New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1843-07-07
, y,s,. "a ,ne ca.skili Mountains.

deceu, consideration vi. aiight and take his way
deviorsI7 Upward on foot. The distance TO 'he
! Mountain House is but three miles, about TWO q
them Of decided ascent. and rather steep at that
But the road is otherwise good, sreneraiy mort u
less shaded and the walk, after the Nfst nan
mile. j. -aytec inrigorating than Otherwise Il
taken deliberately. Ii is easy here to beat even
an empty stage by nearly mile as, 81 't' looE
hours allotted in hot weather to reach the top OF
the Mountain from Cetskil,, fully one and half
are expended IL climbing this rugged ascent
Wherefore, o traveller, step out at the mountain
gate, and prepare yourself for roaming over the
mountains by climbing up them. Say not, chrri-
ishly, / have paid to ride, and VIE ride; what
arc the horses to me out consider that horses
are to be cared for as well as animals OF longer
ears and less generous disposition.
Arrived at the Mountain House, and you
should not mar the view by looking downward
sooncr) glorious vision bursts upon you You
arc on broad level platform OF solid rock, some
ten acres in extent with peak two or three hun
dred feet higher Just South Of you, and larger
and loitier pinnacle mile or 50 Northward-
Westward, two or three nights tower above the
general ruggedness. through which are opened
yistas three or four miles in extert-each hight
covered with thin and sunted forest or shruooeFy
10 lis TOP. Turning tc the East, you look over
an overhanring cliff several hundred ieet III
hioht, and thence down the steep mountain side
n the cultivated plain 1900 feet below. glo-
r;ons landscape is spread out before you. The
broad Hudson eight miles off the Crow flies,
seems mill pond the 900 feet descent from the
plain INST below you to the Riverside Is efiaced
cntreIy-thc eye cannot tell that the River IS
lower than any part Of the country beneath; the
many and sharp inequalities OF the cultivated re-
ZION sink into one checkercd plan, uniform with
itself and with the surface Of the Hudson. va
ried and wondrous scene-iorests like thistle
patches and grain fields like onion beds-houses
like bechivcs, and scarcely visible at that-out
no people, no cattle no roads, no fences-dls-
lance. itself hardly perceived, has swallowed them
all, Ii is only when, with good glass you piie
tin land and water in giant grandeur before you
that YOU are assured that the landscape you look
down upon is not the patrmony OF some deao lFioe
of Lilliputians The glow of a clear morning,
the last lingcrings of Summers sun, may give
vo,, better idea of it, bat distance borrows OF
activity as much as it lends of enchantment--a
weightv Silence as Of Death broods over the lace
of the vast area before you.
The Hudson, for some thirty miles OF its course,
Is visible TO the naked eye from the piazza OF the
Mountain House; and, with glass, the day
boats NAV be observed from three miles above
Poughkeepsc to Catskill--over forty miles. Cat
skill and Hudson stand out In the North East
and lake in Columbia county CLEANS brightly
on the naked eye when the morning sun happens
to strike it favorably. Southwardly, the prospect
from the South Mountain, half mile lower
stretches over the level portion Of Ulster well as
Greene County, and far into Columbia and Dutch.
ess. The Berkshire nights are visible to the ma
ked eye at all times and the Green Mountains
are often seen in the North East though the sky
has been too hazv or cloudy to permit it during
my brief visit.
TIE FALLS OF THE CAUTERsKlLL are two and
a half miles W.N.W. OF the Mountain House
Here the water collected from two little lakes and
many mountain springs falls over wall Of rock
80 feet in two cascades few rods apart. The
cataract is not very imposing, the stream beng
small, though swelled by the raising o! gate
whenever visiters desire to view the fall IN It's holt
day attire. But the wild, savage glen stretching
Wes,wardly through which the stream makes its
downward way; the lofty peaks, rugged ravincs,
and wooded activities which every where bound
the vision, will long dwell iii the memory of the
visiter. These are seen from the top OF the fall.
while the hes! view of the Cascade itself is that
from TIE glen at the BOTTOM from point Just at
the left Of the lower fall, whence both are plainly
seen at once What little rainbow they manutac-
ture here is rather drawback, as it reminds YOU
Of Niagara--not at all to the advantage Of the
Cautcrskill, need not say Blu; in clambcring
up and down the preciplce, and especially in walk
ing behind either fall under the far overhanying
rock, which gives YOU wide berth and dry pas
sage with the cascade in front, the resemblance to
Niagara is good deal less disparaglng to this
regret that did not sec this fall BY night,
with keen starlight, good head of water, and
the moon Just sllvering the tops of the eastern
trees, and lighting the tall cliffs westward am
sure the scene would be magnificent.
We had storm here yesterday afternoon
commencing with a fierce, shrieking gale from
the west, which speedily brought down the mer
curry from go to 100, and was followed by gen
tic ram. We were almost admitted behind the
curtain to see how rain was got up, and dispersed
to the thirsty wales below, The lightning played
and thunder roared at or beneath our level, and
now small district and then larger was visited
by the refreshing shower, while the greater ,rt
of the area we overlooked was lei, without. The
fog forming on the PLAIN and Stcol,r y, Tho