and the Maritime Provinces. 289 



that he is a poor hunter, indeed, who cannot secure in his autumn outing 

 his full quota of the magnificent animals which abide in the great forests 

 that he visits. 



The numbers of fish have also, in many of the favorite waters, been 

 increased by a judicious system of artificial propagation and stocking by 

 the State authorities, and valuable species have been introduced and 

 become abundant in lakes where, a few years ago, the supply of game fish 

 was comparatively meagre. 



Maine has thus become a vast game preserve, the most valuable one 

 in America, and one that cannot become exhausted if the present existing 

 conditions are allowed to continue. It is a preserve not for a favored few 

 only, but it is opened to all who wish to visit it, and its bounties are freely 

 and munificently offered to those who desire to enjoy them. 



Maine is divided by sportsmen into several great sections or regions, 

 according to the various water-systems or other natural features which 

 characterize them. Of these the Rangeley or Androscoggin lake system 

 is one of the greatest favorites. There are several routes by which these 

 lakes maybe approached. 



At Portland the cars of either the Grand Trunk or the Maine Central 

 railroad may be taken according to the point of destination of the tourist. 

 If he wishes to reach the lower lakes in the system, the first-named route 

 will, perhaps, be preferred. At Bryant's pond the train is left and the stage 

 coach for Andover taken, and thence he is carried by buckboard twelve 

 miles through the woods to a point on the lower Richardson lake, where 

 a steam launch awaits him and he is conveyed to the middle dam or upper 

 dam, as he prefers. 



This route is by many preferred to others on account of the novelty of 

 the trip and the beauty of the scenery through which it is taken. Of course 

 the experiences are much rougher than are met with in the luxurious cars 

 which run to the lakes at other points, but many who visit these localities 

 go for the sake of " roughing it," and they could not be induced to abandon 

 the ride on the old stage coach and the antique buckboard for more com- 

 fortable modes of conveyance. If the point of destination is still farther 

 down the lakes the cars of the Grand Trunk road are left at Bethel, and 

 stage is taken from that place to Cambridge or Upton on Lake Umbagog. 



Generally, however, the upper lakes are the objective points, and these 

 are reached by cars on the Maine Central railroad to Farmington and nar- 

 row-gauge road via Phillips to Rangeley, or by the new railroad — the Port- 

 land & Rumford Falls — which has a terminus at Bemis, at the point where 

 Capt. Fred Barker has had his camps for many years. The Rangeley 

 lakes, therefore, are very accessible, and as they are traversed by swift and 

 commodious steam launches, which convey tourists to the many camps 

 and summer hotels which have been located for their accommodation, it is 



