MAINE. 



169 



the ground being loosened by the frosts and meUing of the snow, and the heavy rains of the 

 season, render the roads almost impassable ; the same effect is produced by the rain at the 

 approach of winter. The result is, that in the country bordering on the sea, the communica- 

 tion is uniformly good only for a few months in summer, and a few weeks in the winter. In 

 the interior, it is good for about the same length of time in the summer, and with comparative- 

 ly little interruption for an equal space in winter. The communication between the interior 

 and the seaboard is subjected in some degree to the same interruptions in winter as are 

 experienced along the coast. At a distance inland, the deep snows of winter afford a foun- 

 dation for the conveyance of heavy commodities, which supphes for a time the want of 

 artificial roads. 



4. Towns.* Portland, the former capital of Maine, is very pleasantly situated on a penin- 

 sula in Casco Bay ; it has a safe harbor, which is easy of access, and seldom frozen. The 

 harbor is defended by forts Preble and Scammel. At the east of the town is fort Burrows, 

 in the rear of which are some other works. There are 2 stone liglithouses on Cape Eliza- 

 beth, near the entrance of the harbor ; and on the N. E. side of the town stands a lookout, 

 70 feet in height, which affords a fine prospect of the town, harbor, and islands. Portland 

 is much the largest town in Maine, and far superior to any other in the Stale in commerce and 

 wealth. It contains a neat brick court house, an almshouse, city hall, a market house, several 

 banks and insurance offices, an academy, various schools, public and private, an athenaeum, ex- 

 change, an apprentices' library, and 15 churches. The custom-house is a fine building with a front 



of stone. The largest building is the mar' 

 ners' church, a handsome edifice of stone 

 in front, and comprising, besides a hall for 

 religious exercises, many rooms for schools, 

 libraries, &c. The basement story is oc- 

 cupied for stores, and a part of the building 

 serves for a market house. 



The city is generally v.ell built, a great 

 number of the buildings being of brick, and 

 many of them elegant. The centre is low, 

 but at the extremities are high hills. The 

 White Mountains, at 60 or 70 miles' dis- 

 tance, can be seen from the cit}'. The 

 open harbor of Portland and its great mer- 

 cantile capital, attract to it the trade of a 

 wide region ; the territory, to which it af- 

 fords the principal market, contains nearly 

 2,000 square miles. The shipping of this 

 port amounts to nearly 60,000 tons. The coasting tonnage is about 20,000 tons, much of the 

 foreign imports at this place being carried coastwise to Boston and other markets. Besides 

 the coasting trade and the fisheries, an extensive foreign commerce is carried on principally 

 with the West Indies and Europe. Portland was formerly included in the town of Falmouth, 

 and in 1775 v>as burnt by the British ; it was incorporated as a town by its present name in 

 17S6, and as a city in 1832. Population, 16,000. 



Gorham, 10 miles from Portland, is a flourishing manufacturing town, with 3,000 inhabitants. 

 Brunswick, on the south side of the Androscoggin, is a flourishing and handsome town, con- 

 taining a college, a Congregational, and a Baptist church, a printing ofllce, a cotton and woolen 

 manufactory, and a number of valuable mills. The fall of the Androscoggin at this place 

 aflbrds some of the best mill sites in the country. f Ship-building is also carried on. Popu- 

 lation 4,200. 



Bath, on the west side of the Kennebec, 12 miles from the sea, has a pleasant situation and 



Mariner's Church. 



* The counties in this and the other New England 

 States, are subdivided into townships, which are com- 

 monly called towns. They are incorporated by the legis- 

 latures of the respective States, and have a distinct police, 

 conducted by officers elected annually by the inhabitants. 

 The States of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 

 Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Arkansas, are also subdi- 

 vided into townships , in the other States, in which no 



such subdivision is known, the word town is used in its 

 proper sense for a collection of houses. 



t A species of the emerald, or the beryl of Jameson, 

 which occurs often in the o r.mite of this part of tiie coun- 

 try, is found in the neighborhood of this place, accompa- 

 nied with crystals of a pure, rich green, which obviously 

 belong to the precious emerald. — Cleaveland's Mineralo- 

 gy 



