A DELIGHTFUL DRIVE. 327 



Having arrived at Portland, State of Maine, and enjoyed 

 a good meal and rest at one of the numerous hotels, the 

 terminus of the Grand Trunk Railroad will have to be 

 reached, where you will procure your ticket for Bethel, 

 Oxford County. The scenery through which you will now 

 rush, dragged by the iron horse, is magnificent, alike suit- 

 ed to the taste of artist or sportsman ; but one thing is 

 certain to cause a regret, viz., that the numerous beautiful 

 rivers and brooks that so frequently will be seen or trav- 

 ersed are now destitute of fish, at least so I was informed, 

 although I could not learn the reason why. Visions of 

 mill-dams without fish-ways, and tons of sawdust floating 

 in islands, hovered before me, and probably whispered a 

 true cause of the destruction of the thousands of fish which 

 doubtlessly swarmed here before genus homo, with his de- 

 vices and march of improvement, had defiled these for- 

 merly pure, pellucid brooks. Bethel, where you leave the 

 train, will be found a model village, which, for cleanliness 

 and neatness, it would be impossible to surpass. As you 

 progress along the principal thoroughfare, the pretty 

 dwellings, overshadowed by handsome shade-trees, remind 

 you of some of Longfellow's beau ideal New England 

 homes. The hotel also is very comfortable, and Mr. Love- 

 joy, the proprietor, can give good information and instruc- 

 tion as to your future proceedings. He also will supply 

 ^ou with a conveyance to take you to Upton, distant about 

 twenty-seven miles, over a road far from good ; but if the 

 weather be fine, you will be so delighted with the beauti- 

 ful panoramas of wild and magnificent mountain views that 

 time will slip by rapidly, and ruts and jolts will be totally 

 forgotten. For the first five or six miles of your drive you 

 pass along the margin of the grand Androscoggin River, 

 exhibiting a succession of pools and rapids so eminently 

 suited for salmon retreats, that you can not fail to regret 



