676 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



first day of April, 1877, the Penobscot stood 7.25 feet above the dam at Bangor ; through April it 

 ranged from 7.25.to 4.75 feet; through May from 4.8 feet to 1.9 feet; through June from 1.9 to 1.4 feet; 

 through July from 1.5 to .08; and in August it stood for a few days at the minimum of one-half 

 foot. On the 29th of the following November it had risen to 6.25 feet; in December it fell from 5.9 

 to 1.5 feet ; but through the whole of the following February (1878) it stood at 6 and 7 inches (.5 

 and .6 foot). The highest stage for the spring of 1878 (6.46 feet) was attained in April; the lowest 

 stage for the summer was 15 feet, in August; the lowest for the year was 6 inches, October 1 

 (with flush boards on the dam); and the highest for the year was 9.2 feet, December 14. In 1879 

 the maximum (8.85 feet) was attained May 3, and during that month the water averaged higher 

 than in April; it was low (15 inches) July 17, and still lower (1.3 inches) October 19. In 1880 the 

 highest water was in May and the lowest between August 17 and October 24, during all of which 

 time an extreme drought prevailed, the water standing just at the crest of the dam or an inch or 

 two above or below it. Thus in four years we have seen the water at its highest stages twice in 

 April, once in May, and once in December, and the lowest stages once in February and October 

 (the same year), once in October alone, once in August alone, and once extending from August to 

 October. The data existing on the subject are scanty, and the best generalization to be made must 

 be founded partly on general observation, and would be as follows : The Penobscot is at its high- 

 est stages generally, but not invariably, in April or May ; it is fairly full from March to July, 

 inclusive, and never experiences a drought during those months. The lowest stages occur in 

 August and September, often extending into October. In the winter there is generally a depres- 

 sion, which in some instances reaches the stage of a drought. The discharge of the Penobscot has 

 been estimated by an expert* at 117,000 cubic feet per minute in a severe summer drought, and at 

 5,760,000 cubic feet per minute in a heavy freshet. 



WATER TEMPERATURE. Ice from 15 to 24 inches thick covers all the fresh water during the 

 winter. On the lakes it forms about November 15 or 20, and melts out in April, commonly near 

 the close of the month, in the southern part of the State. In the more northerly or elevated lakes 

 it does not melt until May 10 or 15. The larger rivers, the Keunebec and Penobscot, are closed to 

 navigation (at the ports of Gardner and Bangor, respectively) about four months or four and a half. 

 The melting of the snow in the spring produces a flood which clears the rivers of ice in April two 

 or three weeks before the melting of the lake ice. 



During the winter the temperature of the rivers is generally within one degree of the freezing 

 point, but after the breaking up of the ice it rises rapidly, and through the summer generally 

 ranges from 60 to 70 or higher, in those parts above the influence of the sea. 



TIDAL PARTS OF RIVERS. The tidal portions of the Maine rivers are for the most part of 

 considerable extent. In the Kennebec the rise and fall of the tide is felt as far as Augusta, 44 

 miles from the sea, and before the erection of a dam at that point it was perceptible some 10 miles 

 farther. In the Penobscot the influence of the tide extended originally to Eddiugton, 30 miles 

 above the mouth of the river, or, including Penobscot Bay, 60 miles from the sea. In the other 

 rivers the tidal portions are less extensive absolutely, and in many of them likewise relatively, to 

 the size of the river. The Androscoggin is not affected by the tide above Brunswick 25 miles, 

 and the Saco only to Biddeford, 5 miles from the sea. The actual penetration of the sea-water 

 is confined within narrow limits. On the Kennebec the water does not contain salt enough to 

 support a growth of marine algse above Bath, 12 miles from the sea, though in seasons of great 



*H. F. Mills, C. E., quoted in Wells's Water-power of Maine, p. 105. 



