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eral, the scope of the view afforded from | Mount Mansfield is, of course, inferior to the summit of Mount Mansfield. The Mount Washington. Its charms are of countless details which give it grace, pic- a more modest nature. But it has, neverturesqueness, and value can not even be theless, peculiar advantages of its own, enumerated, but must be left with the which will not escape the eye of discernassurance that not one which the imagi- ing visitors, and which to a large class of nation could crave will be found wanting persons will recommend it even above the by the most exacting lover of nature. White Mountains. One of these is the singular extent and freedom of the view which may be had from its summit. Instead of being only one of a vast army of peaks, and distinguished from its comrades merely by a slight superiority in height, it is more like an isolated structure rising out of a surrounding plain. In at least two directions, east and west, the landscape is unobstructed for a hundred miles. The country lies spread out in a vast plateau, beginning at the very base of the mountain, and enlivened by every element which belongs to a complete picture. The landscape itself is therefore an ample reward for the toil and expense of the visit. But there is a further felicity in the exemption of the real lover of nature from the intrusion of unsympathetic Philistines. Unfortunately no part of the world in these days of rapid and cheap travel is absolutely free from the shoddyite, the cockney, and the snob; but Mount Mansfield as a resort is in this respect at least comparatively favored. It is little frequented by "fashionable" people, and even less so by that still lower class who pursue and imitate fashionable people. Serious, thoughtful, and appreciative persons form the larger part of its summer patrons. They who spend there one season generally spend also the next and the next; acquaintances are renewed from year to year; and in this way Mount Mansfield is gradually enrolling a considerable band of faithful, zealous, and devout disciples.

The neighborhood of Stowe affords a multitude of other charming resorts, some of which must be at least mentioned. One of these is the Smuggler's Notch, a narrow pass between Mount Mansfield and the Sterling Mountain. It is supposed to have been used in former times by smugglers, as it is an easy and convenient connection between western and eastern Vermont, and a link in the chain of communication between Montreal and Boston, once an important thoroughfare for contraband traffic. At the summit of the pass there is a deserted inn, the Notch House. The local guide-book says it affords accommodation for man and beast; and this is true, for if the visitor brings with him sandwiches for the man and oats for the beast, they can be eaten in the ruins of the edifice. Otherwise a common famine will be the result. A good road following the course of a noble trout stream ends only at the Notch House, and the source of the stream, the "Mammoth Spring," which is not improperly named. Beyond the house a foot-path leads through a succession of mighty bowlders which have fallen from the cliffs above, under abrupt precipices which stretch up on either side to appalling heights, through damp ravines where the ferns grow in fantastic luxuriance and beauty, finally issues at the western mouth of the pass, and then descends swiftly to the valley. It is customary in visiting the Notch to include also Bingham's Falls, named after an eminent citizen of Stowe, who has done much to make the region accessible and agreeable to tourists. They are composed of a series of chasms worn in the solid rock.

Other attractions are Moss Glen Cascade, only four miles from Stowe, in Worcester Mountains; Gold Brook, a favorite drive; Morrisville Falls and Johnson Falls, somewhat more distant; and various other choice rural nooks which will well repay a visit. The roads are, for mountain roads, uniformly good, and ladies unaccompanied ride in confidence and safety all over the country.

For loftiness, grandeur, and majesty,

The scene changes now abruptly to another part of Vermont, and to other elements of interest and attraction. Our route lies diagonally across the State, from the Alps to the Apennines; from Mont Blanc to Carrara; from a region newly settled and still full of a wild beauty and vigor to a region rich in colonial and Revolutionary traditions, and throbbing with a varied and active industry.

The history of southwestern Vermont goes back to a time when, strictly speaking, there was no Vermont; when there was a New Hampshire and a New York, but when it was uncertain to which of

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The first of the towns just named, Manchester, is, in respect to outward beauty and to popularity as a summer resort, easily superior to all the others. It lies on a high plateau formed by a long, low spur of Mount Equinox; has one broad street, luxuriantly shaded; is calm, decorous, and soothing; and being well provided with hotels, is favorably known to the annual fugitives from New York and Boston. The ascent of Equinox is easily made, and the vicinity affords an abundance of delightful excursions.

1776, in Dorset, at the house of Deacon | ceeding northward, gradually widens out Cephas Kent, a leading patriot, and an into a spacious and fertile plain, lying becestor of many eminent men, Chancellor tween the main line of the Green MountKent being one. There were present ains and Lake Champlain. Colonel Seth Warner, the Revolutionary hero, several Allens, and representatives of the Chittendens, Morgans, Fays, Saffords, Robinsons, and Marshes, all historic families of Vermont. The tone of the assembly may be learned from the resolutions which were adopted. They affirm that the people of that section were tired of the "tyranny of New York toward the New Hampshire Grants"; that, for geographical reasons, they could not well co-operate with New York in the war of Independence; and that they were determined, in their participation in the common cause, to recognize only the superiority of the Continental Congress. In virtue of this, and a still higher authority, Ethan Allen demanded and obtained the surrender of Fort Ticonderoga. On this basis the Vermonters fought the battle of Bennington, and thus prepared the way for the surrender of Burgoyne himself. Every town and hamlet throughout the region has its own proud Revolutionary legends, its own noble list of martyrs, its own heroes. Take Dorset again. The champion of Revolutionary Dorset is a valiant citizen who, aided by one ally, captured at Bennington seven prisoners, one of them a colonel, and brought them safely off the field. It is evident that such a people would not submit to the authority even of New York if it were unjust and distasteful. By their efforts they won, in fact, a double independence-first their independence, with the other colonies, from England, and then their independence as a State in the Union of States.

In the neighborhood of Dorset arise two streams, which, after this single early meeting, turn their backs rudely upon each other, and thenceforth flow in opposite directions. The Battenkill bears southward for twenty miles or more, then strikes westward through the mountains, and onward to the Hudson. Otter Creek is true throughout to its Vermont allegiance. Its course is north, and it finally empties into Lake Champlain, at Vergennes. The valley through which the two flow is narrowest about the point where the Battenkill leaves it; obtains its most striking natural characteristics near Manchester and Dorset, and then, pro

One of these is, for example, to Dorset Mountain. It should first be explained, however, that the term Green Mountains is applied only to the range east of the valley, that on the west being known as the Taconic Mountains. Between the two chains there are also some striking differences. The Taconic Mountains are higher, bolder, and more imposing. The water which flows down from them is much harder than that from the east. They are also much richer in natural deposits, yielding marble, slate, and a superior quality of the ordinary building limestone. Mount Equinox is one of the peaks in the Taconic range. Dorset Mountain, five miles farther north, is another, and the one at which Otter Valley properly begins.

I have adhered to the older name, Dorset Mountain, although an attempt has been made to provide another, more ambitious, more sonorous, but not more honorable or dignified. This upstart term is Mount Æolus, and the author of the unhappy innovation is Professor Charles H. Hitchcock, who in 1861 visited the region with a class of students from Amherst College. Dr. Hitchcock gave the following explanation of the phenomenal absence of snow in Dorset Valley: "Eolus, the god of the winds, fled from fallen Greece, and took up his abode in the caves and marble halls of this mountain. When this god calls home Boreas, driving before him snow and hail, there comes also Auster, with warm breath and weeping showers, and the frost-work volute and scroll soon disappear." The ceremony of christening was performed. Standing on a natural platform near the mouth of the cave, the party broke a bottle of water over

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