230 RIVER LIFE. 



ing an extent of territory probably under a higher state of culti- 

 vation than any other division of the state. 



To use the complimentary and probably truthful remarks of a 

 gentleman long a resident at the capital, Augusta, " No river in 

 the United States, within the same distance, can be found with 

 more pleasant and delightful scenery, more beautiful villages, or 

 a more thriving population." " The principal business places on 

 its banks are, beginning at its mouth, Bath, Richmond, Gardiner, 

 Pittston, Hallowell, Augusta, Waterville, Fairfield, Bloomfield, 

 Millburn, Norridgewock, and Anson. Bath has long been known 

 for its ship-building, having furnished many of the finest ships 

 engaged in our European trade. Ilichmond, Gardiner, Pittston, 

 and some other towns on the river, have also built many fine ves- 

 sels. From Merry-meeting Bay (the confluence of the Kenne- 

 beck and Androscoggin from the west) to the Dead River is a 

 fine farming country, while the lumbering region on the Kenne- 

 beck, for the most part, extends northward to the lake, around it 

 and its tributaries, and at the Dead River. Formerly a consid- 

 erable quantity of lumber was cut on the Sebasticook ; but now 

 the quantity is very much diminished, owing to the scarcity of 

 logs on that river." 



There are several noted falls on the river ; the first is at 

 Waterville. " The Kennebeck River is there observed rushing 

 through a breach which has been formed by the disruption of 

 stratified argillaceous slate." " The fall of water is from a ledge 

 of these rocks, and varies from eighteen to twenty feet, accord- 

 ing to the state of the river." 



The next considerable fall on the river is at Skowhegan, " pro- 

 duced by the falling of the Kennebeck over a rocky ledge to the 

 distance of from ten to twelve feet. During the fatal campaign 

 of Arnold, his army encamped upon an island near the falls, and 

 occasionally relics of the encampment are now found, such as 

 pipes, coins, &c." 



