we pulled up at the home 

 of .lohn f'obb, the veteran guide of this section. 



We fouiul the old man somewhat lamed up 

 by rheumatism, contracted by sleeping and 

 tramping in these woods which he has so much 

 aided to open up to the world, but still able to 

 take his turn with the rest of us. 



The night was spent at Bartlett, and the 

 next morning we reached our destination at 

 North Tonway. F. A. lialea. 



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