north by the
Grand Trunk at Northumberland. The approach is grand from all sides, and
the mountain combinations picturesque and beautiful. From five to six
thousand feet above the plain, these mountains rise presenting every
variety of mountain scenery, slopes, ravines, precipices, towering
cliffs, and overhanging summits.

To the south of the mountains and nestling among the foot hills, lies
Lake Winnipiseogee--"Pleasant Water in a High Place," or "The Smile of
the Great Spirit," as the aborigines termed it, with its surface broken
by hundreds of islands: one, they say, for every day of the calendar
year; and its shores the delight of artists in search of the
picturesque, as well as of the sojourner after pleasure. Its waters
smile eternally pleasant, and the visitor will not find the fountain of
perpetual youth of the swart old navigator a fable; for here he will
regain lost youth and strength in the contemplation of scenes as
beautiful as poets' dreams. O! Lake Winnipiseogee, we recall the sails
across thy bright waters with delight, and long to see thy rippling tide
once more murmuring beneath the keel of our boat.

[Illustration: GEORGIANA FALLS.]

What haunts form a magic chain along the verdant shores of this
charming lake! The Wiers, Wolfborough, Alton Bay, Centre Harbor, each
a name that moves the heart to thrill it. A voyage across the lake will
be remembered a life-time. Says Edward Everett, commenting upon a sail
from Wiers up the lake: "I have been something of a traveller in my own
country, though far less than I could wish--and in Europe have seen all
that is most attractive, but my eye has yet to rest upon a lovelier
scene." A climb to the summit of Red Hill, at Centre Harbor, Starr
King's favorite haunt, well repays for the labor. The lake presents a
charming picture from its crest. Across its waters can be seen the domes
of Belknap and more distant Kearsage and Monadnock. In the east are
the Ossipee Mountains and bold Mount Chocorua. Toward the north is a
throng of lofty mountains overtopped on a clear day by distant Mount
Washington, which towers king-like over all his neighbors. In the west
one has a view of Squam Lake, with its many islands bordered by beaches
of white sand, the little village of Centre Harbor, Meredith, and that
popular lakeside resort, the Weirs.

At the Weirs, which is a way-station of the Boston and Montreal Road on
the borders of the lake, is a cottage city. Here in front o