New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-08-01

NE pyramid OF fOck, On tle Ignl, auo Poahou
Kea, sarge on the let, stood IN advance, he sent
nels Ut the entrance Of the deep, dim valley, whole
walls W increasing elevation seemed buttresses,
resting against The Shoulders Of Mount Washing
-, ,hs central, ..hsped monarch sf tie 7
erouu. Light clouds were novering in the sk1, but
above the MOUNTAINS, and belts Of cloud,saadow
across the middle distance heightened the sunny
warmth of the fregrouud' q
Theucefoiward, we overlooked the story soil
and the sbnbby farms. We had enter.A artist
land. and even when the forests narrowed O Ir
prospect, we only saw the picturesque in me .ssy
rocks and twisted trees. As wa approached. the
saco, after passing six-*ile Pond, much of the
scenery consisted of remembrances of New-York
studios. Every foreground was made up Of sketches
BY Shattack, Coleman, and the younger painters:
every background was complete pictr re by Ken
sett Watched the shifting quadrvle peaks Of
Choccrua with peculiar personal inf crest. Grad
ually they assumed the familiar position: tho crest
of sheer rock cleaned with faint red in the sun
that lay so warm upon the his--yes there fs my
Chocorua And really, at this distance, he towers
not more graodly in the afternoon light, than on
| those four feet of canvas, in my room at home
"where it is always after D."
do not think any approach to the White Noun
tans can be mere beautiful than that Of the Saco
Valley. You are carried so gently and With such
sweeay prolonged surprises, into theif heart
touched first, as it were, with their outst 0tched
fingers, held awhile in their arms, and finally taken
to thor haeom. Their beauty wins before their
sublimity Mes you. On such an evening, with the
depth Of color increasing as the light fades, bars Of
alternate gold and violet flung from sdmmits and
through lateral gorges across the valley, and blue
eln,pses of stream or lake interruRting the rich,
uniform green, every turn of the road gives you
new delight, every minute Of the Heeting time is
more precious than the last.
| Now, wherein is this scenery inferior to that of
| the Scotch Highlands, or the Lower AN or the
Jaira In 10 respect to ny eyes, but rather fine
in its forms and combinations To be sure, it LACK
the magic of old associations; but this-if it be
! detects one which is soon forgotten. The prin-
cpal difference is one which applies to almost all
American scenery. Virgin nature has complete
charm of its own: so has nature under subsection,
cultivated, enriched, finished as dwelling place
for man. but that transition state, which is neither
one thing nor the other gives unsatisfactory i'm
preston in the midst of our highest enjoyment.
Imagine the intervales of the Saco under thorough
culture the grass-elds thick and smooth the grain
heavy, not stump to be seen, the trees developed
in their proper forms, fair pastures on the hill
sides, shepherds cottages high up on the noun
tains, thrifty villages, farm-houses and summer vii
las scattered over the landscape and what is left
for the eye to crave But take it now, with its
frequent unsightly clearings, its fields dotted with
ugly stumps, and the many single trees which,
growing up spindly in the midst of others, are now
left standing alone robbed of their characteristic
FORMS and you will readily see that here are dis
cordant elements in the landscape. 1t is not al
ways the absolute superiority Of nature which we
recognize; we are Influenced by these indirect i'm
pressOns and they are not to be reasoned away.
Yet, during the last stage of our ride some per-
feet pictures were presented to us. Mote Noun
tain, beyond the Saco lifted huge mass of blue
shadow into the sky; Kearsarge was tipped with
yellow light, and, in front, high over the valley,
Mount Washington shone in splendid purple. Oc-
casional gaps through the trees gave us limited
views where every feature was fair and harm0-
NOUS. One farm, in particular, with its white
house, high on ledge of Mote Mountain, where
the sunset still fingered, came again and again to
sight, thrown SO far off by the brown shadows
around us that it seemed fairy picture in the air.
At dusk we reached North Conway, and found
lodgings at the Kearsarge House-a tall, shaky
building, crammed with visitors. We were lucky
in fact, in finding quarters at all. Hundreds are
turned away during the season. But as the land
lord says when people complain of his negecting to
enlarge his bounds: al have right to complain
that you don't patronize for eight months of the
year." Splendor, so temporary in its uses. will
not pay. We found everything clean and conye
nient, and were well satisfied.
i thought / should be able to bring my reader
through The Notch in this letter, but will be obliged
to make a notch here and begin again. BIT.