328 PRAIRIE AND FOREST. 
that these noble fish are debarred from visiting this choice 
water. A few miles farther your course winds by a beau- 
tiful mountain brook well stocked with trout, and in which 
a good basket can always be taken. We will now suppose 
you have reached the Half-way House, a pretty little road- 
side’ tavern, where the horses are baited, and the traveler, 
if he chooses—we would -strongly advise you not to fail to 
—tmay insist upon making the acquaintance of mine host, 
a worthy man, with a wonderful fund of information on 
various interesting subjects. The allotted half-hour hav- 
ing expired, and the inner man been refreshed, forward is 
again the word, and more beautiful becomes the scenery. 
Wild, irregular hills, with bases densely covered with tim- 
ber, but stony and irregular toward their summit, frown 
over your head; precipices, cliffs, and yawning chasms 
alternately vary the prospect, throwing, for grandeur, the 
choicest wilds of Scotland in the shade. Only an able 
poet, with a romantic turn of mind, is wanted to immor- 
talize by soul-stirring lays these stupendous mountain fast- 
nesses, accessible alone to the wild denizens of the forest, 
or to him who is gifted with the nerve, steady foot, and 
reliable eye of the chamois-hunter of the Alps. 
Having at length reached the upper portion of the vil- 
lage of Upton, an entire change comes over the landscape; 
far beneath your feet lies nestled, in all the splendor of 
luxuriant timber, with irregular and changing outline, the 
lovely sheet of water, Umbagog, thickly studded with in- 
numerable islands of every form, size, and outline. On 
first beholding this scene, Loch Lomond was visibly re- 
called to mind, and the more frequently I beheld this pic- 
ture the stronger was the impression of the striking simi- 
larity. Again, this lake will have additional charms to 
the sportsman, for her trout abound in immense numbers. 
But, supposing you started from Bethel after breakfast, the 
