National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1873-08-22

wart. Everything had an ancient, out-of-tho-
| world look, which, In Its way. was interest,".
Ing. Tho houses were squalid cabins but u
was curious to see that almost all had an
abundance Of flowers planted In the small
patches Of land, or In tubs by the doors.
There are no bridges here, nor have ever
been, so we struggled through the stream
across a difficult ford. Tho river Is about
200 feet wide, and three feet dcep-a swift
stream Of the purcst water have ever seen.
The bottom Is paved with great bouldcrs,
through which ouD unhappy teams had 10
wrestle as best they could. We camped Just
below the board In another Of those beautiful
green borders to tho streams which have Of
late given us such famous camplng-grounds.
Twenty times day We come across places
which go invite us by their beauty and fitness
for q camp that IL seems hard TO pass them
by--wood, water, clear sward and sheltering
trees, with young growths to furnish tent
poles, aud 70 be found anywhere on little
search.
BY an accident at the ford we lost the alco-
hol from my can Of snakes, and were Obliged
To- go back to town TO replaces II with the. vile
whisky OF a bar-room, which was sure 10
XIII, but was not remarkable for Its preserv-
Ing properties. IL was curious TO sec the
huugry-Iooklng crowd Of loafcrs eye the gal
| Ions Of precious stuff vanishing among the
| snakes aud fish. There were loud and deep
protests against tho proclamation. The objec-
tons might have been moro effective had the
spectators not been somewhat dazcd by the
inconccivable character Of the whole per-
forinauce. Three. dollar whisky given to
the yarmluts, as one expressed II, enough
| To give them all good time for week, was
enough to rilc any man." ."
Our nights camp was In cool air beneath q
| sky Of marvellous brilliancy. IL was one OF
those nights when the heavens deepen until
one fancies Que sees the stars In long per-
| spectiyc; aud already some new stars began
10 show along the southern sky. The next
day we climbed over the divide which sepa.
rates the waters Of tho Potomac from the
James. The head-watcrs cross each other
like the interiaced branches Of two forest
trees, 80 that II was hard to be sure where
one system began and the other ended;
but thu rambling rills soon gathered them
selves Into O beautiful river, which grew In q
few miles to scarcely fordable stream.
We camped for our Sunday rest In grove
| beside the road, by the noblest spring we
havc yet drank from; II came up out Of lit
tie green plat At the foot Of the mountain In
great basin Of mosgrown rocks, from which
other great springs on tho same farm Of 200
acres. Tho owner Of the land offered to
catch US some trout In tue native fashion.
After dark party. which must have repre-
sentcd all the people within three miles, APP
peared, furnished with pine torches aud great
utuu-ntS nhuptu lthC tht
men with these waded Into the strcam, and,
| working upward drove the fish before them,
while the people on tic bank with their
flaming torches helped 70 confuse the poor
creatures. The motley crowd of men, women
| and children, all aglow with the torchliyht,
| the fishers wadlpg and plunging In tho
stream, the stranded asl dancing on The
| thick night. The fish, though II seemed at
| first as II tho stream should DO swept Of
them, managed pretty generally TO eludc
| their pursucrs. BY the torchllght one could
sec them flashing, like shooting stars, through
tue water, hurryiny up stream, or dashing
with quick turns through their pursncrs and
into safety below. They seemed to under
stand that their safety lay down stream. The
drove that went up the river moved
hesitatingly, turning every now and
| then to reconnoltre the line Of nets;
II thcy found a break In the line they
charged 1t with wonderful quickness, and
were out Of sight In au instant. After a
drive Of an hour, during which half q mile Of
pool aud raid was searched, nhundred trout
Of good size were IN the baskets; those under
size were allowed to escape through the large
| meshes Of the nets, OF were turned Into the
water as soon as caught.
In the morning We explored cave which
opened near our camp, one Of the thousand
which undermine this region. The only no
Il
purity Of the air within and without the
cave. Coming out after dark, the air, SO
/ pure to our senses before, seemed reek oi
odors; there was a rank, stiifiing smell Of the
| vegetation, q sickeniny odor from the river,
with variety Of unclassihed sensations be-
sides.
