diff options
Diffstat (limited to '3126-h')
| -rw-r--r-- | 3126-h/3126-h.htm | 3804 |
1 files changed, 3804 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/3126-h/3126-h.htm b/3126-h/3126-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0717ff5 --- /dev/null +++ b/3126-h/3126-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3804 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + On Horseback, by Charles Dudley Warner + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd7; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + .centered {margin:0 auto;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +The Project Gutenberg EBook of On Horseback, by Charles Dudley Warner + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: On Horseback + +Author: Charles Dudley Warner + +Release Date: August 22, 2006 [EBook #3126] +Last Updated: February 24, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON HORSEBACK *** + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + + +</pre> + + <h1> + ON HORSEBACK + </h1> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Charles Dudley Warner + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> I </a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> II </a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> III </a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> IV </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + I + </h2> + <p> + “The way to mount a horse”—said the Professor. + </p> + <p> + “If you have no ladder—put in the Friend of Humanity.” + </p> + <p> + The Professor had ridden through the war for the Union on the right side, + enjoying a much better view of it than if he had walked, and knew as much + about a horse as a person ought to know for the sake of his character. The + man who can recite the tales of the Canterbury Pilgrims, on horseback, + giving the contemporary pronunciation, never missing an accent by reason + of the trot, and at the same time witch North Carolina and a strip of East + Tennessee with his noble horsemanship, is a kind of Literary Centaur of + whose double instruction any Friend of Humanity may be glad to avail + himself. + </p> + <p> + “The way to mount a horse is to grasp the mane with the left hand holding + the bridle-rein, put your left foot in the stirrup, with the right hand on + the back of the saddle, and—-” + </p> + <p> + Just then the horse stepped quickly around on his hind feet, and looked + the Professor in the face. The Superintendents of Affairs, who occupy the + flagging in front of the hotel, seated in cane-bottomed chairs tilted + back, smiled. These useful persons appear to have a life-lease of this + portion of the city pavement, and pretty effectually block it up nearly + all day and evening. When a lady wishes to make her way through the + blockade, it is the habit of these observers of life to rise and make + room, touching their hats, while she picks her way through, and goes down + the street with a pretty consciousness of the flutter she has caused. The + war has not changed the Southern habit of sitting out-of-doors, but has + added a new element of street picturesqueness in groups of colored people + lounging about the corners. There appears to be more leisure than ever. + </p> + <p> + The scene of this little lesson in horsemanship was the old town of + Abingdon, in southwest Virginia, on the Virginia and East Tennessee + railway; a town of ancient respectability, which gave birth to the + Johnstons and Floyds and other notable people; a town, that still + preserves the flavor of excellent tobacco and, something of the easy-going + habits of the days of slavery, and is a sort of educational center, where + the young ladies of the region add the final graces of intellectual life + in moral philosophy and the use of the globes to their natural gifts. The + mansion of the late and left Floyd is now a seminary, and not far from it + is the Stonewall Jackson Institute, in the midst of a grove of splendid + oaks, whose stately boles and wide-spreading branches give a dignity to + educational life. The distinction of the region is its superb oak-trees. + As it was vacation in these institutions of learning, the travelers did + not see any of the vines that traditionally cling to the oak. + </p> + <p> + The Professor and the Friend of Humanity were about starting on a journey, + across country southward, through regions about which the people of + Abingdon could give little useful information. If the travelers had known + the capacities and resources of the country, they would not have started + without a supply train, or the establishment of bases of provisions in + advance. But, as the Professor remarked, knowledge is something that one + acquires when he has no use for it. The horses were saddled; the riders + were equipped with flannel shirts and leather leggings; the saddle-bags + were stuffed with clean linen, and novels, and sonnets of Shakespeare, and + other baggage, it would have been well if they had been stuffed with + hard-tack, for in real life meat is more than raiment. + </p> + <p> + The hotel, in front of which there is cultivated so much of what the + Germans call sitzfleisch, is a fair type of the majority of Southern + hotels, and differs from the same class in the North in being left a + little more to run itself. The only information we obtained about it was + from its porter at the station, who replied to the question, “Is it the + best?” “We warrant you perfect satisfaction in every respect.” This seems + to be only a formula of expression, for we found that the statement was + highly colored. It was left to our imagination to conjecture how the big + chambers of the old house, with their gaping fireplaces, might have looked + when furnished and filled with gay company, and we got what satisfaction + we could out of a bygone bustle and mint-julep hilarity. In our struggles + with the porter to obtain the little items of soap, water, and towels, we + were convinced that we had arrived too late, and that for perfect + satisfaction we should have been here before the war. It was not always as + now. In colonial days the accommodations and prices at inns were regulated + by law. In the old records in the court-house we read that if we had been + here in 1777, we could have had a gallon of good rum for sixteen + shillings; a quart bowl of rum toddy made with loaf sugar for two + shillings, or with brown sugar for one shilling and sixpence. In 1779 + prices had risen. Good rum sold for four pounds a gallon. It was ordered + that a warm dinner should cost twelve shillings, a cold dinner nine + shillings, and a good breakfast twelve shillings. But the item that + pleased us most, and made us regret our late advent, was that for two + shillings we could have had a “good lodging, with clean sheets.” The + colonists were fastidious people. + </p> + <p> + Abingdon, prettily situated on rolling hills, and a couple of thousand + feet above the sea, with views of mountain peaks to the south, is a + cheerful and not too exciting place for a brief sojourn, and hospitable + and helpful to the stranger. We had dined—so much, at least, the + public would expect of us—with a descendant of Pocahontas; we had + assisted on Sunday morning at the dedication of a new brick Methodist + church, the finest edifice in the region—a dedication that took a + long time, since the bishop would not proceed with it until money enough + was raised in open meeting to pay the balance due on it: a religious act, + though it did give a business aspect to the place at the time; and we had + been the light spots in the evening service at the most aristocratic + church of color. The irresponsibility of this amiable race was exhibited + in the tardiness with which they assembled: at the appointed time nobody + was there except the sexton; it was three quarters of an hour before the + congregation began to saunter in, and the sermon was nearly over before + the pews were at all filled. Perhaps the sermon was not new, but it was + fervid, and at times the able preacher roared so that articulate sounds + were lost in the general effect. It was precisely these passages of + cataracts of sound and hard breathing which excited the liveliest + responses,—“Yes, Lord,” and “Glory to God.” Most of these responses + came from the “Amen corner.” The sermon contained the usual vivid + description of the last judgment—ah, and I fancied that the + congregation did not get the ordinary satisfaction out of it. Fashion had + entered the fold, and the singing was mostly executed by a choir in the + dusky gallery, who thinly and harshly warbled the emotional hymns. It + occupied the minister a long time to give out the notices of the week, and + there was not an evening or afternoon that had not its meetings, its + literary or social gathering, its picnic or fair for the benefit of the + church, its Dorcas society, or some occasion of religious sociability. The + raising of funds appeared to be the burden on the preacher's mind. Two + collections were taken up. At the first, the boxes appeared to get no + supply except from the two white trash present. But the second was more + successful. After the sermon was over, an elder took his place at a table + within the rails, and the real business of the evening began. Somebody in + the Amen corner struck up a tune that had no end, but a mighty power of + setting the congregation in motion. The leader had a voice like the + pleasant droning of a bag-pipe, and the faculty of emitting a continuous + note like that instrument, without stopping to breathe. It went on and on + like a Bach fugue, winding and whining its way, turning the corners of the + lines of the catch without a break. The effect was soon visible in the + emotional crowd: feet began to move in a regular cadence and voices to + join in, with spurts of ejaculation; and soon, with an air of martyrdom, + the members began to leave their seats and pass before the table and + deposit their contributions. It was a cent contribution, and we found it + very difficult, under the contagious influence of the hum from the Amen + corner, not to rise and go forward and deposit a cent. If anything could + extract the pennies from a reluctant worldling, it would be the buzzing of + this tune. It went on and on, until the house appeared to be drained dry + of its cash; and we inferred by the stopping of the melody that the + preacher's salary was secure for the time being. On inquiring, we + ascertained that the pecuniary flood that evening had risen to the height + of a dollar and sixty cents. + </p> + <p> + All was ready for the start. It should have been early in the morning, but + it was not; for Virginia is not only one of the blessed regions where one + can get a late breakfast, but where it is almost impossible to get an + early one. At ten A. M. the two horsemen rode away out of sight of the + Abingdon spectators, down the eastern turnpike. The day was warm, but the + air was full of vitality and the spirit of adventure. It was the 22d of + July. The horses were not ambitious, but went on at an easy fox-trot that + permits observation and encourages conversation. It had been stipulated + that the horses should be good walkers, the one essential thing in a + horseback journey. Few horses, even in a country where riding is general, + are trained to walk fast. We hear much of horses that can walk five miles + an hour, but they are as rare as white elephants. Our horses were only + fair walkers. We realized how necessary this accomplishment is, for + between the Tennessee line and Asheville, North Carolina, there is + scarcely a mile of trotting-ground. + </p> + <p> + We soon turned southward and descended into the Holston River Valley. + Beyond lay the Tennessee hills and conspicuous White-Top Mountain (5530 + feet), which has a good deal of local celebrity (standing where the States + of Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina corner), and had been pointed + out to us at Abingdon. We had been urged, personally and by letter, to + ascend this mountain, without fail. People recommend mountains to their + friends as they do patent medicines. As we leisurely jogged along we + discussed this, and endeavored to arrive at some rule of conduct for the + journey. The Professor expressed at once a feeling about mountain-climbing + that amounted to hostility,—he would go nowhere that he could not + ride. Climbing was the most unsatisfactory use to which a mountain could + be put. As to White-Top, it was a small mountain, and not worth ascending. + The Friend of Humanity, who believes in mountain-climbing as a theory, and + for other people, and knows the value of being able to say, without + detection, that he has ascended any high mountain about which he is + questioned,—since this question is the first one asked about an + exploration in a new country,—saw that he should have to use a good + deal of diplomacy to get the Professor over any considerable elevation on + the trip. And he had to confess also that a view from a mountain is never + so satisfactory as a view of a mountain, from a moderate height. The + Professor, however, did not argue the matter on any such reasonable + ground, but took his stand on his right as a man not to ascend a mountain. + With this appeal to first principles,—a position that could not be + confuted on account of its vagueness (although it might probably be + demonstrated that in society man has no such right), there was no way of + agreement except by a compromise. It was accordingly agreed that no + mountain under six thousand feet is worth ascending; that disposed of + White-Top. It was further agreed that any mountain that is over six + thousand feet high is too high to ascend on foot. + </p> + <p> + With this amicable adjustment we forded the Holston, crossing it twice + within a few miles. This upper branch of the Tennessee is a noble stream, + broad, with a rocky bed and a swift current. Fording it is ticklish + business except at comparatively low water, and as it is subject to sudden + rises, there must be times when it seriously interrupts travel. This whole + region, full of swift streams, is without a bridge, and, as a consequence, + getting over rivers and brooks and the dangers of ferries occupy a + prominent place in the thoughts of the inhabitants. The life necessarily + had the “frontier” quality all through, for there can be little solid + advance in civilization in the uncertainties of a bridgeless condition. An + open, pleasant valley, the Holston, but cultivation is more and more + negligent and houses are few and poorer as we advance. + </p> + <p> + We had left behind the hotels of “perfect satisfaction,” and expected to + live on the country, trusting to the infrequent but remunerated + hospitality of the widely scattered inhabitants. We were to dine at + Ramsey's. Ramsey's had been recommended to us as a royal place of + entertainment the best in all that region; and as the sun grew hot in the + sandy valley, and the weariness of noon fell upon us, we magnified + Ramsey's in our imagination,—the nobility of its situation, its + cuisine, its inviting restfulness,—and half decided to pass the + night there in the true abandon of plantation life. Long before we reached + it, the Holston River which we followed had become the Laurel, a most + lovely, rocky, winding stream, which we forded continually, for the valley + became too narrow much of the way to accommodate a road and a river. + Eagerly as we were looking out for it, we passed the great Ramsey's + without knowing it, for it was the first of a little settlement of two + houses and a saw-mill and barn. It was a neat log house of two lower rooms + and a summer kitchen, quite the best of the class that we saw, and the + pleasant mistress of it made us welcome. Across the road and close, to the + Laurel was the spring-house, the invariable adjunct to every well-to-do + house in the region, and on the stony margin of the stream was set up the + big caldron for the family washing; and here, paddling in the shallow + stream, while dinner was preparing, we established an intimacy with the + children and exchanged philosophical observations on life with the old + negress who was dabbling the clothes. What impressed this woman was the + inequality in life. She jumped to the unwarranted conclusion that the + Professor and the Friend were very rich, and spoke with asperity of the + difficulty she experienced in getting shoes and tobacco. It was useless to + point out to her that her alfresco life was singularly blessed and free + from care, and the happy lot of any one who could loiter all day by this + laughing stream, undisturbed by debt or ambition. Everybody about the + place was barefooted, except the mistress, including the comely daughter + of eighteen, who served our dinner in the kitchen. The dinner was + abundant, and though it seemed to us incongruous at the time, we were not + twelve hours older when we looked back upon it with longing. On the table + were hot biscuit, ham, pork, and green beans, apple-sauce, blackberry + preserves, cucumbers, coffee, plenty of milk, honey, and apple and + blackberry pie. Here we had our first experience, and I may say new + sensation, of “honey on pie.” It has a cloying sound as it is written, but + the handmaiden recommended it with enthusiasm, and we evidently fell in + her esteem, as persons from an uncultivated society, when we declared our + inexperience of “honey on pie.” “Where be you from?” It turned out to be + very good, and we have tried to introduce it in families since our return, + with indifferent success. There did not seem to be in this family much + curiosity about the world at large, nor much stir of social life. The + gayety of madame appeared to consist in an occasional visit to paw and maw + and grandmaw, up the river a few miles, where she was raised. + </p> + <p> + Refreshed by the honey and fodder at Ramsey's, the pilgrims went gayly + along the musical Laurel, in the slanting rays of the afternoon sun, which + played upon the rapids and illumined all the woody way. Inspired by the + misapprehension of the colored philosopher and the dainties of the dinner, + the Professor soliloquized: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “So am I as the rich, whose blessed key + Can bring him to his sweet up-locked treasure, + The which he will not every hour survey, + For blunting the fine point of seldom pleasure. + Therefore are feasts so solemn and so rare, + Since seldom coming, in the long year set, + Like stones of wealth they thinly placed are, + Or captain jewels in the carcanet.” + </pre> + <p> + Five miles beyond Ramsey's the Tennessee line was crossed. The Laurel + became more rocky, swift, full of rapids, and the valley narrowed down to + the riverway, with standing room, however, for stately trees along the + banks. The oaks, both black and white, were, as they had been all day, + gigantic in size and splendid in foliage. There is a certain dignity in + riding in such stately company, and the travelers clattered along over the + stony road under the impression of possible high adventure in a new world + of such freshness. Nor was beauty wanting. The rhododendrons had, perhaps, + a week ago reached their climax, and now began to strew the water and the + ground with their brilliant petals, dashing all the way with color; but + they were still matchlessly beautiful. Great banks of pink and white + covered the steep hillsides; the bending stems, ten to twenty feet high, + hung their rich clusters over the river; avenues of glory opened away in + the glade of the stream; and at every turn of the winding way vistas + glowing with the hues of romance wrenched exclamations of delight and + wonder from the Shakespearean sonneteer and his humble Friend. In the deep + recesses of the forest suddenly flamed to the view, like the splashes of + splendor on the somber canvas of an old Venetian, these wonders of color,—the + glowing summer-heart of the woods. + </p> + <p> + It was difficult to say, meantime, whether the road was laid out in the + river, or the river in the road. In the few miles to Egger's (this was the + destination of our great expectations for the night) the stream was + crossed twenty-seven times,—or perhaps it would be more proper to + say that the road was crossed twenty-seven times. Where the road did not + run in the river, its bed was washed out and as stony as the bed of the + stream. This is a general and accurate description of all the roads in + this region, which wind along and in the streams, through narrow valleys, + shut in by low and steep hills. The country is full of springs and + streams, and between Abingdon and Egger's is only one (small) bridge. In a + region with scarcely any level land or intervale, farmers are at a + disadvantage. All along the road we saw nothing but mean shanties, + generally of logs, with now and then a decent one-story frame, and the + people looked miserably poor. + </p> + <p> + As we picked our way along up the Laurel, obliged for the most part to + ride single-file, or as the Professor expressed it, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Let me confess that we two must be twain, + Although our undivided loves are one,” + </pre> + <p> + we gathered information about Egger's from the infrequent hovels on the + road, which inflamed our imaginations. Egger was the thriving man of the + region, and lived in style in a big brick house. We began to feel a doubt + that Egger would take us in, and so much did his brick magnificence + impress us that we regretted we had not brought apparel fit for the + society we were about to enter. + </p> + <p> + It was half-past six, and we were tired and hungry, when the domain of + Egger towered in sight,—a gaunt, two-story structure of raw brick, + unfinished, standing in a narrow intervale. We rode up to the gate, and + asked a man who sat in the front-door porch if this was Egger's, and if we + could be accommodated for the night. The man, without moving, allowed that + it was Egger's, and that we could probably stay there. This person, + however, exhibited so much indifference to our company, he was such a + hairy, unkempt man, and carried on face, hands, and clothes so much more + of the soil of the region than a prudent proprietor would divert from + raising corn, that we set him aside as a poor relation, and asked for Mr. + Egger. But the man, still without the least hospitable stir, admitted that + that was the name he went by, and at length advised us to “lite” and hitch + our horses, and sit on the porch with him and enjoy the cool of the + evening. The horses would be put up by and by, and in fact things + generally would come round some time. This turned out to be the easy way + of the country. Mr. Egger was far from being inhospitable, but was in no + hurry, and never had been in a hurry. He was not exactly a gentleman of + the old school. He was better than that. He dated from the time when there + were no schools at all, and he lived in that placid world which is without + information and ideas. Mr. Egger showed his superiority by a total lack of + curiosity about any other world. + </p> + <p> + This brick house, magnificent by comparison with other dwellings in this + country, seemed to us, on nearer acquaintance, only a thin, crude shell of + a house, half unfinished, with bare rooms, the plastering already + discolored. In point of furnishing it had not yet reached the “God bless + our Home” stage in crewel. In the narrow meadow, a strip of vivid green + south of the house, ran a little stream, fed by a copious spring, and over + it was built the inevitable spring-house. A post, driven into the bank by + the stream, supported a tin wash-basin, and here we performed our + ablutions. The traveler gets to like this freedom and primitive luxury. + </p> + <p> + The farm of Egger produces corn, wheat, grass, and sheep; it is a good + enough farm, but most of it lies at an angle of thirty-five to forty + degrees. The ridge back of the house, planted in corn, was as steep as the + roof of his dwelling. It seemed incredible that it ever could have been + plowed, but the proprietor assured us that it was plowed with mules, and I + judged that the harvesting must be done by squirrels. The soil is good + enough, if it would stay in place, but all the hillsides