Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1879-10-26
"xEEsE ssE zs EAD."
vghss ps j Harvey Ezasslcs says
about H..


about H..
Capt. J. Harvey Mathes, of the
Memph.s Ledger, recently visited this
point of interest, about fifty miles
from Knoxville, and writes s8f0.loWs :
The view on the left or south is
grand beyond description. We looked
| across dark ravines which point down
to the great spring that starts the
river. No human foot ever trOd ali
their Swallowed r5C5ssea. Far above
are seen ridge after ridge running
transVersely into the main mountain
like ibis Of some great system. Some
Of these are de5litute of timber bat
covered with ivy or laurel and look s.
| smooth aud green AS II nodded by tha
hands Of a gardener, but for the most
part there ia very heavy tin
! Der nearly TO the top. Higher
up still we pass through
long orchWay OF laurel, which shuts
out all view. L looks AS II nature
might EeCe be attempting with THE
luxuriant and iTop!cai-.ika growth to
conceal the ruins Of some ancient
palace and gardens, where mountain
kings could have Looked down upon
natural canopy, and rising over the
crest of The mountain, we found that
1t w8s really shutdown. We were over
$500 feet above the level IF the sea,
and could look down upon oceans Of
mountains, north, south, east and
west.
Speuce's cabin was soon found. a
friendly huntsman and trappor named
Davis Potter, wh0 walked twenty
eight mills after sunrise that day,
with half busbel OF meal anu o!ber
traps on his back, 10 meet Us, had a.
ready beeu there two hours. A fire,
which we needed, burned brightly in
the wide, open fireplace. There was
water in the bucket, cCffee in the pot,
bitteEs III the flask and good cheer in
store for u3 all. We had made 8 big
days march Of over twenty miles,
and part Of il over the worst and
widest I0ad, perhaps, in North Amer
lea. The cabin mas only q punche0u
floor, aud the wind whistles through
the cracks. L is free for the use Of all
vino cal. After feeding the horses,
and having supper camp st5 le, how
We slept! It was very cool for US. but
we slept like the " wolves in the
wood" Davis Potter says that snow
falls here 10 q great depth. OGc5 he
was up here to lock for some STOCK,
and when be aweke il tbs cabin next
morniDg, found a sn0W nearly four
feet deep. After remaining q prisoner
thle9 or four days ha Yentured ou1,
and soon found that the deep snow
was confined to the top OF the m0an
taia. lie has huuted. trapped aGi
herded in this region for many years,
and would not euj y himself st any
thing Else.
The third ~ 5ruing We saddled early
anu mad8 8 dash for tbs point known
locally IS Thunder Head, leaving oar
trappar % geb break fast ard hoping 0
reach The hiShest part Of the noun
tain by sunrise, Il this ~e We're not
quite successful. The distance proved
10 be nearly two miles east and up
every step was fui Of interest. The
views which burstupoD our autOnished
visions can never b. described in
words or family traced GA cauva4..
We wete far a8ova this world, aud
hundred mountains in Che s0lsnu
repose Of gray mOrnjug IsY st out feet
Far off TO the right and to the left the
courses of The rivers were marked By
white saee!s Of mist which cOver res
be valleys aud lay as motiouIess as
lakes o. ice. Taere are three dis
tincJ points within a mile and q half
on line, c'2s5ad as Thunder Head.
These are bare OF trees, as il Nature
stood uncovered il tue presence of
Natures God.
As we reached the second ore. ve
involGut arily paused in silence. The
sun e,oOd lusterless as q nethyst,
globe Of inCaudeE cent light, Just above
the eastern horizon, 81 its first ra{s
glaTed across a world as fresh and an
broken 10 The eye as il II as thouaan.!s
Of years ago long before man ever
trOd ih2se wild s0l!tudes. As the sua
rosa and the msts were relied facl,
like curtains. the range Of vision sga4
extended, and world now dewy an2
grand, as IL might have been Just after
the fiO2d, or when the six dawes work
of the Creator " as Fl 1ished, lay ben h
us. The cultivated coves on the forth
many miles distant, looked like hits of
garden. Fhe tOEn of Maryvi!la,
thirty miles distant, with it's colie1a
buildings ard churches. is distinctly
outlined 10 the naked eye. A few o.
the buildings OF Knoxville may also
be seen The 81 ace beyond is as blae
SIS the sky, with here and there a fagnl,
which looks like geometrical figure
viewed through telescope reversed
Reaching the eastern and highest of
these points, we looked down ou
mountains IN three directions-NoTth.
east and south. To the south Is aa
unbroken solitude not g field, CIR
ing smoke, nor a sign of mans WORK
can be seea. The farthest mountain
to be distineuished is said to be near
tie North Carolina coast, $50 miles
distant. Ia that direction over TWEEN
ty.five distinct mountain Ridges, ga
given line, can be made out with he
naked eye; all around is grandeur and
solemn Silence. This Is the summer
home of the snoW-blrds, and the
arsenal of the sky, where Iigh.Liai 8
are gathered and thunderbolts husled
Here nature ga hers her forces ana
drives them on tue wings of the Wind.
During a storm the lighting often
plays upon these high points, and
great balls of fire are seen to roll along