New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1854-09-30
The wilds of Northern View York,

IL were lmpoSS1ple TO give a real, true ueScflp-
tion of the scenery in this section We can only
1t must be seen with ones own
eyes to be realized Go with me in the ascent
of Mount Marcy, or as the Indians call it Mount
Tahawus. Suppose that after having travelled
miles through the woods from Long Lake, or
the Adirondack Iron Works, after having passed
by, through, and around lakes, over hills, CULTS
and streams, taking water-beds for paths and
guides, tumbling over logs and through swamps,
we stand at the foot Of Mount Marcy, o cataract
and wall before us We commence the ascent,
winding our zigzag path here and there; now on
the brow of the cliff hugging the mountain; now
in the gorge, shut out almost from the light OF
day; now crawling upon our hands and knees,
and slow work at that, wedging our way through
the thick brush; now pitching forward, leaping
a chasm or treading frail tree bridge. The
rocks are steep, the trees and limbs are thick
now walking, now rolling, we gradually pro
gress upward. The trees grow thinner and
smaller. The pines and frs that below were
one hundred feet high, are now but fifty. It
was Summer at the foot of the mountain, here
it lis Spring AS we 90 farther, we find nothing
but shrubs. The tall FIR tree has dwindled down
to pigmy of few inches in height We go on
till vegetation ceases; the rocks are bare; the
cold winds sweep along; it is almost Winter.
We have gone back two seasons in a few hours
We cry aloud, but are scarcely heard; there is
no echo here--nothipg meets the sound, it passes
from us ana never returns
What landscape is here! We bound the
horizon on either side with circle Of four hun
dred miles A dense fog has settled down be-
tween the hills, and filed the valleys; nothing
visible but the tops of the mountains It looks
like vast ocean, with numberless pyramidal
| islands scattered about. Nay, yonder, in the
| East, are the Green Mountains of Vermont, that
seem to stretch up their heads just far enough
| to meet the sky and seem neighbors to the stars.
/ fn,y nd iata arda n
Lake Champlain, and the hills off toward the
Canadas. Nearer, and shooting up to various
| heights, are the ranges of the great plateau.
But the curtain of fog is being lifted up; rents
here and there give q glimpse of the green
forests below. A little while, and the sky is
clear; we look down now upon the wide forests,
Extending as far as the eye can reach. In every
! direction they are scanned with rivers, flowing
| down from the mountains, and c0nrsing along
till they are lost in the indistinct distance. An
interesting feature Of the view is the number O
llakes that are reposing quietly, protected By
walls of rock and forest, that, near at hand, ar,
i spread out like sheet of silver, clear and I'M
broken, while at q distance they become mer
white specks or lines, surrounded by deep green
The different species of trees display variet
foliage, mingling a dark row of evergreen Will
the orange and golden hues of the deoiduous
while the tall tops of the pine and mrs shoo
above the rest, to tell of their locality and frs
greet the sun We can see the light cloud be
meath us, while its shadows roll over the fores
tops like thing Of life Nature is here in ne
primeval beauty and splendor
r Go with me to the Adirondack, or lndlal
Pass. 1t lies about twelve miles westerly G
Mount Marcy, between Mount Mcintyre an
7 Wallfaced Mountain; deep gorge dividing tn
one from the other, while the mountains hay
: shrunk back as if mighty hand had laid il
linterdict upon them Loose rocks cover th
Il how of q hraurhns nf th
Hudson takes its rise Passing up the aisle, Q
: ii were, scattered over with boulders some thirt
b | or forty feet in diameter, at one point eros
" fissure opens, down which gurgles catarae
We dare not follow it, nature is too rough ft
us there, At another point there opens a dar
q cavern, yawning to the sight that can not PEN
. trate its mysteries The rock rises at one sit
! about one thousand feet, and for three -quarte
:, of mile it is in no place less than five hundr
feet in perpendicular height. Standing besi
: it, we can realize our utter insignifcanee, fe
2, that we are but an atom in the midst of su
tremendous sublimity. Looking upward,
: seems bending over us /; we tremble, our heal
pr beat fast, and the wandering eye expects to .
8 the rocks unite above us, A belt only of t
4 sky is visible, the rays Of the meridian sun a
II never felt here In the cresices are occasion
s, shrubs fixed, waving their leaves in airy ind
pendence, while o more prominent jutting or
- has caught soil and vegetation enough TO su
lport middle sized tree, that in growing 1ea1
the rock and shoots oyer the abyss. standl
above and looking down, we get another VI
~ of the Pass, more thrilling, perhaps more app
by ciatiye of the mighty power that ploHed I
=. furrow through the mountain. It is said Il
on height and depth are both elements Of the s,
Me- lime Here we have them, and added ther
an element Of soidity and power, that can n
rt- the mountains and scatter the earth to ato
,s- a grandeur and an oyerawing sublimity Z
!. hardly meet their equal in this land, and VII
ans the far-f famed Alps Of Switzerland hardly ex
as an example of powerful though rough beau
II