are seamed with + gullies. The discolored state of the streams was accounted for as soon as + we saw this cultivated land. No sooner is the land cleared of trees and + broken up than it begins to wash. We saw more of this later, especially in + North Carolina, where we encountered no stream of water that was not + muddy, and saw no cultivated ground that was not washed. The process of + denudation is going on rapidly wherever the original forests are girdled + (a common way of preparing for crops), or cut away. + </p> + <p> + As the time passed and there was no sign of supper, the question became a + burning one, and we went to explore the kitchen. No sign of it there. No + fire in the stove, nothing cooked in the house, of course. Mrs. Egger and + her comely young barefooted daughter had still the milking to attend to, + and supper must wait for the other chores. It seemed easier to be Mr. + Egger, in this state of existence, and sit on the front porch and meditate + on the price of mules and the prospect of a crop, than to be Mrs. Egger, + whose work was not limited from sun to sun; who had, in fact, a day's work + to do after the men-folks had knocked off; whose chances of neighborhood + gossip were scanty, whose amusements were confined to a religious meeting + once a fortnight. Good, honest people these, not unduly puffed up by the + brick house, grubbing away year in and year out. Yes, the young girl said, + there was a neighborhood party, now and then, in the winter. What a price + to pay for mere life! + </p> + <p> + Long before supper was ready, nearly nine o'clock, we had almost lost + interest in it. Meantime two other guests had arrived, a couple of drovers + from North Carolina, who brought into the circle—by this time a + wood-fire had been kindled in the sitting-room, which contained a bed, an + almanac, and some old copies of a newspaper—a rich flavor of cattle, + and talk of the price of steers. As to politics, although a presidential + campaign was raging, there was scarcely an echo of it here. This was + Johnson County, Tennessee, a strong Republican county but dog-gone it, + says Mr. Egger, it's no use to vote; our votes are overborne by the rest + of the State. Yes, they'd got a Republican member of Congress,—he'd + heard his name, but he'd forgotten it. The drover said he'd heard it also, + but he didn't take much interest in such things, though he wasn't any + Republican. Parties is pretty much all for office, both agreed. Even the + Professor, who was traveling in the interest of Reform, couldn't wake up a + discussion out of such a state of mind. + </p> + <p> + Alas! the supper, served in a room dimly lighted with a smoky lamp, on a + long table covered with oilcloth, was not of the sort to arouse the + delayed and now gone appetite of a Reformer, and yet it did not lack + variety: cornpone (Indian meal stirred up with water and heated through), + hot biscuit, slack-baked and livid, fried salt-pork swimming in grease, + apple-butter, pickled beets, onions and cucumbers raw, coffee (so-called), + buttermilk, and sweet milk when specially asked for (the correct taste, + however, is for buttermilk), and pie. This was not the pie of commerce, + but the pie of the country,—two thick slabs of dough, with a + squeezing of apple between. The profusion of this supper staggered the + novices, but the drovers attacked it as if such cooking were a common + occurrence and did justice to the weary labors of Mrs. Egger. + </p> + <p> + Egger is well prepared to entertain strangers, having several rooms and + several beds in each room. Upon consultation with the drovers, they said + they'd just as soon occupy an apartment by themselves, and we gave up + their society for the night. The beds in our chamber had each one sheet, + and the room otherwise gave evidence of the modern spirit; for in one + corner stood the fashionable aesthetic decoration of our Queen Anne + drawing-rooms,—the spinning-wheel. Soothed by this concession to + taste, we crowded in between the straw and the home-made blanket and + sheet, and soon ceased to hear the barking of dogs and the horned + encounters of the drovers' herd. + </p> + <p> + We parted with Mr. Egger after breakfast (which was a close copy of the + supper) with more respect than regret. His total charge for the + entertainment of two men and two horses—supper, lodging, and + breakfast—was high or low, as the traveler chose to estimate it. It + was $1.20: that is, thirty cents for each individual, or ten cents for + each meal and lodging. + </p> + <p> + Our road was a sort of by-way up Gentry Creek and over the Cut Laurel Gap + to Worth's, at Creston Post Office, in North Carolina,—the next + available halting place, said to be fifteen miles distant, and turning out + to be twenty-two, and a rough road. There is a little settlement about + Egger's, and the first half mile of our way we had the company of the + schoolmistress, a modest, pleasant-spoken girl. Neither she nor any other + people we encountered had any dialect or local peculiarity of speech. + Indeed, those we encountered that morning had nothing in manner or accent + to distinguish them. The novelists had led us to expect something + different; and the modest and pretty young lady with frank and open blue + eyes, who wore gloves and used the common English speech, had never + figured in the fiction of the region. Cherished illusions vanish often on + near approach. The day gave no peculiarity of speech to note, except the + occasional use of “hit” for “it.” + </p> + <p> + The road over Cut Laurel Gap was very steep and stony, the thermometer + mounted up to 80 deg., and, notwithstanding the beauty of the way, the + ride became tedious before we reached the summit. On the summit is the + dwelling and distillery of a colonel famous in these parts. We stopped at + the house for a glass of milk; the colonel was absent, and while the woman + in charge went after it, we sat on the veranda and conversed with a young + lady, tall, gent, well favored, and communicative, who leaned in the + doorway. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, this house stands on the line. Where you sit, you are in Tennessee; + I'm in North Carolina.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you live here?” + </p> + <p> + “Law, no; I'm just staying a little while at the colonel's. I live over + the mountain here, three miles from Taylorsville. I thought I'd be where I + could step into North Carolina easy.” + </p> + <p> + “How's that?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, they wanted me to go before the grand jury and testify about some + pistol-shooting down by our house, some friends of mine got into a little + difficulty,—and I did n't want to. I never has no difficulty with + nobody, never says nothing about nobody, has nothing against nobody, and I + reckon nobody has nothing against me.” + </p> + <p> + “Did you come alone?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, of course. I come across the mountain by a path through the woods. + That's nothing.” + </p> + <p> + A discreet, pleasant, pretty girl. This surely must be the Esmeralda who + lives in these mountains, and adorns low life by her virgin purity and + sentiment. As she talked on, she turned from time to time to the fireplace + behind her, and discharged a dark fluid from her pretty lips, with + accuracy of aim, and with a nonchalance that was not assumed, but belongs + to our free-born American girls. I cannot tell why this habit of hers + (which is no worse than the sister habit of “dipping”) should take her out + of the romantic setting that her face and figure had placed her in; but + somehow we felt inclined to ride on farther for our heroine. + </p> + <p> + “And yet,” said the Professor, as we left the site of the colonel's + thriving distillery, and by a winding, picturesque road through a rough + farming country descended into the valley,—“and yet, why fling aside + so readily a character and situation so full of romance, on account of a + habit of this mountain Helen, which one of our best poets has almost made + poetical, in the case of the pioneer taking his westward way, with ox-goad + pointing to the sky: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “'He's leaving on the pictured rock + His fresh tobacco stain.' +</pre> + <p> + “To my mind the incident has Homeric elements. The Greeks would have + looked at it in a large, legendary way. Here is Helen, strong and lithe of + limb, ox-eyed, courageous, but woman-hearted and love-inspiring, contended + for by all the braves and daring moonshiners of Cut Laurel Gap, pursued by + the gallants of two States, the prize of a border warfare of bowie knives + and revolvers. This Helen, magnanimous as attractive, is the witness of a + pistol difficulty on her behalf, and when wanted by the areopagus, that + she may neither implicate a lover nor punish an enemy (having nothing, + this noble type of her sex against nobody), skips away to Mount Ida, and + there, under the aegis of the flag of her country, in a Licensed + Distillery, stands with one slender foot in Tennessee and the other in + North Carolina...” + </p> + <p> + “Like the figure of the Republic itself, superior to state sovereignty,” + interposed the Friend. + </p> + <p> + “I beg your pardon,” said the Professor, urging up Laura Matilda (for so + he called the nervous mare, who fretted herself into a fever in the stony + path), “I was quite able to get the woman out of that position without the + aid of a metaphor. It is a large and Greek idea, that of standing in two + mighty States, superior to the law, looking east and looking west, ready + to transfer her agile body to either State on the approach of messengers + of the court; and I'll be hanged if I didn't think that her nonchalant + rumination of the weed, combined with her lofty moral attitude, added + something to the picture.” + </p> + <p> + The Friend said that he was quite willing to join in the extremest defense + of the privileges of beauty,—that he even held in abeyance judgment + on the practice of dipping; but when it came to chewing, gum was as far as + he could go as an allowance for the fair sex. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “When I consider everything that grows + Holds in perfection but a little moment...” + </pre> + <p> + The rest of the stanza was lost, for the Professor was splashing through + the stream. No sooner had we descended than the fording of streams began + again. The Friend had been obliged to stipulate that the Professor should + go ahead at these crossings, to keep the impetuous nag of the latter from + throwing half the contents of the stream upon his slower and uncomplaining + companion. + </p> + <p> + What a lovely country, but for the heat of noon and the long wearisomeness + of the way!—not that the distance was great, but miles and miles + more than expected. How charming the open glades of the river, how + refreshing the great forests of oak and chestnut, and what a panorama of + beauty the banks of rhododendrons, now intermingled with the lighter pink + and white of the laurel! In this region the rhododendron is called laurel + and the laurel (the sheep-laurel of New England) is called ivy. + </p> + <p> + At Worth's, well on in the afternoon, we emerged into a wide, open farming + intervale, a pleasant place of meadows and streams and decent dwellings. + Worth's is the trading center of the region, has a post office and a + saw-mill and a big country store; and the dwelling of the proprietor is + not unlike a roomy New England country house. Worth's has been + immemorially a stopping-place in a region where places of accommodation + are few. The proprietor, now an elderly man, whose reminiscences are long + ante bellum, has seen the world grow up about him, he the honored, just + center of it, and a family come up into the modern notions of life, with a + boarding-school education and glimpses of city life and foreign travel. I + fancy that nothing but tradition and a remaining Southern hospitality + could induce this private family to suffer the incursions of this + wayfaring man. Our travelers are not apt to be surprised at anything in + American life, but they did not expect to find a house in this region with + two pianos and a bevy of young ladies, whose clothes were certainly not + made on Cut Laurel Gap, and to read in the books scattered about the house + the evidences of the finishing schools with which our country is blessed, + nor to find here pupils of the Stonewall Jackson Institute at Abingdon. + With a flush of local pride, the Professor took up, in the roomy, pleasant + chamber set apart for the guests, a copy of Porter's “Elements of Moral + Science.” + </p> + <p> + “Where you see the 'Elements of Moral Science,'” the Friend generalized, + “there'll be plenty of water and towels;” and the sign did not fail. The + friends intended to read this book in the cool of the day; but as they sat + on the long veranda, the voice of a maiden reading the latest novel to a + sewing group behind the blinds in the drawing-room; and the antics of a + mule and a boy in front of the store opposite; and the arrival of a spruce + young man, who had just ridden over from somewhere, a matter of ten miles' + gallop, to get a medicinal potion for his sick mother, and lingered + chatting with the young ladies until we began to fear that his mother + would recover before his return; the coming and going of lean women in + shackly wagons to trade at the store; the coming home of the cows, + splashing through the stream, hooking right and left, and lowing for the + hand of the milker,—all these interruptions, together with the + generally drowsy quiet of the approach of evening, interfered with the + study of the Elements. And when the travelers, after a refreshing rest, + went on their way next morning, considering the Elements and the pianos + and the refinement, to say nothing of the cuisine, which is not treated of + in the text-book referred to, they were content with a bill double that of + brother Egger, in his brick magnificence. + </p> + <p> + The simple truth is, that the traveler in this region must be content to + feed on natural beauties. And it is an unfortunate truth in natural + history that the appetite for this sort of diet fails after a time, if the + inner man is not supplied with other sort of food. There is no landscape + in the world that is agreeable after two days of rusty-bacon and slack + biscuit. + </p> + <p> + “How lovely this would be,” exclaimed the Professor, if it had a + background of beefsteak and coffee! + </p> + <p> + We were riding along the west fork of the Laurel, distinguished locally as + Three Top Creek,—or, rather, we were riding in it, crossing it + thirty-one times within six miles; a charming wood (and water) road, under + the shade of fine trees with the rhododendron illuminating the way, + gleaming in the forest and reflected in the stream, all the ten miles to + Elk Cross Roads, our next destination. We had heard a great deal about Elk + Cross Roads; it was on the map, it was down in the itinerary furnished by + a member of the Coast Survey. We looked forward to it as a sweet place of + repose from the noontide heat. Alas! Elk Cross Roads is a dirty grocery + store, encumbered with dry-goods boxes, fly-blown goods, flies, loafers. + In reply to our inquiry we were told that they had nothing to eat, for us, + and not a grain of feed for the horses. But there was a man a mile farther + on, who was well to do and had stores of food,—old man Tatern would + treat us in bang-up style. The difficulty of getting feed for the horses + was chronic all through the journey. The last corn crop had failed, the + new oats and corn had not come in, and the country was literally barren. + We had noticed all along that the hens were taking a vacation, and that + chickens were not put forward as an article of diet. + </p> + <p> + We were unable, when we reached the residence of old man Tatem, to imagine + how the local superstition of his wealth arose. His house is of logs, with + two rooms, a kitchen and a spare room, with a low loft accessible by a + ladder at the side of the chimney. The chimney is a huge construction of + stone, separating the two parts of the house; in fact, the chimney was + built first, apparently, and the two rooms were then built against it. The + proprietor sat in a little railed veranda. These Southern verandas give an + air to the meanest dwelling, and they are much used; the family sit here, + and here are the washbasin and pail (which is filled from the neighboring + spring-house), and the row of milk-pans. The old man Tatern did not + welcome us with enthusiasm; he had no corn,—these were hard times. + He looked like hard times, grizzled times, dirty times. It seemed time out + of mind since he had seen comb or razor, and although the lovely New + River, along which we had ridden to his house,—a broad, inviting + stream,—was in sight across the meadow, there was no evidence that + he had ever made acquaintance with its cleansing waters. As to corn, the + necessities of the case and pay being dwelt on, perhaps he could find a + dozen ears. A dozen small cars he did find, and we trust that the horses + found them. + </p> + <p> + We took a family dinner with old man Tatern in the kitchen, where there + was a bed and a stove,—a meal that the host seemed to enjoy, but + which we could not make much of, except the milk; that was good. A painful + meal, on the whole, owing to the presence in the room of a grown-up + daughter with a graveyard cough, without physician or medicine, or + comforts. Poor girl! just dying of “a misery.” + </p> + <p> + In the spare room were two beds; the walls were decorated with the + gay-colored pictures of patent-medicine advertisements—a favorite + art adornment of the region; and a pile of ancient illustrated papers with + the usual patent-office report, the thoughtful gift of the member for the + district. The old man takes in the “Blue Ridge Baptist,” a journal which + we found largely taken up with the experiences of its editor on his + journeys roundabout in search of subscribers. This newspaper was the sole + communication of the family with the world at large, but the old man + thought he should stop it,—he did n't seem to get the worth of his + money out of it. And old man Tatem was a thrifty and provident man. On the + hearth in this best room—as ornaments or memento mori were a couple + of marble gravestones, a short headstone and foot-stone, mounted on bases + and ready for use, except the lettering. These may not have been so + mournful and significant as they looked, nor the evidence of simple, + humble faith; they may have been taken for debt. But as parlor ornaments + they had a fascination which we could not escape. + </p> + <p> + It was while we were bathing in the New River, that afternoon, and + meditating on the grim, unrelieved sort of life of our host, that the + Professor said, “judging by the face of the 'Blue Ridge Baptist,' he will + charge us smartly for the few nubbins of corn and the milk.” The face did + not deceive us; the charge was one dollar. At this rate it would have + broken us to have tarried with old man Tatem (perhaps he is not old, but + that is the name he goes by) over night. + </p> + <p> + It was a hot afternoon, and it needed some courage to mount and climb the + sandy hill leading us away from the corn-crib of Tatem. But we entered + almost immediately into fine stretches of forest, and rode under the shade + of great oaks. The way, which began by the New River, soon led us over the + hills to the higher levels of Watauga County. So far on our journey we had + been hemmed in by low hills, and without any distant or mountain outlooks. + The excessive heat seemed out of place at the elevation of over two + thousand feet, on which we were traveling. Boone, the county seat of + Watauga County, was our destination, and, ever since morning, the + guideboards and the trend of the roads had notified us that everything in + this region tends towards Boone as a center of interest. The simple + ingenuity of some of the guide-boards impressed us. If, on coming to a + fork, the traveler was to turn to the right, the sign read, + </p> + <p> + To BOONE 10 M. + </p> + <p> + If he was to go to the left, it read, .M 01 ENOOB oT + </p> + <p> + A short ride of nine miles, on an ascending road, through an open, + unfenced forest region, brought us long before sundown to this capital. + When we had ridden into its single street, which wanders over gentle + hills, and landed at the most promising of the taverns, the Friend + informed his comrade that Boone was 3250 feet above Albemarle Sound, and + believed by its inhabitants to be the highest village east of the Rocky + Mountains. The Professor said that it might be so, but it was a + God-forsaken place. Its inhabitants numbered perhaps two hundred and + fifty, a few of them colored. It had a gaunt, shaky court-house and jail, + a store or two, and two taverns. The two taverns are needed to accommodate + the judges and lawyers and their clients during the session of the court. + The court is the only excitement and the only amusement. It is the event + from which other events date. Everybody in the county knows exactly when + court sits, and when court breaks. During the session the whole county is + practically in Boone, men, women, and children. They camp there, they + attend the trials, they take sides; half of them, perhaps, are witnesses, + for the region is litigious, and the neighborhood quarrels are entered + into with spirit. To be fond of lawsuits seems a characteristic of an + isolated people in new conditions. The early settlers of New England were. + </p> + <p> + Notwithstanding the elevation of Boone, which insured a pure air, the + thermometer that afternoon stood at from 85 to 89 deg. The flies enjoyed + it. How they swarmed in this tavern! They would have carried off all the + food from the dining-room table (for flies do not mind eating off + oilcloth, and are not particular how food is cooked), but for the machine + with hanging flappers that swept the length of it; and they destroy all + possibility of sleep except in the dark. The mountain regions of North + Carolina are free from mosquitoes, but the fly has settled there, and is + the universal scourge. This tavern, one end of which was a store, had a + veranda in front, and a back gallery, where there were evidences of female + refinement in pots of plants and flowers. The landlord himself kept tavern + very much as a hostler would, but we had to make a note in his favor that + he had never heard of a milk punch. And it might as well be said here, for + it will have to be insisted on later, that the traveler, who has read + about the illicit stills till his imagination dwells upon the indulgence + of his vitiated tastes in the mountains of North Carolina, is doomed to + disappointment. If he wants to make himself an exception to the sober + people whose cooking will make him long for the maddening bowl, he must + bring his poison with him. We had found no bread since we left Virginia; + we had seen cornmeal and water, slack-baked; we had seen potatoes fried in + grease, and bacon incrusted with salt (all thirst-provokers), but nothing + to drink stronger than buttermilk. And we can say that, so far as our + example is concerned, we left the country as temperate as we found it. How + can there be mint juleps (to go into details) without ice? and in the + summer there is probably not a pound of ice in all the State north of + Buncombe County. + </p> + <p> + There is nothing special to be said about Boone. We were anxious to reach + it, we were glad to leave it; we note as to all these places that our joy + at departing always exceeds that on arriving, which is a merciful + provision of nature for people who must keep moving. This country is + settled by genuine Americans, who have the aboriginal primitive traits of + the universal Yankee nation. The front porch in the morning resembled a + carpenter's shop; it was literally covered with the whittlings of the row + of natives who had spent the evening there in the sedative occupation of + whittling. + </p> + <p> + We took that morning a forest road to Valle Crusis, seven miles, through + noble growths of oaks, chestnuts, hemlocks, rhododendrons,—a + charming wood road, leading to a place that, as usual, did not keep the + promise of its name. Valle Crusis has a blacksmith shop and a dirty, + flyblown store. While the Professor consulted the blacksmith about a loose + shoe, the Friend carried his weariness of life without provisions up to a + white house on the hill, and negotiated for boiled milk. This house was + occupied by flies. They must have numbered millions, settled in black + swarms, covering tables, beds, walls, the veranda; the kitchen was simply + a hive of them. The only book in sight, Whewell's—“Elements of + Morality,” seemed to attract flies. Query, Why should this have such a + different effect from Porter's? A white house,—a pleasant-looking + house at a distance,—amiable, kindly people in it,—why should + we have arrived there on its dirty day? Alas! if we had been starving, + Valle Crusis had nothing to offer us. + </p> + <p> + So we rode away, in the blazing heat, no poetry exuding from the + Professor, eight miles to Banner's Elk, crossing a mountain and passing + under Hanging Rock, a conspicuous feature in the landscape, and the only + outcropping of rock we had seen: the face of a ledge, rounded up into the + sky, with a green hood on it. From the summit we had the first extensive + prospect during our journey. The road can be described as awful,—steep, + stony, the horses unable to make two miles an hour on it. Now and then we + encountered a rude log cabin without barns or outhouses, and a little + patch of feeble corn. The women who regarded the passers from their cabin + doors were frowzy and looked tired. What with the heat and the road and + this discouraged appearance of humanity, we reached the residence of + Dugger, at Banner's Elk, to which we had been directed, nearly exhausted. + It is no use to represent this as a dash across country on impatient + steeds. It was not so. The love of truth is stronger than the desire of + display. And for this reason it is impossible to say that Mr. Dugger, who + is an excellent man, lives in a clean and attractive house, or that he + offers much that the pampered child of civilization can eat. But we shall + not forget the two eggs, fresh from the hens, whose temperature must have + been above the normal, nor the spring-house in the glen, where we found a + refuge from the flies and the heat. The higher we go, the hotter it is. + Banner's Elk boasts an elevation of thirty-five to thirty-seven hundred + feet. + </p> + <p> + We were not sorry, towards sunset, to descend along the Elk River towards + Cranberry Forge. The Elk is a lovely stream, and, though not very clear, + has a reputation for trout; but all this region was under operation of a + three-years game law, to give the trout a chance to multiply, and we had + no opportunity to test the value of its reputation. Yet a boy whom we + encountered had a good string of quarter-pound trout, which he had taken + out with a hook and a feather rudely tied on it, to resemble a fly. The + road, though not to be commended, was much better than that of the + morning, the forests grew charming in the cool of the evening, the + whippoorwill sang, and as night fell the wanderers, in want of nearly + everything that makes life desirable, stopped at the Iron Company's hotel, + under the impression that it was the only comfortable hotel in North + Carolina. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II + </h2> + <p> + Cranberry Forge is the first wedge of civilization fairly driven into the + northwest mountains of North Carolina. A narrow-gauge railway, starting + from Johnson City, follows up the narrow gorge of the Doe River, and + pushes into the heart of the iron mines at Cranberry, where there is a + blast furnace; and where a big company store, rows of tenement houses, + heaps of slag and refuse ore, interlacing tracks, raw embankments, denuded + hillsides, and a blackened landscape, are the signs of a great devastating + American enterprise. The Cranberry iron is in great esteem, as it has the + peculiar quality of the Swedish iron. There are remains of old furnaces + lower down the stream, which we passed on our way. The present “plant” is + that of a Philadelphia company, whose enterprise has infused new life into + all this region, made it accessible, and spoiled some pretty scenery. + </p> + <p> + When we alighted, weary, at the gate of the pretty hotel, which crowns a + gentle hill and commands a pleasing, evergreen prospect of many gentle + hills, a mile or so below the works, and wholly removed from all sordid + associations, we were at the point of willingness that the whole country + should be devastated by civilization. In the local imagination this hotel + of the company is a palace of unequaled magnificence, but probably its + good taste, comfort, and quiet elegance are not appreciated after all. + There is this to be said about Philadelphia,—and it will go far in + pleading for it in the Last Day against its monotonous rectangularity and + the babel-like ambition of its Public Building,—that wherever its + influence extends, there will be found comfortable lodgings and the luxury + of an undeniably excellent cuisine. The visible seal that Philadelphia + sets on its enterprise all through the South is a good hotel. + </p> + <p> + This Cottage Beautiful has on two sides a wide veranda, set about with + easy chairs; cheerful parlors and pretty chambers, finished in native + woods, among which are conspicuous the satin stripes of the cucumber-tree; + luxurious beds, and an inviting table ordered by a Philadelphia landlady, + who knows a beefsteak from a boot-tap. Is it “low” to dwell upon these + things of the senses, when one is on a tour in search of the picturesque? + Let the reader ride from Abingdon through a wilderness of cornpone and + rusty bacon, and then judge. There were, to be sure, novels lying about, + and newspapers, and fragments of information to be picked up about a world + into which the travelers seemed to emerge. They, at least, were satisfied, + and went off to their rooms with the restful feeling that they had arrived + somewhere and no unquiet spirit at morn would say “to horse.” To sleep, + perchance to dream of Tatem and his household cemetery; and the Professor + was heard muttering in his chamber, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed, + The dear repose for limbs with travel tired; + But then begins a journey in my head, + To work my mind, when body's work's expir'd.” + </pre> + <p> + The morning was warm (the elevation of the hotel must be between + twenty-five hundred and three thousand feet), rainy, mildly rainy; and the + travelers had nothing better to do than lounge upon the veranda, read + feeble ten-cent fictions, and admire the stems of the white birches, + glistening in the moisture, and the rhododendron—trees, twenty feet + high, which were shaking off their last pink blossoms, and look down into + the valley of the Doe. It is not an exciting landscape, nothing bold or + specially wild in it, but restful with the monotony of some of the wooded + Pennsylvania hills. + </p> + <p> + Sunday came up smiling, a lovely day, but offering no church privileges, + for the ordinance of preaching is only occasional in this region. The + ladies of the hotel have, however, gathered in the valley a Sunday-school + of fifty children from the mountain cabins. A couple of rainy days, with + the thermometer rising to 80 deg., combined with natural laziness to + detain the travelers in this cottage of ease. They enjoyed this the more + because it was on their consciences that they should visit Linville Falls, + some twenty-five miles eastward, long held up before them as the most + magnificent feature of this region, and on no account to be omitted. + Hence, naturally, a strong desire to omit it. The Professor takes bold + ground against these abnormal freaks of nature, and it was nothing to him + that the public would demand that we should see Linville Falls. In the + first place, we could find no one who had ever seen them, and we spent two + days in catechizing natives and strangers. The nearest we came to + information was from a workman at the furnace, who was born and raised + within three miles of the Falls. He had heard of people going there. He + had never seen them himself. It was a good twenty-five miles there, over + the worst road in the State we'd think it thirty before we got there. + Fifty miles of such travel to see a little water run down-hill! The + travelers reflected. Every country has a local waterfall of which it + boasts; they had seen a great many. One more would add little to the + experience of life. The vagueness of information, to be sure, lured the + travelers to undertake the journey; but the temptation was resisted—something + ought to be left for the next explorer—and so Linville remains a + thing of the imagination. + </p> + <p> + Towards evening, July 29, between showers, the Professor and the Friend + rode along the narrow-gauge road, down Johnson's Creek, to Roan Station, + the point of departure for ascending Roan Mountain. It was a ride of an + hour and a half over a fair road, fringed with rhododendrons, nearly + blossomless; but at a point on the stream this sturdy shrub had formed a + long bower where under a table might have been set for a temperance + picnic, completely overgrown with wild grape, and still gay with bloom. + The habitations on the way are mostly board shanties and mean frame + cabins, but the railway is introducing ambitious architecture here and + there in the form of ornamental filigree work on flimsy houses; + ornamentation is apt to precede comfort in our civilization. + </p> + <p> + Roan Station is on the Doe River (which flows down from Roan Mountain), + and is marked at 1265 feet above the sea. The visitor will find here a + good hotel, with open wood fires (not ungrateful in a July evening), and + obliging people. This railway from Johnson City, hanging on the edge of + the precipices that wall the gorge of the Doe, is counted in this region + by the inhabitants one of the engineering wonders of the world. The + tourist is urged by all means to see both it and Linville Falls. + </p> + <p> + The tourist on horseback, in search of exercise and recreation, is not + probably expected to take stock of moral conditions. But this Mitchell + County, although it was a Union county during the war and is Republican in + politics (the Southern reader will perhaps prefer another adverb to + “although”), has had the worst possible reputation. The mountains were + hiding-places of illicit distilleries; the woods were full of + grog-shanties, where the inflaming fluid was sold as “native brandy,” + quarrels and neighborhood difficulties were frequent, and the knife and + pistol were used on the slightest provocation. Fights arose about + boundaries and the title to mica mines, and with the revenue officers; and + force was the arbiter of all disputes. Within the year four murders were + committed in the sparsely settled county. Travel on any of the roads was + unsafe. The tone of morals was what might be expected with such + lawlessness. A lady who came up on the road on the 4th of July, when an + excursion party of country people took possession of the cars, witnessed a + scene and heard language past belief. Men, women, and children drank from + whisky bottles that continually circulated, and a wild orgy resulted. + Profanity, indecent talk on topics that even the license of the sixteenth + century would not have tolerated, and freedom of manners that even Teniers + would have shrunk from putting on canvas, made the journey horrible. + </p> + <p> + The unrestrained license of whisky and assault and murder had produced a + reaction a few months previous to our visit. The people had risen up in + their indignation and broken up the groggeries. So far as we observed + temperance prevailed, backed by public-opinion. In our whole ride through + the mountain region we saw only one or two places where liquor was sold. + </p> + <p> + It is called twelve miles from Roan Station to Roan Summit. The distance + is probably nearer fourteen, and our horses were five hours in walking it. + For six miles the road runs by Doe River, here a pretty brook shaded with + laurel and rhododendron, and a few cultivated patches of ground, and + infrequent houses. It was a blithe morning, and the horsemen would have + given full indulgence to the spirit of adventure but for the attitude of + the Professor towards mountains. It was not with him a matter of feeling, + but of principle, not to ascend them. But here lay Roan, a long, sprawling + ridge, lifting itself 6250 feet up into the sky. Impossible to go around + it, and the other side must be reached. The Professor was obliged to + surrender, and surmount a difficulty which he could not philosophize out + of his mind. + </p> + <p> + From the base of the mountain a road is very well engineered, in easy + grades for carriages, to the top; but it was in poor repair and stony. We + mounted slowly through splendid forests, specially of fine chestnuts and + hemlocks. This big timber continues till within a mile and a half of the + summit by the winding road, really within a short distance of the top. + Then there is a narrow belt of scrubby hardwood, moss-grown, and then + large balsams, which crown the mountain. As soon as we came out upon the + southern slope we found great open spaces, covered with succulent grass, + and giving excellent pasturage to cattle. These rich mountain meadows are + found on all the heights of this region. The surface of Roan is uneven, + and has no one culminating peak that commands the country, like the peak + of Mount Washington, but several eminences within its range of probably a + mile and a half, where various views can be had. Near the highest point, + sheltered from the north by balsams, stands a house of entertainment, with + a detached cottage, looking across the great valley to the Black Mountain + range. The surface of the mountain is pebbly, but few rocks crop out; no + ledges of any size are seen except at a distance from the hotel, on the + north side, and the mountain consequently lacks that savage, unsubduable + aspect which the White Hills of New Hampshire have. It would, in fact, + have been difficult to realize that we were over six thousand feet above + the sea, except for that pallor in the sunlight, that atmospheric thinness + and want of color which is an unpleasant characteristic of high altitudes. + To be sure, there is a certain brilliancy in the high air,—it is apt + to be foggy on Roan,—and objects appear in sharp outline, but I have + often experienced on such places that feeling of melancholy, which would, + of course, deepen upon us all if we were sensible that the sun was + gradually withdrawing its power of warmth and light. The black balsam is + neither a cheerful nor a picturesque tree; the frequent rains and mists on + Roan keep the grass and mosses green, but the ground damp. Doubtless a + high mountain covered with vegetation has its compensation, but for me the + naked granite rocks in sun and shower are more cheerful. + </p> + <p> + The advantage of Roan is that one can live there and be occupied for a + long time in mineral and botanical study. Its mild climate, moisture, and + great elevation make it unique in this country for the botanist. The + variety of plants assembled there is very large, and there are many, we + were told, never or rarely found elsewhere in the United States. At any + rate, the botanists rave about Roan Mountain, and spend weeks at a time on + it. We found there ladies who could draw for us Grey's lily (then passed), + and had kept specimens of the rhododendron (not growing elsewhere in this + region) which has a deep red, almost purple color. + </p> + <p> + The hotel (since replaced by a good house) was a rude mountain structure, + with a couple of comfortable rooms for office and sitting-room, in which + big wood fires were blazing; for though the thermometer might record 60 + deg., as it did when we arrived, fire was welcome. Sleeping-places + partitioned off in the loft above gave the occupants a feeling of camping + out, all the conveniences being primitive; and when the wind rose in the + night and darkness, and the loose boards rattled and the timbers creaked, + the sensation was not unlike that of being at sea. The hotel was + satisfactorily kept, and Southern guests, from as far south as New + Orleans, were spending the season there, and not finding time hang heavy + on their hands. This statement is perhaps worth more than pages of + description as to the character of Roan, and its contrast to Mount + Washington. + </p> + <p> + The summer weather is exceedingly uncertain on all these North Carolina + mountains; they are apt at any moment to be enveloped in mist; and it + would rather rain on them than not. On the afternoon of our arrival there + was fine air and fair weather, but not a clear sky. The distance was hazy, + but the outlines were preserved. We could see White Top, in Virginia; + Grandfather Mountain, a long serrated range; the twin towers of Linville; + and the entire range of the Black Mountains, rising from the valley, and + apparently lower than we were. They get the name of Black from the balsams + which cover the summits. + </p> + <p> + The rain on Roan was of less annoyance by reason of the delightful company + assembled at the hotel, which was in a manner at home there, and, thrown + upon its own resources, came out uncommonly strong in agreeableness. There + was a fiddle in the house, which had some of the virtues of that + celebrated in the history of old Mark Langston; the Professor was enabled + to produce anything desired out of the literature of the eighteenth + century; and what with the repartee of bright women, big wood fires, + reading, and chat, there was no dull day or evening on Roan. I can fancy, + however, that it might tire in time, if one were not a botanist, without + the resource of women's society. The ladies staying here were probably all + accomplished botanists, and the writer is indebted to one of them for a + list of plants found on Roan, among which is an interesting weed, + catalogued as Humana, perplexia negligens. The species is, however, common + elsewhere. + </p> + <p> + The second morning opened, after a night of high wind, with a + thunder-shower. After it passed, the visitors tried to reach Eagle Cliff, + two miles off, whence an extensive western prospect is had, but were + driven back by a tempest, and rain practically occupied the day. Now and + then through the parted clouds we got a glimpse of a mountain-side, or the + gleam of a valley. On the lower mountains, at wide intervals apart, were + isolated settlements, commonly a wretched cabin and a spot of girdled + trees. A clergyman here, not long ago, undertook to visit some of these + cabins and carry his message to them. In one wretched hut of logs he found + a poor woman, with whom, after conversation on serious subjects, he + desired to pray. She offered no objection, and he kneeled down and prayed. + The woman heard him, and watched him for some moments with curiosity, in + an effort to ascertain what he was doing, and then said: + </p> + <p> + “Why, a man did that when he put my girl in a hole.” + </p> + <p> + Towards night the wind hauled round from the south to the northwest, and + we went to High Bluff, a point on the north edge, where some rocks are + piled up above the evergreens, to get a view of the sunset. In every + direction the mountains were clear, and a view was obtained of the vast + horizon and the hills and lowlands of several States—a continental + prospect, scarcely anywhere else equaled for variety or distance. The + grandeur of mountains depends mostly on the state of the atmosphere. + Grandfather loomed up much more loftily than the day before, the giant + range of the Blacks asserted itself in grim inaccessibility, and we could + see, a small pyramid on the southwest horizon, King's Mountain in South + Carolina, estimated to be distant one hundred and fifty miles. To the + north Roan falls from this point abruptly, and we had, like a map below + us, the low country all the way into Virginia. The clouds lay like lakes + in the valleys of the lower hills, and in every direction were ranges of + mountains wooded to the summits. Off to the west by south lay the Great + Smoky Mountains, disputing eminence with the Blacks. + </p> + <p> + Magnificent and impressive as the spectacle was, we were obliged to + contrast it unfavorably with that of the White Hills. The rock here is a + sort of sand or pudding stone; there is no limestone or granite. And all + the hills are tree-covered. To many this clothing of verdure is most + restful and pleasing. I missed the sharp outlines, the delicate artistic + sky lines, sharply defined in uplifted bare granite peaks and ridges, with + the purple and violet color of the northern mountains, and which it seems + to me that limestone and granite formations give. There are none of the + great gorges and awful abysses of the White Mountains, both valleys and + mountains here being more uniform in outline. There are few precipices and + jutting crags, and less is visible of the giant ribs and bones of the + planet. + </p> + <p> + Yet Roan is a noble mountain. A lady from Tennessee asked me if I had ever + seen anything to compare with it—she thought there could be nothing + in the world. One has to dodge this sort of question in the South + occasionally, not to offend a just local pride. It is certainly one of the + most habitable of big mountains. It is roomy on top, there is space to + move about without too great fatigue, and one might pleasantly spend a + season there, if he had agreeable company and natural tastes. + </p> + <p> + Getting down from Roan on the south side is not as easy as ascending on + the north; the road for five miles to the foot of the mountain is merely a + river of pebbles, gullied by the heavy rains, down which the horses picked + their way painfully. The travelers endeavored to present a dashing and + cavalier appearance to the group of ladies who waved good-by from the + hotel, as they took their way over the waste and wind-blown declivities, + but it was only a show, for the horses would neither caracole nor champ + the bit (at a dollar a day) down-hill over the slippery stones, and, truth + to tell, the wanderers turned with regret from the society of leisure and + persiflage to face the wilderness of Mitchell County. + </p> + <p> + “How heavy,” exclaimed the Professor, pricking Laura Matilda to call her + attention sharply to her footing— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “How heavy do I journey on the way, + When what I seek—my weary travel's end + Doth teach that ease and that repose to say, + Thus far the miles are measur'd from thy friend! + The beast that bears me, tired with my woe, + Plods dully on, to bear that weight in me, + As if by some instinct the wretch did know + His rider loved not speed, being made from thee: + The bloody spur cannot provoke him on + That sometimes anger thrusts into his hide, + Which heavily he answers with a groan, + More sharp to me than spurring to his side; + For that same groan doth put this in my mind; + My grief lies onward and my joy behind.” + </pre> + <p> + This was not spoken to the group who fluttered their farewells, but poured + out to the uncomplaining forest, which rose up in ever statelier—and + grander ranks to greet the travelers as they descended—the silent, + vast forest, without note of bird or chip of squirrel, only the wind + tossing the great branches high overhead in response to the sonnet. Is + there any region or circumstance of life that the poet did not forecast + and provide for? But what would have been his feelings if he could have + known that almost three centuries after these lines were penned, they + would be used to express the emotion of an unsentimental traveler in the + primeval forests of the New World? At any rate, he peopled the New World + with the children of his imagination. And, thought the Friend, whose + attention to his horse did not permit him to drop into poetry, Shakespeare + might have had a vision of this vast continent, though he did not refer to + it, when he exclaimed: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “What is your substance, whereof are you made, + That millions of strange shadows on you tend?” + </pre> + <p> + Bakersville, the capital of Mitchell County, is eight miles from the top + of Roan, and the last three miles of the way the horsemen found tolerable + going, over which the horses could show their paces. The valley looked + fairly thrifty and bright, and was a pleasing introduction to Bakersville, + a pretty place in the hills, of some six hundred inhabitants, with two + churches, three indifferent hotels, and a court-house. This mountain town, + 2550 feet above the sea, is said to have a decent winter climate, with + little snow, favorable to fruit-growing, and, by contrast with New + England, encouraging to people with weak lungs. + </p> + <p> + This is the center of the mica mining, and of considerable excitement + about minerals. All around, the hills are spotted with “diggings.” Most of + the mines which yield well show signs of having been worked before, a very + long time ago, no doubt by the occupants before the Indians. The mica is + of excellent quality and easily mined. It is got out in large + irregular-shaped blocks and transported to the factories, where it is + carefully split by hand, and the laminae, of as large size as can be + obtained, are trimmed with shears and tied up in packages for market. The + quantity of refuse, broken, and rotten mica piled up about the factories + is immense, and all the roads round about glisten with its scales. Garnets + are often found imbedded in the laminae, flattened by the extreme pressure + to which the mass was subjected. It is fascinating material, this mica, to + handle, and we amused ourselves by experimenting on the thinness to which + its scales could be reduced by splitting. It was at Bakersville that we + saw specimens of mica that resembled the delicate tracery in the + moss-agate and had the iridescent sheen of the rainbow colors—the + most delicate greens, reds, blues, purples, and gold, changing from one to + the other in the reflected light. In the texture were the tracings of + fossil forms of ferns and the most exquisite and delicate vegetable beauty + of the coal age. But the magnet shows this tracery to be iron. We were + shown also emeralds and “diamonds,” picked up in this region, and there is + a mild expectation in all the inhabitants of great mineral treasure. A + singular product of the region is the flexible sandstone. It is a most + uncanny stone. A slip of it a couple of feet long and an inch in diameter + each way bends in the hand like a half-frozen snake. This conduct of a + substance that we have been taught to regard as inflexible impairs one's + confidence in the stability of nature and affects him as an earthquake + does. + </p> + <p> + This excitement over mica and other minerals has the usual effect of + starting up business and creating bad blood. Fortunes have been made, and + lost in riotous living; scores of visionary men have been disappointed; + lawsuits about titles and claims have multiplied, and quarrels ending in + murder have been frequent in the past few years. The mica and the illicit + whisky have worked together to make this region one of lawlessness and + violence. The travelers were told stories of the lack of common morality + and decency in the region, but they made no note of them. And, perhaps + fortunately, they were not there during court week to witness the scenes + of license that were described. This court week, which draws hither the + whole population, is a sort of Saturnalia. Perhaps the worst of this is + already a thing of the past; for the outrages a year before had reached + such a pass that by a common movement the sale of whisky was stopped (not + interdicted, but stopped), and not a drop of liquor could be bought in + Bakersville nor within three miles of it. + </p> + <p> + The jail at Bakersville is a very simple residence. The main building is + brick, two stories high and about twelve feet square. The walls are so + loosely laid up that it seems as if a colored prisoner might butt his head + through. Attached to this is a room for the jailer. In the lower room is a + wooden cage, made of logs bolted together and filled with spikes, nine + feet by ten feet square and perhaps seven or eight feet high. Between this + cage and the wall is a space of eighteen inches in width. It has a narrow + door, and an opening through which the food is passed to the prisoners, + and a conduit leading out of it. Of course it soon becomes foul, and in + warm weather somewhat warm. A recent prisoner, who wanted more ventilation + than the State allowed him, found some means, by a loose plank, I think, + to batter a hole in the outer wall opposite the window in the cage, and + this ragged opening, seeming to the jailer a good sanitary arrangement, + remains. Two murderers occupied this apartment at the time of our visit. + During the recent session of court, ten men had been confined in this + narrow space, without room enough for them to lie down together. The cage + in the room above, a little larger, had for tenant a person who was jailed + for some misunderstanding about an account, and who was probably innocent—from + the jailer's statement. This box is a wretched residence, month after + month, while awaiting trial. + </p> + <p> + We learned on inquiry that it is practically impossible to get a jury to + convict of murder in this region, and that these admitted felons would + undoubtedly escape. We even heard that juries were purchasable here, and + that a man's success in court depended upon the length of his purse. This + is such an unheard-of thing that we refused to credit it. When the Friend + attempted to arouse the indignation of the Professor about the barbarity + of this jail, the latter defended it on the ground that as confinement was + the only punishment that murderers were likely to receive in this region, + it was well to make their detention disagreeable to them. But the Friend + did not like this wild-beast cage for men, and could only exclaim, + </p> + <p> + “Oh, murder! what crimes are done in thy name.” + </p> + <p> + If the comrades wished an adventure, they had a small one, more + interesting to them than to the public, the morning they left Bakersville + to ride to Burnsville, which sets itself up as the capital of Yancey. The + way for the first three miles lay down a small creek and in a valley + fairly settled, the houses, a store, and a grist-mill giving evidence of + the new enterprise of the region. When Toe River was reached, there was a + choice of routes. We might ford the Toe at that point, where the river was + wide, but shallow, and the crossing safe, and climb over the mountain by a + rough but sightly road, or descend the stream by a better road and ford + the river at a place rather dangerous to those unfamiliar with it. The + danger attracted us, but we promptly chose the hill road on account of the + views, for we were weary of the limited valley prospects. + </p> + <p> + The Toe River, even here, where it bears westward, is a very respectable + stream in size, and not to be trifled with after a shower. It gradually + turns northward, and, joining the Nollechucky, becomes part of the + Tennessee system. We crossed it by a long, diagonal ford, slipping and + sliding about on the round stones, and began the ascent of a steep hill. + The sun beat down unmercifully, the way was stony, and the horses did not + relish the weary climbing. The Professor, who led the way, not for the + sake of leadership, but to be the discoverer of laden blackberry bushes, + which began to offer occasional refreshment, discouraged by the + inhospitable road and perhaps oppressed by the moral backwardness of + things in general, cried out: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tired with all these, for restful death I cry,— + As, to behold desert a beggar born, + And needy nothing trimm'd in jollity, + And purest faith unhappily foresworn, + And gilded honor shamefully misplaced, + And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted, + And right perfection wrongfully disgraced, + And strength by limping sway disabled, + And art made tongue-tied by authority, + And folly (doctor-like) controlling skill, + And simple truth miscall'd simplicity, + And captive good attending captain ill: + Tired with all these, from these would I be gone, + Save that, to die, I leave my love alone.” + </pre> + <p> + In the midst of a lively discussion of this pessimistic view of the + inequalities of life, in which desert and capacity are so often put at + disadvantage by birth in beggarly conditions, and brazen assumption raises + the dust from its chariot wheels for modest merit to plod along in, the + Professor swung himself off his horse to attack a blackberry bush, and the + Friend, representing simple truth, and desirous of getting a wider + prospect, urged his horse up the hill. At the top he encountered a + stranger, on a sorrel horse, with whom he entered into conversation and + extracted all the discouragement the man had as to the road to Burnsville. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, the view opened finely and extensively. There are few + exhilarations comparable to that of riding or walking along a high ridge, + and the spirits of the traveler rose many degrees above the point of + restful death, for which the Professor was crying when he encountered the + blackberry bushes. Luckily the Friend soon fell in with a like temptation, + and dismounted. He discovered something that spoiled his appetite for + berries. His coat, strapped on behind the saddle, had worked loose, the + pocket was open, and the pocket-book was gone. This was serious business. + For while the Professor was the cashier, and traveled like a Rothschild, + with large drafts, the Friend represented the sub-treasury. That very + morning, in response to inquiry as to the sinews of travel, the Friend had + displayed, without counting, a roll of bills. These bills had now + disappeared, and when the Friend turned back to communicate his loss, in + the character of needy nothing not trimm'd in jollity, he had a + sympathetic listener to the tale of woe. + </p> + <p> + Going back on such a journey is the woefulest experience, but retrace our + steps we must. Perhaps the pocket-book lay in the road not half a mile + back. But not in half a mile, or a mile, was it found. Probably, then, the + man on the sorrel horse had picked it up. But who was the man on the + sorrel horse, and where had he gone? Probably the coat worked loose in + crossing Toe River and the pocket-book had gone down-stream. The number of + probabilities was infinite, and each more plausible than the others as it + occurred to us. We inquired at every house we had passed on the way, we + questioned every one we met. At length it began to seem improbable that + any one would remember if he had picked up a pocketbook that morning. This + is just the sort of thing that slips an untrained memory. + </p> + <p> + At a post office or doctor's shop, or inn for drovers, it might be either + or neither, where several horses were tied to the fence, and a group of + men were tilted back in cane chairs on the veranda, we unfolded our + misfortune and made particular inquiries for a man on a sorrel horse. Yes, + such a man, David Thomas by name, had just ridden towards Bakersville. If + he had found the pocket-book, we would recover it. He was an honest man. + It might, however, fall into hands that would freeze to it. + </p> + <p> + Upon consultation, it was the general verdict that there were men in the + county who would keep it if they had picked it up. But the assembly + manifested the liveliest interest in the incident. One suggested Toe + River. Another thought it risky to drop a purse on any road. But there was + a chorus of desire expressed that we should find it, and in this anxiety + was exhibited a decided sensitiveness about the honor of Mitchell County. + It seemed too bad that a stranger should go away with the impression that + it was not safe to leave money anywhere in it. We felt very much obliged + for this genuine sympathy, and we told them that if a pocket-book were + lost in this way on a Connecticut road, there would be felt no + neighborhood responsibility for it, and that nobody would take any + interest in the incident except the man who lost, and the man who found. + </p> + <p> + By the time the travelers pulled up at a store in Bakersville they had + lost all expectation of recovering the missing article, and were + discussing the investment of more money in an advertisement in the weekly + newspaper of the capital. The Professor, whose reform sentiments agreed + with those of the newspaper, advised it. There was a group of idlers, mica + acquaintances of the morning, and philosophers in front of the store, and + the Friend opened the colloquy by asking if a man named David Thomas had + been seen in town. He was in town, had ridden in within an hour, and his + brother, who was in the group, would go in search of him. The information + was then given of the loss, and that the rider had met David Thomas just + before it was discovered, on the mountain beyond the Toe. The news made a + sensation, and by the time David Thomas appeared a crowd of a hundred had + drawn around the horsemen eager for further developments. Mr. Thomas was + the least excited of the group as he took his position on the sidewalk, + conscious of the dignity of the occasion and that he was about to begin a + duel in which both reputation and profit were concerned. He recollected + meeting the travelers in the morning. + </p> + <p> + The Friend said, “I discovered that I had lost my purse just after meeting + you; it may have been dropped in Toe River, but I was told back here that + if David Thomas had picked it up, it was as safe as if it were in the + bank.” + </p> + <p> + “What sort of a pocket-book was it?” asked Mr. Thomas. + </p> + <p> + “It was of crocodile skin, or what is sold for that, very likely it is an + imitation, and about so large indicating the size.” + </p> + <p> + “What had it in it?” + </p> + <p> + “Various things. Some specimens of mica; some bank checks, some money.” + </p> + <p> + “Anything else?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, a photograph. And, oh, something that I presume is not in another + pocket-book in North Carolina,—in an envelope, a lock of the hair of + George Washington, the Father of his Country.” Sensation mixed with + incredulity. Washington's hair did seem such an odd part of an outfit for + a journey of this kind. + </p> + <p> + “How much money was in it?” + </p> + <p> + “That I cannot say, exactly. I happen to remember four twenty-dollar + United States notes, and a roll of small bills, perhaps something over a + hundred dollars.” + </p> + <p> + “Is that the pocket-book?” asked David Thomas, slowly pulling the loved + and lost out of his trousers pocket. + </p> + <p> + “It is.” + </p> + <p> + “You'd be willing to take your oath on it?” + </p> + <p> + “I should be delighted to.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I guess there ain't so much money in it. You can count it [handing + it over]; there hain't been nothing taken out. I can't read, but my friend + here counted it over, and he says there ain't as much as that.” + </p> + <p> + Intense interest in the result of the counting. One hundred and ten + dollars! The Friend selected one of the best engraved of the notes, and + appealed to the crowd if they thought that was the square thing to do. + They did so think, and David Thomas said it was abundant. And then said + the Friend: + </p> + <p> + “I'm exceedingly grateful to you besides. Washington's hair is getting + scarce, and I did not want to lose these few hairs, gray as they are. + You've done the honest thing, Mr. Thomas, as was expected of you. You + might have kept the whole. But I reckon if there had been five hundred + dollars in the book and you had kept it, it wouldn't have done you half as + much good as giving it up has done; and your reputation as an honest man + is worth a good deal more than this pocket-book. [The Professor was + delighted with this sentiment, because it reminded him of a + Sunday-school.] I shall go away with a high opinion of the honesty of + Mitchell County.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, he lives in Yancey,” cried two or three voices. At which there was a + great laugh. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I wondered where he came from.” And the Mitchell County people + laughed again at their own expense, and the levee broke up. It was + exceedingly gratifying, as we spread the news of the recovered property + that afternoon at every house on our way to the Toe, to see what pleasure + it gave. Every man appeared to feel that the honor of the region had been + on trial—and had stood the test. + </p> + <p> + The eighteen miles to Burnsville had now to be added to the morning + excursion, but the travelers were in high spirits, feeling the truth of + the adage that it is better to have loved and lost, than never to have + lost at all. They decided, on reflection, to join company with the + mail-rider, who was going to Burnsville by the shorter route, and could + pilot them over the dangerous ford of the Toe. + </p> + <p> + The mail-rider was a lean, sallow, sinewy man, mounted on a sorry sorrel + nag, who proved, however, to have blood in her, and to be a fast walker + and full of endurance. The mail-rider was taciturn, a natural habit for a + man who rides alone the year round, over a lonely road, and has nothing + whatever to think of. He had been in the war sixteen months, in Hugh + White's regiment,—reckon you've heerd of him? + </p> + <p> + “Confederate?” + </p> + <p> + “Which?” + </p> + <p> + “Was he on the Union or Confederate side?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Union.” + </p> + <p> + “Were you in any engagements?” + </p> + <p> + “Which?” + </p> + <p> + “Did you have any fighting?” + </p> + <p> + “Not reg'lar.” + </p> + <p> + “What did you do?” + </p> + <p> + “Which?” + </p> + <p> + “What did you do in Hugh White's regiment?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, just cavorted round the mountains.” + </p> + <p> + “You lived on the country?” + </p> + <p> + “Which?” + </p> + <p> + “Picked up what you could find, corn, bacon, horses?” + </p> + <p> + “That's about so. Did n't make much difference which side was round, the + country got cleaned out.” + </p> + <p> + “Plunder seems to have been the object?” + </p> + <p> + “Which?” + </p> + <p> + “You got a living out of the farmers?” + </p> + <p> + “You bet.” + </p> + <p> + Our friend and guide seemed to have been a jayhawker and mountain marauder—on + the right side. His attachment to the word “which” prevented any lively + flow of conversation, and there seemed to be only two trains of ideas + running in his mind: one was the subject of horses and saddles, and the + other was the danger of the ford we were coming to, and he exhibited a + good deal of ingenuity in endeavoring to excite our alarm. He returned to + the ford from every other conversational excursion, and after every + silence. + </p> + <p> + “I do' know's there 's any great danger; not if you know the ford. Folks + is carried away there. The Toe gits up sudden. There's been right smart + rain lately. + </p> + <p> + “If you're afraid, you can git set over in a dugout, and I'll take your + horses across. Mebbe you're used to fording? It's a pretty bad ford for + them as don't know it. But you'll get along if you mind your eye. There's + some rocks you'll have to look out for. But you'll be all right if you + follow me.” + </p> + <p> + Not being very successful in raising an interest in the dangers of his + ford, although he could not forego indulging a malicious pleasure in + trying to make the strangers uncomfortable, he finally turned his + attention to a trade. “This hoss of mine,” he said, “is just the kind of + brute-beast you want for this country. Your hosses is too heavy. How'll + you swap for that one o' yourn?” The reiterated assertion that the horses + were not ours, that they were hired, made little impression on him. All + the way to Burnsville he kept referring to the subject of a trade. The + instinct of “swap” was strong in him. When we met a yoke of steers, he + turned round and bantered the owner for a trade. Our saddles took his + fancy. They were of the army pattern, and he allowed that one of them + would just suit him. He rode a small flat English pad, across which was + flung the United States mail pouch, apparently empty. He dwelt upon the + fact that his saddle was new and ours were old, and the advantages that + would accrue to us from the exchange. He did n't care if they had been + through the war, as they had, for he fancied an army saddle. The Friend + answered for himself that the saddle he rode belonged to a distinguished + Union general, and had a bullet in it that was put there by a careless + Confederate in the first battle of Bull Run, and the owner would not part + with it for money. But the mail-rider said he did n't mind that. He would + n't mind swapping his new saddle for my old one and the rubber coat and + leggings. Long before we reached the ford we thought we would like to swap + the guide, even at the risk of drowning. The ford was passed, in due time, + with no inconvenience save that of wet feet, for the stream was breast + high to the horses; but being broad and swift and full of sunken rocks and + slippery stones, and the crossing tortuous, it is not a ford to be + commended. There is a curious delusion that a rider has in crossing a + swift broad stream. It is that he is rapidly drifting up-stream, while in + fact the tendency of the horse is to go with the current. + </p> + <p> + The road in the afternoon was not unpicturesque, owing to the streams and + the ever noble forests, but the prospect was always very limited. + Agriculturally, the country was mostly undeveloped. The travelers + endeavored to get from the rider an estimate of the price of land. Not + much sold, he said. “There was one sale of a big piece last year; the + owner enthorited Big Tom Wilson to sell it, but I d'know what he got for + it.” + </p> + <p> + All the way along, the habitations were small log cabins, with one room, + chinked with mud, and these were far between; and only occasionally + thereby a similar log structure, unchinked, laid up like a cob house, that + served for a stable. Not much cultivation, except now and then a little + patch of poor corn on a steep hillside, occasionally a few apple-trees, + and a peach-tree without fruit. Here and there was a house that had been + half finished and then abandoned, or a shanty in which a couple of young + married people were just beginning life. Generally the cabins (confirming + the accuracy of the census of 1880) swarmed with children, and nearly all + the women were thin and sickly. + </p> + <p> + In the day's ride we did not see a wheeled vehicle, and only now and then + a horse. We met on the road small sleds, drawn by a steer, sometimes by a + cow, on which a bag of grist was being hauled to the mill, and boys + mounted on steers gave us good-evening with as much pride as if they were + bestriding fiery horses. + </p> + <p> + In a house of the better class, which was a post-house, and where the + rider and the woman of the house had a long consultation over a letter to + be registered, we found the rooms decorated with patent-medicine pictures, + which were often framed in strips of mica, an evidence of culture that was + worth noting. Mica was the rage. Every one with whom we talked, except the + rider, had more or less the mineral fever. The impression was general that + the mountain region of North Carolina was entering upon a career of + wonderful mineral development, and the most extravagant expectations were + entertained. Mica was the shining object of most “prospecting,” but gold + was also on the cards. + </p> + <p> + The country about Burnsville is not only mildly picturesque, but very + pleasing. Burnsville, the county-seat of Yancey, at an elevation of 2840 + feet, is more like a New England village than any hitherto seen. Most of + the houses stand about a square, which contains the shabby court-house; + around it are two small churches, a jail, an inviting