At the end Of our days journey we left the
valley, aud, climbing thousand feet, found
ourselves on q table-land fenced round with
mountains and yielding the waters Of the
Warm. the Hot, and the Healing Springs
Tho Warm Springs were prcttily situated
wits some good buildings, but lookin 9 a good
deal neglected. Fashion has rather passed
away from 1t, though there seemed to be .
hundred people, with the devoted faith which
valctudinarians learn to feel In springs, try
Ing to wash away variety Of Ills. We ART
In u region where this sort of hostelrie;
abound. South Of the Warm Springs, a few
miles distant, lie the Hot and the Healing
Springs, both more thronged than this
Just beyond, on our road to Milboroush, w
came upon the Bath Alum Springs, will
waters OF great name, which must be de-
served II they could make men out Of som,
Of the wrecks we saw about the place. w
feel SO far removed from our kind tina
throngs OF any description are repulsiye, ant
the congregations Of disordered bodies abou
these springs are the wo st phases Of the su
perciyilizatlon we have been wandering
the kindest Invitations to tarry, aud hurry OF
to our next camp. Near hero we passed
by the mouth OF singular cave. Our roa'
lay along the base Of u cliff by which ran
beautiful river, another tributary, Of tn
James. The cliff was richly sculptured In tn
, rude rcllefs Of decay, and, well mantlcd wit
foliage at Its base, were many small, cavern
like recossos, and one deeper opening whic
evidently led far into the mountain. As "
approached this the air became rapid
cooler, and, when near Its mouth, we were |
7 rush of air which poured from 1t, sccmingl
as cold as winter wind. The blast was s
strong that 1t would float away q handkei
chief for sorue distance, the air having
movement Of at least six miles on hour. N
5 one could teil i,s anything about the cav,
: except that II blow all summer and drew
l its breath In the winter time. Tho teinpert
: ture VI the air was that Of the mean annui
! heat OF this region, about sixty degrees, u
, ousside air being about thirty degrees highe
From this point We made Journey !
. In order 70 get o glimpse at the mounta
Q sections and Of the greatest of the Virgin
Z watering-places. We found wcll-arrang,
!, aud picturesque caravansary; Q central ha
y Used Tor dining, and other public rooms, ar
Z largcnumber of cottages scattered arOut
q the borders Of great clllpsc. The place W
u for the fancy balr' which was TO take pla
Z that night. The dust beaten up by the CO
o rfagcs, the din OF servants tho smell Of foo
y with the hateful odor Of crowded mankln
Is to which our savage senses were very sen
70 tive, drove us away. We thought to ST.
n several days, but In two hours we were
d tho train Tor our camp with It, sweet sii
IS pliclty. .-.ys .rt.5
le We arc out OF the central region Of t
% mountains when we descend. into Roc
3 bridge county. There arc many Ii
h lated mssses, some Of majestic .propt
N lions, through which our road win
10 Its way, but they are dIscounect
is ruins Of tho long ridges Of the main syste
u points which have long since been won by I
$; forces contending against tho mountain
T. Our road falls upon o little river, the vail
10 Of which We follow nearly all the way to Lie
In lngton-one of q hundred brooks we ha
followed from their source TO their full-gro'
" proportions, but one Of the prettiest. For
Nc fortnight we had not seen anything wort
re to be called farm; here decent culture
tn gins 10 appear again. Negroes are still ra
q. so far they have been rarer In Virginia til
ID In any other part Of our journey. II Is c
q dent that slaves were few; and the signs
On thrift lend color TO the statement that IN
Iir Of the people are descendants of Scotch q
h grants Of the last century. We camped J
We outside Of Lexington, and In the morn
%, visited the town, which has some attract,
OF derived from Its being the seat Of two cont
ks cradle schools-tbe Washington College, n
he rejoicing Ia the more ambitious title Of Wa
ed in1tnn and Leo IIniyprsity. and the lcss n