CHAPTER X.SCENIC MARVELS OF THE GREAT NORTHEAST.

STARVED ROCK, ON ILLINOIS RIVER, NEAR OTTAWA, ILLINOIS.

Our circuit of the West had now been completed, and having surrendered the camera car which we had chartered, we made hasty preparations for a grand tour of all that section lying east of the Mississippi. Before departing for the East, however, we made a flying trip over the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad to Eureka Springs, a popular health resort in Northern Arkansas, surrounded by some very beautiful scenery that spreads away through the Ozark and Boston Mountains in picturesque grandeur, diversified by swift-flowing streams, deep gorges, terrible bluffs and immense caves that are gorgeously embellished with gigantic stalactite and stalagmite formations. If these magnificent scenes were not so conveniently near a large city, they would be a hundred-fold more famous, for it is human nature to yearn for the least accessible and the most difficult of attainment. In short, we rarely appreciate the things that we have, and exaggerate the importance and attractiveness of places which are remote. It is this peculiarity of the human mind that makes heaven a necessity and immortality a natural deduction, the irresistible conclusion of human reason.

We tarried one week in St. Louis before departing for the East, and then again divided our party, one of our photographers proceeding to Pittsburgh, and thence through Pennsylvania and Virginia, taking views of the famous scenery of those States, while the other two whose travels we will now describe, passed northward to Chicago, and thence east by way of Niagara. Having heard much of a celebrated point known as Starved Rock, on the Illinois River, a place of commanding interest in the history of La Salle and his adventurous companions, we resolved to stop at Ottawa, en route to Chicago, and make a photograph of the historic rock. We reached Ottawa by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Road, and thence by driving ten miles in a spring wagon we gained the spot made celebrated through a tradition which is as romantic as it is tragic.

Starved Rock is now the property of a company, and is situated on the left bank of the Illinois River, near the foot of the rapids. It is a perpendicular bluff of limestone, one hundred and fifty feet high, and is crowned with oaks and other forest trees. The water front presents a precipitous wall, but there is a slope towards an adjoining bluff by which it is alone accessible. The summit has an area of about one acre, but is a natural stronghold; and perceiving its advantages, La Salle, on his first return trip to Canada, ordered his Indian lieutenant, named Tonti, to fortify himself upon the Rock, supplying him with one small cannon for that purpose. Tonti carried out these orders, and, it is said, died and was buried upon the Rock. Years afterward, the place became conspicuous in the Indian wars; and it is related that after the killing of Pontiac, chief of the Ottawas, in a drunken row at Cahokia, some of his people charged the Illinois tribe with the crime and made war upon them. Being feeble in numbers, they were driven before the Ottawas so remorselessly that as a last resort they took refuge on Starved Rock. Here they were able to hold their enemies at bay, but their distress was none the less because of their ability to prevent a scaling of their stronghold, for the Ottawas besieged the Rock and effectually prevented the Illinois from securing any supplies. Water was for a while procured by means of vessels attached to ropes of bark, which were let down into the stream. But this device was presently discovered and prevented by the Ottawas coming under the bluff in canoes and cutting the ropes. Unwilling to surrender and run the risk of torture, the unfortunate Illinois remained in the place of their retreat until one by one they died of starvation. This is the tradition current in La Salle county, and the finding of many Indian relics and bones on the Rock tend to confirm its truthfulness.

BASIN SPRINGS, EUREKA SPRINGS, ARKANSAS.—Arkansas is famous for her life-giving and health-supporting springs, and among these none are more celebrated than those at Eureka, in the northwestern part of the State. The location is picturesque and mountainous, the atmosphere clear and invigorating. A few years ago the place was a wilderness, and the waters wasted their treasures of good health in untrammeled mountain rivulets. By the merest accident their curative powers were discovered, and immediately the sick and the afflicted from all parts of the world began to flock thither, like pilgrims to a newly discovered Siloam. At present there is a thriving city of 4000 inhabitants located on the mountain sides, with many thousands of invalid guests constantly coming and going.

