The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1878-06-06
ncation we came out of the river as dry
as We went iE, barring the effects of q
copiOus cold perspiration on INV nart

1
fication we came out of the river as dry
as We went iE, barring the effects iof =
copious cold perspiration on my part.
| More miles OF rough road, ss6ieSa with
murderons stones and varied with treach.
erous looking fords, finally brought us 10
our destination for the nicht, the resi-.
dence OF Mr.. r.. Whiteaides, where he
| received q cordial welcome and hot SUP.
per, and were most pleasantly enter.
tanned. Darkness came down upon IA
almost at one stride ano,, q fer ese feaci,e,i
MS gate. A. few minutes later we were
sitting. In the front porch looking out
into the night, and T, for one. feelin5
deeply impressed with the novelty end
beauty of che brief twilight in the mo In
tains, when suddenly q ghostly vo, "a
darted out of q thicket almost at our
ieet and went calling down the dark VAL
ley, as rapidly as the words could be
uttered, "Whip-poor- T. whio.poor.
Will wbip-poor-willl' ~ Immediately it
seemed hs if a thousand throats. which
had been awaiting the signal, had caught
up the cry; and al Thousand voices were
ciamorlng in concert for the punisbment
OF that hapless offender against bird Laws.
II wall was not thrashed within an inch
of his life that night it was certainly be-
canse he ccsia &c &c fi t5lifsd, ani moi be.
cause of any lack of unanimity of senti-
ment against him on the part of the
other and numerous members of his COM
punity. Not being able, apparently, to
lay claws on VIII, however, several voices
next proposed very earnestly 10 Chuck
Willis widow, but this proposition vas
voted down and drowned out of hand-a
proceeding readily understood when it
was explained to me that while the whip
IS mountain bird, bird "1uohii;ilE
wiH's, widow is known as the lowlander.b
by which name he is commonly called
Alter an early breakfast next morning
we commenced our second days Journey.
and had proceeded but a few miles when
we turned sharply into valley, looking
up which we were greeted with our first
view OF the Blue Ridge, only twelve
miles away. A half hour later, at7:20
Q. IN. Friday morning, and inst as We
turned the summit of one of the lesser
kil!s, my companion suddenly pointed
upward over the tsee tops and startled
me from reverie with the single suffi-
cient exclamation,
YoNDER rs BALD MOUNTAIN!
Only its crown was visible, however.
and as the road descended the hillside it
quickly disappeared and was not again
visible until an hour later, when With
equal suddenHess it came into view again
from the top of little knoll, whence its
hard, sharp outlines, il the possession of
which it differs from all other peaks in
sight, were readily traced from the river
BED at It's foot up to the bare rocky sum-
NIT, whence it hes derived its distinctive
name. We were now butfiye miles from
Its base, and from our point of view the
summit appeared to be divided into three
prominent peaks, known respectively as
Harris View, the Pinnacle, and Round.
Top, but may as we'll mention here
that the term Bald mounts.in is given to
arrange which comprises many such peaks.
and which extends perhaps twenty miles
to the north of the entrance to Hickory
Nut.Gap. 4 little before noon we
reached the hossssi - asl:.s ~ bass. aux. having
obtained dinner and en;houf of needed
rest prepared to go in search of the VOL
.cano.
I'VE bad made repeated inquiries along
the route as to tue fact of the reported
rupture and its whereabouts, if it really
existed. Asthe first question was almost
Invariably amsEs=eA IN t!,s nasa.ivs
however, we, did not find frequent occa.
sion for PrOpounding the second With
in sight of the mountain itself we had
met and questioned q man who lived
within five miles of it, and were informed
by him that there was some talk about
suon crack, but he had never seen it !:
didn't believe that it was there, and.
moreover, though he had been living
near it for years, h5 had never heard any
rumblilgs Or felt any Shocks" This
answer was repeated in substance by
several other persons along the road, and
but tor the representations of one or two
countrymen who seemed to be better In
formed, or who had heard at least that
some one else had seen stthe crack" I
ehonld have Tkees,i tempted very strongly
to give up the race in sight of the coal |!
There. was no approach to certainty, and
scarcely to possibility of successful
search until we alighted at the hotel
door, when the courteous youpg land:
lord; Mr.. 9Flacks Informed me that there
was no. doubt apout the existence of a
recently formed chasm, and that it had
been seen and marked by MIR. Afford,
o farmer who lived upon the top of one
of tue peaks in sight, and whose services
co1ld be secured for our guidance. ga
slready stated, the mountain was really
q range of several mountains, and from
the door of the hotel we were confronted
with four formidable peaks at the outset,
with the prospect of dozen more to in
yestigate afHsF. ne had explored these In
such manner as we could. Any one of
them would nays required two or three
days for even q cnreory ramble among
thin forests and jagged glens. It was out
of the question to attempt it.