Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Maine (2.)

Copyright, 1882, by Joshua L. Chamberlain.

AINE, the most north-easterly of the United States, lies between 43° 4' and 47° 27' 33" N. lat., and between 66° 56' 48" and 71° 6' 41" W. long. It is 302 miles in extreme length and 285 in width, with a total area of 33,040 square miles (of which 29,895 square miles are land), being nearly, as large as all the other New England States combined. Its figure resembles that of a mountain peak, broken at the top. Its S.E. base rests on the Atlantic Ocean. On the E. and N. it has the province of New Brunswick, and on the N.W. the province of Quebec, while its southern half is bounded on the W. by the State of New Hampshire.

The coast-line measured direct is about 225 miles in extent; but the numerous river mouths and indentations of the sea make an actual tide-water line of not less than 2500 miles. The headlands and far-stretching narrow points, together with innumerable outlying islands, give to the whole ocean front the appearance of a fringed and tasselled border. This striking feature, which gives peculiar interest in many ways to the coast of Maine, is chiefly the result of a southward glacial movement, which, coinciding with the trend of the rocks produced by a remote geologic upheaval, cut these fiord valleys far out into the sea, the prolongation of their edges being marked by islands, reefs, and scattered knobs of rock. In these deep bays and river mouths, and behind these outlying islands, are numerous harbours, convenient, safe, and capacious, and the poet is well within the truth who sings of &ldquo;hundred-harboured Maine.&rdquo; There are no better harbours on the Atlantic coast than those of Portland and Wiscasset. The beaches and marshes and low grassy islands common in the west are scarcely found east of the Kennebec river, beyond which the shore becomes more and more bold, rising in the precipitous cliffs and rounded summits of Mount Desert and Quoddy Head to a height of from 1000 to 1500 feet. The general slope of the land surface falls from an extreme elevation of 2000 feet on the west, in the neighbourhood of the White Mountains, to 600 feet on the east. Two principal drainage slopes stretch respectively southward and northward from a watershed which crosses the State in a general easterly and westerly direction, at a distance of about 140 miles from the coast, while the northward slope has an extreme

breadth of about 80 miles. The general direction of the rivers, as determined by these slopes, is about south-south-east for the southern slope and north-north-east for the northern. It is a noteworthy fact that the course of the principal rivers is at right angles to the general trend of the stratified rocks, throughout the large section where these are exhibited. The surface is hilly and rolling rather than mountainous. The Appalachian range, which becomes so prominent in the White Mountain group just westward of the State, seems to have broken its force there and to have strewn only a few scattered mountain masses across middle Maine and into New Brunswick. These all have a peculiar aspect, rising in conical peaks, heavily wooded at the base and bare at the summit. The most noteworthy is Mount Katahdin, with a height of 5385 feet (a little less than Mount Washington), and in its isolation and crater-like formation the most remarkable mountain in New England.

The lakes of Maine, situated for the most part among these mountain regions, are among its characteristic and most attractive features. They number more than 1570, with an aggregate area of 2300 square miles, about one-fifteenth part of the entire area of the State. The largest is Moosehead Lake, 35 miles long by 10 miles wide; but many others of less size are more picturesque. Their height above the sea-level is noticeable. Rangely Lake, at the head of the Androscoggin river, is 1511 feet high, this altitude being very nearly that of Lake Itasca at the head of the Mississippi; Moosehead, on the Kennebec waters, is 1023 feet in height, or nearly two-thirds as high again as Lake Superior at the source of the St Lawrence; Chamberlain Lake, on the headwaters of the St John, 926 feet, and Chesuncook, on the Penobscot, 900 feet high, are 400 or 500 feet above the level of Lake Winnepesaukee in New Hampshire. Most of the lakes of Maine lie within regions as yet unsettled, where nature's wild luxuriance and grandeur are still undisturbed by man. Few similarly habitable regions possess lakes in such numbers and of such size, variety of situation, and beauty of aspect and surroundings. They are, moreover, nearly all connected with the river systems of the State, and constitute vast reservoirs for evaporation, irrigation, and mechanical power.

All the principal rivers rise at great elevations—the Saco at an altitude of 1890 feet, the Androscoggin 3000, the Kennebec 2000, the Penobscot 2500, the St John 1980. The general drainage areas, however, fall off in height and increase in breadth in proportion as their location is easterly. The principal features of the water systems of Maine are the great amount of fall, the control of steady volume by the storage capacity of the lakes, and the situation of the best falls in the lower sections of the rivers where the volume is largest, and in many instances at the head of tide-waters where vessels may come to their very feet. The water-power of the State available for industrial purposes has been estimated by Walter Wells, in his valuable report on that subject, to amount to 1,229,200,000,000 cubic feet, with gross power of 4427 horse for each foot of fall, making a total of 2,656,200 horse-power.

