Maine

Maine, the most north-easterly of the United States, situated between lat. 43° and 47° N, and between long. 67° and 71° W., having New Brunswick to the E. and N., and New Hampshire S.W. and the Atlantic S.E. It is 302 miles long by 285 miles broad, and its 225 miles of direct coast-line are increased to 2,500 miles by deep indentations, whence its designation as "hundred-harboured Maine," while the coast is fringed with islands. The watershed crosses from E. to W. at about 140 miles from the coast, and the rivers have generally a N.N.E. or S.S.E. direction. These rise at a considerable height - e.g. the Kennebec (2,000 feet), Androscoggin (3,000 feet), Penobscot. (2,500 feet), St. John (1,980), and Saco (1,890), and the great falls, with the storage of water provided by a system of lakes which form a characteristic feature of the state, give an immense power not yet greatly utilised; and the principal falls, being in the lower courses, are no impediment to navigation. These lakes number 1,570, and occupy one-fifteenth of the state, the largest being Moosehead, on the Kennebec river (35 x 10 miles), and many of the most picturesque are in unsettled districts. The Appalachians stop short of the state, and the undulating surface is dotted with conical well-wooded peaks. The rocks are metamorphic, and there is plenty of granite, felspar, quartz, and the like. A very pure surface iron is found, and is worked at the Katahdin iron-works, and slate, marble, limestone, silver, and copper are other productions. The soil is glacial, and the fossils arc of an Arctic nature, while the animal world partakes of N. and S., and fish are abundant. The picturesque lake scenery and the climate, which has a summer average of 62-5°, attract multitudes of tourists. Many of the pines which gave it the name of "Pine-tree State" have been cleared off. Augusta is the state capital, while Portland is the largest town and principal sea-port. The chief industries are cotton and woollen manufacture, tanning, boot- and shoe-making, iron-working, lumbering, and fish-canning, and some wooden shipbuilding. Ice is largely exported. The remnants of two Indian tribes still linger in the state. The law prohibiting the sale of liquor is in force in this state.