Year: 1869

tive republics of themselves, the peo-


pie of which continuously marry and


intermarry through each other. so


that in time all, in greater orless de-


gree, becomes related. Some of these
lpresent curious and interesting facts.


We were IN one valley during our


trip which was about twenty miles


long, and of an average width of five


miles, on each side of which rose a


range OF lofty mountains hemming it


completely in. Here the people had


livedandma dthroughand through


each other for generations, so that


every man, woman and child, was in


some way related to everybody else


throughout the entire community


There had been no interlopers for


years to change the blood. All have


a family resemblance. All were cous-


ins of various degrees. Even the do


nestle animals were all respectively


of the same breed. All the dogs were


hounds with yellow ears; all the pigs


had uniform kinks in their tails and


three brown stripes along each of


their sides The horses, sheep, chick
ems and geese followed the same law.


The coming of astranger was a mark


ed event-a sort of ammo dOnlini from


which they reckoned time till the arri-
val of the next adventurer. Their


wants were few, their desires mOder
ate, their habits simple. They made


their own whiskey and drank in
peace, with no rapacious revenue Off
Ger to modest or make them afraid
Fast horses, fast men, fast women,


hoops, life insurance agents, grecian


bends and divorce suits were un-
known. A similar place was Marion.
Honest, unaffected, simple minded,
and kind hearted, were its people,
For a southern community they were
deeply religious. They were descend
ants of Scotch Presbyterians that fled
from the old country during the reign
of Queen Mary.


The following extracts which /
copied from an ordinance of the town
Council, show the views of the village
fathers on divers subjects:


mo hOcus pocus allowed in this
place under penalty of two dollars.
Any body "cltssing" will be fined one
dollar. No shooting at mark in town;
no "rasselling" for treats; no loud
yelling; no bear and dog fighting; no
horse racing, and no choppiDg wood
on the Lords day permitted under a
! fine of three dollars. Any one getting
drunk will have to pay the constable
one dollar for taking care of him till
! he gets sober. If he cannot raise the
money, he will have to dig out stump
from the public street"


We left there early in the morning
and pushed steadily on all day. The
road was constantly up hill till we
reached the great gap at the top of the
| Blue Ridge. Within few feet of the
summit we drank out of the spring
that is the fountain head of the Cataw-
| ba river, the waters of which flow into
the Atlantic. A short distance beyond
rose one of the springs of the Tennes-
see that flows into the Gulf of Mexico.
We could throw a stone from one to
the other. Descending the mountain
ridge, we hastened rapidly on and at
nightfall reached the residence of an
old settler in the valley of Swanan-
noa, in the shadow of the range of
mountains to which we were bound.
He had resided there sixty years. He
received us with that hospitality for
which the mountaineers are so re-
markable. We were very tired, hav-
ing travelled thirty miles that day
over rough rocky road, and most of
the way on foot. The old man re-
galed US with wonderful hunting sto-
ries during the evening. He warmed
with his theme and in some of his
thrilling narratives was really elO-
quent. His mother was with him,
alive and active, and over one humid
red years old. The entire family were
exceedingly attentive to US, particu-
larly the old mans wife, who could
not do enough for us. One of our
number became sick in the evening
and the well meant attentions of that
good old lady were positively annoy
ing. She insisted on rendering all
sorts of services, until she was voted
a downright nuisance. We appreci-
ated her kindness, God bless her, but
she bored US terribly. We were all
put in the same room to sleep. 1t was
a curious apartment, and oddly fur
nished. Every thing about it looked
ancient, mouldy and pious. The win
dow curtains were red; the chairs had
legs on them like gate posts, and the
bedsteads were large enough for house
frames. The beds themselves, though
fat, downy and luXuTiant, looked as
though they had been put together by
an earthquake. Numerous daubs of
pictures in glaring colors, represent
ing seriptural subjects, hung along the
walls. On the right of the mirror
was representation of Daniel in a
white Overcoat, being cast into den
of blue lions on the left pea-green
Jonah being swallowed by red
whale. Over the wash stand was
Sampson, with a plug hat and knee
breeches, knocking brown Philistines
right and left with a mouse cOlOred
Jaw bone. On the mantle was flock
of brindle bears devouring a crowd of
cream colored children that told a bald
headed Elijah in the distance with a
yellow carpet bag in his hand, to Ego
up.n Fronting the door was John the
Baptist in his shirt sleeves, smoking
a merschaum and eating pea nuts
Our kind hostess subsequentlyinform-
ed me that she paid ten cents piece
for those pictures, and thatshe regard
ed them cheap. l thought differently
but held my peace.


The mountain to which we were
going, is called the Black Mountain.
1t is an immense ridge shaped like
horse shoe with the toe to the South.
1t has numerous peaks, the highest of
which is Mitchellis-named in honor
of Professor Mitchell, who first meas
ured it and who subsequently, lost his
life upon it. He was buried on its
highest point. After reaching the
top of the mountain proper, the great
work is to scale any of the peaks
These are always covered with snow
long after it has disappeared in the
valleys below. Our host, on learning
our mission, shook his head omnious-
ly and said we had come entirely too
early in the season. 1t did not seem
so to us. The weather was warm and
pleasant; the grass was knee high, and
all nature clothed in the verdure of
early summer. He said we would
learn our error when we scaled the
mountain. He got us guide for the
next day-a tried man who had been
in the Union secret service during the
war, and who had piloted many an
escaped prisoner across these noun
tains.


After a sleep such as only mountain
countries can impart, We set out at
daylight for the ascent of Mitchellis /
Peak. For several miles our road 1
wound along the banks of the Swan
nannoa, beautiful stream that heads /
high up along the sides of the noun |
tain. On our right rose the Blue /
Ridge, on ouI left towared the ''Big I
80 4, ,a1- fe