ERMONT, or the Green Mountain state 

 as it is called, contains an area of 

 10,212 square miles; it is 157 miles 

 long and about thirty to forty miles 

 wide. Its surface is quite mountainous, 

 but these mountains are generally cov- 

 ered with evergreen trees and shrubs ; the hills are fer- 

 tile to their tops, and the valleys are beautiful in their 

 productiveness. The Connecticut river extends along 

 its eastern border ; Lake Champlain is its western boun- 

 dary for some 140 miles; and Lake Memphremagog 

 for about thirty miles long, is on the north. 



Its furred game includes the common Virginia deer, 

 which are getting quite plentiful in the mountains, and 

 are often seen in the more thickly settled lake towns. 

 The common black bear are the only variety of that 

 family. They are found largely among the mountains, 

 and do not decrease in numbers. Raccoon are found 

 in every section, though nowhere abundant, and they 

 are rapidly decreasing in numbers. Common red fox 

 are found in every locality though in diminishing num- 

 bers, and in all shades of color from almost a pure sil- 

 ver to a pure black, known as the black or silver-gray. 

 Some are found having a dark band across their shoul- 

 ders and along their backs, with reddish sides ; these 

 are called cross-foxes; if these bands are faintly 

 marked, they are called bastards. All these different 

 colored foxes, it is said, come from red mothers. The 



