Book-bot.com - read famous books online for free

Voyages of Samuel De Champlain — Volume 01 by Samuel de Champlain
page 48 of 329 (14%)
region detained them nearly a fortnight before they were able to leave the
banks of Passamaquoddy. Passing along the rugged shores of Maine, with its
endless chain of islands rising one after another into view, which they
called the Ranges, they at length came to the ancient Pemetiq, lying close
in to the shore, having the appearance at sea of seven or eight mountains
drawn together and springing from the same base. This Champlain named
_Monts Deserts_, which we have anglicized into Mount Desert, [35] an
appellation which has survived the vicissitudes of two hundred and
seventy-five years, and now that the island, with its salubrious air and
cool shades, its bold and picturesque scenery, is attracting thousands from
the great cities during the heats of summer, the name is likely to abide
far down into a distant and indefinite future.

Leaving Mount Desert, winding their way among numerous islands, taking a
northerly direction, they soon entered the Penobscot, [36] known by the
early navigators as the river Norumbegue. They proceeded up the river as
far as the mouth of an affluent now known as the Kenduskeag, [37] which was
then called, or rather the place where it made a junction with the
Penobscot was called by the natives, _Kadesquit_, situated at the head of
tide-water, near the present site of the city of Bangor. The falls above
the city intercepted their further progress. The river-banks about the
harbor were fringed with a luxurious growth of forest trees. On one side,
lofty pines reared their gray trunks, forming a natural palisade along the
shore. On the other, massive oaks alone were to be seen, lifting their
sturdy branches to the skies, gathered into clumps or stretching out into
long lines, as if a landscape gardener had planted them to please the eye
and gratify the taste. An exploration revealed the whole surrounding region
clothed in a similar wild and primitive beauty.

After a leisurely survey of the country, they returned to the mouth of the
DigitalOcean Referral Badge