206 



MIDDLESEX FELLS. 



right and still more distant, one sees Crotchet Mountain, in Frances- 

 town, rising above an intervening hill. Nothing of note follows until 

 Joe English Hill, lifting its bulk out of the low horizon, asserts itself 

 with much more assurance than the higher Uncanoonucs, whose upper 

 portions only are seen farther to the eastward, overtopping a much 

 nearer ridge. Nearly as far to the right of the Eastern Uncanoonuc 

 as Joe English is to its left, about midway between the former and 

 that prominent hill in the middle ground which ranges in line with 

 two ponds (Fox Hill, in Billerica), rises a high and very distant 

 summit, which can hardly be other than the southern Kearsarge. A 

 few degrees west of north, where the horizon again recedes, the eye 

 greets a mountain seldom noted in the list of those visible from our 

 suburban hills, — probably Pawtuckaway, a coast-survey station in 

 Rockingham County (N. H). About as far to the east of north are 

 the hills of Andover, the grassy slopes of Holt's most prominent. 

 Over other gently swelling hills of Essex County the view ranges, 

 until, summoning courage to pass the great rampart of masonry that 

 crowns the summit of Asylum Hill in Danvers, it comes to enjoy the 

 glimpses of the sea." 



On the north slope are cedars, in the shade of which one 

 can rest while enjoying the view of the distant mountains. 

 Here the Governor's party lunched. " This place they called 

 Cheese Rock, because, when they went to eat something, they 

 had only cheese (the governour's man forgetting, for haste, to 

 put up some bread)." 1 It is somewhat uncertain where this 

 rock is located ; but according to the most generally accepted 

 opinion, it is the precipitous ledge which faces the north. 

 The hill may be approached by cart-paths leading from Main 

 and Marble Streets to the foot of the steep northern slope ; 

 also by a path on the east side, ascending gradually from 

 Main Street to the open table-land a short distance south of 

 the summit. 



Taylor Mountain might well be called the southern end of 

 Bear Hill, being part of the same mass. From this so-called 

 mountain wc have a charming bit of scenery. Below the 

 ragged cliffs on the southwest side is the long narrow basin 

 of the Winchester reservoir, curving among the hills. One 

 does not suspect that this beautiful sheet of water is the work 



1 Winthrop's New England, vol. i. p. 0. 



