Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1856-02-27
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FThe following curious sketch is from the pen Of
the late Edgar A. Poe:]
During the dread reign of the cholera
in New York, had accepted the invita-.
tion of relative to spend fortnight with
him in the retirement q lis cottage o''ast.
here around US all tie 8 ~ ~ . - !,
summer amusement; and What With ram
bling in the woods, sketshing, boating,
fishing, bathing, music and books, we
should have passed the time pleasantly |
enough, but for the fearful intelligence
which reached US every morning from the
populous city. Not day elapsed which
did not bring US news of the decease of
some acquaintance. Then as the fatality |
increased, we learned to expect daily the
loss ofsome friend. At length we trsm bled
1T the approach of every messenger The
Fery air from the South seemed to us redo
lent with death. That palsying thought,
indeed, took entire possession of my soul.
l could neither speak, think, nor dream of
anything else. My host was of less ex-
sltable temperament, and although greatly
NNPANS"CN III CACLICu ululSCLl W SuS-
tain my own. His richly philosophical in
tellect was not at any time affected by un-
realities. To the substances of terrer, he
was sufficiently alive, but of its shadows he
had no apprehension.
His endeavors to arouse me from the
condition of abnormal gloom into which 1
had fallen, were frustrated in great meas
ure by certain volumes which [ had found
in his library. These were Of character
to force into termination whatever seeds
of hereditary superstition lay latent in my
bosom. had been reading these books
without his knowledge, and thus he was Of
ten at loss to account for the forcibe in
pressions which had been made upon nv
fancy.
A favsrite topic with me, was the popu-
lar belief in omens-a belief which, st this
one epoch Of my life, / was almost serious
| ly disposed to defend On this subject we
had long and animated discussions-he
maintaining the utter groundlessness of
faith In such mattars,-I contcnding that
a popular sentiment arising with absolute
spontaneity-that is to say, without appa-
rent traces Of suggestion-had in itself the
npon;stakahle ,sls1nanta of trsth. and was
enfI.ley to rs ElIch respect as Ess.5 = =.
ton which is the idiosoncracy of the ind
vidual man Of genius.
The fact is, that soon after my arrival /,
the cottage, there had occurred to nyse
an incident SO entirely inexplicable, an
which had in it SO much of the portentou
|, character, that I hight well have been e,
o,,coJ Tor - IL
palled, and at the same time so confounde
and bewildered me, that many days elapse
. before I could make up my mind to com
, municatc the circumstance to my friend.
Near the close Of an exceeding war
| day, I was sitting, book in hand, at a
open window, commanding, through Ion
vista of the river banks, view of di
tant hill, the face of which nearest my p
sition, had been denuded, by what is terme
a land slide, Of the principal portion of i
/ trees. My thoughts had been long wal
, dering from the volume before me, to tt
gloom and desolation of the neig ghborir
city. Uplifting my eyes from the psg
they fell upon the naked face Of the hil
!, and upon an object-upon some livir
monster of hideous conformation, whic
J, very rapidly made its way from the sur
s nit to the bottom, disappearing finally
G the dense forest below AS this creatu
t first came in sight, I doubted my own sa
: ity-or at least, the evidence Of my ON
- eyes; and many minutes passed before
\ succeeded in convincing myself that I W
l. neither mad nor in dream. Yet when
e describe the monster (Which | distinct
| saw, and calmly surveyed through the who
a period of its progress,) my readers, [ fea
= will feel more difficulty in being convinc,
> of these points, than even I did myself.
n Estimating the size of the creature
comparison with the diameter of the lar
trees near which it passed-the few gian
Of the forest which had escaped the fury
L the land -slide-I concluded it to be
3 larger than any ship-o the line in existene
|. I say ship -of-the-line, because the shape
k the monster suggested the idea-the hl
d of one of our seventy -fours might convey
n very tolerable conception Of the genel
# outline The mouth of the animal "
r situated at the extremity of probos'
= some sixty or seventy feet in length, al
5r about as thick as the body of an ordina
Il elephant. Near the root of this trunk "
e, an immense quantity of black, shaggy ha
t. more than could have been supplied by t
Le coats of score of bufaloes and projs
d ing from this hair downwardly and latt
ID ally, sprang two cleaning tusks, not unli
h those of the wild boar, kut Of infinite
b. greater dimension. Extending forwa
d parallel with the proboscis, and on ca
5. side of it, was gigantic staff, thirty
er forty feet in length, formed, seemingly,
le pure chrystal, and in shape perfect prisl
ne it reflected in the most gorgeous mann
e. the rays of the declining sun. The tru
" was fashioned like a.wedge, with the az
n to the earth. From it there were outspre
IN two pairs Of uings-each wing nearly {
20 hundred yards in length-one pair bel
n placed above the other, and all thiekly c
d. cred with metal scales; each scale app
,r- emily some ten or twelve feet in diamet
10. l observed that the upper and lower ii
" of wings were connected by strong cha
d But the chief popularity of this borri
nd thing, was the representation of Deal
NJ; Head, which covered nearly the whole s
i'm face of its breast, and which was as ac
no rately traced in glariDg white, upon
Of dark ground Of the body, as if it had b
lev there carefully designed by an artist
While regarded this terrific animal,