20 



good governor would not be able to recognize it in its present 

 garb. 



The unpoetical name which the hill bears originated with one 

 of the early settlers, who had an unpleasant meeting with a bear 

 on the hill when looking for his cow. 



Bear Hill is the highest elevation in the Fells, registering with 

 an aneroid barometer, in my possession at the time, 425 feet at 

 two points, and commands the most extensive views. 



Through the line of cedars on its western brow, a long range 

 of mountains is seen in the far distance; Wa^huset and Monad- 

 nock being the most prominent. 



Its southern declivity is the most rugged, and is well shaded 

 with fine evergreens and great rocks well covered with lovely 

 mosses and beautiful ferns. 



On the south side the hill slopes gradually with a delightfully 

 sunny exposure, and half way down there is a spring of the 

 purest water around which there have been many memorable 

 gatherings. From the top of the large rock on the summit, the 

 eye ranges over the most extensive tract of woodlands in the 

 Feils, a dense wilderness in a wild state of Nature stretching 

 away to the Pine Hill in Medford, with the heights of Arlington 

 in the distance. 



This region is rich in attractions of every kind. Here are 

 some of the wildest scenes, the grandest and most pleasing. 

 Groves where Diana might have held her court; crystal streams 

 for her fair nymphs to bathe in; hillsides for elfs to gamble over, 

 and temples where the high priests of Nature hold their sacred 

 worship, and where the soul of man rise into communion with 

 his Creator. 



Over and through this region, the lover of Nature may roam 

 for days with ever increasing delight, while a worker in any 

 branch of natural science will find here ample fields for investi- 

 gation and study. So while those who resort to the Fells for the 

 enjoyment of. their aesthetic tastes alone, find plenty of attrac- 

 tions to minister to their sense of the beautiful, the naturalist 

 studying the various manifestations of Nature, as seen in her 

 multiform productions, finds here allurements to repay him in a 

 thousand ways unknown to others. 



But it is now high noon, and emulating the illustrious example 

 of our great predecessor, we spread our own lunch and prepare 