tavern with a long + veranda, and a couple of stores. On an overlooking hill is the seminary. + Mica mining is the exciting industry, but it is agriculturally a good + country. The tavern had recently been enlarged to meet the new demands for + entertainment and is a roomy structure, fresh with paint and only + partially organized. The travelers were much impressed with the brilliant + chambers, the floors of which were painted in alternate stripes of vivid + green and red. The proprietor, a very intelligent and enterprising man, + who had traveled often in the North, was full of projects for the + development of his region and foremost in its enterprises, and had formed + a considerable collection of minerals. Besides, more than any one else we + met, he appreciated the beauty of his country, and took us to a + neighboring hill, where we had a view of Table Mountain to the east and + the nearer giant Blacks. The elevation of Burnsville gives it a delightful + summer climate, the gentle undulations of the country are agreeable, the + views noble, the air is good, and it is altogether a “livable” and + attractive place. With facilities of communication, it would be a favorite + summer resort. Its nearness to the great mountains (the whole Black range + is in Yancey County), its fine pure air, its opportunity for fishing and + hunting, commend it to those in search of an interesting and restful + retreat in summer. + </p> + <p> + But it should be said that before the country can attract and retain + travelers, its inhabitants must learn something about the preparation of + food. If, for instance, the landlord's wife at Burnsville had traveled + with her husband, her table would probably have been more on a level with + his knowledge of the world, and it would have contained something that the + wayfaring man, though a Northerner, could eat. We have been on the point + several times in this journey of making the observation, but have been + restrained by a reluctance to touch upon politics, that it was no wonder + that a people with such a cuisine should have rebelled. The travelers were + in a rebellious mood most of the time. + </p> + <p> + The evidences of enterprise in this region were pleasant to see, but the + observers could not but regret, after all, the intrusion of the + money-making spirit, which is certain to destroy much of the present + simplicity. It is as yet, to a degree, tempered by a philosophic spirit. + The other guest of the house was a sedate, long-bearded traveler for some + Philadelphia house, and in the evening he and the landlord fell into a + conversation upon what Socrates calls the disadvantage of the pursuit of + wealth to the exclusion of all noble objects, and they let their fancy + play about Vanderbilt, who was agreed to be the richest man in the world, + or that ever lived. + </p> + <p> + “All I want,” said the long-bearded man, “is enough to be comfortable. I + would n't have Vanderbilt's wealth if he'd give it to me.” + </p> + <p> + “Nor I,” said the landlord. “Give me just enough to be comfortable.” [The + tourist couldn't but note that his ideas of enough to be comfortable had + changed a good deal since he had left his little farm and gone into the + mica business, and visited New York, and enlarged and painted his tavern.] + “I should like to know what more Vanderbilt gets out of his money than I + get out of mine. I heard tell of a young man who went to Vanderbilt to get + employment. Vanderbilt finally offered to give the young man, if he would + work for him, just what he got himself. The young man jumped at that—he'd + be perfectly satisfied with that pay. And Vanderbilt said that all he got + was what he could eat and wear, and offered to give the young man his + board and clothes.” + </p> + <p> + “I declare” said the long-bearded man. “That's just it. Did you ever see + Vanderbilt's house? Neither did I, but I heard he had a vault built in it + five feet thick, solid. He put in it two hundred millions of dollars, in + gold. After a year, he opened it and put in twelve millions more, and + called that a poor year. They say his house has gold shutters to the + windows, so I've heard.” + </p> + <p> + “I shouldn't wonder,” said the landlord. “I heard he had one door in his + house cost forty thousand dollars. I don't know what it is made of, unless + it's made of gold.” + </p> + <p> + Sunday was a hot and quiet day. The stores were closed and the two + churches also, this not being the Sunday for the itinerant preacher. The + jail also showed no sign of life, and when we asked about it, we learned + that it was empty, and had been for some time. No liquor is sold in the + place, nor within at least three miles of it. It is not much use to try to + run a jail without liquor. + </p> + <p> + In the course of the morning a couple of stout fellows arrived, leading + between them a young man whom they had arrested,—it didn't appear on + any warrant, but they wanted to get him committed and locked up. The + offense charged was carrying a pistol; the boy had not used it against + anybody, but he had flourished it about and threatened, and the neighbors + wouldn't stand that; they were bound to enforce the law against carrying + concealed weapons. + </p> + <p> + The captors were perfectly good-natured and on friendly enough terms with + the young man, who offered no resistance, and seemed not unwilling to go + to jail. But a practical difficulty arose. The jail was locked up, the + sheriff had gone away into the country with the key, and no one could get + in. It did not appear that there was any provision for boarding the man in + jail; no one in fact kept it. The sheriff was sent for, but was not to be + found, and the prisoner and his captors loafed about the square all day, + sitting on the fence, rolling on the grass, all of them sustained by a + simple trust that the jail would be open some time. + </p> + <p> + Late in the afternoon we left them there, trying to get into the jail. But + we took a personal leaf out of this experience. Our Virginia friends, + solicitous for our safety in this wild country, had urged us not to + venture into it without arms—take at least, they insisted, a + revolver each. And now we had to congratulate ourselves that we had not + done so. If we had, we should doubtless on that Sunday have been waiting, + with the other law-breaker, for admission into the Yancey County jail. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III + </h2> + <p> + From Burnsville the next point in our route was Asheville, the most + considerable city in western North Carolina, a resort of fashion, and the + capital of Buncombe County. It is distant some forty to forty-five miles, + too long a journey for one day over such roads. The easier and common + route is by the Ford of Big Ivy, eighteen miles, the first stopping-place; + and that was a long ride for the late afternoon when we were in condition + to move. + </p> + <p> + The landlord suggested that we take another route, stay that night on + Caney River with Big Tom Wilson, only eight miles from Burnsville, cross + Mount Mitchell, and go down the valley of the Swannanoa to Asheville. He + represented this route as shorter and infinitely more picturesque. There + was nothing worth seeing on the Big Ivy way. With scarcely a moment's + reflection and while the horses were saddling, we decided to ride to Big + Tom Wilson's. I could not at the time understand, and I cannot now, why + the Professor consented. I should hardly dare yet confess to my fixed + purpose to ascend Mount Mitchell. It was equally fixed in the Professor's + mind not to do it. We had not discussed it much. But it is safe to say + that if he had one well-defined purpose on this trip, it was not to climb + Mitchell. “Not,” as he put it,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Not mine own fears, nor the prophetic soul + Of the wide world dreaming on things to come,” + </pre> + <p> + had suggested the possibility that he could do it. + </p> + <p> + But at the moment the easiest thing to do seemed to be to ride down to + Wilson's. When there we could turn across country to the Big Ivy, + although, said the landlord, you can ride over Mitchell just as easy as + anywhere—a lady rode plump over the peak of it last week, and never + got off her horse. You are not obliged to go; at Big Tom's, you can go any + way you please. + </p> + <p> + Besides, Big Tom himself weighed in the scale more than Mount Mitchell, + and not to see him was to miss one of the most characteristic productions + of the country, the typical backwoodsman, hunter, guide. So we rode down + Bolling Creek, through a pretty, broken country, crossed the Caney River, + and followed it up a few miles to Wilson's plantation. There are little + intervales along the river, where hay is cut and corn grown, but the + region is not much cleared, and the stock browse about in the forest. + Wilson is the agent of the New York owner of a tract of some thirteen + thousand acres of forest, including the greater portion of Mount Mitchell, + a wilderness well stocked with bears and deer, and full of streams + abounding in trout. It is also the playground of the rattlesnake. With all + these attractions Big Tom's life is made lively in watching game poachers, + and endeavoring to keep out the foraging cattle of the few neighbors. It + is not that the cattle do much injury in the forest, but the looking after + them is made a pretense for roaming around, and the roamers are liable to + have to defend themselves against the deer, or their curiosity is excited + about the bears, and lately they have taken to exploding powder in the + streams to kill the fish. + </p> + <p> + Big Tom's plantation has an openwork stable, an ill-put-together frame + house, with two rooms and a kitchen, and a veranda in front, a loft, and a + spring-house in the rear. Chickens and other animals have free run of the + premises. Some fish-rods hung in the porch, and hunter's gear depended on + hooks in the passage-way to the kitchen. In one room were three beds, in + the other two, only one in the kitchen. On the porch was a loom, with a + piece of cloth in process. The establishment had the air of taking care of + itself. Neither Big Tom nor his wife was at home. Sunday seemed to be a + visiting day, and the travelers had met many parties on horseback. Mrs. + Wilson was away for a visit of a day or two. One of the sons, who was + lounging on the veranda, was at last induced to put up the horses; a very + old woman, who mumbled and glared at the visitors, was found in the + kitchen, but no intelligible response could be got out of her. Presently a + bright little girl, the housekeeper in charge, appeared. She said that her + paw had gone up to her brother's (her brother was just married and lived + up the river in the house where Mr. Murchison stayed when he was here) to + see if he could ketch a bear that had been rootin' round in the corn-field + the night before. She expected him back by sundown—by dark anyway. + 'Les he'd gone after the bear, and then you could n't tell when he would + come. + </p> + <p> + It appeared that Big Tom was a thriving man in the matter of family. More + boys appeared. Only one was married, but four had “got their time.” As + night approached, and no Wilson, there was a good deal of lively and loud + conversation about the stock and the chores, in all of which the girl took + a leading and intelligent part, showing a willingness to do her share, but + not to have all the work put upon her. It was time to go down the road and + hunt up the cows; the mule had disappeared and must be found before dark; + a couple of steers hadn't turned up since the day before yesterday, and in + the midst of the gentle contention as to whose business all this was, + there was an alarm of cattle in the corn-patch, and the girl started off + on a run in that direction. It was due to the executive ability of this + small girl, after the cows had been milked and the mule chased and the + boys properly stirred up, that we had supper. It was of the oilcloth, iron + fork, tin spoon, bacon, hot bread and honey variety, distinguished, + however, from all meals we had endured or enjoyed before by the + introduction of fried eggs (as the breakfast next morning was by the + presence of chicken), and it was served by the active maid with right + hearty good-will and genuine hospitable intent. + </p> + <p> + While it was in progress, after nine o'clock, Big Tom arrived, and, with a + simple greeting, sat down and attacked the supper and began to tell about + the bear. There was not much to tell except that he hadn't seen the bear, + and that, judged by his tracks and his sloshing around, he must be a big + one. But a trap had been set for him, and he judged it wouldn't be long + before we had some bear meat. Big Tom Wilson, as he is known all over this + part of the State, would not attract attention from his size. He is six + feet and two inches tall, very spare and muscular, with sandy hair, long + gray beard, and honest blue eyes. He has a reputation for great strength + and endurance; a man of native simplicity and mild manners. He had been + rather expecting us from what Mr. Murchison wrote; he wrote (his son had + read out the letter) that Big Tom was to take good care of us, and anybody + that Mr. Murchison sent could have the best he'd got. + </p> + <p> + Big Tom joined us in our room after supper. This apartment, with two + mighty feather-beds, was hung about with all manner of stuffy family + clothes, and had in one end a vast cavern for a fire. The floor was + uneven, and the hearthstones billowy. When the fire was lighted, the + effect of the bright light in the cavern and the heavy shadows in the room + was Rembrandtish. Big Tom sat with us before the fire and told bear + stories. Talk? Why, it was not the least effort. The stream flowed on + without a ripple. “Why, the old man,” one of the sons confided to us next + morning, “can begin and talk right over Mount Mitchell and all the way + back, and never make a break.” Though Big Tom had waged a lifelong warfare + with the bears, and taken the hide off at least a hundred of them, I could + not see that he had any vindictive feeling towards the varmint, but simply + an insatiable love of killing him, and he regarded him in that + half-humorous light in which the bear always appears to those who study + him. As to deer—he couldn't tell how many of them he had slain. But + Big Tom was a gentleman: he never killed deer for mere sport. With + rattlesnakes, now, it was different. There was the skin of one hanging + upon a tree by the route we would take in the morning, a buster, he + skinned him yesterday. There was an entire absence, of braggadocio in Big + Tom's talk, but somehow, as he went on, his backwoods figure loomed larger + and larger in our imagination, and he seemed strangely familiar. At length + it came over us where we had met him before. It was in Cooper's novels. He + was the Leather-Stocking exactly. And yet he was an original; for he + assured us that he had never read the Leather-Stocking Tales. What a + figure, I was thinking, he must have made in the late war! Such a shot, + such a splendid physique, such iron endurance! I almost dreaded to hear + his tales of the havoc he had wrought on the Union army. Yes, he was in + the war, he was sixteen months in the Confederate army, this Homeric man. + In what rank? “Oh, I was a fifer!” + </p> + <p> + But hunting and war did not by any means occupy the whole of Big Tom's + life. He was also engaged in “lawin'.” He had a long-time feud with a + neighbor about a piece of land and alleged trespass, and they'd been + “lawin'” for years, with no definite result; but as a topic of + conversation it was as fully illustrative of frontier life as the + bear-fighting. + </p> + <p> + Long after we had all gone to bed, we heard Big Tom's continuous voice, + through the thin partition that separated us from the kitchen, going on to + his little boy about the bear; every circumstance of how he tracked him, + and what corner of the field he entered, and where he went out, and his + probable size and age, and the prospect of his coming again; these were + the details of real everyday life, and worthy to be dwelt on by the hour. + The boy was never tired of pursuing them. And Big Tom was just a big boy, + also, in his delight in it all. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps it was the fascination of Big Tom, perhaps the representation that + we were already way off the Big Ivy route, and that it would, in fact, + save time to go over the mountain and we could ride all the way, that made + the Professor acquiesce, with no protest worth noticing, in the + preparations that went on, as by a natural assumption, for going over + Mitchell. At any rate, there was an early breakfast, luncheon was put up, + and by half-past seven we were riding up the Caney,—a half-cloudy + day,—Big Tom swinging along on foot ahead, talking nineteen to the + dozen. There was a delightful freshness in the air, the dew-laden bushes, + and the smell of the forest. In half an hour we called at the hunting + shanty of Mr. Murchison, wrote our names on the wall, according to custom, + and regretted that we could not stay for a day in that retreat and try the + speckled trout. Making our way through the low growth and bushes of the + valley, we came into a fine open forest, watered by a noisy brook, and + after an hour's easy going reached the serious ascent. + </p> + <p> + From Wilson's to the peak of Mitchell it is seven and a half miles; we + made it in five and a half hours. A bridle path was cut years ago, but it + has been entirely neglected. It is badly washed, it is stony, muddy, and + great trees have fallen across it which wholly block the way for horses. + At these places long detours were necessary, on steep hillsides and + through gullies, over treacherous sink-holes in the rocks, through quaggy + places, heaps of brush, and rotten logs. Those who have ever attempted to + get horses over such ground will not wonder at the slow progress we made. + Before we were halfway up the ascent, we realized the folly of attempting + it on horseback; but then to go on seemed as easy as to go back. The way + was also exceedingly steep in places, and what with roots, and logs, and + slippery rocks and stones, it was a desperate climb for the horses. + </p> + <p> + What a magnificent forest! Oaks, chestnuts, Poplars, hemlocks, the + cucumber (a species of magnolia, with a pinkish, cucumber-like cone), and + all sorts of northern and southern growths meeting here in splendid array. + And this gigantic forest, with little diminution in size of trees, + continued two thirds of the way up. We marked, as we went on, the maple, + the black walnut, the buckeye, the hickory, the locust, and the guide + pointed out in one section the largest cherry-trees we had ever seen; + splendid trunks, each worth a large sum if it could be got to market. + After the great trees were left behind, we entered a garden of white + birches, and then a plateau of swamp, thick with raspberry bushes, and + finally the ridges, densely crowded with the funereal black balsam. + </p> + <p> + Halfway up, Big Tom showed us his favorite, the biggest tree he knew. It + was a poplar, or tulip. It stands more like a column than a tree, rising + high into the air, with scarcely a perceptible taper, perhaps sixty, more + likely a hundred, feet before it puts out a limb. + </p> + <p> + Its girth six feet from the ground is thirty-two feet! I think it might be + called Big Tom. It stood here, of course, a giant, when Columbus sailed + from Spain, and perhaps some sentimental traveler will attach the name of + Columbus to it. + </p> + <p> + In the woods there was not much sign of animal life, scarcely the note of + a bird, but we noticed as we rode along in the otherwise primeval silence + a loud and continuous humming overhead, almost like the sound of the wind + in pine tops. It was the humming of bees! The upper branches were alive + with these industrious toilers, and Big Tom was always on the alert to + discover and mark a bee-gum, which he could visit afterwards. Honey + hunting is one of his occupations. Collecting spruce gum is another, and + he was continually hacking off with his hatchet knobs of the translucent + secretion. How rich and fragrant are these forests! The rhododendron was + still in occasional bloom' and flowers of brilliant hue gleamed here and + there. + </p> + <p> + The struggle was more severe as we neared the summit, and the footing + worse for the horses. Occasionally it was safest to dismount and lead them + up slippery ascents; but this was also dangerous, for it was difficult to + keep them from treading on our heels, in their frantic flounderings, in + the steep, wet, narrow, brier-grown path. At one uncommonly pokerish + place, where the wet rock sloped into a bog, the rider of Jack thought it + prudent to dismount, but Big Tom insisted that Jack would “make it” all + right, only give him his head. The rider gave him his head, and the next + minute Jack's four heels were in the air, and he came down on his side in + a flash. The rider fortunately extricated his leg without losing it, Jack + scrambled out with a broken shoe, and the two limped along. It was a + wonder that the horses' legs were not broken a dozen times. + </p> + <p> + As we approached the top, Big Tom pointed out the direction, a half mile + away, of a small pond, a little mountain tarn, overlooked by a ledge of + rock, where Professor Mitchell lost his life. Big Tom was the guide that + found his body. That day, as we sat on the summit, he gave in great detail + the story, the general outline of which is well known. + </p> + <p> + The first effort to measure the height of the Black Mountains was made in + 1835, by Professor Elisha Mitchell, professor of mathematics and chemistry + in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mr. Mitchell was a + native of Connecticut, born in Washington, Litchfield County, in 1793; + graduated at Yale, ordained a Presbyterian minister, and was for a time + state surveyor; and became a professor at Chapel Hill in 1818. He first + ascertained and published the fact that the Black Mountains are the + highest land east of the Rocky Mountains. In 1844 he visited the locality + again. Measurements were subsequently made by Professor Guyot and by + Senator Clingman. One of the peaks was named for the senator (the one next + in height to Mitchell is described as Clingman on the state map), and a + dispute arose as to whether Mitchell had really visited and measured the + highest peak. Senator Clingman still maintains that he did not, and that + the peak now known as Mitchell is the one that Clingman first described. + The estimates of altitudes made by the three explorers named differed + considerably. The height now fixed for Mount Mitchell is 6711; that of + Mount Washington is 6285. There are twelve peaks in this range higher than + Mount Washington, and if we add those in the Great Smoky Mountains which + overtop it, there are some twenty in this State higher than the granite + giant of New Hampshire. + </p> + <p> + In order to verify his statement, Professor Mitchell (then in his + sixty-fourth year) made a third ascent in June, 1857. He was alone, and + went up from the Swannanoa side. He did not return. No anxiety was felt + for two or three days, as he was a good mountaineer, and it was supposed + he had crossed the mountain and made his way out by the Caney River. But + when several days passed without tidings of him, a search party was + formed. Big Tom Wilson was with it. They explored the mountain in all + directions unsuccessfully. At length Big Tom separated himself from his + companions and took a course in accordance with his notion of that which + would be pursued by a man lost in the clouds or the darkness. He soon + struck the trail of the wanderer, and, following it, discovered Mitchell's + body lying in a pool at the foot of a rocky precipice some thirty feet + high. It was evident that Mitchell, making his way along the ridge in + darkness or fog, had fallen off. It was the ninth (or the eleventh) day of + his disappearance, but in the pure mountain air the body had suffered no + change. Big Tom brought his companions to the place, and on