Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 10.djvu/103

 Lisbon, N. H.

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��Branch, which rises near Mount Kins- man, flows through Franconia, and traverses the north-central part of the town. Burnham's brook derives its name from a hermit, who built his cabin near its mouth, for some cause seeking entire seclusion. As civiliza- tion advanced, he retired to some more remote place in "the wilderness. The brook rises in the south-west part of Littleton, flovrs in a circuitous route tlirough Lyman into Lisbon, and empties into the Ammonoosuc at the bend near " Salmon hole." One of the first mills erected in this town was built by Capt. AVhiting upon this brook, on a site ever since occupied. Along its course, or connected with it, are ten ponds, and from time im- memorial it has been a favorite resort for hunters and fishermen. The Robins brook, formerly well stocked with trout, drains the Walker hill re- gion, and empties into the river about one mile above the upper dam. The Salmon Hole brook drains considera- ble territory, and has furnished water power in several places. The fisher- men have never been able to exhaust the supply of trout in this brook, as every year large numbers are caught. It has its source in the Sugar Hill sec- tion, and flows westerly into the Am- monoosuc, just above the place from which it takes its name.

Henry pond lies upon the border of the interval, three fourths of a mile above Lisbon village. It is the home of pouts and musk-rats, and in Bpring-time is musical with the song of the frog ; onl}' is it noticeable for its historic associations. The first white man's dwelling, the first school- house, and the first church built in town, overlooked its limited area.

��Perch pond, named from the spe- cies of fish with which it abounds, may be found in the western part of the town, a mile or more back from the river. In exte,nt it does not exceed twenty-five acres. Neither the pond itself nor its surroundings possess any particular attractions.

Streeter pond, so called from the surname of the first settler in its vicinity, lies in the north-east corner of the town, two miles from Franco- nia village. It is a pretty sheet of water, estimated to contain seventy- five or eighty acres. Guests from the Goodnough and Forest Hill houses frequent this pond, and the fisherman is well rewarded for his pains.

Pearl lake, comprising an area of one hundred acres, is situated near the Landaff line, two miles east of Lisbon village. The water is pure and transparent, being supplied from springs in the neighboring ravines. Unlike many lakes in New Hampshire, it is not surrounded by a barren waste, but lands fertile and clothed with verdure. The scenery from the lake, or shores and hillsides about it, is lovely and picturesque in the ex- treme. There is a legend that the Great Spirit made a deep cavity by scooping out the earth and heaping it in a mass, then the water from the several streams flowing in completed the formation of a lake. This theory of its creation is worthy of considera- tion when the topography of the coun- try is brought to notice. On the west side Pond hill rises abruptly several hundred feet, and the adja- cent waters are of unknown depth. While floating upon this tiny pool, the immense upheavals, forming hills, seen upon all sides, can but inspire

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