CHAPTER V. 



Ascent of Mount &quot;Washington. Mr. Oakes. Zones of Distinct Vegetation. 

 Belt of Dwarf Firs. Bald Region and Arctic Flora on Summit. View 

 from Summit. Migration of Plants from Arctic Regions. Change of 

 Climate since Glacial Period. Granitic Rocks of White Mountains. 

 Franconia Notch. Revival at Bethlehem. Millerite Movement. The 

 Tabernacle at Boston. Mormons. Remarks on New England Fanati 

 cism. 



Oct. 7, 1845. AT length, with a fair promise of brighter 

 weather, we started at eight o clock in the morning for the sum 

 mit of Mount Washington. Its old Indian name of Agiocochook 

 has been dropped, as too difficult for Anglo-Saxon ears or memo 

 ries. Its summit is 6225 feet above the level of the sea ; and 

 we were congratulated on the prospect of finding it, at so late a 

 season, entirely free from snow. Our party consisted of nine, all 

 mounted on well-trained horses Mr. Oakes, a gentleman and 

 his wife, tourists from Maine, a young New England artist, my 

 self, my wife, and three guides. 



A ride of seven miles brought us to the foot of the mountain, 

 and we then began to thread the dark mazes of the forest, through 

 narrow winding paths, often crossing and re-crossing the bed of 

 the same torrent, and fording its waters, which occupied, in spite 

 of the late rains, a small part of their channel. 



The first, or lowest zone of the mountain, extending from its 

 base to the height of about 2000 feet, and 4000 feet above the 

 level of the sea, is clothed with a great variety of wood. Besides 

 the hemlock, spruce, Weymouth, and other pines before men 

 tioned, there is the beech (Fagus ferrugined], three kinds of 

 birch, the black, the yellow, and the white (Betula lenta, B. 

 lutea, and B. papyracea) ; also the rock or sugar-maple (Acer sac- 

 cJiarinum), and the red maple (A. rubrum}, exhibiting autumnal 

 tints of every color, from orange to pale yellow, and from scarlet 

 to purple. The undergrowth was composed in part of a Guelder- 