consultation + it was decided to leave the body undisturbed till Mitchell's friends could + be present. + </p> + <p> + There was some talk of burying him on the mountain, but the friends + decided otherwise, and the remains, with much difficulty, were got down to + Asheville and there interred. + </p> + <p> + Some years afterwards, I believe at the instance of a society of + scientists, it was resolved to transport the body to the summit of Mount + Mitchell; for the tragic death of the explorer had forever settled in the + popular mind the name of the mountain. The task was not easy. A road had + to be cut, over which a sledge could be hauled, and the hardy mountaineers + who undertook the removal were three days in reaching the summit with + their burden. The remains were accompanied by a considerable concourse, + and the last rites on the top were participated in by a hundred or more + scientists and prominent men from different parts of the State. Such a + strange cortege had never before broken the silence of this lonely + wilderness, nor was ever burial more impressive than this wild interment + above the clouds. + </p> + <p> + We had been preceded in our climb all the way by a huge bear. That he was + huge, a lunker, a monstrous old varmint, Big Tom knew by the size of his + tracks; that he was making the ascent that morning ahead of us, Big Tom + knew by the freshness of the trail. We might come upon him at any moment; + he might be in the garden; was quite likely to be found in the raspberry + patch. That we did not encounter him I am convinced was not the fault of + Big Tom, but of the bear. + </p> + <p> + After a struggle of five hours we emerged from the balsams and briers into + a lovely open meadow, of lush clover, timothy, and blue grass. We + unsaddled the horses and turned them loose to feed in it. The meadow + sloped up to a belt of balsams and firs, a steep rocky knob, and climbing + that on foot we stood upon the summit of Mitchell at one o'clock. We were + none too soon, for already the clouds were preparing for what appears to + be a daily storm at this season. + </p> + <p> + The summit is a nearly level spot of some thirty or forty feet in extent + either way, with a floor of rock and loose stones. The stunted balsams + have been cut away so as to give a view. The sweep of prospect is vast, + and we could see the whole horizon except in the direction of Roan, whose + long bulk was enveloped in cloud. Portions of six States were in sight, we + were told, but that is merely a geographical expression. What we saw, + wherever we looked, was an inextricable tumble of mountains, without order + or leading line of direction,—domes, peaks, ridges, endless and + countless, everywhere, some in shadow, some tipped with shafts of + sunlight, all wooded and green or black, and all in more softened contours + than our Northern hills, but still wild, lonesome, terrible. Away in the + southwest, lifting themselves up in a gleam of the western sky, the Great + Smoky Mountains loomed like a frowning continental fortress, sullen and + remote. With Clingman and Gibbs and Holdback peaks near at hand and + apparently of equal height, Mitchell seemed only a part and not separate + from the mighty congregation of giants. + </p> + <p> + In the center of the stony plot on the summit lie the remains of Mitchell. + To dig a grave in the rock was impracticable, but the loose stones were + scooped away to the depth of a foot or so, the body was deposited, and the + stones were replaced over it. It was the original intention to erect a + monument, but the enterprise of the projectors of this royal entombment + failed at that point. The grave is surrounded by a low wall of loose + stones, to which each visitor adds one, and in the course of ages the + cairn may grow to a good size. The explorer lies there without name or + headstone to mark his awful resting-place. The mountain is his monument. + He is alone with its majesty. He is there in the clouds, in the tempests, + where the lightnings play, and thunders leap, amid the elemental tumult, + in the occasional great calm and silence and the pale sunlight. It is the + most majestic, the most lonesome grave on earth. + </p> + <p> + As we sat there, awed a little by this presence, the clouds were gathering + from various quarters and drifting towards us. We could watch the process + of thunder-storms and the manufacture of tempests. I have often noticed on + other high mountains how the clouds, forming like genii released from the + earth, mount into the upper air, and in masses of torn fragments of mist + hurry across the sky as to a rendezvous of witches. This was a different + display. These clouds came slowly sailing from the distant horizon, like + ships on an aerial voyage. Some were below us, some on our level; they + were all in well-defined, distinct masses, molten silver on deck, below + trailing rain, and attended on earth by gigantic shadows that moved with + them. This strange fleet of battle-ships, drifted by the shifting + currents, was maneuvering for an engagement. One after another, as they + came into range about our peak of observation, they opened fire. Sharp + flashes of lightning darted from one to the other; a jet of flame from one + leaped across the interval and was buried in the bosom of its adversary; + and at every discharge the boom of great guns echoed through the + mountains. It was something more than a royal salute to the tomb of the + mortal at our feet, for the masses of cloud were rent in the fray, at + every discharge the rain was precipitated in increasing torrents, and soon + the vast hulks were trailing torn fragments and wreaths of mist, like the + shot-away shrouds and sails of ships in battle. Gradually, from this + long-range practice with single guns and exchange of broadsides, they + drifted into closer conflict, rushed together, and we lost sight of the + individual combatants in the general tumult of this aerial war. + </p> + <p> + We had barely twenty minutes for our observations, when it was time to go; + and had scarcely left the peak when the clouds enveloped it. We hastened + down under the threatening sky to the saddles and the luncheon. Just off + from the summit, amid the rocks, is a complete arbor, or tunnel, of + rhododendrons. This cavernous place a Western writer has made the scene of + a desperate encounter between Big Tom and a catamount, or American + panther, which had been caught in a trap and dragged it there, pursued by + Wilson. It is an exceedingly graphic narrative, and is enlivened by the + statement that Big Tom had the night before drunk up all the whisky of the + party which had spent the night on the summit. Now Big Tom assured us that + the whisky part of the story was an invention; he was not (which is true) + in the habit of using it; if he ever did take any, it might be a drop on + Mitchell; in fact, when he inquired if we had a flask, he remarked that a + taste of it would do him good then and there. We regretted the lack of it + in our baggage. But what inclined Big Tom to discredit the Western + writer's story altogether was the fact that he never in his life had had a + difficulty with a catamount, and never had seen one in these mountains. + </p> + <p> + Our lunch was eaten in haste. Big Tom refused the chicken he had provided + for us, and strengthened himself with slices of raw salt pork, which he + cut from a hunk with his clasp-knife. We caught and saddled our horses, + who were reluctant to leave the rich feed, enveloped ourselves in + waterproofs, and got into the stony path for the descent just as the + torrent came down. It did rain. It lightened, the thunder crashed, the + wind howled and twisted the treetops. It was as if we were pursued by the + avenging spirits of the mountains for our intrusion. Such a tempest on + this height had its terrors even for our hardy guide. He preferred to be + lower down while it was going on. The crash and reverberation of the + thunder did not trouble us so much as the swish of the wet branches in our + faces and the horrible road, with its mud, tripping roots, loose stones, + and slippery rocks. Progress was slow. The horses were in momentary danger + of breaking their legs. In the first hour there was not much descent. In + the clouds we were passing over Clingman, Gibbs, and Holdback. The rain + had ceased, but the mist still shut off all view, if any had been + attainable, and bushes and paths were deluged. The descent was more + uncomfortable than the ascent, and we were compelled a good deal of the + way to lead the jaded horses down the slippery rocks. + </p> + <p> + From the peak to the Widow Patten's, where we proposed to pass the night, + is twelve miles, a distance we rode or scrambled down, every step of the + road bad, in five and a half hours. Halfway down we came out upon a + cleared place, a farm, with fruit-trees and a house in ruins. Here had + been a summer hotel much resorted to before the war, but now abandoned. + Above it we turned aside for the view from Elizabeth rock, named from the + daughter of the proprietor of the hotel, who often sat here, said Big Tom, + before she went out of this world. It is a bold rocky ledge, and the view + from it, looking south, is unquestionably the finest, the most pleasing + and picture-like, we found in these mountains. In the foreground is the + deep gorge of a branch of the Swannanoa, and opposite is the great wall of + the Blue Ridge (the Blue Ridge is the most capricious and inexplicable + system) making off to the Blacks. The depth of the gorge, the sweep of the + sky line, and the reposeful aspect of the scene to the sunny south made + this view both grand and charming. Nature does not always put the needed + dash of poetry into her extensive prospects. + </p> + <p> + Leaving this clearing and the now neglected spring, where fashion used to + slake its thirst, we zigzagged down the mountain-side through a forest of + trees growing at every step larger and nobler, and at length struck a + small stream, the North Fork of the Swannanoa, which led us to the first + settlement. Just at night,—it was nearly seven o'clock,—we + entered one of the most stately forests I have ever seen, and rode for + some distance in an alley of rhododendrons that arched overhead and made a + bower. It was like an aisle in a temple; high overhead was the somber, + leafy roof, supported by gigantic columns. Few widows have such an avenue + of approach to their domain as the Widow Patten has. + </p> + <p> + Cheering as this outcome was from the day's struggle and storm, the + Professor seemed sunk in a profound sadness. The auguries which the Friend + drew from these signs of civilization of a charming inn and a royal supper + did not lighten the melancholy of his mind. “Alas,” he said, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day, + And make me travel forth without my cloak, + To let base clouds o'ertake me in my way, + Hiding thy bravery in their rotten smoke? + 'T is not enough that through the cloud thou break, + To dry the rain on my storm-beaten face, + For no man well of such a salve can speak + That heals the wound, and cures not the disgrace: + Nor can thy shame give physic to my grief: + Though thou repent, yet I have still the loss.” + </pre> + <p> + “Loss of what?” cried the Friend, as he whipped up his halting steed. + </p> + <p> + “Loss of self-respect. I feel humiliated that I consented to climb this + mountain.” + </p> + <p> + “Nonsense! You'll live to thank me for it, as the best thing you ever did. + It's over and done now, and you've got it to tell your friends.” + </p> + <p> + “That's just the trouble. They'll ask me if I went up Mitchell, and I + shall have to say I did. My character for consistency is gone. Not that I + care much what they think, but my own self-respect is gone. I never + believed I would do it. A man ca'nt afford to lower himself in his own + esteem, at my time of life.” + </p> + <p> + The Widow Patten's was only an advanced settlement in this narrow valley + on the mountain-side, but a little group of buildings, a fence, and a gate + gave it the air of a place, and it had once been better cared for than it + is now. Few travelers pass that way, and the art of entertaining, if it + ever existed, is fallen into desuetude. We unsaddled at the veranda, and + sat down to review our adventure, make the acquaintance of the family, and + hear the last story from Big Tom. The mountaineer, though wet, was as + fresh as a daisy, and fatigue in no wise checked the easy, cheerful flow + of his talk. He was evidently a favorite with his neighbors, and not + unpleasantly conscious of the extent of his reputation. But he encountered + here another social grade. The Widow Patten was highly connected. We were + not long in discovering that she was an Alexander. She had been a + schoolmate of Senator Vance,—“Zeb Vance” he still was to her,—and + the senator and his wife had stayed at her house. I wish I could say that + the supper, for which we waited till nine o'clock, was as “highly + connected” as the landlady. It was, however, a supper that left its + memory. We were lodged in a detached house, which we had to ourselves, + where a roaring wood fire made amends for other things lacking. It was + necessary to close the doors to keep out the wandering cows and pigs, and + I am bound to say that, notwithstanding the voices of the night, we slept + there the sleep of peace. + </p> + <p> + In the morning a genuine surprise awaited us; it seemed impossible, but + the breakfast was many degrees worse than the supper; and when we paid our + bill, large for the region, we were consoled by the thought that we paid + for the high connection as well as for the accommodations. This is a + regular place of entertainment, and one is at liberty to praise it without + violation of delicacy. + </p> + <p> + The broken shoe of Jack required attention, and we were all the morning + hunting a blacksmith, as we rode down the valley. Three blacksmith's + shanties were found, and after long waiting to send for the operator it + turned out in each case that he had no shoes, no nails, no iron to make + either of. We made a detour of three miles to what was represented as a + regular shop. The owner had secured the service of a colored blacksmith + for a special job, and was, not inclined to accommodate us; he had no + shoes, no nails. But the colored blacksmith, who appreciated the plight we + were in, offered to make a shoe, and to crib four nails from those he had + laid aside for a couple of mules; and after a good deal of delay, we were + enabled to go on. The incident shows, as well as anything, the barrenness + and shiftlessness of the region. A horseman with whom we rode in the + morning gave us a very low estimate of the trustworthiness of the + inhabitants. The valley is wild and very pretty all the way down to + Colonel Long's,—twelve miles,—but the wretched-looking people + along the way live in a wretched manner. + </p> + <p> + Just before reaching Colonel Long's we forded the stream (here of good + size), the bridge having tumbled down, and encountered a party of + picnickers under the trees—signs of civilization; a railway station + is not far off. Colonel Long's is a typical Southern establishment: a + white house, or rather three houses, all of one story, built on to each + other as beehives are set in a row, all porches and galleries. No one at + home but the cook, a rotund, broad-faced woman, with a merry eye, whose + very appearance suggested good cooking and hospitality; the Missis and the + children had gone up to the river fishing; the Colonel was somewhere about + the place; always was away when he was wanted. Guess he'd take us in, + mighty fine man the Colonel; and she dispatched a child from a cabin in + the rear to hunt him up. The Colonel was a great friend of her folks down + to Greenville; they visited here. Law, no, she didn't live here. Was just + up here spending the summer, for her health. God-forsaken lot of people up + here, poor trash. She wouldn't stay here a day, but the Colonel was a + friend of her folks, the firstest folks in Greenville. Nobody round here + she could 'sociate with. She was a Presbyterian, the folks round here + mostly Baptists and Methodists. More style about the Presbyterians. + Married? No, she hoped not. She did n't want to support no husband. Got + 'nuff to do to take care of herself. That her little girl? No; she'd only + got one child, down to Greenville, just the prettiest boy ever was, as + white as anybody. How did she what? reconcile this state of things with + not being married and being a Presbyterian? Sho! she liked to carry some + religion along; it was mighty handy occasionally, mebbe not all the time. + Yes, indeed, she enjoyed her religion. + </p> + <p> + The Colonel appeared and gave us a most cordial welcome. The fat and merry + cook blustered around and prepared a good dinner, memorable for its + “light” bread, the first we had seen since Cranberry Forge. The Colonel is + in some sense a public man, having been a mail agent, and a Republican. He + showed us photographs and engravings of Northern politicians, and had the + air of a man who had been in Washington. This was a fine country for any + kind of fruit,—apples, grapes, pears; it needed a little Northern + enterprise to set things going. The travelers were indebted to the Colonel + for a delightful noonday rest, and with regret declined his pressing + invitation to pass the night with him. + </p> + <p> + The ride down the Swannanoa to Asheville was pleasant, through a + cultivated region, over a good road. The Swannanoa is, however, a turbid + stream. In order to obtain the most impressive view of Asheville we + approached it by the way of Beaucatcher Hill, a sharp elevation a mile + west of the town. I suppose the name is a corruption of some descriptive + French word, but it has long been a favorite resort of the frequenters of + Asheville, and it may be traditional that it is a good place to catch + beaux. The summit is occupied by a handsome private residence, and from + this ridge the view, which has the merit of “bursting” upon the traveler + as he comes over the hill, is captivating in its extent and variety. The + pretty town of Asheville is seen to cover a number of elevations gently + rising out of the valley, and the valley, a rich agricultural region, well + watered and fruitful, is completely inclosed by picturesque hills, some of + them rising to the dignity of mountains. The most conspicuous of these is + Mount Pisgah, eighteen miles distant to the southwest, a pyramid of the + Balsam range, 5757 feet high. Mount Pisgah, from its shape, is the most + attractive mountain in this region. + </p> + <p> + The sunset light was falling upon the splendid panorama and softening it. + The windows of the town gleamed as if on fire. From the steep slope below + came the mingled sounds of children shouting, cattle driven home, and all + that hum of life that marks a thickly peopled region preparing for the + night. It was the leisure hour of an August afternoon, and Asheville was + in all its watering-place gayety, as we reined up at the Swannanoa hotel. + A band was playing on the balcony. We had reached ice-water, barbers, + waiters, civilization. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV + </h2> + <p> + Ashville, delightful for situation, on small hills that rise above the + French Broad below its confluence with the Swannanoa, is a sort of + fourteenth cousin to Saratoga. It has no springs, but lying 2250 feet + above the sea and in a lovely valley, mountain girt, it has pure + atmosphere and an equable climate; and being both a summer and winter + resort, it has acquired a watering-place air. There are Southerners who + declare that it is too hot in summer, and that the complete circuit of + mountains shuts out any lively movement of air. But the scenery is so + charming and noble, the drives are so varied, the roads so unusually + passable for a Southern country, and the facilities for excursions so + good, that Asheville is a favorite resort. + </p> + <p> + Architecturally the place is not remarkable, but its surface is so + irregular, there are so many acclivities and deep valleys that + improvements can never obliterate, that it is perforce picturesque. It is + interesting also, if not pleasing, in its contrasts—the enterprise + of taste and money-making struggling with the laissez faire of the South. + The negro, I suppose, must be regarded as a conservative element; he has + not much inclination to change his clothes or his cabin, and his swarming + presence gives a ragged aspect to the new civilization. And to say the + truth, the new element of Southern smartness lacks the trim thrift the + North is familiar with; though the visitor who needs relaxation is not + disposed to quarrel with the easy-going terms on which life is taken. + </p> + <p> + Asheville, it is needless to say, appeared very gay and stimulating to the + riders from the wilderness. The Professor, who does not even pretend to + patronize Nature, had his revenge as we strolled about the streets (there + is but one of much consideration), immensely entertained by the + picturesque contrasts. There was more life and amusement here in five + minutes, he declared, than in five days of what people called scenery—the + present rage for scenery, anyway, being only a fashion and a modern + invention. The Friend suspected from this penchant for the city that the + Professor must have been brought up in the country. + </p> + <p> + There was a kind of predetermined and willful gayety about Asheville + however, that is apt to be present in a watering-place, and gave to it the + melancholy tone that is always present in gay places. We fancied that the + lively movement in the streets had an air of unreality. A band of + musicians on the balcony of the Swannanoa were scraping and tooting and + twanging with a hired air, and on the opposite balcony of the Eagle a + rival band echoed and redoubled the perfunctory joyousness. The gayety was + contagious: the horses felt it; those that carried light burdens of beauty + minced and pranced, the pony in the dog-cart was inclined to dash, the few + passing equipages had an air of pleasure; and the people of color, the + comely waitress and the slouching corner-loafer, responded to the + animation of the festive strains. In the late afternoon the streets were + full of people, wagons, carriages, horsemen, all with a holiday air, + dashed with African color and humor—the irresponsibility of the most + insouciant and humorous race in the world, perhaps more comical than + humorous; a mixture of recent civilization and rudeness, peculiar and + amusing; a happy coming together, it seemed, of Southern abandon and + Northern wealth, though the North was little represented at this season. + </p> + <p> + As evening came on, the streets, though wanting gas, were still more + animated; the shops were open, some very good ones, and the white and + black throng increasing, especially the black, for the negro is + preeminently a night bird. In the hotels dancing was promised—the + german was announced; on the galleries and in the corridors were groups of + young people, a little loud in manner and voice,—the young + gentleman, with his over-elaborate manner to ladies in bowing and + hat-lifting, and the blooming girls from the lesser Southern cities, with + the slight provincial note, and yet with the frank and engaging cordiality + which is as charming as it is characteristic. I do not know what led the + Professor to query if the Southern young women were not superior to the + Southern young men, but he is always asking questions nobody can answer. + At the Swannanoa were half a dozen bridal couples, readily recognizable by + the perfect air they had of having been married a long time. How + interesting such young voyagers are, and how interesting they are to each + other! Columbus never discovered such a large world as they have to find + out and possess each in the other. + </p> + <p> + Among the attractions of the evening it was difficult to choose. There was + a lawn-party advertised at Battery Point (where a fine hotel has since + been built) and we walked up to that round knob after dark. It is a hill + with a grove, which commands a charming view, and was fortified during the + war. We found it illuminated with Chinese lanterns; and little tables set + about under the trees, laden with cake and ice-cream, offered a chance to + the stranger to contribute money for the benefit of the Presbyterian + Church. I am afraid it was not a profitable entertainment, for the men + seemed to have business elsewhere, but the ladies about the tables made + charming groups in the lighted grove. Man is a stupid animal at best, or + he would not make it so difficult for the womenkind to scrape together a + little money for charitable purposes. But probably the women like this + method of raising money better than the direct one. + </p> + <p> + The evening gayety of the town was well distributed. When we descended to + the Court-House Square, a great crowd had collected, black, white, and + yellow, about a high platform, upon which four glaring torches lighted up + the novel scene, and those who could read might decipher this legend on a + standard at the back of the stage: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + HAPPY JOHN. + ONE OF THE SLAVES OF WADE HAMPTON. + COME AND SEE HIM! +</pre> + <p> + Happy John, who occupied the platform with Mary, a “bright” yellow girl, + took the comical view of his race, which was greatly enjoyed by his + audience. His face was blackened to the proper color of the stage-darky, + and he wore a flaming suit of calico, the trousers and coat striped + longitudinally according to Punch's idea of “Uncle Sam,” the coat a + swallow-tail bound and faced with scarlet, and a bell-crowned white hat. + This conceit of a colored Yankee seemed to tickle all colors in the + audience amazingly. Mary, the “bright” woman (this is the universal + designation of the light mulatto), was a pleasing but bold yellow girl, + who wore a natty cap trimmed with scarlet, and had the assured or pert + manner of all traveling sawdust performers. