lie on the arms of the bay, and the rivers that fall into it.

The views in this neighbourhood are rendered picturesque, by the intermixture of large rocks and rich meadows.

A few miles beyond Portsmouth, we crossed the Piscataqua, over a bridge that is said to be the finest in America. It is built of wood, in the form of an angle, the two sides uniting on an arch of so: great a height, that it admits small vessels to sail under it. The rest of our ride to Portland, was through a populous country, bordering on a ridge of mountains that lie between the Piscataqua and the river Back; commanding prospects.de-i lightfully varied by a great number of rivers," bays, and cultivated promontories, that terminate at a considerable distance in the mountains of New Hampshire.

The whole coast is a continued zig-zag, formed by numerous bays, creeks, and promontories, pretty thickly inhabited; but the further we go, the less marks of wealth or industry we observe. Portland, however, is handsome in that part called the New Town. The Old Town was destroyed in the war of the revolution, and is rebuilt with mean houses, and inhabited by the meanest ranks; it stands on a peninsula that juts out into Casco Bay; as does North Yarmouth, on a creek of the same bay. Here I was well amused with looking

at

at the various operations of the ship builders, and examining mills of different kinds.

We passed through Brunswick and Wiscasect, two towns of which I have nothing to say, before we reached the Kennebeck, which is one of the principal rivers of the province of Maine; its source is distant from its mouth two hundred miles, and it waters the finest woodlands in this region. The forests and the sea are the grand sources of riches to this district. Most of the people are either wood-cutters, fishers, or limeburners. The dealers in wood retire with their families, about: November, into the recesses of the forests; having taken care, in the summer, to provide hay for their cattle, and a hut for themselves, on a particular spot marked for their winter residence. Thus dismally secluded from the comforts of a neighbourhood, they remain tilk April or May, unless very severe weather compels them to return sooner. Having felled their timber, they bring it on sledges to the brink of the river, where it remains till the rains swell the waters sufficiently to float it down the stream. Each wood-1 owner knows his own trees by a particular mark. When they reach the mouth of the rivers, they are sent to different ports belonging to the United States, in small yachts.

Evening coming on, with an appearance of rain, we did not wait for a tavern, but rode up to the door of a farmer, who admitted us with the kindest wel

come.

come. The manner of life and simplicity of be. haviour of this happy family, resemble the stories of the patriarchs, that we read in the Bible. He draws his whole support from the farm; he is surrounded by a number of children, who assist by their labour to increase the common stock. The sons catch cod-fish and salmon, besides ploughing and sowing, and tending the cattle. The mother and daughters not only spin all the linen they use, but also make the shoes for the family, out of the hides of the cattle they kill for sale. The good old man and his wife were determined to make a feast for the strangers; so a lamb was presently condemned, and a joint of it served for supper. The sideboard was supplied with beer, brewed from the twigs of the spruce fir-tree; and grog, which is a mixture of rum and water, a very common beverage wherever we go. After supper, they amused us with an account of their employments, in reply to Mr. Franklin's questions concerning the dairy, the farm, the fishery, and the orchard. Every season brings with it something new, and they seem so affectionate to one another, and so happy, I was ready to envy them. I went to bed full

of this pleasing scene, and dreamt of you and my sisters cultivating a little farm with me. I awoke, and the vast Atlantic rolled between us. I felt our separation, and rose out of spirits. The cheerful conversation of the farmer and his family chaced

chaced away dull thoughts; and the hour of departure obliging us to take leave, we mounted our horses and renewed our journey. Adieu.

ARTHUR MIDDLETON.

LETTER XXVIII.

Mr. Franklin to Edwin Middleton.

Penobscot.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIEND,

THE variety of scenes that succeed each other in our rambles through different parts of this extensive continent, will, I hope, in the repetition, amuse some of your leisure hours at home.

The latter part of our journey hither, through a portion of the district of Maine, has been amidst a wild country, where the poverty of the inhabitants is apparent, from the wretched log-houses they live in, and the few accommodations they possess. We have frequently taken shelter from the night, where our host could neither procure us rum, sugar, meat, inor any bread but a soft kind of paste made of rye and Indian corn, that an English sportsman would scarcely think good enough for his dogs. A succession of small fishing towns border the coast. The views round Penobscot Bay are agreeable, and enlivened

enlivened by the different aspects of numerous islets, most of them inhabited by fishermen, whose boats, scattered on the bosom of the water, complete the 'animation of the scene.

The treasures of the sea are so easily procured, that they neglect to cultivate the land, and arc contented to live in miserable huts, ill provided with clothes or food. People thus indifferent to private comfort, are not likely to attend to public accommodation; the roads, accordingly, are very indifferent, and are often obstructed by rocks and roots of trees. The silver fir grows plentifully in this district, especially near North Yarmouth; as do the red oak, the white oak, and another species that seldom exceeds fifteen feet in height. The black fir, the Weymouth pine, the red cedar, the common fir, the red maple, the Pennsylvania ash, the black birch, and the dwarf birch, are also common. Wood pigeons, and squirrels of different kinds, abound in the woods; the former emigrate in prodigious swarms to the southward, on the approach of winter. Bears and wolves are rather numerous. We lately met a large bear within a mile of a village; he crossed the road fearlessly. Arthur împrudently pursued him. The bear, not being pressed with hunger, ran away with great speed.

Either religion is at a low ebb, or civilization is but little advanced, as I could hear of no building erected for public worship throughout the province.

These