72 THE ADIKONDACKS. 



river is broken by a succession of rapids and falls, around 

 which boats must be carried. Notwithstanding the fre- 

 quency of the portages, and the vexatious changes from 

 wagon to stream, this is a favorite route for sportsmen, for 

 the adjacent country abounds in fish and game. Visitors to 

 this section do not, however, generally go through, but camp 

 at eligible points, or put up at Pelsue's, Haw's, Ferry's, and 

 other houses below the Piercefield Falls. On the other hand, 

 visitors from above seldom descend as far as Piercefield. 



Entering from the north at Malone on the Ogdensburg 

 and Northern Eailroad, after a fortnight spent at Chazy and 

 Chateaugay Lakes, the route is by the east branch of St. 

 Eegis Kiver to Meacham Pond, famous for its trout and its 

 beautiful beach, and thence by stream through Osgood's 

 Pond, with a half-mile carry to Paul Smith's, on the lower 

 St Eegis Lake, the preferred and best-known starting-point 

 for the interior Wilderness for all visitors from the east. It 

 is the easiest and shortest route, and affords fine fishing the 

 whole distance. There is also an excellent wagon road from 

 Malone to Martin's, a favorite hotel on the Lower Saranac 

 distance fifty miles. 



From the north-east there is a railroad twenty miles long 

 from Plattsburg to Point of Eocks, Ausable Station, on the 

 Ausable Eiver, whence lines of Concord stages run daily over 

 excellent roads to Paul Smith's and Martin's, diverging at 

 Bloomingdale, the post-office nearest to either point. The 

 distance by stage is about forty miles. The same stages also 

 run from Port Kent, on Lake Champlain, through Keese- 

 ville to the railroad terminus at Point of Eocks, a trip of thir- 

 teen miles. By this route a great deal is saved in distance ; 

 but thirteen miles of staging are added, and nothing is gained 

 in time, as the stages all connect with the railroad trains. 

 Whether the tourist leaves the steamer at Port Kent or con- 

 tinues to Plattsburg, he will have to remain at a hotel over 

 night. The Wetherill House, and Fouquet's Hotel, at Platts- 

 burg, afford the traveler every luxury, and at the Ausable 



