The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1877-12-01
But no one can be too loud in praise of Seneca
Lake 1t is beautiful beyond description ] can
only agree with the poet when he says


only agree with the poet when he says
How sweet, at set OF siin, to view
And see the mist of mantling blue ,
Float round the distant mountain side
This beautiful lake is about forty miles long
and varies from two to five miles in width. lts
waters are of diamond purity and never freeze
II is stated that the bottom has never been
reached in many places; but for the truth of this
We must take the author Of our guide-book, VINO,
nv the way, has gone-gone where the woodDlnc
twincth not, nor the trees cast shadoW-gohe 10
meet his mother-in-law!
The shores of this lake are grand and pie
turesquc, and consist Of a succession OF hills ana
nromonotorios sweeping back from the wat. :
edge in graceful lines, discovering mere ana
there fourishing little towns and villages, wen
titled farms and handsome farm houses, that De-
speak an industrious and thrifty people Inc
shores Of thi. lake are like a moving panorama
Of cvcr-chancing beauty, and, with the hundreds
Of VINEYARDS which are noticeable on every SIDE
the lovelnc., and grandeur of the entire TRIP
once taken Is never to be forgotten
WATKINS GLEN
is situated near the town of Watkins, which mes.
ties in a quiet, cosy nook at tn" head oil seneca
Lake. The city of Watkins il mo great shakes
Of a city, and, as view it, has neither the rush
and hustle of q good sized village nor the quiet
and solitude of Il country town. 1t Is a good
enough place to stay over night, but sad and
lonely spot in which to die, If ever you conc
this way Won will know this is Watkins without
being told.
1t was not a very pleasant day for the business
on hand as Mr. 4. Y. Sherwood, of n Y, tour
other commercial touriot,) and your most ooe-
dent buttoncd on or gloves, rolled up our
pants and, like the two unsophisticated travellers
that braved the Alpine heights, went forth to
climb the golden stairs" and winding paths OF
Watkins Glen. My friend Sherwood was moi
much on this style OF romance, though his name
would suggest to the contrary. His heart lay not
in winding pathways, shady dells, nor gltterlhs
cascades, but, like Napoleon of old, would give
worlds for another day on the plains OF Waterloo
With this introduction to my travelling compan
ion. we will enter this natural wonder. To the
left of the door us we entered the Glen the first
thing that attracted our attention was a small
stream that silently ripples along. Its quiet ap
pearance gave US no indication Of its experience
nor was there anything in its gentle ripple thai
told of its start four or five miles up the noun
tains, or It, iOurncv-onc Of the widest, mad
est and most wonderful that ever stream under
took. It told us not OF the great cliffs, the tire
mendous chasms. the lovely grottos and the leap
ing. winding passages through which it had
come But it reminded US that
This world is but organ,
With ten thousand tuntful keys,
Played by wind. by sun. by lightning,
Ger the valleys. hills and seas
Turning from the stream, We behela on either
side of us a vast cliff, which seemed to tower hun
drcds of feet above, shutting us out from the
world, as it were, while right ahead the walls al
most meet and further progress seems impossi
Bile. Through q narrow rift in the rock stream
works its way, while Mt the same time the music
of falling waters is heard, and we are lost il
leaps down a distance of sixty feet or more
This wonderful spot our gude-book calls "Glcl
Alpha which here means The beginning
Aftor travorsinG "a lang, narrow path with severn
windings and up a long fight Of stairs, we fine
ourselves on Sentry Bridge" from which
grand and wild view down through the Jagged
rocks into the deep blue basin is had, and tn,
whole seems broken into ripplcs by the falling
water Looking up hundreds Of feet through thu
rugged rocks, VIC are made to realize the stu
pcndous grandeur Of this masterpiece Of nature
and draw inspiration from its wild magniticencc
Standing amidst this solitude, we seem to hay,
forgotten the outer world that we left behind us
and to be in a kind of fairy land, admiring the
works of some ancient race of giants. Passing
on over rustic bridges, up lofty stairways ant
through narrow pathways, now threading along
the bank Of Il stream spread out and shallow aftc
It boils and roars through some rftcd CAVERN
we stand, what sight burst upon us TOwcrin.
cliffs rise one above another till they appear t
meet the clouds. A little narrow thread of SKY
is all that reminds us of the beautiful world be
yond. Onward We move from under projecting
rocks, over which drips a sheet of crystal water
Scene after scene appears more grand and grow
more wild as We climb the rugged paths and mar
rov stairway, until we come ut last to what i
called the
CAVERN CASCADE
a single column Of water, bubbling and rushin.
out of kind of circular cavern, whose subim
| but dark, damp walls seem to have thrown bacl
the echoes of the cascade for ages, until, as
would appear, they have grown hoarsc and tn
air is filled with the dcafcning roar, while tn
Hight from the "outcr world, cleaning throug
the transparent stream in front Of you, gives
the appearance of molten river
"Minnchaha's Laughing Water" next attract
MIR attention of which We catch a wee ulmpS
in what Is called the "Sccond Cascade" MINI,
thou art beautiful, graceful, and Yet irregular
while the water, broken in your dashng fall
mingled with foam and spray, gives Us brlliar
contrast To- the dark surrounding rocks.
Upward and onward is the motto With
this .nIitudr of nature Every stem adds a no,