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, yes,” exclaimed a bright woman in the crowd, “Happy John was sure + enough one of Wade Hampton's slaves, and he's right good looking when he's + not blackened up.” + </p> + <p> + Happy John sustained the promise of his name by spontaneous gayety and + enjoyment of the fleeting moment; he had a glib tongue and a ready, rude + wit, and talked to his audience with a delicious mingling of impudence, + deference, and patronage, commenting upon them generally, administering + advice and correction in a strain of humor that kept his hearers in a + pleased excitement. He handled the banjo and the guitar alternately, and + talked all the time when he was not singing. Mary (how much harder + featured and brazen a woman is in such a position than a man of the same + caliber!) sang, in an untutored treble, songs of sentiment, often risque, + in solo and in company with John, but with a cold, indifferent air, in + contrast to the rollicking enjoyment of her comrade. + </p> + <p> + The favorite song, which the crowd compelled her to repeat, touched + lightly the uncertainties of love, expressed in the falsetto pathetic + refrain: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Mary's gone away wid de coon.” + </pre> + <p> + All this, with the moon, the soft summer night, the mixed crowd of darkies + and whites, the stump eloquence of Happy John, the singing, the laughter, + the flaring torches, made a wild scene. The entertainment was quite free, + with a “collection” occasionally during the performance. + </p> + <p> + What most impressed us, however, was the turning to account by Happy John + of the “nigger” side of the black man as a means of low comedy, and the + enjoyment of it by all the people of color. They appeared to appreciate as + highly as anybody the comic element in themselves, and Happy John had + emphasized it by deepening his natural color and exaggerating the “nigger” + peculiarities. I presume none of them analyzed the nature of his + infectious gayety, nor thought of the pathos that lay so close to it, in + the fact of his recent slavery, and the distinction of being one of Wade + Hampton's niggers, and the melancholy mirth of this light-hearted race's + burlesque of itself. + </p> + <p> + A performance followed which called forth the appreciation of the crowd + more than the wit of Happy John or the faded songs of the yellow girl. + John took two sweet-cakes and broke each in fine pieces into a saucer, and + after sugaring and eulogizing the dry messes, called for two small darky + volunteers from the audience to come up on the platform and devour them. + He offered a prize of fifteen cents to the one who should first eat the + contents of his dish, not using his hands, and hold up the saucer empty in + token of his victory. The cake was tempting, and the fifteen cents + irresistible, and a couple of boys in ragged shirts and short trousers and + a suspender apiece came up shamefacedly to enter for the prize. Each one + grasped his saucer in both hands, and with face over the dish awaited the + word “go,” which John gave, and started off the contest with a banjo + accompaniment. To pick up with the mouth the dry cake and choke it down + was not so easy as the boys apprehended, but they went into the task with + all their might, gobbling and swallowing as if they loved cake, + occasionally rolling an eye to the saucer of the contestant to see the + relative progress, John strumming, ironically encouraging, and the crowd + roaring. As the combat deepened and the contestants strangled and stuffed + and sputtered, the crowd went into spasms of laughter. The smallest boy + won by a few seconds, holding up his empty saucer, with mouth stuffed, + vigorously trying to swallow, like a chicken with his throat clogged with + dry meal, and utterly unable to speak. The impartial John praised the + victor in mock heroics, but said that the trial was so even that he would + divide the prize, ten cents to one and five to the other—a stroke of + justice that greatly increased his popularity. And then he dismissed the + assembly, saying that he had promised the mayor to do so early, because he + did not wish to run an opposition to the political meeting going on in the + courthouse. + </p> + <p> + The scene in the large court-room was less animated than that out-doors; a + half-dozen tallow dips, hung on the wall in sconces and stuck on the + judge's long desk, feebly illuminated the mixed crowd of black and white + who sat in, and on the backs of, the benches, and cast only a fitful light + upon the orator, who paced back and forth and pounded the rail. It was to + have been a joint discussion between the two presidential electors running + in that district, but, the Republican being absent, his place was taken by + a young man of the town. The Democratic orator took advantage of the + absence of his opponent to describe the discussion of the night before, + and to give a portrait of his adversary. He was represented as a cross + between a baboon and a jackass, who would be a natural curiosity for + Barnum. “I intend,” said the orator, “to put him in a cage and exhibit him + about the deestrict.” This political hit called forth great applause. All + his arguments were of this pointed character, and they appeared to be + unanswerable. The orator appeared to prove that there wasn't a respectable + man in the opposite party who wasn't an office-holder, nor a white man of + any kind in it who was not an office-holder. If there were any issues or + principles in the canvass, he paid his audience the compliment of knowing + all about them, for he never alluded to any. In another state of society, + such a speech of personalities might have led to subsequent shootings, but + no doubt his adversary would pay him in the same coin when next they met, + and the exhibition seemed to be regarded down here as satisfactory and + enlightened political canvassing for votes. The speaker who replied, + opened his address with a noble tribute to woman (as the first speaker had + ended his), directed to a dozen of that sex who sat in the gloom of a + corner. The young man was moderate in his sarcasm, and attempted to speak + of national issues, but the crowd had small relish for that sort of thing. + At eleven o'clock, when we got away from the unsavory room (more than half + the candles had gone out), the orator was making slow headway against the + refished blackguardism of the evening. The german was still “on” at the + hotel when we ascended to our chamber, satisfied that Asheville was a + lively town. + </p> + <p> + The sojourner at Asheville can amuse himself very well by walking or + driving to the many picturesque points of view about the town; livery + stables abound, and the roads are good. The Beau-catcher Hill is always + attractive; and Connolly's, a private place a couple of miles from town, + is ideally situated, being on a slight elevation in the valley, commanding + the entire circuit of mountains, for it has the air of repose which is so + seldom experienced in the location of a dwelling in America whence an + extensive prospect is given. Or if the visitor is disinclined to exertion, + he may lounge in the rooms of the hospitable Asheville Club; or he may sit + on the sidewalk in front of the hotels, and talk with the colonels and + judges and generals and ex-members of Congress, the talk generally + drifting to the new commercial and industrial life of the South, and only + to politics as it affects these; and he will be pleased, if the + conversation takes a reminiscent turn, with the lack of bitterness and the + tone of friendliness. The negro problem is commonly discussed + philosophically and without heat, but there is always discovered, + underneath, the determination that the negro shall never again get the + legislative upper hand. And the gentleman from South Carolina who has an + upland farm, and is heartily glad slavery is gone, and wants the negro + educated, when it comes to ascendency in politics—such as the State + once experienced—asks you what you would do yourself. This is not + the place to enter upon the politico-social question, but the writer may + note one impression gathered from much friendly and agreeable + conversation. It is that the Southern whites misapprehend and make a + scarecrow of “social equality.” When, during the war, it was a question at + the North of giving the colored people of the Northern States the ballot, + the argument against it used to be stated in the form of a question: “Do + you want your daughter to marry a negro?” Well, the negro has his + political rights in the North, and there has come no change in the social + conditions whatever. And there is no doubt that the social conditions + would remain exactly as they are at the South if the negro enjoyed all the + civil rights which the Constitution tries to give him. The most sensible + view of this whole question was taken by an intelligent colored man, whose + brother was formerly a representative in Congress. “Social equality,” he + said in effect, “is a humbug. We do not expect it, we do not want it. It + does not exist among the blacks themselves. We have our own social + degrees, and choose our own associates. We simply want the ordinary civil + rights, under which we can live and make our way in peace and amity. This + is necessary to our self-respect, and if we have not self-respect, it is + not to be supposed that the race can improve. I'll tell you what I mean. + My wife is a modest, intelligent woman, of good manners, and she is always + neat, and tastefully dressed. Now, if she goes to take the cars, she is + not permitted to go into a clean car with decent people, but is ordered + into one that is repellent, and is forced into company that any refined + woman would shrink from. But along comes a flauntingly dressed woman, of + known disreputable character, whom my wife would be disgraced to know, and + she takes any place that money will buy. It is this sort of thing that + hurts.” + </p> + <p> + We took the eastern train one evening to Round Nob (Henry's Station), some + thirty miles, in order to see the wonderful railway that descends, a + distance of eight miles, from the summit of Swannanoa Gap (2657 feet + elevation) to Round Nob Hotel (1607 feet). The Swannanoa Summit is the + dividing line between the waters that flow to the Atlantic and those that + go to the Gulf of Mexico. This fact was impressed upon us by the + inhabitants, who derive a good deal of comfort from it. Such divides are + always matter of local pride. Unfortunately, perhaps, it was too dark + before we reached Henry's to enable us to see the road in all its loops + and parallels as it appears on the map, but we gained a better effect. The + hotel, when we first sighted it, all its windows blazing with light, was + at the bottom of a well. Beside it—it was sufficiently light to see + that—a column of water sprang straight into the air to the height, + as we learned afterwards from two official sources, of 225 and 265 feet; + and the information was added that it is the highest fountain in the + world. This stout column, stiff as a flagstaff, with its feathery head of + mist gleaming like silver in the failing light, had the most charming + effect. We passed out of sight of hotel and fountain, but were conscious + of being—whirled on a circular descending grade, and very soon they + were in sight again. Again and again they disappeared and came to view, + now on one side and now on the other, until our train seemed to be + bewitched, making frantic efforts by dodgings and turnings, now through + tunnels and now over high pieces of trestle, to escape the inevitable + attraction that was gravitating it down to the hospitable lights at the + bottom of the well. When we climbed back up the road in the morning, we + had an opportunity to see the marvelous engineering, but there is little + else to see, the view being nearly always very limited. + </p> + <p> + The hotel at the bottom of the ravine, on the side of Round Nob, offers + little in the way of prospect, but it is a picturesque place, and we could + understand why it was full of visitors when we came to the table. It was + probably the best-kept house of entertainment in the State, and being in + the midst of the Black Hills, it offers good chances for fishing and + mountain climbing. + </p> + <p> + In the morning the fountain, which is, of course, artificial, refused to + play, the rain in the night having washed in debris which clogged the + conduit. But it soon freed itself and sent up for a long time, like a + sulky geyser, mud and foul water. When it got freedom and tolerable + clearness, we noted that the water went up in pulsations, which were + marked at short distances by the water falling off, giving the column the + appearance of a spine. The summit, always beating the air in efforts to + rise higher, fell over in a veil of mist. + </p> + <p> + There are certain excursions that the sojourner at Asheville must make. He + must ride forty-five miles south through Henderson and Transylvania to + Caesar's Head, on the South Carolina border, where the mountain system + abruptly breaks down into the vast southern plain; where the observer, + standing on the edge of the precipice, has behind him and before him the + greatest contrast that nature can offer. He must also take the rail to + Waynesville, and visit the much-frequented White Sulphur Springs, among + the Balsam Mountains, and penetrate the Great Smoky range by way of + Quallatown, and make the acquaintance of the remnant of Cherokee Indians + living on the north slope of Cheoah Mountain. The Professor could have + made it a matter of personal merit that he escaped all these encounters + with wild and picturesque nature, if his horse had not been too disabled + for such long jaunts. It is only necessary, however, to explain to the + public that the travelers are not gormandizers of scenery, and were + willing to leave some portions of the State to the curiosity of future + excursionists. + </p> + <p> + But so much was said about Hickory Nut Gap that a visit to it could not be + evaded. The Gap is about twenty-four miles southeast of Asheville. In the + opinion of a well-informed colonel, who urged us to make the trip, it is + the finest piece of scenery it this region. We were brought up on the + precept “get the best,” and it was with high anticipations that we set out + about eleven o'clock one warm, foggy morning. We followed a very good road + through a broken, pleasant country, gradually growing wilder and less + cultivated. There was heavy rain most of the day on the hills, and + occasionally a shower swept across our path. The conspicuous object toward + which we traveled all the morning was a shapely conical hill at the + beginning of the Gap. + </p> + <p> + At three o'clock we stopped at the Widow Sherrill's for dinner. Her house, + only about a mile from the summit, is most picturesquely situated on a + rough slope, giving a wide valley and mountain view. The house is old + rambling, many-roomed, with wide galleries on two sides. If one wanted a + retired retreat for a few days, with good air and fair entertainment, this + could be commended. It is an excellent fruit region; apples especially are + sound and of good flavor. That may be said of all this part of the State. + The climate is adapted to apples, as the hilly part of New England is. I + fancy the fruit ripens slowly, as it does in New England, and is not + subject to quick decay like much of that grown in the West. But the grape + also can be grown in all this mountain region. Nothing but lack of + enterprise prevents any farmer from enjoying abundance of fruit. The + industry carried on at the moment at the Widow Sherrill's was the + artificial drying of apples for the market. The apples are pared, cored, + and sliced in spirals, by machinery, and dried on tin sheets in a patented + machine. The industry appears to be a profitable one hereabouts, and is + about the only one that calls in the aid of invention. + </p> + <p> + While our dinner was preparing, we studied the well-known pictures of + “Jane” and “Eliza,” the photographs of Confederate boys, who had never + returned from the war, and the relations, whom the traveling photographers + always like to pillory in melancholy couples, and some stray volumes of + the Sunday-school Union. Madame Sherrill, who carries on the farm since + the death of her husband, is a woman of strong and liberal mind, who + informed us that she got small comfort in the churches in the + neighborhood, and gave us, in fact, a discouraging account of the unvital + piety of the region. + </p> + <p> + The descent from the summit of the Gap to Judge Logan's, nine miles, is + rapid, and the road is wild and occasionally picturesque, following the + Broad River, a small stream when we first overtook it, but roaring, rocky, + and muddy, owing to frequent rains, and now and then tumbling down in + rapids. The noisy stream made the ride animated, and an occasional cabin, + a poor farmhouse, a mill, a schoolhouse, a store with an assemblage of + lean horses tied to the hitching rails, gave the Professor opportunity for + remarks upon the value of life under such circumstances. + </p> + <p> + The valley which we followed down probably owes its celebrity to the + uncommon phenomena of occasional naked rocks and precipices. The inclosing + mountains are from 3000 to 4000 feet high, and generally wooded. I do not + think that the ravine would be famous in a country where exposed ledges + and buttressing walls of rock are common. It is only by comparison with + the local scenery that this is remarkable. About a mile above judge + Logan's we caught sight, through the trees, of the famous waterfall. From + the top of the high ridge on the right, a nearly perpendicular cascade + pours over the ledge of rocks and is lost in the forest. We could see + nearly the whole of it, at a great height above us, on the opposite side + of the river, and it would require an hour's stiff climb to reach its + foot. From where we viewed it, it seemed a slender and not very important, + but certainly a very beautiful cascade, a band of silver in the mass of + green foliage. The fall is said to be 1400 feet. Our colonel insists that + it is a thousand. It may be, but the valley where we stood is at least at + an elevation of 1300 feet; we could not believe that the ridge over which + the water pours is much higher than 3000 feet, and the length of the fall + certainly did not appear to be a quarter of the height of the mountain + from our point of observation. But we had no desire to belittle this + pretty cascade, especially when we found that Judge Logan would regard a + foot abated from the 1400 as a personal grievance. Mr. Logan once + performed the functions of local judge, a Republican appointment, and he + sits around the premises now in the enjoyment of that past dignity and of + the fact that his wife is postmistress. His house of entertainment is at + the bottom of the valley, a place shut in, warm, damp, and not inviting to + a long stay, although the region boasts a good many natural curiosities. + </p> + <p> + It was here that we encountered again the political current, out of which + we had been for a month. The Judge himself was reticent, as became a + public man, but he had conspicuously posted up a monster prospectus, sent + out from Augusta, of a campaign life of Blaine and Logan, in which the + Professor read, with shaking knees, this sentence: “Sure to be the + greatest and hottest [campaign and civil battle] ever known in this world. + The thunder of the supreme struggle and its reverberations will shake the + continents for months, and will be felt from Pole to Pole.” + </p> + <p> + For this and other reasons this seemed a risky place to be in. There was + something sinister about the murky atmosphere, and a suspicion of + mosquitoes besides. Had there not been other travelers staying here, we + should have felt still more uneasy. The house faced Bald Mountain, 4000 + feet high, a hill that had a very bad reputation some years ago, and was + visited by newspaper reporters. This is, in fact, the famous Shaking + Mountain. For a long time it had a habit of trembling, as if in an + earthquake spasm, but with a shivering motion very different from that + produced by an earthquake. The only good that came of it was that it + frightened all the “moonshiners,” and caused them to join the church. It + is not reported what became of the church afterwards. It is believed now + that the trembling was caused by the cracking of a great ledge on the + mountain, which slowly parted asunder. Bald Mountain is the scene of Mrs. + Burnett's delightful story of “Louisiana,” and of the play of “Esmeralda.” + A rock is pointed out toward the summit, which the beholder is asked to + see resembles a hut, and which is called “Esmeralda's Cottage.” But this + attractive maiden has departed, and we did not discover any woman in the + region who remotely answers to her description. + </p> + <p> + In the morning we rode a mile and a half through the woods and followed up + a small stream to see the celebrated pools, one of which the Judge said + was two hundred feet deep, and another bottomless. These pools, not round, + but on one side circular excavations, some twenty feet across, worn in the + rock by pebbles, are very good specimens, and perhaps remarkable + specimens, of “pot-holes.” They are, however, regarded here as one of the + wonders of the world. On the way to them we saw beautiful wild + trumpet-creepers in blossom, festooning the trees. + </p> + <p> + The stream that originates in Hickory Nut Gap is the westernmost branch of + several forks of the Broad, which unite to the southeast in Rutherford + County, flow to Columbia, and reach the Atlantic through the channel of + the Santee. It is not to be confounded with the French Broad, which + originates among the hills of Transylvania, runs northward past Asheville, + and finds its way to the Tennessee through the Warm Springs Gap in the + Bald Mountains. As the French claimed ownership of all the affluents of + the Mississippi, this latter was called the French Broad. + </p> + <p> + It was a great relief the next morning, on our return, to rise out of the + lifeless atmosphere of the Gap into the invigorating air at the Widow + Sherrill's, whose country-seat is three hundred feet higher than + Asheville. It was