The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1868-01-30
A Bit OF American Scenery.

A correspondent OF the Akron (Ohio) Beacon
describes the view from the celebrated Black
Rock" in Washington county, Maryland, as fol-
lows:
The view from this rock Is said to excel in
msgnifcsnce and grandeur even the Niagara
Falls BE this "a II may, the glory and greatness
OF what saw there will form an epoch ia my
life, and forever remain fresh 10 my memory.
On the 9TH OF October, in company with Mr..
William NewcOme as my guide, | commenced
my ascent. We assembled on horseback. We
travelled three miles and half to reach the apex
Of the mountain, to travel over which distance
consumed one hour and thirty minutes. We wound
round IN spiral shape, the narrowest the rockest,
the most sinuOus, and the most PERCEPTIONS noun
tain defle, we suppose any adVenturer ever passed
over. Sometimes we were obliged TO dismount
and lead our horses over very hazardous acclivi
ties. On our passage up we found an open space,
near perennial spring, to which in summer time,
picnic parties from many miles around resort and
spend a day 10 rural delights. Here we drank
the sweetest water and breathed the purest Fir
we ever participated OF in our lifetime. When
we arrived to within few rods Of the rock, we
dismounted and hitched our horses to the BUSH"
Ny guide then, as is the custom with strangers,
blindfolded me and led me forward. After stag
gering over rocks and stepping over crevices for
the space Of five miles, my Jude halted me, and
said, " Ready"-the badge was removed; gazed,
and o, ye heavens, what sight broke upon my
vision / fell back trembling, beWildered, and
paralyZed. IstoDd upon the edge OF a CyclOpean
rock, Using 5OO ieet perpendicular rom us base,
and on a dislodged crag lifting itself 800 feet out
Of the shimmering valley beneath. looked north.
ward, and southwark, aud westward, and
certainly such a splendid field Of Devil
deriDg enchsntment, and such gor-
Reous scene Of panoramic glory, never
flashed upon human eyes before. Moses, on Pts
gah's top, gazing upon the promised land,
methinks, never saw such world Of transcend
ant beauty and rapture. twenty-five miles to
the north glimmered the town Of Chsmbersburg,
in Pennsylvania; thirty miles TO the south were
the green peaks Of Hsrpers Ferry; to the north
Of us, ten miles. we could distinctly see Hsgers-
town; TO the left of this, bearing westward, and
the snuous Potomac, whose waters shone and
glimmered like a white silk ribbon; beyond the
quiet 4" Potomac " the mountains of Virginia
doomed up in grand array; intervening was
the great valley itself, dotted with villages.
marked with numberless villas, variegated with
thousand plantations Of checkered taste and
beauty, decorated with sylvan groves and green
growing grottoes, sparkling with silvery rivulets
sporting hither and thither--all this vast area ap
pesring as if carpeted from one end to the other,
yet scarcely peTceptbe undulation on its sur
face, although the real nature OF the country is
broken and divided. Added to all which, around
this apparent earthly paradise, as far as the eye
could reach to every point of the horizon, there
seemed TO be suspended q transparent drapery
as exqusitely wrought as the finest fabrics
of Circassisn looms. Strange that not more has
been said about this remarkable spot Men of
the old world who have stood on this emlnence
have said that il worth a trip across the At
lantic TO the glory and magnifcence Of the
scene. And yet Americans will spend thousan DIS
90 visit the countries Of the Eastern world, when
at the same time they could enjoy loveller scenes
and gaze upon sublimer perspectiyes Of earthly
grandeur, in our own unexplored country, and
that, too, at a small expense.