The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1879-01-09

tabllshed two gardens to receive his
collection Of living plants until they
could be conveniently transported
one, in New Jersey, near the city Of
New York; the other about ten miles
from Charleston. S c.. After the es-
ia olishment of these botanic gardens.
he made his first journey from Char
lesion to the Allegheny Mountains as
cending the Savannah river to irs source
in the Cherokee country. He reach
ed the keowee river in June. 1877, and
was conducted by the Indians across
the mountains to the head of the
TugaloO. one of the branches of the
Savannah. In 1888. he made a second
excursion to the sources of the Sa-
%vannah, crossed the mountains and
discovered many interesting plants
In 1889, he set Out from Charleston
to adifferent portion of the mountains
of North Carolina. by way of Camden,
Charlotte, and Morganton, reaching
the higher mountains at Turkey
Cove" one of his principal h~ead-quar-
tiers. From this place he made an ex-
cursion to the Black NOuntain and
the Yellop Mountain, which latter
mountain. he. at that time, supposed
to be the highest in the United States.
In this, however. he was mistaken. as
III tOuI iSJS HdNc Otcu respecting
some lofty summit they visited before
actual measurements were made.
Descending this elevated range on the
Tennessee side, he travelled as far as
the Block House." on the Holston,
famous in the annals Of border war
fare. Several persons having been
killed by the Indians. shortly before
his arrival Michaux, abandoned his in
1ention of penetrating into Kentucky,
and resolved to botaniZe for a time in
the mountains on his way to Phi!a-
delphia. In this journey, he informs
us, it was at the town of Abingdon, in
Washington county. Va, then COM
posed of a dozen Lighthouses, that he
first ate bread, made from our Maize
or Indian corn c'DanS cette riUe on ne
mango que DIES pain de Mdys,') but with
what guStO, or relish, he leaves to our
~conjectures'
OmittinS notices of other several
journeys Of this interchangeable b~otanist,
both in, and out of the State, he again
visited the Mountains of North Caro-
lima in 1894. travelling from Charleston
by way of Camden. Charlotte, Lin
colnton. and Morganton, to Turkey
Cove, his former head quarters. From
this point he visited the Black, Roam
and YelloU Mountains, and, for the
first time, the G~randfuther, which he
now supposed to be the highest noun
tain of the Allegheny range. as, on a
former occasion, he had expressed a
similar opinion respecting the YeliOW
Mountain.
The earlier journals of Michaux
abound with expressions of loyalty to
the King, but now, after the death of
his unfortunate Sovereign, Louis the
Sixteenth, he becomes suddenly trans
formed into a true Republican, and
from the summit of the Grandfather
Mountain, he joined with his guide in
singing the Marseilles Hymn, and
cried, !" Vire la Hberte, ct la Repu1i
que Francaise." In the spring of
1895, Michaux again set out from
Charleston, assembled the ,Catawba
river to it's junction with the little
Catawba, and botan1zed up the latter
stream to Lincolnton. From this
place. he visited the LsnUiUe Mountain.
the Yellow Maintain, and some others
in that vicinity. After spending sew
eral months in Tennessee and Ken
lucky, he returned TO the Mountains
of North Carolina, thence to Charles
ton, from which port he embarked,
and reached Paris in December, 1896.
A large and interesting portion of our
mountain species was first discovered
by Michaux, and published in his
North American Flora (FlOrd Boreali-
Americana) which is yet a standard
work in Botanical science.
John Fraser, an English Botanical
collector, visited the Allegheny Noun
tains Of this State, in 1879, and again
in 1893, acting, on the latter occasion,
under the patronage of the Russian
Government. He assembled the Roam
Mountain, where en- a spot which
commands a view of five States,
namely, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennes-
see, North Carolina and South Caro-
lima, the eye ranging to distance of
seventy or eighty miles when the air
is clear. he had the good fortune to
discover and collect living specimens
of the new and splendid RhOaOden-
drOn CatdnbienSe, from which SO many
beautiful hybrid varieties have since
been obtained by skillful cultivators,
and are now f und in every extensive
botanic garden in America and Eu-
rope.
F. A. Michaux, son of the Michaux
previously mentioned, who accompa-
MED his father in several of his earlier
Journeys, returned to this country in
1901, and during that, and the mex,
year, diligently explored a part Of our
Mountain district. The result Of his
researches in various parts of the
country. is contained in his large work
on the Forest Trees of North America
(Sulua Americand.) the descriptions
being given in classic Latin. ~illustra.
ted with beautiful colored plates, and
is still, as far as his labors extended:
a treatise of standard excellence.
lain Ln0n- of Great Britain. was ar