THE WHITE MOUNTAINS.

The White Mountains, of New Hampshire, which, on account of their sublimity and grandeur, have given to this region the cognomen of the "Switzerland of America," lie in Coos county, N.E. from the center of the state. There are several peaks in this group, viz: Mount Jefferson, 5,657 feet; Mount Adams, 5,759, and Mount Madison, 5,415 feet-N.E. from Mount Washington; and Mount Monroe, 5,349 feet; Mount Franklin, 4,850 feet; and Mount Pleasant, 4,712; besides several neighboring peaks little inferior in altitude. In another group 20 miles S. W. of Mount Washington, is Mount Lafayette, about 5,500 feet high, the second

in point of interest in the White Mountain range. Mount Washington, the monarch of the group, is, with the exception of the Black Mountain, of North Carolina, the highest peak east of the Rocky Mountains, rising to the hight of 6,226 feet above the sea, exceeding a mile in altitude by more than a thousand feet. The White Mountains are considered as a continuation of the Alleghanies. They attract more tourists than any other natural curiosity in the United States, Niagara Falls alone excepted. Here one may pass weeks in viewing its wild scenery, so constant is the succession of grand objects to arrest attention:

"The White Mountain Notch is a pass of great celebrity. Coming from the N. or W., you enter it by an opening only 23 feet in width, between two perpendicular rocks, one 20 and the other 12 feet high. The infant Saco trickles its way through this narrow opening, gradually expanding as it proceeds down the pass, and receiving other tributaries from the mountain sides, which form the walls of the gorge, and which tower to the hight of about 2,000 feet above the bed of the Saco. In this pass occurred, in 1826, the landslide which destroyed the Willey family.

The more wild and abrupt parts of the Notch extend for two or three miles from its entrance at the Notch House. Mount Washington is ascended on horseback from the Notch House, by a bridle path, first climbing Mount Clinton-in immediate proximity to the hotel-for 21⁄2 miles, and then coasting the E. side of the peaks of Mount Pleasant, Mount Franklin, and Mount Monroe for 4 miles further, occasionally ascending a rough, steep ridge, and again descending, now riding on the verge of a vast ravine of several hundred feet in depth, and now on the crest of a ridge commanding a view of both sides of the chain-we arrive at the foot of Mount Washington, 1,50 feet in perpendicular, and about one mile in inclined ascent, above the base of the cone or peak, and 6,226 feet above the

sea. This is the most difficult, though scarcely dangerous part of the ascent, as it is little else than riding on horseback over a pile of rocks of every variety of size, cast together as if hurled by the Titans, in war or at play. From the summit, if the day be clear, is afforded a view unequaled, perhaps, on the eastern side of the North American continent. Around you, in every direction, are confused masses of mountains, bearing the appearance of a sea of molten lava suddenly cooled whilst its ponderous waves were yet in commotion. On the S.E. horizon gleams a rim of silver light-it is the Atlantic ocean, 65 miles distant-laving the shores of Maine. Lakes-of all sizes, from Lake Winnipiseogee to mere mountain ponds-and mountains beneath you gleam misty and wide.' Far off to the N.E. is Mount Katahdin. In the western horizon are the Green Mountains of Vermont, and to the S. and S.W. are Mount Monadnock and Kearsarge or Kirsage, while the space between is filled up with every variety of landscape, mountain and hill, plain and valley, lake and river.

The Franconia Notch is deemed by many quite as interesting as the White Mountain Notch. Near it are many agreeable accessories not to be found in the latter; among which are Echo lake, just at the northern entrance of the gorge, and the Old Man of the Mountain,' a well-defined profile of the human face. The mass of rock forming this extraordinary profile is said to be 80 feet in hight, is 1,500 feet above the pass and about half a mile from the spectator on the road, from which point it appears to be at the top of the mountain, though it really is 500 feet below the summit. The Basin (with a rock worn into an exact resemblance of the lower joint of the thigh bone), 4 miles S. of the Notch, is a pool of beautifully transparent water. One mile below this, again, in the vicinity of the Flume House, is the celebrated Flume, a narrow gorge or opening in the rock, only a few feet in width, and from 70 to 120 in hight, through which flows a small tributary of the Pemigewasset; below this is a cascade of 616 feet in length, which in the spring and fall freshets is an object of great interest. Mount Lafayette is ascended from the Flume House, being only a five mile ride from the Franconia Notch. From its summit is a view of more than 30 miles in extent, down the valley of the Pemigewasset, which is hemmed in on each side by lofty mountains."

