222 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



of Clear stream the hills are, if possible, more irregular in their contour 

 than those northward. 



THE STREAMS. 



The principal streams are the Connecticut, the Magalloway, and the 

 Androscoggin. Almost on the very northern boundary of New Hamp- 

 shire, and nearly on the very summit of the dividing ridge that separates 

 the waters of the St. Lawrence from those that flow southward, there is 

 a small lake containing only a few square acres ; and this is the source of 

 the Connecticut river. It has an elevation of 2,551 feet, and is only 

 seventy-eight feet below the summit of Mt. Prospect; and so remote 

 is it from the habitations of men that it is rarely seen. A place more 

 solitary I know not in northern New Hampshire. Surrounded as it is by 

 dense forests of evergreen, you can see only these and the waters of the 

 lake. Almost the only sound that relieves the monotony of the place is 

 the croaking of the frogs, and this must be their paradise. A few steps 

 to the summit of Mt. Prospect, and we can overlook thousands and 

 thousands of square miles of forests in Quebec province, while in the 

 extreme distance to the north-west can be seen the habitations of men. 

 Southward the view is not extensive. The outlet of the lake just men- 

 tioned is a mere rill ; this flows into Third lake. This lake is half a mile 

 directly south of the boundary, and has an area of three fourths of a 

 square mile, and its height is 2,038 feet. It is trapezoidal in shape, and 

 has its greatest width on the south, while its northern shore is not more 

 than a quarter of a mile in length. Its outlet is at the south-east corner, 

 and its width is eight feet, and its depth six or eight inches. Besides the 

 spruce and firs and cedars of immense size, it has a sub-alpine vegetation. 

 Labrador tea, the ledum palustre, is found in abundance along its shores. 

 In early summer, before the swarms of insects come, it is charming to 

 stand upon its border, when not a ripple disturbs its placid waters, and the 

 trees are mirrored along its shores. On every side except the south, the 

 hills, which rise to mountain heights, approach almost to its very shores. 

 The Connecticut, which is its outlet, is nowhere remarkably rapid. 

 About five miles from the lake it receives a tributary from the east, the 

 principal branch of which rises near the boundary. This stream is nearly 

 as large as that into which it flows. A mile and a half from where it 



