INTRODUCTION. 



I. MOUNT DESERT AND ITS FLORA. 



MOUNT DESERT ISLAND, called by the Indians 

 PEMETIC, lies about one hundred and ten miles 

 east of Portland, on the coast of Maine, and less than half 

 that distance from Rockland on the western shore of 

 Penobscot Bay. Its coast is washed by the Atlantic Ocean 

 on the south, by Blue Hill Bay and its tributaries on the 

 west, and by Frenchman Bay and its tributaries on the east 

 and north. On the northwest Mt. Desert Narrows, a shallow 

 strait connecting the waters of these two bays, is crossed 

 by means of two bridges, connecting Thompson Island with 

 the mainland on the north, and with Mt. Desert Island 

 on the south. The area of the Island may be estimated 

 at about one hundred square miles; its greatest length 

 being about fifteen miles, from Hadley Point in Eden on 

 the north to Bass Harbor Head in Tremont on the south ; 

 its greatest breadth, about twelve miles, from Great 

 Head in Eden on the east to The Cape in Tremont on 

 the west. The coast line, especially of the southern and 

 western shores, is extremely irregular. Up the centre of 

 the Island for fully half its length from north to south, 

 through the mountain range, passes the fiord of Somes 

 Sound (or " The River "), a deep arm of the sea, dividing 

 the Island into two almost equal sections. Across the 



