RICHARDSON LAKE. 343 



which is to be our future dormitory, appears in view, 

 with the placid waters of Richardson Lake close by, 

 while numerous irregular hills, all clothed with pine 

 timber to the summit, form the background. 



Generally this beautiful lake is smooth as glass, 

 without a ripple, excepting what may be caused by the 

 break of fish, or sudden appearance or descent of the 

 great northern diver, whose wild weird notes have not 

 {infrequently startled the uninitiated, brought a cold 

 shiver to their system, or vividly recalled stories of 

 ghosts, sprites, panthers, and wild cats. You are at 

 last fairly in the wilds, miles from man's habitation 

 if you except a couple of fishing shanties only occupied 

 a few weeks yearly. You may strain your eyes up and 

 down, no snow-white smiling cottage will greet your 

 vision. This country is the same still as in the days 

 when the red man knew no superior, and owned every 

 inch of soil from the Atlantic to the Pacific, save it be 

 ,that the cruel axe of the lumberman has culled out 

 the choicest giant monarchs of the forest. But having 

 done a pretty good day's walking, we may as well lay 

 up for an hour or so, before making our debut on the 

 Androscogan ; moreover, the trout in the middle of 

 the day do not rise so freely, and a couple of hours' 

 work in the evening, if the weather is propitious, will 

 afford as many fish and as much sport as the most 

 exacting can possibly desire. 



In the spring the best fishing is to be obtained under- 

 neath the dam which is built across the river a few 

 hundred yards below where it debouches from the lake, 

 and formed for the purpose of gathering a good head of 

 water to assist in shooting the lumbermen's logs. In 

 autumn, however, it is the reverse, for above the dam 



