The national Republican. [volume] (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870, 1869-08-10
white mour,.iu corre.p.ndeuee.
rEoriLE Houss. WHITE MousIAIss, /

August 2, lSp.
EDITOR OF hkPUbLiCAN' from flymouth,
whence l last wrote you, 10 this beautiful
opening In the Frauconia range. forming
~. No,.h 4. -. - a. - sa,i.h,,,i
wy "' one =, '"o ms ..s .'
stage rides OF thirty miles which this whole
mountain region affords. With six feet
horses and n wide awake driver. full of local
,re,-.,i. -, int. a. TO-, 4, iii,
i"'o' u'''ou "nu "iiins w '"p"'' w WIN
Propi'ious skies ana exceiient company,
was our own fault If we did not drink In
with pure, cool air the further inspiration
,,,,,o,, ,ha ,,o., ,roso,o oo,,,d No, fa,i 10 sna
"".n 'Ae ' foe'e 49, -. ~ ~
In tho glorious scenery "hieh met tne eye
on every hand. The road extends up the
valley of the Penrigewasset, and on either
.i,. It,. go, "a Wooded h,us It'll.
s,oo i''o sIeon auu "oouou nuns "ni"
diree'iy In front tne rraseohla mountains,
the Immediate object OF our days ride, lift
their more bare and rugged heads, some
,iue. clad In cIords ord . non h,,hoa IN ann
80 - .Sa' auu "'Vu oa.n'u ~ 1uu
shine' mounts Lafayette, Liberty aud fro-
file, with the Haystacks and Eagle Cliff,
constitute the principal peaks Of the range,
and among them arc grouped, within short
distance OF each other, more objects Of In
terest TO the visitor than can be claimed for
any other portion Of the White mountains.
Before reaching the Profile House, we pass,
In our route, the Basin and the Old Man Of
tho Mountain In full view. Before reaching
the latter we pass huge boulder under
the branches Of tho trees by the roadside,
which has been shaped by natures plastic
hand into an almost perfect semblance to q
gigantic mastlf, and which our driver calls
the cold Mans Dog" while the Flume, the
Pool, Walkers Falls and the bride path to
Mount Lafayette lie at short distances from
the road. Alighting at the Profile House,
we find Il enlarged since last season. with
ample Accommodations for over four hun
drca guests. Here We find tourists from nll
parts of Inc country in search of health and
recreation. which no tour on Inc Continent ia
hettsr csicplated IN Insnre, AMONG the nun.
her Tho Hon. a a Fishar Observation-Disclosures Of
Patents.
ShaWls and oyercoats are essential to COM
| fort. a great contrast 10 The npparel suitable
to Wasbingtop. and Inc bright wood Arcs
which blaze in The open bcarths In the slt.
ling and reading rooms arc centres of attrac.
lion 10 newly arrived cnests' and 10 those
who have flnished their rambIes and sight.
seeings for the day. Every ono who has mot
cut New England wholly from his geography
has road ~ tbo sIngnlar nhenomenon al
nature which has formed from huge rocks
and cayerns on the towering front of what
ia now called Profile mountain that semi
blance to A human profile which has long
borne the appellatIon of the "Old Man OF
the Mountain" and which will bear that
name nntil tho disintegratinp forces of time
and the elements shall 80 transform the hinge
masses Of rock which form The features OF
This mountain deity az to deprive them of
Tho distInonisbed honor which thew now nos.
| aess Of bee ring n most nerfect likeness 10 tho
proole of a bnman face. have never met
| a tourist visiting the Franconia range who
ana NOT say that hls expectations were more
than realised as no beheId for thu frat limo
this great stone face looking down from Its
sublime height with stern and clear-cut fea-
lures upon the beautiful. placid lake at the
base OF Profile mountain, which has been
appropriately styled the cold Mans Look
ing Glass" The face Is colossal, being
eighty feet In length, but al its height of
nearly 2, 900 feet, appears as perfect and
symmetrical as II cut by the sculptor's
chisel, when seen from the proper point Of
view. But we cannot tarry longer at this Sc
ductlve spot.
The basin must next be visited, which con-
slsts Of deep hollow worn in the solid rock
by the waters Of the Penrigewasset, near
their source, falling over ledge some ten
feet In height, and which whirl and eddy for
q while In this receptacle with the stones
which have there collected until they find
their way out and form the musical cas-
cades below. Tho basin Is nearly round and
about thlrty-fye feet In circumference, its
sides being perpendicular, and as smooth as
a floor. lis waters are clear as crystal, and
show distinctly every polished stone at the
bottom, flfteet or twenty feet below the sur
face. Sitting or reclining on its margin.
in tho cool. pure mir which surrounds h. liz,
tcnlnv to lis fairy-llke music and muslpp on
The surpassing beauty of the scene, one is
tempted 10 lei the hour of midday glide into
without openipg his mind 10 other and less
pleasing thoughts and meditations. The
horses and driver. however, are waiting.
and We take our seats and proceed about
tbrea miles further 10 the Flume Uouse
from which A foot path leads to the 1ume
itself certainly the most plcturesque and
among the most wonderful of all the phe-
nome8a which nature has scattered so pro-
fusely over This whole section of the State,
In approaching the aume proper we
| trayerse the borders of n cascade where the
waters of the pellucid stream spread ont
| into a thin ailyer sheet and fall some sIx or
soyen hundred feet in about a quarter of n
mile, over a smooth bed Of solid granite,
suddenly contracting to form the mouth of
the aume Itself, Here the granite walls
become "a upright as the walls OF a house,
rIsIng seventy Or eighty feet, the dIstance
between them VARYING from ten to twenty
| through
wildcat low the mountain stream which
forms Tho cascade below. At one point the
walls contract to about ten feet In width,
and between their tops is suspended, like
the keystone CT an arch, huge egg-shaped
boulder weighing, 1t is estimated, some fifty
tons. Passing under this we look up, no
without apprehension lest few inches o
the wall should crumble and let the grea
trip-hammer down upon our devoted heads
with many conjectures how this solid mass
was lifted from its former bed and cast int
the jaws Of this narrow pass for travellers t.
gaze and wonder at, and with confusing
speculations as to how many years or age
will elapse before the forces of nature viii
let 1t fall with crushing weight into the be-
T below. Clambering up the only side entranc
TO the 1ume, and stepping out upon SOM
, trees which have been felled and throw
across above the suspended rock, we lool
down upon II and read upon its top dozel
feet beneath us the names of two advcntur
Qua tourists who have descended and painte
their names thereon.
Leaving this much-frequented spot, w
next visit the Pool, about a mile distant
| where tina mailman who Inns acted In tina