The next link in the line under consideration. The route from Rouse’s
Point, _via_ Lake Champlain, is exceedingly pleasant, the scenery being
that of the lovely lake, and the Green Mountains of Vermont. SHELDON
SPRINGS are on the line of this road, and it is also a direct route to
MOUNT MANSFIELD. Both these localities have acquired no little celebrity
as summer resorts.
At Morrisville, connection is made for Mount Mansfield by stage line,
and such as wish to visit the locality will find an excellent stopping
place at Mt. Mansfield House. The mountain is in the town of Stowe,
about twenty miles northeast of Montpelier, and its height is 4,359 feet
above the level of the sea.
The Green Mountains of Vermont are a portion of the great Appalachian
range, extending almost continuously from near the St. Lawrence River,
in Canada, through the entire length of Vermont, across the western part
of Massachusetts and the middle Atlantic States, to the northern part of
Alabama. The White Mountains of New Hampshire, and the Adirondacks and
Catskills of New York are regarded as outlying spurs of this chain. This
range is remarkable for the uniformity of outline which characterizes
the different peaks, particularly of their summits, the ridges extending
in the same general direction, sometimes hardly diverging from a
straight line for a distance of fifty or sixty miles. Where the mountain
chains are parallel, the ridges are also in parallel lines, preserving
their general direction, and, to a wonderful extent, a uniformity of
distance between them. When one curves round in a new direction, all
curve with it.
These general peculiarities are less marked in the mountains of Vermont
than in the more southerly portions of the same chain. In fact, the
peculiar characteristics of the range, as a whole, are less marked at
both its northern and southern extremities, the termination at either
end not being well defined, as the mountains sink away and are lost in
the hilly country that succeeds to them.
The Green Mountain peaks are also less bold and abrupt than those of the
White Mountains, being covered mostly with verdure to their very
summits, and presenting less of sharp or ragged outline in their general
conformation. To many visitors, this feature is pleasing and agreeable,
and a large class of summer tourists spend a portion or all of the
season in the vicinity of the “beautiful hills” of the “Green Mountain
State.”
At St. Johnsbury the line intersects the Passumpsic Railroad, and a
description of the route from this point will be given in the following
chapter, in connection with the trip from Quebec and Montreal.
[Illustration: The White Mountains.]
The route from the West to the seaboard _via_ Montreal and Quebec, as
arranged over recently completed lines of travel, naturally extends
through the charming region of the celebrated White Hills of New
Hampshire. From Montreal, or any point beyond, this popular resort is
easy of access by several routes, all of them possessing some special
attraction to invite the tourist to give them a trial. From Quebec, the
tourist may return to Montreal, by boat or rail, or may proceed directly
to the mountains by the QUEBEC CENTRAL RAILWAY to Sherbrooke, thence
_via_ the Passumpsic Railroad to St. Johnsbury, Bethlehem and Fabyans,
in the very heart of the White Mountain region.
If the trip be made by way of Montreal, the mountains may be reached
_via_ the Grand Trunk, the Southeastern, or the Central Vermont. The
route by the Grand Trunk, is by way of Gorham, and the eastern side of
the mountains. By the Southeastern, the line is to Newport and St.
Johnsbury. The Central Vermont line offers two routes; one to
Montpelier, there connecting with the Montpelier & Wells River Railroad,
or by way of Swanton, thence by the Portland and Ogdensburg line to St.
Johnsbury, which thus seems to be made the focus of all the various
lines having the same general direction, and leading to the mountain
region.
At NEWPORT, reached by the Southeastern from Montreal, or the Quebec
Central from Quebec, the celebrated Lake Memphremagog is the chief
attraction, and the dining station is at the splendid hotel bearing the
same name as the lake. It is a popular summer resort, and the steamer on
the lake makes frequent trips for the accommodation of tourists. Several
mountains, comprising Jay Peak, Owl’s Head, Mount Oxford, Mount
Elephantis and the Willoughby Mountains are among the attractions of the
vicinity.
[Illustration: WHITE MOUNTAIN RANGE.]
ST. JOHNSBURY is situated on the Passumpsic River, at the intersection
of the Passumpsic and St. Johnsbury & Lake Champlain Railroads; and in
addition to the attractiveness of its location from a scenic point of
view, it has attained much prominence as a manufacturing town, the
heaviest enterprise in that direction being the production of the
celebrated Fairbanks scales, known the world over for their excellence
and correctness. The St. Johnsbury House and Avenue Hotel are good
places of entertainment.
Eastward from St. Johnsbury the route lies over the St. Johnsbury & Lake
Champlain Railroad to Lunenburg, the western terminus of the Portland
division of the P. & O. line. From this point, a ride of an hour brings
us into the very midst of the glorious White Hills, and in full view of
the grand