Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1910-10-07
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6tOOu tue great buoltchCu SiAAS Va WI
nish granite, a fortress built by Ma
ture for herself. Out of the mist they
rose in splendid melancholy. not
smooth and polished. not kind and
pastoral. but with q look Of human
suffering, an expression Of immemor-
ial grief, spirit of Promethean en-
durance-rocks, terrible. awful and |
pitiless.
In one place they suggest that a
race of Titans have brought here the
wreckage of all the castles and cathe- |
drals ever erected on the earth and
flung them down in giant confusion;
YOU can see a great flying buttress
projecting from the cliff. a mighty
tower broken in half upon the rocks.
pinnicles, arches. pillars and tracery
hurled upon the sands, and whole
walls still standing, but at wild angles
against the cliff itself. You can see
the runins of Shakespeares proud
buildings" and in the rusty linchen see
the smear of dust upon their glitter
ing golden towers. And. II you know
aught of the history of this terrible
coast, you can read on the heaped
boulders end in the jagged spikes Of
snarling rocks the tale OF great ships
beaten and smashed to matchwood In
[. ! minutes of the clock. All that Vic
toD Hugo ever wrote of the terrors of
thu sea and the ferocity of rocky coasts
comes crowding and insistent into
your mind as you stand on the lonely
cliff and let the spirit Of the scene
scar itself into your soul.
Rocks are perhops the grandest Of
Natures works. Cliffs of white chalk
are pleasant on a summer day and in
the poetry of our island patriotism
have a sweet and tender place; but
cliffs of ragged granite, marked with
all the ravages of time, carved by
the winds and chisseled by the rains"
as Mr.. Folliott Stokes says of these
very cliffs, better bring home to the
mind the majesty of Nature. Truer 1t
would be, perhaps, to say of these
torn by the winds and ravaged by the
rains, for there has been no purpose
no design in their handling, only the
ferocity of destruction. And here they
stand, terrible. majestic, gorgeous and
awful; facing death with endurance
and regarding wind and sea and rain
with Indifference; lifting their scared
but unbowed heads to the heavens.
their ruins piled in confusion at their
roots; like men enduring the oppug.
nance of Nature, and on the dust of
} the centuries facing eternity without
J dismay. The spirit of these cliffs is
the spirit of the Sphinx.
AS we stood looking down upon
these superb rocks the sun burned
through the mist. the fog dissipated
and in an instant We beheld blue sea
crowded with shipping to the far hor
lion. Every moment increased the
warmth and intensified the beauty
Our blood responded to the call, and
We set Of to walk along the cliffs
But not for long did we keep to the
coast guards solitary path. Again ant
again We were tempted to descend BY
perilous ways to the yellow sands, the
! tall caves. the scattered boulders and
: the quiet pools among the rocks. Fol
, every curve in these cliffs brings ont
!, to a fresh cove, with new temptations
and a walk along the coast mean.
mountaineering, cave exploring. pad
: ding and bathing. You cannot see ,
. beautiful deserted cove without wish
ing to go down into its silent places
!. and when you know that among tn,
rocks there are translucent pools file,
!. with colored weeds and rare ane
}. mones, and on the edges Of the cliff
4 nests Of gull. shay and raven, an,
smooth places where you can lie witt
= q boiling sea on every side and smok
. your pipe and watch the waves an,
3 hear their music. who could keep u
a the path above?
,. And this is what makes the cliffs o
b Cornwall so delightful a walkinI
a ground. They are full of enticement
Q not to walk. You may set out with al
a the intention in the world to reach
certain point, to do SO many miles, I
i keep such and such a pace, but tn
Q little coves disclosing themselves q
q every swerve Of the cliffs will charr
y you like syrens to the sands below
Q And so onward you ramble, sauntel
. loiter. lounge. and even battle, till tn
8 sun sinks to his couch and appetit
}, turns you home. It may be that 20
d have gone scarcely mile from you
e starting point, but you have descende
K and ascended score Of times, eyer
y muscle in the body has had its worl
d and the soul Is satisfied. You retur
full Of Joy and splendidly tired.
y HAROLD eEGeIk