Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1899-09-06
Alistellaaeuus &eaaing.
NATURES WONDERLAND.
Notes of the Bicyclist by the
Wayside.

NoUOS VI CuO D1OJ CAASo w oAS
Wayside.
FROM RUTHERFORDTON TO ASHEyILLE
The Mountains In the Moonlight and BY
sunrise-Word Pictures Of Naturei
Grandest Beauties-The Charlestoniani
at Hendersonville-Georg Vanderbilt'i
Magnificent Estate at Biltmore.
Written for the Yorkville Enquirer by Rev
J. C. Johnes, Rector Of the Church OF thu
Good Shepherd, Yorkville.
THE QUEEN OF NIGHT.
1t was very fortunate that the first
and only night spent at Chimney Rock
should be moon-lit one. l was thus
enabled to see this picturesque region
at a great advantage. The sight
was inspiring. Immediately to your
front lowered those huge masses
of earth and rock, that from their
physical confguration have earned the
sobriquet mentioned above, with the
moon apparently but a few feet above
them. The contrast between light and
shade was a revelation. Looking
down the valley you could see the
mountain heights on one side bathed
in a soft, mellow light, while on the
other they were wrapped in deepest
gloom, intensified by the presence o.
night. The moons light, even where
it shone, was too soft and pale to pen
citrate the deeper recesses of the woods
and glades, and thus, the darkness o.
these spots became Egyptian in its in,
tensity and density. / walked down
to the river, and it was wrapped in
sombre shadow-the moons rays did
not penetrate here. What a change
from that of the day! How different
everything looked with the funereal
shroud of darkness over them. The
stream kept up a constant clatter and
turmoil as it leapt over boulders and
barriers thick and many. How fantas
tic the shapes these same boulders now
assumed. How truthfully and realisti'
cally Wordsworth has depicted in his
famous word-picture the notes.-the
efect-the appearance of waters as
they hurry along, just exactly as they
were doing here
Whizzing and Kissing,
Dripping and skipping,
Hitting and splitting,
Shining and turning,
Rattling and battling,
| Shaking and quaking,
Pouring and roaring,
Turning and crossing,
Flowing and going.
It was with reluctancy and diticultJ
that such charming sights could be de-
parted from. Every time l made
move homeward there was some new
feature presenting itself and holding
me entranced under its spell. Inc
disappearance of Luna over the tops
of the peaks, and the gradual closing
in of the shades of night weaned you
at last. from the beauties of this fas
cinating neighborhood. Ihad realized
and felt the full force OF the trulsn
that
Night is the time to muse;.
Then from the eye this soul
Takes flight, and with expanding views
Beyond the starry pole,
Describes athwart the abyss Of night
The dawn of uncreated light.
KING OF DAY.
Sunrise in the mountains would have
its own peculiar attractiveness, and
was anxious to see old Sol make his
appearance as the hsrbinger of day
There is fascinating obscurity in the
dawn. When the days natal hour has
arrived, and the east begins to bright
en- with just suspicion of light, how
dubious, how amusing, how unrea
the effect AS yet, there is but the
reflection of efulgent lustre. The
| light is dim, vague, shadowy. The
eve creates thousand imaginary ano
fantastic figures. The confusion o
twilight is still too strong to make ont
conscious of the realities of things nat
ural. Gradually, cautiously, tiny
shaft shoots upwards, spreading itsel
noiselessly over narrow, contracted
surface, growing perceptibly larger anc
wider each moment. The dark gray
mist begins to change color-red, vel
low, white radii of an immense cir
Gle are distinctly visible, and soon tht
great orb of day appears with his face
covered with a thin veil or mask o
the finest atmospheric vapor. The be
wildering confusion of few minutes
before become enlightened, the vague
ideas of chimerical fancy are supplant
ed by realities ; it is no longer shadow
land, but living entities. The sun has
now attained unsullied brightness. III
diffuses his cherry, ruddy smile over thu
topmost peaks; but the deep recesse!
of the valley are still obscured in gloom
presenting strong and strange con
trast.
For brief interval only
He stands tiptoe on the misty mountain
top,
and then lake, river, valley, telt
and tree catch his radience anc
reflect bis glory. What magnifcen
spectacle was beheld this morning
The towering mountain tops were
bathed in red, liquid fire, while thei
lower parts were lost in dark masses
of varying confusion. And the trans
itions were as amazingly quick, and 81
endless in formation, that the eys
could dwell but imperfectly upon th'
preceding picture, all the attractive
ness of the Immediate present seemed
to command its imperitive, preemptl've