a day of heavy showers, and apparently of leisure to the + scattered population; at every store and mill was a congregation of + loafers, who had hitched their scrawny horses and mules to the fences, and + had the professional air of the idler and gossip the world over. The + vehicles met on the road were a variety of the prairie schooner, long + wagons with a top of hoops over which is stretched a cotton cloth. The + wagons are without seats, and the canvas is too low to admit of sitting + upright, if there were. The occupants crawl in at either end, sit or lie + on the bottom of the wagon, and jolt along in shiftless uncomfortableness. + </p> + <p> + Riding down the French Broad was one of the original objects of our + journey. Travelers with the same intention may be warned that the route on + horseback is impracticable. The distance to the Warm Springs is + thirty-seven miles; to Marshall, more than halfway, the road is clear, as + it runs on the opposite side of the river from the railway, and the valley + is something more than river and rails. But below Marshall the valley + contracts, and the rails are laid a good portion of the way in the old + stage road. One can walk the track, but to ride a horse over its sleepers + and culverts and occasional bridges, and dodge the trains, is neither safe + nor agreeable. We sent our horses round—the messenger taking the + risk of leading them, between trains, over the last six or eight miles,—and + took the train. + </p> + <p> + The railway, after crossing a mile or two of meadows, hugs the river all + the way. The scenery is the reverse of bold. The hills are low, monotonous + in form, and the stream winds through them, with many a pretty turn and + “reach,” with scarcely a ribbon of room to spare on either side. The river + is shallow, rapid, stony, muddy, full of rocks, with an occasional little + island covered with low bushes. The rock seems to be a clay formation, + rotten and colored. As we approach Warm Springs the scenery becomes a + little bolder, and we emerge into the open space about the Springs through + a narrower defile, guarded by rocks that are really picturesque in color + and splintered decay, one of them being known, of course, as the “Lover's + Leap,” a name common in every part of the modern or ancient world where + there is a settlement near a precipice, with always the same legend + attached to it. + </p> + <p> + There is a little village at Warm Springs, but the hotel—since + burned and rebuilt—(which may be briefly described as a palatial + shanty) stands by itself close to the river, which is here a deep, rapid, + turbid stream. A bridge once connected it with the road on the opposite + bank, but it was carried away three or four years ago, and its ragged + butments stand as a monument of procrastination, while the stream is + crossed by means of a flatboat and a cable. In front of the hotel, on the + slight slope to the river, is a meager grove of locusts. The famous + spring, close to-the stream, is marked only by a rough box of wood and an + iron pipe, and the water, which has a temperature of about one hundred + degrees, runs to a shabby bath-house below, in which is a pool for + bathing. The bath is very agreeable, the tepid water being singularly soft + and pleasant. It has a slightly sulphurous taste. Its good effects are + much certified. The grounds, which might be very pretty with care, are + ill-kept and slatternly, strewn with debris, as if everything was left to + the easy-going nature of the servants. The main house is of brick, with + verandas and galleries all round, and a colonnade of thirteen huge brick + and stucco columns, in honor of the thirteen States,—a relic of + post-Revolutionary times, when the house was the resort of Southern + fashion and romance. These columns have stood through one fire, and + perhaps the recent one, which swept away the rest of the structure. The + house is extended in a long wooden edifice, with galleries and outside + stairs, the whole front being nearly seven hundred feet long. In a rear + building is a vast, barrack-like dining-room, with a noble ball-room + above, for dancing is the important occupation of visitors. + </p> + <p> + The situation is very pretty, and the establishment has a picturesqueness + of its own. Even the ugly little brick structure near the bath-house + imposes upon one as Wade Hampton's cottage. No doubt we liked the place + better than if it had been smart, and enjoyed the neglige condition, and + the easy terms on which life is taken there. There was a sense of + abundance in the sight of fowls tiptoeing about the verandas, and to meet + a chicken in the parlor was a sort of guarantee that we should meet him + later on in the dining-room. There was nothing incongruous in the presence + of pigs, turkeys, and chickens on the grounds; they went along with the + good-natured negro-service and the general hospitality; and we had a + mental rest in the thought that all the gates would have been off the + hinges, if there had been any gates. The guests were very well treated + indeed, and were put under no sort of restraint by discipline. The long + colonnade made an admirable promenade and lounging-place and point of + observation. It was interesting to watch the groups under the locusts, to + see the management of the ferry, the mounting and dismounting of the + riding-parties, and to study the colors on the steep hill opposite, + halfway up which was a neat cottage and flower-garden. The type of people + was very pleasantly Southern. Colonels and politicians stand in groups and + tell stories, which are followed by explosions of laughter; retire + occasionally into the saloon, and come forth reminded of more stories, and + all lift their hats elaborately and suspend the narratives when a lady + goes past. A company of soldiers from Richmond had pitched its tents near + the hotel, and in the evening the ball-room was enlivened with uniforms. + Among the graceful dancers—and every one danced well, and with + spirit was pointed out the young widow of a son of Andrew Johnson, whose + pretty cottage overlooks the village. But the Professor, to whom this + information was communicated, doubted whether here it was not a greater + distinction to be the daughter of the owner of this region than to be + connected with a President of the United States. + </p> + <p> + A certain air of romance and tradition hangs about the French Broad and + the Warm Springs, which the visitor must possess himself of in order to + appreciate either. This was the great highway of trade and travel. At + certain seasons there was an almost continuous procession of herds of + cattle and sheep passing to the Eastern markets, and of trains of big + wagons wending their way to the inviting lands watered by the Tennessee. + Here came in the summer-time the Southern planters in coach and four, with + a great retinue of household servants, and kept up for months that unique + social life, a mixture of courtly ceremony and entire freedom, the + civilization which had the drawing-room at one end and the negro-quarters + at the other,—which has passed away. It was a continuation into our + own restless era of the manners and the literature of George the Third, + with the accompanying humor and happy-go-lucky decadence of the negro + slaves. On our way down we saw on the river-bank, under the trees, the old + hostelry, Alexander's, still in decay,—an attractive tavern, that + was formerly one of the notable stopping-places on the river. Master, and + fine lady, and obsequious, larking darky, and lumbering coach, and throng + of pompous and gay life, have all disappeared. There was no room in this + valley for the old institutions and for the iron track. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “When in the chronicle of wasted time + I see descriptions of the fairest wights, + And beauty making beautiful old rhyme + In praise of ladies dead and lovely knights, + We, which now behold these present days, + Have eyes to wonder, but lack tongues to praise.” + </pre> + <p> + This perverted use of noble verse was all the response the Friend got in + his attempt to drop into the sentimental vein over the past of the French + Broad. + </p> + <p> + The reader must not think there is no enterprise in this sedative and idle + resort. The conceited Yankee has to learn that it is not he alone who can + be accused of the thrift of craft. There is at the Warm Springs a thriving + mill for crushing and pulverizing barites, known vulgarly as heavy-spar. + It is the weight of this heaviest of minerals, and not its lovely + crystals, that gives it value. The rock is crushed, washed, sorted out by + hand, to remove the foreign substances, then ground and subjected to + acids, and at the end of the process it is as white and fine as the best + bolted flour. This heavy adulterant is shipped to the North in large + quantities,—the manager said he had recently an order for a hundred + thousand dollars' worth of it. What is the use of this powder? Well, it is + of use to the dealer who sells white lead for paint, to increase the + weight of the lead, and it is the belief hereabouts that it is mixed with + powdered sugar. The industry is profitable to those engaged in it. + </p> + <p> + It was impossible to get much information about our route into Tennessee, + except that we should go by Paint Rock, and cross Paint Mountain. Late one + morning,—a late start is inevitable here,—accompanied by a + cavalcade, we crossed the river by the rope ferry, and trotted down the + pretty road, elevated above the stream and tree-shaded, offering always + charming glimpses of swift water and overhanging foliage (the railway + obligingly taking the other side of the river), to Paint Rock,—six + miles. This Paint Rock is a naked precipice by the roadside, perhaps sixty + feet high, which has a large local reputation. It is said that its face + shows painting done by the Indians, and hieroglyphics which nobody can + read. On this bold, crumbling cliff, innumerable visitors have written + their names. We stared at it a good while to discover the paint and + hieroglyphics, but could see nothing except iron stains. Round the corner + is a farmhouse and place of call for visitors, a neat cottage, with a + display of shells and minerals and flower-pots; and here we turned north + crossed the little stream called Paint River, the only clear water we had + seen in a month, passed into the State of Tennessee, and by a gentle + ascent climbed Paint Mountain. The open forest road, with the murmur of + the stream below, was delightfully exhilarating, and as we rose the + prospect opened,—the lovely valley below, Bald Mountains behind us, + and the Butt Mountains rising as we came over the ridge. + </p> + <p> + Nobody on the way, none of the frowzy women or unintelligent men, knew + anything of the route, or could give us any information of the country + beyond. But as we descended in Tennessee the country and the farms + decidedly improved,—apple-trees and a grapevine now and then. + </p> + <p> + A ride of eight miles brought us to Waddle's, hungry and disposed to + receive hospitality. We passed by an old farm building to a new + two-storied, gayly painted house on a hill. We were deceived by + appearances. The new house, with a new couple in it, had nothing to offer + us except some buttermilk. Why should anybody be obliged to feed roving + strangers? As to our horses, the young woman with a baby in her arms + declared, + </p> + <p> + “We've got nothing for stock but roughness; perhaps you can get something + at the other house.” + </p> + <p> + “Roughness,” we found out at the other house, meant hay in this region. We + procured for the horses a light meal of green oats, and for our own dinner + we drank at the brook and the Professor produced a few sonnets. On this + sustaining repast we fared on nearly twelve miles farther, through a + rolling, good farming country, offering little for comment, in search of a + night's lodging with one of the brothers Snap. But one brother declined + our company on the plea that his wife was sick, and the other because his + wife lived in Greenville, and we found ourselves as dusk came on without + shelter in a tavernless land. Between the two refusals we enjoyed the most + picturesque bit of scenery of the day, at the crossing of Camp Creek, a + swift little stream, that swirled round under the ledge of bold rocks + before the ford. This we learned was a favorite camp-meeting ground. Mary + was calling the cattle home at the farm of the second Snap. It was a very + peaceful scene of rural life, and we were inclined to tarry, but Mary, + instead of calling us home with the cattle, advised us to ride on to + Alexander's before it got dark. + </p> + <p> + It is proper to say that at Alexander's we began to see what this pleasant + and fruitful country might be, and will be, with thrift and intelligent + farming. Mr. Alexander is a well-to-do farmer, with plenty of cattle and + good barns (always an evidence of prosperity), who owes his success to + industry and an open mind to new ideas. He was a Unionist during the war, + and is a Democrat now, though his county (Greene) has been Republican. We + had been riding all the afternoon through good land, and encountering a + better class of farmers. Peach-trees abounded (though this was an off year + for fruit), and apples and grapes throve. It is a land of honey and of + milk. The persimmon flourishes; and, sign of abundance generally, we + believe, great flocks of turkey-buzzards—majestic floaters in the + high air—hovered about. This country was ravaged during the war by + Unionists and Confederates alternately, the impartial patriots as they + passed scooping in corn, bacon, and good horses, leaving the farmers + little to live on. Mr. Alexander's farm cost him forty dollars an acre, + and yields good crops of wheat and maize. This was the first house on our + journey where at breakfast we had grace before meat, though there had been + many tables that needed it more. From the door the noble range of the Big + Bald is in sight and not distant; and our host said he had a shanty on it, + to which he was accustomed to go with his family for a month or six weeks + in the summer and enjoy a real primitive woods life. + </p> + <p> + Refreshed by this little touch of civilization, and with horses well fed, + we rode on next morning towards Jonesboro, over a rolling, rather + unpicturesque country, but ennobled by the Big Bald and Butt ranges, which + we had on our right all day. At noon we crossed the Nollechucky River at a + ford where the water was up to the saddle girth, broad, rapid, muddy, and + with a treacherous stony bottom, and came to the little hamlet of + Boylesville, with a flour-mill, and a hospitable old-fashioned house, + where we found shelter from the heat of the hot day, and where the + daughters of the house, especially one pretty girl in a short skirt and + jaunty cap, contradicted the currently received notion that this world is + a weary pilgrimage. The big parlor, with its photographs and stereoscope, + and bits of shell and mineral, a piano and a melodeon, and a coveted old + sideboard of mahogany, recalled rural New England. Perhaps these + refinements are due to the Washington College (a school for both sexes), + which is near. We noted at the tables in this region a singular use of the + word fruit. When we were asked, Will you have some of the fruit? and said + Yes, we always got applesauce. + </p> + <p> + Ten miles more in the late afternoon brought us to Jonesboro, the oldest + town in the State, a pretty place, with a flavor of antiquity, set + picturesquely on hills, with the great mountains in sight. People from + further South find this an agreeable summering place, and a fair hotel, + with odd galleries in front and rear, did not want company. The Warren + Institute for negroes has been flourishing here ever since the war. + </p> + <p> + A ride of twenty miles next day carried us to Union. Before noon we forded + the Watauga, a stream not so large as the Nollechucky, and were + entertained at the big brick house of Mr. Devault, a prosperous and + hospitable farmer. This is a rich country. We had met in the morning + wagon-loads of watermelons and muskmelons, on the way to Jonesboro, and + Mr. Devault set abundance of these refreshing fruits before us as we + lounged on the porch before dinner. + </p> + <p> + It was here that we made the acquaintance of a colored woman, a withered, + bent old pensioner of the house, whose industry (she excelled any modern + patent apple-parer) was unabated, although she was by her own confession + (a woman, we believe, never owns her age till she has passed this point) + and the testimony of others a hundred years old. But age had not impaired + the brightness of her eyes, nor the limberness of her tongue, nor her + shrewd good sense. She talked freely about the want of decency and + morality in the young colored folks of the present day. It was n't so when + she was a girl. Long, long time ago, she and her husband had been sold at + sheriff's sale and separated, and she never had another husband. Not that + she blamed her master so much he could n't help it; he got in debt. And + she expounded her philosophy about the rich, and the danger they are in. + The great trouble is that when a person is rich, he can borrow money so + easy, and he keeps drawin' it out of the bank and pilin' up the debt, like + rails on top of one another, till it needs a ladder to get on to the pile, + and then it all comes down in a heap, and the man has to begin on the + bottom rail again. If she'd to live her life over again, she'd lay up + money; never cared much about it till now. The thrifty, shrewd old woman + still walked about a good deal, and kept her eye on the neighborhood. + Going out that morning she had seen some fence up the road that needed + mending, and she told Mr. Devault that she didn't like such shiftlessness; + she didn't know as white folks was much better than colored folks. + Slavery? Yes, slavery was pretty bad—she had seen five hundred + niggers in handcuffs, all together in a field, sold to be sent South. + </p> + <p> + About six miles from here is a beech grove of historical interest, worth a + visit if we could have spared the time. In it is the large beech (six and + a half feet around six feet from the ground) on which Daniel Boone shot a + bear, when he was a rover in this region. He himself cut an inscription on + the tree recording his prowess, and it is still distinctly legible: + </p> + <blockquote> + <p> + <b>D. BOONE CILT A BAR ON THIS TREE, 1760.</b> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + This tree is a place of pilgrimage, and names of people from all parts of + the country are cut on it, until there is scarcely room for any more + records of such devotion. The grove is ancient looking, the trees are + gnarled and moss-grown. Hundreds of people go there, and the trees are + carved all over with their immortal names. + </p> + <p> + A pleasant ride over a rich rolling country, with an occasional strip of + forest, brought us to Union in the evening, with no other adventure than + the meeting of a steam threshing-machine in the road, with steam up, + clattering along. The devil himself could not invent any machine + calculated to act on the nerves of a horse like this. Jack took one look + and then dashed into the woods, scraping off his rider's hat but did not + succeed in getting rid of his burden or knocking down any trees. + </p> + <p> + Union, on the railway, is the forlornest of little villages, with some + three hundred inhabitants and a forlorn hotel, kept by an ex-stage-driver. + The village, which lies on the Holston, has no drinking-water in it nor + enterprise enough to bring it in; not a well nor a spring in its limits; + and for drinking-water everybody crosses the river to a spring on the + other side. A considerable part of the labor of the town is fetching water + over the bridge. On a hill overlooking the village is a big, pretentious + brick house, with a tower, the furniture of which is an object of wonder + to those who have seen it. It belonged to the late Mrs. Stover, daughter + of Andrew Johnson. The whole family of the ex-President have departed this + world, but his memory is still green in this region, where he was almost + worshiped—so the people say in speaking of him. + </p> + <p> + Forlorn as was the hotel at Union, the landlord's daughters were beginning + to draw the lines in rural refinement. One of them had been at school in + Abingdon. Another, a mature young lady of fifteen, who waited on the + table, in the leisure after supper asked the Friend for a light for her + cigarette, which she had deftly rolled. + </p> + <p> + “Why do you smoke?” + </p> + <p> + “So as I shan't get into the habit of dipping. Do you think dipping is + nice?” + </p> + <p> + The traveler was compelled to say that he did not, though he had seen a + good deal of it wherever he had been. + </p> + <p> + “All the girls dips round here. But me and my sisters rather smoke than + get in a habit of dipping.” + </p> + <p> + To the observation that Union seemed to be a dull place: + </p> + <p> + “Well, there's gay times here in the winter—dancing. Like to dance? + Well, I should say! Last winter I went over to Blountsville to a dance in + the court-house; there was a trial between Union and Blountsville for the + best dancing. You bet I brought back the cake and the blue ribbon.” + </p> + <p> + The country was becoming too sophisticated, and the travelers hastened to + the end of their journey. The next morning Bristol, at first over a hilly + country with magnificent oak-trees,—happily not girdled, as these + stately monarchs were often seen along the roads in North Carolina,—and + then up Beaver Creek, a turbid stream, turning some mills. When a closed + woolen factory was pointed out to the Professor (who was still traveling + for Reform), as the result of the agitation in Congress, he said, Yes, the + effect of agitation was evident in all the decayed dams and ancient + abandoned mills we had seen in the past month. + </p> + <p> + Bristol is mainly one long street, with some good stores, but generally + shabby, and on this hot morning sleepy. One side of the street is in + Tennessee, the other in Virginia. How handy for fighting this would have + been in the war, if Tennessee had gone out and Virginia stayed in. At the + hotel—may a kind Providence wake it up to its responsibilities—we + had the pleasure of reading one of those facetious handbills which the + great railway companies of the West scatter about, the serious humor of + which is so pleasing to our English friends. This one was issued by the + accredited agents of the Ohio and Mississippi Railway, and dated April 1, + 1984. One sentence will suffice: + </p> + <p> + “Allow us to thank our old traveling friends for the many favors in our + line, and if you are going on your bridal trip, or to see your girl out + West, drop in at the general office of the Ohio and Mississippi Railway + and we will fix you up in Queen Anne style. Passengers for Dakota, + Montana, or the Northwest will have an overcoat and sealskin cap thrown in + with all tickets sold on or after the above date.” + </p> + <p> + The great republic cannot yet take itself seriously. Let us hope the + humors of it will last another generation. Meditating on this, we hailed + at sundown the spires of Abingdon, and regretted the end of a journey that + seems to have been undertaken for no purpose. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of On Horseback, by Charles Dudley Warner + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON HORSEBACK *** + +***** This file should be named 3126-h.htm or 3126-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/2/3126/ + +Produced by David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the Foundation” + or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project +Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +“Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, “Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.” + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +“Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right +of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> + </body> +</html> |