The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1885-08-26
a -cending M. mitchell
BY CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER.


From Wilson's 10 the peak Of Mitchell It
is seven aud half miles; We made II 10
five and a half hours. A bride rath was
cut years ago, but it has been entirely neg
lccted. II Is badly washed, 1t 10 stony,
muddy and great trees have fallen across
1t which wholly block the way Tor horses.
AT these places long detoufs were neces-
sary, on steep hillsides and through gu.lies,
over treachrrous siuk-h0ies in the rock-i
through quaggy places, heaps Of brush, and
rotten logs. Those who have ever at
tempted to get horses over such ground
will not wonder at the SLOW progress We
made. Before We were halfway Up the as
cent, we rea I'D the fly Of attempting 1t
on hur-eback but then to 20 on seemed as
easy as TO 20 back. The way was also e1
ceedngly steep IN places, and what with
roots, and logs, and slippery rocks aud
stones, it Vas a desperate Climb f1r the
horses.
What a magnificent forest Oaks, chest
It's, poplars, hemlocks, he cucumber "a
species of magnolia, with plnkish, Gu
cutDber-iike Gomez, and all sorts OF north
erD and southern gro~lhs meeting here I'D
splendid array. And this gigantic forest
with little diminuation in Size OF trees,
continued two thirds Of the way up. We
marked, as we went on, the maple, The
OlHIh luC outhc}C tbS hiShN'F -
the locust, and the guide pointed out IN
one section the largest cherry trees We had
ever seen; splendid trunks, eac worth
large sum if it could be got to market. AZ
Ter the great trees were lief. behind, we ca
tered garden of white blrches and then
plateau of swamp, thick with raspberry
bushes, and finally the ridges, densely
crowed with funereal black basam
Halfway up, big Tom sh we'd US hi- IA
vorile, the biggest tree he knew. 1t was
poplar or tulip, Ii stands more like COLI
umn than tree, rising high into the ar,
with scarcely preceptible taper, perhaps
sixty, more likely hundred, feet before 1t
puts out a limb. Its girth six feet from
the ground is thirty-two feet | think 1t
might be called Big Tom. II stood here OF
course, giant whep Columbus sailed from
Spain, aud perhaps some sentimental tray
eler will attach the name o. Columbus to 1t.
In the woods there was not much sign OF
animal life, scarcely the note Of bird, bnt
we noticed a. we rode along 10 the other
wise primeval silence loud and continu-
Gus humlnng overhead. almost like the
sound of the wind in pine tops II was the
humming bees The upper branches were
alive with these Industrious ioilers, and
Big Tom was always on the alert to dis
cover and mark u bee-gum, which he could
flslt dlLtTWdfus i1Duty nuutIbS 10 oDc ~
his occupations. Collecting spruce gum IS
another, and he WAS Continually hack ~
ph, with his hltchet, knobs of the tran>lu-
cent secretion. How rich and fragrant are
these forests !. The rhododendroD WAS
still in occasional boon, and flowers OF
brilliant hue cleaned here and there.
The struggle was more severe as we
neared the summit, and the footing worse
for the horses. Occasionally it was safest
TO dismount and lead them up slippery as
cents, but this was also dangerous, for it
was difficult 10 keep them from treadIug on
our heels in their frantic flounderiDgs, in
the steep, wet, narrow. brler-grown path.
Al one uncoDmonly pokerish place, where
the wet rock sloped into bog, the rider OF
Jack thought it prudeLt to dismount, but
Big Tom insisted that Jack would make
it" all right, only give him his head. The
rider gave him his head, and the next min
ute Jack 5 tour heels were In the air. and he
came down on his side in fash. The ri
der fortunately eXtric 1ted his leg without
losing il, Jack scrambled out with broken
shoe, and the two imped along 1t was
wonder that the horses legs were not
broken a dozen times.
As we approached the top, Big Tom
pointed out the direction, a half mile away,
of a small pond little mountain tarn, oy-
erlooked by a ledge Of rock, where Profess
or Mitchell 10 / his life. Big Tom was the
guide who found his body. That day as
we sat on the summit he gave in great de-
tail the story, the general outline of which
Is well knowu.-September atlantic.