144 
THE MAINE WOODS. 
fill this, and it stays here ; that is Sebamook” I under¬ 
stood him to mean that it was a reservoir of water which 
did not run away, the river coming in on one side and 
passing out again near the same place, leaving a perma¬ 
nent bay. Another Indian said, that it meant Large- 
Bay Lake, and that Sebago and Sebec , the names of 
other lakes, were kindred words, meaning large open 
water. Joe said that Seboois meant Little Liver. I 
observed their inability, often described, to convey an 
abstract idea. Having got the idea, though indistinctly, 
they groped about in vain for words with which to ex¬ 
press it. Tahmunt thought that the whites called it 
Moosehead Lake, because Mount Kineo, which com¬ 
mands it, is shaped like a moose’s head, and that Moose 
Liver was so called “ because the mountain points right 
across the lake to its mouth.” John Josselyn, writing 
about 1673, says, “ Twelve miles from Casco Bay, and 
passable for men and horses, is a lake, called by the In¬ 
dians Sebug. On the brink thereof, at one end, is the 
famous rock, shaped like a moose deer or helk, diaph¬ 
anous, and called the Moose Lock.” He appears to have 
confounded Sebamook with Sebago, which is nearer, but 
has no “ diaphanous ” rock on its shore. 
I give more of their definitions, for what they are 
worth, — partly because they differ sometimes from the 
commonly received ones. They never analyzed these 
words before. After long deliberation and repeating of 
the word, for it gave much trouble, Tahmunt said that 
Chesuncook meant a place where many streams emptied 
in (?), and he enumerated them, — Penobscot, Umba- 
zookskus, Cusabesex, Led Brook, etc. — “ Caucomgomoc , 
— what does that mean ? ” “ What are those large white 
birds ? ” he asked. 6i Gulls,” said I. “ Ugh! Gull 