The important geological features are connected with the highly crystalline metamorphic condition of the strata, which rarely lie in horizontal position, but are upturned, bent, folded, and fractured. Fossiliferous rocks occur only in limited localities in the interior. In various places veins of silver-bearing galena and of copper are exposed. Granite of every variety and quality abounds in veins and in eruptive masses. The western portion of the State is largely granitic in its features, and a belt of the same rocks extends along the entire sea-coast. There are also beautiful varieties of syenite. In many places the granite

is very coarse, so that the constituents can be separated, and each utilized for industrial purposes. The felspar, quartz, and mica often lie in large contiguous veins. Valuable beds of crystalline limestone are found in many places along the coast, and in the Aroostook region. Argillaceous slates as well as limestone occur in the interior and in the north. On the Piscataquis, a tributary of the Penobscot, the slate is suitable for writing-slates and pencils, blackboards, and tables, while large quantities of roofing slate are found throughout the whole region between the Kennebec and Penobscot. There are also some beds of marble well suited for building purposes. Some surface iron is found, especially in one locality in the interior known as the Katahdin iron-works, where the iron is remarkably pure owing to its freedom from sulphur and phosphorus. A bed of haematite is found in Aroostook county.

The soil is mostly of glacial origin, derived largely from boulders and a mixture of rocks transported from various and often distant localities. This drift is spread every where over the surface. Along the lake-beds and rivers are some alluvial soils and old flood-planes. Deposits of Quaternary marine clays occur along the south border, rising to the height of 200 feet above the sea. These clays were deposited during the Champlain epoch, at a time when the temperature of the water was much lower than at present, as is indicated by the fossil remains which abound in them. In the lower strata these remains of life are of the same species as are now found living in the Arctic seas. Skeletons of the walrus have been found in Portland and elsewhere. In the upper strata the remains of life indicate the same species as now exist on the coast. Isolated forms of life not elsewhere found north of Massachusetts occur in the north part of Quohaug Bay (north-east of Casco Bay), composed of various species which seem to be a remnant of former life on this coast. A family of living oysters is still found among the debris of giant progenitors in the Damariscotta river, east of the Kennebec; and remains of the oyster, quohaug, and scallop are abundant in the numerous and extensive shell-heaps found all along the coast.

In general it may be said that animal life in this State shows a mixture of northern and southern forms, and but little that is peculiar as compared with surrounding regions. The moose, caribou, and deer still roam in the vast forests in the north. The bear, wolf, catamount, wolverene, wild cat, fox, beaver, raccoon, marten, sable, woodchuck, rabbit, and squirrel keep at a due distance from man, and so still exist. Seals are found in many of the bays. Wild geese and ducks and other sea fowl frequent the lakes and bays in the migratory season, and eagles, ospreys, gulls, hawks, kingfishers, owls, plover, woodcock, partridges, pigeons, quails, blackbirds, robins, orioles, bobolinks, blue birds, swallows and sparrows in all variety, yellow birds, and humming birds are common. The inland waters teem with fish of various kinds—pickerel, togue, and bream, and, chief of all, the trout, whose beauty and size attract numbers of sportsmen; while in the rivers the sturgeon, bass, and salmon are still plentiful. Game laws protect several species of the fish, birds, and other animals. Along the coast the clam, mussel, and lobster are abundant, and in some places the horse-shoe crab is found. Of shore-fish the cunner, flounder, rock-cod, and sculpin are most common, while off shore cod, haddock, hake, herring, pollack, menhaden, porgy, and mackerel abound. The black fish and porpoise are not uncommon. Gigantic cuttle-fishes, measuring 40 feet and upwards in the long tentacles, and thus not inaptly termed sea-serpents, have sometimes been seen in these waters.

The forests of Maine consist chiefly of pine, spruce,

hemlock, and fir, although some oak is found along the coast, and other hard wood growth in the highlands of the Aroostook. The white cedar is common, especially in the low lands in the east and north-east. The hackmatack or black larch appears in the same localities. White and red oak, rock (or sugar) maple, white maple, white and yellow birch, white and brown ash, beech, cherry, basswood (linden), and poplar are the common deciduous trees. Chestnut and walnut are rare, and are found only near the south-west border. The majestic mast pine—the heraldic emblem of Maine, which has given it the sobriquet the &ldquo;Pine Tree State&rdquo;—is fast receding before the demands of commerce. Of fruit trees the chief is the apple. The plum, cherry, and pear are also natural. The peach thrives only in the south-west border. Species of grape, gooseberry, and currant are native, and others are cultivated with advantage. The blackberry, raspberry, and strawberry grow wild in profusion throughout the State.

The climate of Maine, while on the whole cooler than might be expected from its mean latitude of 45° N., cannot be considered severe or unfavourable to health. The summer heats are tempered by the sea and the cool north winds. The winter cold has a constancy which makes it less severely felt than the changing temperature of more southern places. The air is also more dry and pure owing to the snow surface. The average winter temperature is about 20°, and remains pretty steadily below the freezing-point throughout the State for at least three months. By reason of the tides and the prevailing off-shore winds, which break up and drive off the ice, many of the harbours are unobstructed the winter through. The summers are short, giving something less than five months between frosts, even in the southern portion, but the heat sometimes rises for a few days to 100° Fahr. The average summer heat is 62°.5 Fahr. The lakes and forests of Maine attract great numbers of summer tourists, and the sea-coast is fast becoming lined with the cottages of summer residents from all parts of the country.

The soil is well-drained, and the surface swept by sea breezes and winds from the forests and mountains of the north-west, which tend to banish malarious disease. The principal form of disease is phthisis or disease of the respiratory organs, the ratio of deaths therefrom being a little over 27 per cent. of the entire mortality. This has been called the &ldquo;scourge of New England&rdquo;; but in Old England the death-rate from this class of diseases is only a fraction less—26.6 per cent.