ftbe Berfesbire 1Riv>er. 107 



In choosing the Housatonic as the typical Berk- 

 shire river, no disrespect is meant or shown to the other 

 streams whose life is begun and partly passed in the 

 county — Hoosic, Green, and Westfield in the north, 

 and Farmington in the south. None of them shares 

 the natural life or contributes to the scenery of this 

 region for so long or to such a degree as the Housa- 

 tonic. Its rise is in the northern hills of the county, 

 both the eastern and middle ranges ; it flows through 

 five-sixths of the width of Massachusetts ; and it pro- 

 longs its run through that portion of Connecticut 

 which is in fact a continuation of the Berkshire re- 

 gion to the south. For natural features refuse to be 

 held by political boundaries, and state-lines are not 

 often run by geologists or their kin. And from the 

 time it gets its license in the shire-town of the county 

 until it passes the rugged hills below the mouth of 

 the Shepaug, the Housatonic is to all intents and 

 purposes a Berkshire river. 



In all its characteristics it is essentially like the 

 region through which it runs. It is not a sensational 

 river, and its easy course is marked by no extraordin- 

 ary natural features, as though nature were straining 

 for effect. For just that reason our river is most 

 charming. Your true lover of nature is not very 

 tolerant of excesses and of freaks. He likes best the 

 dear familiar things which he sees everywhere and 

 which come to have the attractiveness of the old 

 habits and ways of a friend. Bradford Torrey, visiting 

 the Natural Bridge in Virginia, did not find it charming 



