Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1866-11-29
Tne Catskiil RKoJntainss

! we take the following extract, dc.
tive of the Catskil Mountains, from" " 80
ington Irving's recently published pc,
nous work, entitled the Spanish Parefa
''AIy whole voyage up the BudsoD e.-5
| full of woader and romance. l was
| lively boy, somewhat imaginative, of cas-
| faith, and prone 10 relish everything
partook of the marvellous. Among :la
passengers on board Of the slocp WA =
veteran Indian trader, on his way 70 s-s
lakes 10 traffic with the natives. He Laa
discovered my propensity, and anus
himself throughout tho voyage by telling
me Iudian legends and grotesque sto-,a1
about every noted place on the river-s1~4
;,s Spayteh Devil Greek, the Iappan 7aa,
the Devils Dams Hammer, ant c.1s-
hobgobIin places.
1.-The Catskill Mountains, especi y,
called forth host OF tanciful trsG.ilols.
We were all day slowly tidins aions u
sight OF them, so that he mac full Glne l-
weave his whimsical narratives. Ia .'.--s
mountains, he told ne, according 10 IN
dian belief, was kept the great treasl.y oi
storm and sunshine for the region of the
Hudson. An Ole squaw spirit had caa.g
OF it, who dWelt on the highest peak =
the mountain. Here she kept Day -
Night shut up in her wigwam, LETTING o;
only one of thera al a IIme. She mae
new Moons every month, end hung then
up in the SKY, cutting Up the old ones ~
to stars. The great ManitOu, or master
spirit, employed her 10 manufactu-5
clouds sometimes she wove them out {.
cobwebs, gossamers and morning dew
End sent them off, flake after flake, 10 f..
in the air and give light summer shower.
Sometimes she would brew up black thu
der storms and send down drenching rains
to swell the streams and sweep everything
away.
"Hs had many stories, also, abouI
mischieYous spirits who infested the noun-
tains in the shape OF animals, and playeG
all kinds of pranks upon Indian hunt6.s,
decoying them iato quagmires and moras
ses, or to the Drinks Of torrents and preci-
pices. All these were doled out TO me a.
l lay on the deck throughout long sum
mer's day, gazing upon these mountains,
the cver-changlng shapes and huss which
appeared to realize the magical influences
IN question. Sometimes they seemed 10
approach; at others TO recede during tie
! heat OF the day they almost melted into a
sultry haze as the Cay declined they
deepened in toaC their SUBMITS were
frightened by the last rays of the sun, and
later in the evening their whole outliEz
was printed in deep purple agalns: IN am
- I h.zls s1lr fhrrc Oh
continually before my eye, and listened to
the marvellous legends OF the trader,
host of fanciful notions concerning them
was conJuTed into my brain, which have
haunted it ever since.
'sAs to the Indian superstitions concern
ing tie treasury Of storms and sunshine,
and the clouds weaving spirits, they may
have been suggested TYNE atmosphericai
phenomena Of these IloUI-tains, the clouds
which gather round ;Leir SUBMITS, and
the thousand serial effects which indicate
the changes of weather over a great extent
of country. They are epitomes Of our
variable climate, and are stamped with
all its vicissitudes And here let me say
a word in favor ofthose vicissitudes which
are too often made the subject of exclusive
repining. If they annoy us occasionally
by changes from hot to cold, from wet TO
dry, they give US one of the most beautiful
climates in the world. They give US the
brilliant sunshine cf the sosth of Europe,
with the fresh verdure Of the north. They
float our summer sky with clouds of gor-
geous tints or tieecy whiteness, and send
down cooling showers to refresh the pant
ing earth and keep it green. Our seasons
are all poetical; the phenomena of our
heavens are full OF sublimity and beauty.
Winter with Us has none of its proverbial
gloom. It may have its how ling winds
and thrilling frosts aud whirling snow
storms but il has also Its long intervals
Of cloudless sunshine, when the snow-clad
earth gives redoubled brightness to the
day, when at night the stars beam with
intense lustre, or the moon floods the whole
landscape with her most limpid radiance
and then the joyous outbreak OF our spring,
bursting at once into leaf and blossom, re-
dundant with vegetation and vociterous
with life. And the splendors Of our sum
merits morning voluptuousness ana eve
ming glory its airy palaces Of sua-guilt
clouds, piled Up in deep azure sky, and
its gusts cf tempest Of almost tropical
grandeur, when tie forked Tightening ard
the believing thunder voiley from the
battlernents OF heaven and shake the sultr-
atmosphere"