The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1852-06-19


tunes associated with tho peaks and glaciers of his
native Alps, has become one of the common places
oflterature. But something too much Of this"
We now blink the abode Of our host Of tho Craw-
ford, and set our faces to the north The hills open
to receive us, and the valley Of the Saco contracts
as we approach. From this point to the gate of the
Notch, the mountains on either hand, rising from
one to two thousand feet above us, are forever
separated, yet forever near" How churshly they
look down upon the narrow road which they be-
grudgc US, and listen to the insulting glee Of the
loud Saco. Ungrateful child Of the mountain, o
Saco, be content with your easy exit to the ocean
This vast valley has been scooped out, and its
shelving sides lcyelled as with roller to grace the
triumph of your onward march.
We pass the Wiley house, where, in August
1926, the whole family -nine in number-frghtened
by the elemental warfare of rain, and storm, and
falling stones, rushed from the house, and were
buried by the. onward avalanche. A rock behind
the house divided the falling masses and saved it,
but the family rushed to their destruction. How
little can we fathom the inscrutabe DEGREES Of
Heaven for often when we think we are most safe
there the shafts Of death fall thickest.
Our path now undulates and rises The noun
tains upon our left are n network of cataracts,
that seem like threads of silver upon ground work
OF green and brown Now you are almost sprinkled
fort more, and you have reached the gate of the
Notch, and the drama shuts in at the fifth act. You
have passed tho Rubicon. You now breathe more
freely; for. while but a moment before, you were
lost in contemplation of the awfu! scenes Of nature
you are now traversing sunny glade-the heavens
clear above you, the green carpet of cultivated
fields beneath your feet and the wide portals of the
Crawford House inviting you to enter And you do
enter, and without regret Think, weary traveller,
OF mountain home equal to any of our metropoli-
tan hotels, with bu6b!ing fountain before it, with
ample accommodations for two hundred people,
with stable full Of horses, tried and true and
last, but not least, courteous landlord, and the
wherewth to fill the vast vacuity within. Here
N crns Hara
cadaverous face shall grow rubicund. Hero shall
thy cheeks take ample toll Of the gracious gifts of
Providence. Here. my meagre friend, who art now
but the elongation of point thou shalt take last
look of thy beauteous feet, for ridge of more con-
sequence to thee than Mt. Washington, shall shut
OIL the prospect. A word in your ear, my friend
with equestrian tastesyou, too, shall be gratiGed
Iior come with me and study perspective from the
door OF the stable. A greater than Hercules daily
cleanses these Augean stables. Here are ponies,
Andalusian and French. Don't be unhappy because
you cannot ride two three Of them at time, but
choose one, the best of course, and then reproach
the winds for their hardness. Mr. j. l.. Gibbs ca.
tiers to every taste.
This is fayoritc location with many tourists at
the mountains. You are at the foot of Mt Willard,
a mountain easy in ascent, from the top of which
you can Obtain most magnificent views of the valley
through which you have just passed. Your whole
journey from Bartlett may be accurately studied BY
the eye, from this eminence.
At the lower extremity of the valley, blocking it
keararge. In the opposite direction the valley of
the Ammonoosac is spread out like vast plateau,
while the peak of Mount Washington is full in view,
with his right and left hand supporters. Very many
ascents are made to Mount Washington every year
from the Crawford House, for here you are furnished
with the best horses and the surest guides Your
route lies over the tops of Mounts Clinton Pleasant
Franklin, and Monroe. At Mount Pleasant, this
route becomes one and the same with Fabyan's.
although he has another, along the valley Of the
Ammonoosac, which is exceedingly bold but il is
not without interest. Nothing will surprise you
more than the feats which your horses will perform
in ascending these mountains. You wouldn't assert
that they could climb peeled hcmlock but they
will do something not much less. Don't you believe
it! Consult the best authorities, and beware how
you tTife.
Dear Editor am disposed to be facetious; I am
trifing with my betters; ] am endeavoring to re-
pair the road from the sublime to the ridiculous by
travelling it-and have / not your sympa thy?
Have you not sometimes felt-or rather have you
not occasionally worked out your tax upon that
highway! Don't blush-speak out like a man.
Havn't you!
No person who is unaccustomed to mountain
scenery can have any adequate idea of it. Neither
if he has been frequent visiter to mountains can
he justly conceive of the White Mountain range.
He is wide of the truth if he pictures to himself
half dozen isolated peaks, rising above dead
level Of plain. What is his surprise, when looking
from the summit of Mt. Washington, he finds him
self in the midst of ten thousand subordinate peaks
each of which could despatch our Mt Joy at
breakfast. and without anything good to wash it
down. What desolation! he exclaims, when he
gazes down the enormous ravines that lie concealed
in the black and unfrequented woods. How diff
ferent is the from the top of Holyoke looking
down upon sunny meadows of cultivated lands
that seem one vast carpet of many tinted grecn
Thirty spires indicate the abode Of gon and civil
izaton. There nature has put off her ride and
savage character: but upon the top of Washington,
although you can catch glimpse of few villages,
still from several points Of the compass there is no
thing to interrupt the dreary monotcny Of unbroken
wildness Thanks to the Atlantic and st. Lawrence
railroad, this state of things will continue but
short time. The next generation will see but a few
of the primitive gores of nature, but they will be
more than compensated in the increase Of the COM
forts Of civilization.
The question has often occurred to me, Of what
are these stupendous piles of earth and stone! In
ton, but for the present ] would say, that Que Of
the most obvious advantages Of mountains is, that
they form natural barrier of defence, seconded
by the hardihood Of frame and soul inspired by the
keen mountain air. This is confirmed by history
England was conquered by the Romans, the Saxons,
the Danes, and the Normans; but the Picts, behind
their mountain Businesses. were never subdued; nor
were the WEIGH. until comparatively recent period
The fat plain Of Egypt has been repeatedly con-
auered but the high table land Of Abyssinia as
for centuries preserved its independence and its re
gion. The mountain ramparts of Northern Spain
rolled back the tide Of Moorish invasion-gave re.
fuge to the remnant of the Gothic kingdoms, and
enabled them to commence that career of conquest
which finally recovered all they had lost. The
African land of Krdistan has furnished for ages an
impregnable barrier to the HISTORIAN Christians
the whole available force Of Russia has attempted
in vain to bride the mountaineers of Circassa
Illustrations of the same truth may be seen in the
long protracted resistance which the Tyrolese
offered to the arms Of Frances and in the contest
between the French colony of Algiers and that
brave Arab chieftain Add ell Kadir, q man in whose
Vol rims fha trun aaI- 4hah Of vic
tomenes, of Armenius, Of William Wallace, of
Hofer, and Of John Stark-who, from the craggy
fortresses of Mount Atlas, dces the most military
chieftain in Europe.