NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



173 



medicinal purposes, New Hampshire has a great variety ; the ginseng, so much esteemed by 

 the Chinese, is found here in abundance, and of good quality. Here are produced also the 

 buck-bean, the large flowering dogwood, lobelia, henbane, cicuta, &c. 



13. Face of the Country. With the exception of a small tract, 20 or 30 miles in width, 

 along the coast, which is level, or nearly so, this State presents a surface broken up into every 

 diversity of hill, valley, and mountain. The hills increase in height as they recede from the 

 sea, till they sv.'ell into the lofty grandeur of the White Mountains. New Hampshire is the 

 most mountainous State in the Union ; and, from the great beauty of its lake, mountain, and 

 river scenery, has been denominated the Switzerland of America. 



14. jSTatural Curiosities. Bellows Falls form a remarkable cataract or rather violent rapid 

 in the Connecticut, at the village of Bellows Falls, 5 miles from the town of Walpole. The 

 breadth of the river above the fall is from 16 to 22 rods ; a large rock divides the stream into 

 two channels, each about 90 feet wide on the top of the shelving bank. When the water is 

 low, the east channel appears crossed by a bar of solid rock, and the whole stream falls into the 

 west channel, where it is contracted into the breadth of 16 feet, and flows with astonishing 

 swiftness. There are several pitches, one above another, in the length of half a mile, the 



-largest of which is that where the rock divides the stream ; the descent in this whole course is 

 42 feet. Notwithstanding the velocity of the current, the salmon used to pass up this fall, and 

 were taken many miles above. The Indians were accustomed to spear large numbers of them 

 m their descent. There is a bridge across the falls, and a canal half a mile long, with 9 locks, 

 around them on the west side. Amoskeag Falls, in the Merrimack, consist of three successive 

 pitches, falling nearly 50 feet. The neighborhood of these falls was formerly much frequented 

 by the Indians, and many skirmishes took place between them and the early settlers of Vermont 

 and New Hampshire. During their wars, the savages concealed their provisions in the caves 

 among the rocks of the island in the upper part of the fall. There are falls also at Barrington, 

 and extensive caverns in Chester. At Franconia is a singular eminence called the Profile 

 Mountain, being a rugged peak 1000 feet in height, presenting a bold and majestic front 

 of solid rock ; a side view of this exhibits a profile of the human face, every feature of 

 which is conspicuous. 



POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



The State is divided into 8 counties, which with the county towns are as 



County Towns. 



Lancaster. 

 ( Haverhill. 

 \ Plymouth. 



Concord. 



Newport. 



Keene. 



Amherst. 



Counties. 



Strafford, 

 Rockingham, 



County Towns. 

 ' Dover. 

 Gilmanton. 

 Gilford. 

 Rochester. 

 Portsmouth. 

 Exeter. 



1. Divisions. 

 follows : 



Counties. 



Coos, 



Grafton, 



Merrimack, 

 Sullivan, 

 Cheshire, 

 Hillsborough, 



The capital is Concord. 



2. Canals. Several canals have been constructed round the falls of the Merrimack ; Bow 

 canal, half a mile in length, passes a fall of 25 feet ; Hooksett canal, 50 rods in length, passes 

 Hooksett falls, with a lockage of 16 feet ; Amoskeag canal passes a fall of the same name, with 

 a lockage of 45 feet, and Union canal overcomes 7 falls. 



3. Roads, Railroads, and Bridges. There have been incorporated 53 turnpike companies 

 in New Hampshire, which have completed roa.ds to the extent of about 500 miles. The 

 bridges are about 25, without reckoning small ones. These are all of wood. The Nashua 

 railroad, from Nashua to Lowell, is partly in this State ; a continuation ot this work to Concord, 

 30 miles, and of the Boston and Maine railroad, through Plaistow, Exeter, and Dover, 30 

 miles, are in progress ; and that of the Eastern railroad, from the Massachusetts line to Ports- 

 mouth, 18 miles, is contemplated. Railroads from Dover to Alton, on Winnipiseogee Lake, 

 28 miles, and from Concord, by the Contoocook valley, to Claremont, on the Connecticut, 45 

 nailes, are projected. The Portland and Connecticut River Railroad Corporation has been 

 formed, with the design of building a railroad from Portland to Haverhill. 



4. Towns. The largest town is Portsmouth ; it lies at the mouth of the Piscataqua, upon a 



