But

shape hanging from overhead. hark! What is that we hear? We listen, look, a torch is lighted, we rush forward. There at the northern end of the hall, back behind a gigantic boulder, the "Falls of Proserpine" are tumbling for twenty feet, while we are showered with a cooling mist. We retreat up, up the ladders and on through the "Cave of the Shades" and thence into "The Dungeon" and rest in "The Hall of Lethe" (forgetfulness). Here the shadows thrown upon the water of the dungeon by the sunlight streaming down through the deep crevices produce a most beautiful picture.

Again we retreat up a long ladder and emerge into "Elysian Land" on the exterior, where the river glides gracefully along among the mosscovered rocks soon to be lost, however, in the "The Center of the Earth Cave." Again we pass over a series of well-kept walks and bridges through "Elysian Land" and hide ourselves in the "King's Chamber," from whence we can view by the use of a torch the deep pool in the “Center of the Earth Cave.” This is a large cave in which a small boat could float.

We pass next to the "Giant's Pot Hole" which from a geological point of view is one of the chief wonders of the gorge. Here we rest and wonder, and then pass on through "The Narrows" and into the "Cave of Silence." While not so picturesque as the others, this cave is in some respects the most impressive of any in the series, on account of the deep stillness. Not a sound of the river can be heard except the distant murmur of the falls as the water escapes from its long imprisonment farther down the gorge. It is at this point that the river is so much lost that no one as yet has been able to absolutely determine its exact

course.

We now enter the "Cave of Lost Souls" and, while the name might make us shudder, we continue on and find that this is a continuous series of rooms accessible to any that do not mind a hard stunt. All things con

sidered, this is the most wonderful cave in the gorge. Retreating from this cave with our souls still with us, we climb to the "Upper Bridge" that spans the gorge twenty feet above the bottom. From this point we look into "The Gulf" forty feet below into. which the waters of "Paradise Falls" tumble perpendicularly for twenty feet. We pass to the "Lower Bridge' that spans the gulf, from whence we view the "Long Lost River" as it emerges from the "Cave of Silence" and the other caves beyond. view, looking up the gorge, is pronounced by many to be the most picturesque of any. We now ascend from the gorge through a winding path to "Point Lookoff." It is here that a magnificent view of Kinsman Notch and the distant Waterville Range can be had. No notch in the White Mountains affords such a grand distant view as does Kinsman Notch at Point Lookoff.

This

Thus the writer has made a feeble effort to pen a brief picture of Lost River, and now rests with the hope in view that the effort will encourage the GRANITE MONTHLY reader to pay this wonderful gorge a visit and substantiate the assertion made at the outset of this article that no pen or brush can do justice to the subject

matter.

The future development of Lost River seems to be an assured fact in view of the great interest now being taken by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests which has acquired through the legacy of a Dover, New Hampshire, lady, Mrs. Caroline Martin, a tract of 148 acres of land surrounding the gorge which includes about 1,000,000 feet of primeval timber on the northern slope of the Notch. The Society has just expended over $700 in clearing up the debris, constructing walks, bridges, paths and ladders; also in repairs on the road, which work was supplemented by aid given by the town of Woodstock.

July 17 last the Society visited the gorge in large force. Many people