New Hampshire and Massachusetts naturally entertain a commendable and worthy pride in the joint possession of the magnificent Merrimack River, and properly appreciate the wonderful beauty of its scenery, its stupendous hydraulic power, and its incalculable value and importance, not alone to these twoS tates, but to all New England, the nation, and to the world. As a great natural feature theM errimack, it is believed, surpasses all others in the harmonious blending of the useful and the beautiful, and the facts assembled on these pages are confidently expected to warrant and justify this view. The source of theM errimack being more than six thousand feet above the level of the sea, much higher than that of the Connecticut, while it is only half the length of the latter stream, it is, from its source to its mouth, literally, a vast system of mill-privileges with excellent water-power, material and conveniences for dams, and an ample and unfailing supply of water. The amount of manufacturing along this stream is not equalled by that of any other river in the world, while even yet many of its best mill-sites are unimproved. Having been for many years familiar with all the territory which supplies theM errimack and its branches, it has been a matter of surprise that some competent person has not, long since, given the subject the attention it merits. It was not, however, until eminent oculists prescribed open-air exercise for a malady more frightful, inconvenient, and uncomfortable than painful, when the atmospheric purity of this region suggested it as a proper resort, that the idea occurred to collect some facts and place them before the public mj self. A ccordingly, without experience or pretension, the result is here presented; and while it is believed some of the matter is new, it is hoped much of it will prove interesting, and aid in extending a more thoro(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)