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NEW ENGLAND. 



formed into meadows which are more profitable, and everywhere more beautiful, than lands de- 

 voted to any other culture ; they are from 5 to 500 acres, and are everywhere covered with a 

 verdure peculiarly rich and vivid. The vast fields also which are not in meadow, exhibit all 

 the productions of the climate, interspersed in parallelograms, divided only by mathematical 

 lines, and mingled in a charming confusion. In many places large and thrifty orchards, and 

 everywher'^ forest trees standing singly, of great height and graceful figures, diversify the land- 

 scape. Through its whole extent this valley is almost a continual succession of delightful 

 scenery. The Connecticut is one of the most beautiful rivers in the world ; the purity, salu- 

 brity, and sweetness of its waters, the frequency and beauty of its meadows, its absolute free- 

 dom from aquatic vegetables, the enchanting elegance and grandeur of its banks, sometimes 

 consisting of a smooth and winding beach, here covered with rich verdure, there fringed with 

 bushes, now crowned with lofty trees, and now formed by the intruding hill, the rude blulT, 

 and the shaggy mountain ; these are objects which no description can equal. 



4. Rivers. Few countries are better watered than New England. There is scarcely a 

 farm without a brook, mill-stream, or river. These rivers are remarkable for flowing over 

 different levels. Water-falls are abundant. There is not a brook or river M'hose course is not 

 broken by them, and many of the streams are little more than a succession of cataracts. The 

 falls are most numerous toward the heads of the streams. None of them is remarkable for 

 height, but some are highly picturesque. 



The currents of the rivers are rapid, and their waters remarkably clear. In the spring and 

 summer they are subject to inundations, called in this country freshets, occasioned by the melt- 

 ing of the snow upon their banks, or the fall of heavy rains. Upon these occasions, the rivers 

 often overflow their beds, and rush to the sea with such velocity, as to sweep avv'ay bridges, 

 houses, and everything upon their banks. The Boston schooner, which was run down by a 

 Methodist meetinghouse in Long Island Sound, as sung by the poet, was no fiction. The 

 rivers are sometimes bordered with high and rocky banks, but some of the larger streams have 

 wide valleys. The principal river of New England is the Connecticut, which rises in the High- 

 lands that separate Lower Canada from the United States, and, taking a southerly course be- 

 tween Vermont and New Hampshire, traverses Massachusetts and Connecticut, and falls into 

 Long Island Sound, after a course of 450 miles. At the northern boundary of Vermont, it is 

 150 feet wide, and in Massachusetts and Connecticut, its breadth varies from 500 to 1,000 

 feet. It meets the tide waters at the foot of Enfield Falls, having a descent of 1 ,600 feet in 

 330 miles. It is navigable to Hartford for vessels drawing 8 feet of water, and, by the aid 

 of canals, for flat-bottomed boats to the distance of 270 miles from its mouth. Its valley is 

 infinitely diversified with mountain and meadow, and on its borders are situated some of the 

 prettiest towns in New England. It overflows its banks annually in the spring. The shad 

 fishery in this river is very valuable. 



5. Lakes and Ponds. New England is abundantly supplied with lakes and ponds. The 

 larger ones will be particularly described. The smaller sheets of water are scattered about 

 in every part of the country. Within a dozen miles of Boston, there are more than twenty, 

 and in the six New England States, there are probably above a thousand. They often form 

 pictures of exquisite beauty. Their shores are commonly high and varied ; they sometimes 

 show a bright gleam in the midst of a dark forest, and at other times are surrounded by mea- 

 dows and farms. In the neighborhood of the large towns, their romantic borders are occupied 

 by country seats. Nothing can be more cheerful than the aspect they impart to the landscape. 

 They are supplied generally by subjacent springs, and their waters are cool, sweet, and 

 limpid. 



6. Bays and Harbors.. The great bays of this region, under which name we must include 

 also Long Island Sound, afford a free navigation, from their depth of water, and the absence 

 of dangerous shoals. Hardly any country is better furnished with harbors. The whole coast 

 is indented with inlets and mouths of rivers, which afford almost every town, lying upon the 

 sea, conveniences for commerce. The harbors of Portsmouth, Boston, and Newport, are 

 equal to any in the world, and, in the event of future wars, will be important naval stations. 



7. Shores. The coast is, for the most part, rocky and bold. The sandy district of Cape 

 Cod is the only considerable exception. The headlands which bound Massachusetts Bay, are 

 thn most prominent points. Almost every cape, point, and island along the coast, is furnished 

 with a liglithouse. 