We conclude the notice of the White Mountains by giving the details of the destruction of the Willey family by a landslide in 1826. It is the most noted event in the history of this interesting region:

It originated from a terrible storm of rain, unprecedented in the history of the country, the effects of which will remain for centuries. The inundation was so great and so sudden that the channels of the stream were totally insufficient to admit of the passage of the water, which, consequently overflowed the little level valleys at the feet of the mountains. Innumerable torrents immediately formed on all sides; and such deep trenches were cut by the rushing water, that vast bodies of earth and stones fell from the mountains, bearing with them the forests that had covered them for ages. Some of these "slides," as they are here popularly denominated (known among the Alps as "avalanches de terre"), are supposed to have been half a mile in breadth, and from one to five miles in length.

The dwelling known far and wide as "the Willey House," was occupied by Mr. Calvin Willey. His wife was a young woman of a very interesting character, and of an education not to be looked for in so wild a region. They had a number of young children, and their family, at the time, included several other persons, amounting in all to eleven. They were waked in the night by the noise of the storm, or more probably by the descent of avalanches from the neighboring mountains, and fled in their night-clothes from the house to seek their safety, but thus threw themselves in the way of destruction. One of the slides, a hundred feet high, stopped within three feet of the house. Another took away the barn, and overwhelmed the family; nothing was found of them for some time; their clothes were found lying at their bedsides. The house had been started on its foundation by an immense heap of earth and timber, which had slid down and stopped as soon as it touched it; and they had all been crushed on leaving the door, or borne away with the water that overflowed the meadow. Had they but remained in the house every soul would have escaped. "The next afternoon," says Starr King, in his exquisitely illustrated work on the White Hills, "a traveler passing Ethan Crawford's, some seven miles above the Willey House, desired, if possible, to get through the Notch that night. By swimming a horse across the wildest part of the flood, he was put upon the track. In the narrowest part of the road within the Notch, the water had torn out huge rocks, and left holes twenty feet deep, and had opened trenches, also, ten feet deep and twenty feet long. But the traveler, while daylight lasted, could make his way on foot over the torn and obstructed road, and he managed to reach the lower part of the Notch just before dark. The little house was standing, but there were no human inmates to greet him. And what desolation around! The mountain behind it, once robed in beautiful green, was striped for two or three miles with ravines deep and freshly torn.

The traveler entered the house and went through it. The doors were all open; the beds and their clothing showed that they had been hurriedly left; a Bible was lying open on a

table, as if it had been read just before the family had departed, The traveler consoled himself, at last, with the feeling that the inmates had escaped to Abel Crawford's below, and then tried to sleep in one of the deserted beds. But in the night he heard moanings, which frightened him so much that he lay sleepless till dawn. Then he found that they were the groans of an ox in the stable, that was partly crushed under broken timbers which had fallen in. The two horses were killed. He released the ox, and went on his way toward Bartlett.

Before any news of the disaster had reached Conway, the faithful dog came down to Mr. Lovejoy's, and, by moanings, tried to make the family understand what had taken place. Not succeeding, he left, and after being seen frequently on the road, sometimes heading north, and then south, running almost at the top of his speed, as though bent on some absorbing errand, he soon disappeared from the region, and has never since been

seen.'

On Wednesday evening suspicions of the safety of the family were carried down to Bartlett and North Conway, where Mr. Willey's father and brothers lived. But they were not credited. The terrible certainty was to be communicated to the father in the most thrilling way. At midnight of Wednesday, a messenger reached the bank of the river opposite his house in Lower Bartlett, but could not cross. He blew a trumpet, blast after blast. noise and the mountain echoes startled the family and neighborhood from their repose. They soon gathered on the river bank, and heard the sad message shouted to them through the darkness,

The

On Thursday, the 31st of August, the family and many of the neighbors were able to reach the Notch. Tall Ethan Crawford left his farm which the floods had ravaged, and went down through the Notch to meet them. When I got there,' he says, ' on seeing the friends of that well-beloved family, and having been acquainted with them for many years, my heart was full and my tongue refused utterance, and I could not for a considerable length of time speak to one of them, and could only express my regard for them in pressing their hands-but gave full vent to tears. This was the second time my eyes were wet with tears since grown to manhood.' Search was commenced at once for the buried bodies. The first that was exhumed was one of the hired men, David Allen, a man of powerful frame and remarkable strength. He was but slightly disfigured. He was found near the top of a pile of earth and shattered timbers, with hands clenched and full of broken sticks and small limbs of trees.' Soon the bodies of Mrs. Willey and her husband were discoveredthe latter not so crushed that it could not be recognized.

