CHAPTER THIRTEEN THROUGH MASSACHUSETTS.
IN LENOX There are several roads out of Pittsfield to Springfield, and if one asks a half-dozen citizens, who pretend to know, which is the best, a half-dozen violently conflicting opinions will be forthcoming.
The truth seems to be that all the roads are pretty good,--that is, they are all very hilly and rather soft.

One expects the hills, and must put up with the sand.

It is impossible to get to Springfield, which is far on the other side of the mountains, without making some stiff grades,--few grades so bad as Nelson's Hill out of Peekskill, or worse than Pride's Hill near Fonda; in fact, the grades through the Berkshires are no worse than many short stiff grades that are to be found in any rolling country, but there are more of them, and occasionally the road is rough or soft, making it hard going.
The road commonly recommended as the more direct is by way of Dalton and Hinsdale, following as closely as possible the line of the Boston and Albany; this winds about in the valleys and is said to be very good.
We preferred a more picturesque though less travelled route.

We wished to go through Lenox, some six or seven miles to the south, and if anything a little to the west, and therefore out of our direct course.
The road from Pittsfield to Lenox is a famous drive, one of the wonders of that little world.

It is not bad, neither is it good.
Compared with the superb State road over the mountain, it is a trail over a prairie.