The Portland daily press., 1862-08-22

ment Inc ar is neaVlly 'perfumed with the
Fir and Spruce, and suggests pleasant memo
ries to us all. The Autocrat has said few tru-
er things than that which everybody recog-
nized as fact, but which none had told on
paper before: odors are more suggestive than
words spoken.
Yes plainly the nose is better than the ear,
for keeping in memory the secrets of former
years. People with long noses have good
memories! And we walk on under the thick
shadows of the fir and pine and maple, and
never ask how many steps we take to pass ov-
er mile in the woods. There is no idea more
erroneous than that of supposing that mile,
measured nIthe woods, is only 320 rods. 1t is
twice 800 in nearly every instance, and some
times three times that number of rods. Twen-
ty such miles we must travel before we reach
even the base of the mountain
Over hills, down into valleys, through thick
cts of black spruce and swamps of cedar, it is
the same old story of tedious, foot-sore travel
ling and weary nights. Night never comes
too soon in the woods, unless one is lost. 1t
is always welcome; and our camping by
the side of Wassataquoik was that Of tired
men.
The morning begins at 4 o'clock in the
woods; at seven o'clock elsewhere. Our break
fast was finished and the tent was struck long
before five, and we were on the march.
Avalanche brook was reached at the early
nightfall and we slept by the roaring of noun
tain cascades all that short night The side
of the great hill was like curtain, high blue
curtain, on our left, and the torrents dashed
below at our feet. Waking, as we did, at an
early hour the next day, just as the dawn was
creeping up stealthily over the sky, we felt
that none but poets had a right to gaze upon
such scene.none except those who could sing
of the early beauty of the sky and the azure of
the mountain at our side. We were there by
indulgence; and, while we could admire the
grandeur and read the morning lesson of the
twilight, no power was given to us to tell 9TH
ers Of that which filed our souls.
And when the twilight blushed into the sun
rise, we all stood silently awed by the glory
Half had never been told us. Like those who
are to gaze, on splendid gallery of paintings,
no longer, we reluctantly turned away. The
"Slide" is the point of the mountain which we
first reach. 1t is an highway of loose gravel
and rolling stones; with each side of the path
lined by the mountain vegetation. At the base,
the pines and birches assist us in our climbing,
and after a rise of hundreds of feet, we find
that these become much smaller and finally
dwindle down into dwarfs. A little higher
and our path is through the mountain berry
bushes and the new variety of the white birch.
Under our feet the lchens, which below were
struggling for life, are here thriving In con-
genial climate, and the little "Rendeer Moss
lichen everywhere common In some degree
OF variation or other, is here conspicuous ell
ement of the Flora. Hard climbing for few
hundred feet brings us to the elementary ta-
ble-land of Katahdin. Around us are the
boulders and disconnected fragments Of rock,
transported from the mountains still further
north, while many of them are merely remov-
ed few feet from the parent ledge We stand
on the creeping willows and mountain bar
berry, with few plants around us which are old
acquaintance The dwarf cornell, which is a
real cosmopolite, still permits us to admire the
beautiful star-like arrangement of the leaves.
and causes us TO wonder why it will persist in
scaling the mountain to attain such chilly EN-
inence as this.
Do not men do so every day?
Far below us few stragglers of our party
who are rather fat and puffy, turn round every
five minutes to admire the scenery. Poor
souls, don't they know we can see through
their painful endeavors to pretend not to per-
spire or be weary?
The view from this first and lowest table
land or fiat ridge is - what shall we call IT ?
Shall we, at this the outset, exhaust our very
limited stock of adjectves, synonymous with
superb" magnificent &c? l am afraid if I
did so, should soon say in despair as the
Frenchman did, splendid! magnifque!! su-
perb!!! pretty fine!!!!
Suffice it then TO say, in common language,
that even this view is rather tall But Mr..
Keep, our terrestrial Palinurus, orders are to
"move on"
"Oh, let's examine this flrstw say all our fat
men simultaneously, and, deferring to their
wishes and absolute necessities, we sat down
to lunch before proceeding further. We found
little water in a hollow of granite ledge and
with the rock for our table and pitcher, con-
triyed to spend a very comfortable noon. The
cranberries which we saw, were very plenty
on the table-land and furnished us with de-
licious desert
Hard climbing now-after dinner Loose
rocks everywhere and partly concealed by the
luxuriant growth of lichens; sharp-ponted
ledges and projections; all these made our
progress lanything but rapid. Every moment
the view became more grand until we had
reached the summit before descending to the
"Chimney." Katahdin has three SUBMITS al
though it seems like an Emeraldism to speak
of three highest points. This is one of sum-
mits. 1t is spur of great height and affords
magnificent view of the whole country
around, with the exception of that which is
hidden by the mural precipice on the south.
Far away in that direction is a wall, and of
such height that one shrinks from even think
ing of walking on its narrow edge. Sharp
and keen is that edge and frightfully steep are
the sides. No wonder that more than one ask
ed Keep, confidentially, if it were not possible
to attain the monument without passing over
the knife-edge Of granite. 'No, sir, and more
than that where you see that deep gulf with
the ridge for a bottom and deeper gulf on
either side, that's where we are goingw And
what is that rayine called? 1t is that which