Union County star and Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1859-1864, 1859-10-28
MOUNT WASHINGTON.
STATEN ISLAND, Sept, lS5!

from an interesting visit to the Whit,
Mountains, in New Hampshire. l once
Travelled through the Holy Land, and
Egypt. have stood upon the spurs o.
the Apprentices in Italy and Sicily, and
from their tops have seen cluster Of burn
ing mountains--EtDa, from its snow.
capped top sending forth cloud ofdust and
smoke-Stromboli, q mountain in the sea,
vomiting flames from its top like burn.
ing furuace-the far off Islands of Lipari
seemingly on firc-and the blue waters Of
the sea, heaviug in constant agitation from
the subterranean fires which belch forth
streams of burning lava. l have stood
upon the great battle-felds of the old
world-upon the Pyramid of Cheops, from
which saw on one side, as far as the eye
could reach, desert sands, at times blazing
as though it were vast body of fire, aud
on the other side the cities and towns Of
Egypt, the land of Goshen, its rich YER
dure, and the waters of Nile sweeping by.
l have stood upon the Mount of Olives,
that mountain from which the Son of G cd
ascended up to heaven, and to which he SO
often resorted, and from there l have seen
the Jordan and Dead Sea, the mountains
Of Moab, Nebo, and Pisgah. / have
crossed the great range of mountains which
separate the Atlantic cities from the Pa
cifc Ocean: brought up among them, was
taught to look at and regard them as hav-
ing been thrown from the plastic hand Of
their Creator to teach us, whether in win
ter or summer, the sterner attributes Of
His nature. But, nowhere, have | seen
anything more beautiful aud grand, than
the scenery visible from the top Of Mount
Washington.
Being anxious to see that far-famed
mountain, G2S5 feet high, and eleven 9TH
ers, nearly as elevated, lying contiguous.
| took the direct route, the Norwich and
Worcester, through the beautiful towns of
New England. The distance from New
York to the town Of Littleton, N. H., is
800 miles. Proceeding on, stopped at
the house of Mr.. Braybrook, eighteen
miles from Littleton thence, through a
beautiful section Of country, to the Cold
Spring; thence to the top of the noun
tain, five miles. Going up, l passed
through a deep glen and dark forest Of tall
pine trees, where not sound disturbed
the monotony of the scene, save the noun.
tain torrent rushing over the polished
rocks, the boot of the owl, the barking
squirrel, the chirp Of the wild bird, and
now and then the clatter of horses hoofs.
On either side Of the path were the tall
pines, the vine-clad rocks, and moscow
cred trees, stripped of their branches and
foliage, and tremulous with age; and
there too the youthful tree lies on the bo-
som of its mother earth, left to rot in the
rains and winds of heaven. What beau.
tiful moral lessons we may learn from the
book of nature! Ascending the rocky
cliffs of Mt. Washington, l noticed the
gradual decline of vegetable life. An as
cent of three miles, puts an end to the
tree kind then commence the moses,
and rock grass; these continue till within
q short distance of the top. There saw
no signs of vegetable life. The rocks
have been cracked by the frost of ages,
and it was cold enough, when I was there,
to freeze a man to death, if exposed for .
few hours. The 7th of September, snow,
ice and clouds enveloped US while on the
top, bringing to mind the words of the
Psalmist: "Yea, be did fly upon the
wings Of the wind. He made darkness
his secret place; his pavilions round about
him were dark waters and thick clouds of
The skies" The cloud lifted up its misty
wings and did fly; and, oh, what sight
to the enraptured vision! Did ever au-
tumnal sun look down on more gorgeous
landscape? From the snow-capped rocks
md ice-bound cliffs, we could see the
lark glens where sunlight is q stranger;
he mountain torrent, splitting its way
through the granite rocks and the "deep-
apgled wildwood" to the far of ocean
axes and rivers, vine-clad hills and culti-
rated fields, all teeming with life, and
groups of mountains on every side, show.
ng panorama Of unsurpassed natural
scenery. As We descended the rocky
lifts, the sun was gradually sinking behind
he western horizon, throwing back bis
,olden rays aud tingipg the tops Of the
mountains with rosy brightness, while the
hadows we're extending from one noun
ain peak to another, and deepening over
be forests which lay between them-pre.
entiug, altogether, q more beautiful and
gorgeous display Of Gods works, than any
,he1 have yet seen on the earth.
WM. A. BARNEs.