No more could be found that day. Rude coffins were prepared, and the next day, Friday, about sunset, the simple burial-service was offered. Elder Samuel Hasaltine, standing amidst the company of strong, manly forms, whose faces were wet with tears, commenced the service with the words of Isaiah: Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with a span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance.' How fitting this language in that solemn pass, and how unspeakably more impressive must the words have seemed, when the mountains themselves took them up and literally responded them, joining as mourners in the burial liturgy! For the minister stood so that each one of these sublime words was given back by the echo, in a tone as clear and reverent as that in which they were uttered. The next day the body of the youngest child, about three years old, was found, and also that of the other hired man. On Sunday, the eldest daughter was discovered, at a distance from the others, across the river. A bed was found on the ruins near her body. It was supposed that she was drowned, as no bruise or mark was found upon her. She was twelve years old, and Ethan Crawford tells us she had acquired a good education, and seemed more like a gentleman's daughter, of fashion and affluence, than the daughter of one who had located himself in the midst of the mountains. These were buried without any religious service. Three children—a daughter and two sons-were never found."

Washington April 19.52
Deen Wetter

FAC SIMILE OF THE SIGNATURE OF DANIEL WEBSTER.

VERMONT.

THE territory now included within the state of Vermont, owing to its distance from the coast, was, for a long time after the surrounding

ARMS OF VERMONT.

settlements were made, in a great measure unknown by Europeans. It appears to have been first explored by the French from Canada. Its name was derived from the Green Mountains: verd, in the French language, signifies green, and mont, mountain. They are so called on account of the numerous evergreens with which they are covered.

In 1716, a tract of land was granted, by Massachusetts, in the south-east part of the state, containing more than 100,000 acres. In 1724, that government built Fort Dummer, on the Connecticut River. This fort was then admitted to be within Massachusetts; afterward it was found to be in New Hampshire, and is now in Vermont. On the other side of the state, the French made their advances up Lake Champlain, and in 1731, built their fort at Crown Point, and began a settlement on the east side of the lake. This part of the country became, of course, the seat of war, and was constantly exposed to the depredations of both nations and their Indian allies.

The provinces of Massachusetts and New Hampshire had a long controversy respecting their boundary lines. This was not settled until 1740, when the present line was determined by George II. By this decision, the government of New Hampshire concluded that their jurisdiction extended as far west as Massachusetts had claimed; that is within 20 miles of Hudson River. In 1749, Benning Wentworth, the governor of New Hampshire, made a grant of a township six miles square, situated 20 miles E. from Hudson River, and six miles N. from the Massachusetts line. In allusion to his own name, he gave to this township, the name of Bennington. In the course of four or five years, he made several other grants on the west side of Connecticut River. During the French war, the New England troops

cut a road from Charleston, in New Hampshire, to Crown Point. By this means the fertility and value of the lands in this part of Vermont became generally known. After the conquest of Canada, these lands were eagerly sought after by adventurers and speculators. The cultivation of the country, and the increase of the settlers (principally from Connecticut), were so rapid, that Wentworth acquired a large fortune by the fees and donations which attended the business, and by a reserve of five hundred acres, which he made in every township for himself.

These proceedings alarmed the government of New York, who claimed all the territory west of Connecticut River. This claim was founded upon an extraordinary grant made by Charles II, in 1664, to his brother the duke of York, which contained a grant, among other things, of "all the lands from the west side of Connecticut River to the east side of Delaware Bay." The New Hampshire grants were declared invalid by the authorities of New York, and the settlers were required to take out new patents. In opposition to this the governor of New Hampshire put forth another proclamation, declaring the grant to the duke of York to be obsolete, and that New Hampshire extended as far west as Massachusetts and Connecticut. New York persisted in her claims, the south-west part of Vermont was annexed to the county of Albany, and the north-west formed into the county of Charlotte.

Some of the towns complied with the requisitions of New York, and bought their lands the second time. These grants from New York were attended with heavy fees and expense. Those who refused to obtain them had their lands granted to others who would pay the fees. Actions of ejectment were commenced at Albany, against several of the ancient settlers. When, however, the officers came to eject the inhabitants from their houses and lands, they generally encountered strong opposition, and were not suffered to proceed to the execution of their offices. When it was found that the people had combined against the proceedings of the courts at Albany, the militia were ordered out to assist the sheriff. The militia had, however, no disposition to hazard their lives for the benefit of a few speculators, and upon the appearance of an armed opposition from the settlers, they could not be kept together.

The opposition became so violent that several on both sides were much abused and wounded; and no officer from New York dared to attempt to dispossess any of the settlers from their farms. In these scenes of violence and opposition to the proceedings of New York, ETHAN ALLEN placed himself at the head of the opposition. Bold, enterprising, ambitious, with great confidence in his own abilities, he undertook to direct the proceedings of the inhabitants. He wrote and distributed several pamphlets, showing the injustice of the proceedings of New York. The uncultivated roughness of his own temper and manners, seems to have assisted him in giving a forcible description to the designs of the speculating land jobbers. Next to