THE MAINE WOODS. 
K TA AD N. 
On the 31st of August, 1846, I left Concord in Mas¬ 
sachusetts for Bangor and the backwoods of Maine, by 
way of the railroad and steamboat, intending to accom¬ 
pany a relative of mine engaged in the lumber-trade 
in Bangor, as far as a dam on the west branch of the 
Penobscot, in which property he was interested. From 
this place, which is about one hundred miles by the 
river above Bangor, thirty miles from the Houlton mili¬ 
tary road, and five miles beyond the last log-hut, I pro¬ 
posed to make excursions to Mount Ktaadn, the second 
highest mountain in New England, about thirty miles 
distant, and to some of the lakes of the Penobscot, either 
alone or with such company as I might pick up there. 
It is unusual to find a camp so far in the woods at that 
season, when lumbering operations have ceased, and I 
was glad to avail myself of the circumstance of a gang 
of men being employed there at that time in repairing 
the injuries caused by the great freshet in the spring. 
The mountain may be approached more easily and di¬ 
rectly on horseback and on foot from the northeast side, 
by the Aroostook road, and the Wassataquoik Piver; but 
in that case you see much less of the wilderness, none of 
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