fish for our breakfast. A number of pigs and fowl were
rummaging about the kitchen at will. Piles of garments were stacked up
in the four corners of the room, where they were sorted over and over
again, as each one of the boys emerged from above. Not wishing to spoil
our appetite we kept out of sight till breakfast was ready, and the
ceremony of eating was performed as rapidly as possible. We were very
hungry, and ate with our eyes nearly closed, and conversation was
anything but hilarious. For years the huge flat-bottomed scow plied back
and forth to the steamers, and the skipper enjoyed a monopoly of the
business, and ruled his motley crew with an iron hand. Gradually old age
began to weaken his power, and the sons overthrew his authority and
pushed him aside. All hands became captain and crew at once, and amid a
medley of commands and crash of baggage, embarking got to be both
exciting and perilous.

The river was discovered by the French, under Du Mont, in 1604, and
possession taken in the name of the king of France. They had already
planted a colony at Quebec, and were led to believe, from meagre
accounts of the Indians, which were strengthened by the magnitude of the
river and the great force of its current, that they had found another
route to their Canadian possessions. They made no extended explorations
at this time, on account of the hostilities of the Indians, and resigned
all attempt to maintain their claims to a region rich in furs and
fisheries. Three years later the English, commanded by Capt. Geo.
Popham, landed on this shore and made some attempts to form a
settlement, but the extreme severity of the following winter discouraged
their ambitions and caused abandonment of the project. The English,
however, renewed their efforts in 1614, and sent the celebrated Capt.
John Smith, with two ships, to establish a permanent colony here. He
made a map of the territory and gave it the name of New England. The
trade with the natives became at once of considerable value, and
friendly relations were established for some time, which enabled the
colonists to obtain a better knowledge of the value of their new
discoveries. The powerful tribe of Canibas Indians occupied the lands on
both sides of the river for a long distance. It is sometimes spelled
Kennebis, from which the stream derives its name. At a point a short
distance below the city of Bath, the river makes a sudden turn, which
discloses the entrance to the Val