Year: 1859

PICKINs DISTRICT, SOUTH CAROLINA.
Mr. EDITOR 1t has been months, yes
years, since l have had the pleasure of reading


the columns of your much liked Gazette


Thinking that description of Table Rock and
; the wild scenery of Pickins might meet the


appreciation of your readers, viii endeavor to


describe it as minutely as possible. Table


Rock is situated in the north east corner of


Pickins District, South Carolina, on the
south side of Blue Ridge The main table is
Z miles in circumference, and at one place nine


hundred and sixty-seven feet perpendicular
Late in the evening of the Goth inst. might


be seen, winding his way towards this great
and noble rock, youth whose appearance in
! dieated that he had seen twenty-one summers


The last glittering rays of the sun were still
| to be seen on the high bills above, and in the
distance ilicht be seen q lonely inn, kept by
good and sturGy mountaineer of this country.
But instead of being lonely the traveller is met
with cheerful hoEdy do?" from the good
dame and her better half within, light, light,
| and the traveller is welcomed bone But, kind
reader, this is not home to the writer OF these
| lines, for he still claims home in northern
climes. On the following morning two gentle
men and myself with negro boy for our glide,
commenced to climb the high hills above to
| gain the summit of this gigantic rock. An
hour found US at the foot of the steps; here we
| paused few moments to rest and refresh our
selves with a cool drink of father Adams ale
| from a spring near the base of the rock. We
now resumed our journey, step after step, and
soon found ourselves at the giddy height of eight
hundred feet, although the distance travelled in
winding around from the base to the top is nine
teen hundred feet. The first place worthy of
note is the devils drawing room. Here is a
deep winding curve and in one place nearly in
the shape of table. The next place is the
horse Shoe Here are the prints of horses feet
precisely like the track of a newly shod horse. |
We now visited the spring. Here we stopped
an hour to rest and refresh ourselves with o
cool drink of water and to view the grand |
scenery around it. How beautiful, how sub |
lime, as the water goes bubbling over the high !
precipice and falls in the deep abyss below, |
and then with the tribute from thousands of
other springs makes the mighty waters Of Sa-
luda River. We now resumed our journey, |
and a quarter Of ain hour found US on top Of
the main table. Here it is twenty-three hun
drcd feet from the base to the top of the main
table. Look to the Southeast, and you cafi |
sec the fourisLi ing village of GreenviIle, one of
the most thriving villages in Northern Caro-
lima, For churches, colleges and academies it !
surpasses any village north of Columbia
Look to the West, and tou see the fourishing |
valleys of Cheohee and ,Jocossee. Chcohee is |
noted for its valuable gold mines and good far |
ming lands, and Jocossee for its valuable land
and grand mountain SCENERY. Look to the !
North West, and you can see Hog Back Mouti- |
tain, of Tennessee. To the North, the far
famed Alleghanies come to your view. Bios |
som Mountain, of North Carolina can be |
plainly seen from here. Ccsar's Head, l 3 miles /
NORTHEAST of this, is place much visited by !
the lovers of nountain scereryi The rock is
part grey granite and part blue: Among the |
timbers and shrubbery that grows on this rock |
will be found the wild cucumber, wild cherry,
oak and pine. with here and there a lone cedar,
and variety of other shrubbery, with flowers
of almost every hue. Also the laurel bush
Laurel what is more beautiful to the eye thai
a laurel grove! May it wave It's long tiny


leaf over this gigantic rock forever. Tongue +
cannot tell, nor can pen write the joyous emo
tions that pass through the mind of the spec
tator as he gaZcs on the broad valleys below |
him. Table Rock is much visited by the peo- |
pie from the countries lying south of this
Here you can see carved on the rock initials of
people from nearly allparts of the Union


We now retraced our steps back down to !
the foot of the stairs, and then turned around |
the foot of the rock about half mile and
came to what is called table rock Post Office. !
Here is place in the rock that resembles
post Office case, though not as correct A
= g., IL IL
pool and base of this towering rock. Here is !
pool of water, and the guide told US the sun
never shone on it. The water in the pool is
as warm as milk, while the water on top the !
rock is cold as ice.


And now, kind reader, have given you the
outlines of Table Rock, and l will leave you
to imagine the balance. If ever you should
travel near it, do not fail to 60 and sec the
great rock Of South Carolina.


Yours &c, II. II. IL.