THE LOOKOUT, ON THE ROAD TO HOMER.

From Chicago we went east over the Michigan Central to Niagara Falls, that greatest of natural wonders, a sublime apotheosis of omnipotence, a glorification of the immeasurable power that nature possesses, in whose roar we distinguish the hallelujah chorus of centuries and peans of praise to the mightiness of Deity.

Niagara Falls, the supreme natural marvel of both continents, is divided into two cataracts, viz.: American Falls, flowing towards the American or western side, and Horseshoe Falls, which discharges towards the Canada side, the two being separated by Goat Island.

BARN BLUFF, NEAR RED WING, MINNESOTA.

The height of the former is one hundred and four feet, and the latter, owing to a limestone stratum not worn away, is one foot higher, by which it is reasonably concluded that at one time nearly all the flow was towards the American side, because the discharge over the western fall is not now so great as that towards the Canada side. This tremendous flood of waters is from Lake Erie through Niagara River into Lake Ontario, and the retrogression of the cataract, caused by the wearing of the limestone ledge, inclines geologists to the opinion that the flow has continued for a period of not less than thirty-seven thousand years. The width of Niagara River at the falls is forty-five hundred feet, of which American Falls occupies eleven hundred feet, Goat Island fourteen hundred feet, and Horseshoe Falls two thousand feet, though the deep curve in the latter, whence its name is derived, makes the line of fall more than three thousand feet. It has been estimated that the discharge exceeds one billion gallons of water every twelve hours, and that the force thus developed is equal to something more than one million horse-power.

The landscape on either side of the falls has little of the picturesque or tumultuous about it, being generally slightly rolling, and giving no indication of eruptive disturbance; so that scientists are still searching for a plausible theory upon which to base a conclusion as to the cause that produced this sudden dip in the limestone formation.

The astounding power displayed by the river dropping over a wide and lofty ledge is scarcely more bewildering than that exhibited by the Rapids, which extend for half a mile from the point of descent, and meeting a swift current, the flood is lashed into a fury that is frightful to behold, rising in the center like huge beasts in combat, and tossing wave-caps nearly fifty feet above the surface. At times the spray rises in such clouds as to completely obscure the falls, and borne some distance by the winds is condensed, and a long-continued rain follows, which renders a considerable stay in the neighborhood somewhat disagreeable.

VIEW OF FORT SNELLING FROM THE MISSISSIPPI.

HARDING SPRING AND ROCK, EUREKA SPRINGS, ARKANSAS.—The ruggedness and beauty of the scenery in and around Eureka Springs, and their pleasant influence upon the minds of invalids, causing them to dwell upon other things rather than their ailments, no doubt have something to do with the marvelous cures that have been wrought here. Nature, aided by the embellishments of art, has made the place an exceedingly attractive resort, which grows in favor with each passing year. No imaginary picture, be it ever so attractive, could surpass in picturesqueness the scene so beautifully photographed on this page.

AMERICAN FALLS, VIEWED FROM GOAT ISLAND.

While an admirable view of the falls may be obtained from many points of observation on the bridge, or along both shores, the greatest interest attaches to a visit to the noisy caverns that are behind the descending flood. These may be reached by means of spiral stairways built for the purpose, but the visitor must prepare for the trip by investing himself in a suit of oil-skin, and for a while must assume the character of an amphibian. At the bottom of the deep descent are stones in great confusion, over which we must scramble to reach the Cave-of-the-Winds, a watery grotto indeed, in which the air is agitated by the thundering cataract that fairly envelopes you. The scene here is beyond the scope of pen or brush, for these appeal only to sight and understanding, while the awful presence conjures all the senses. Behind the giant curtain of waterfall is a greenish reflection, weird in its intensity and unnaturalness, and to the ears there comes a muffled roar which, while not jarring, yet seems to pervade and penetrate like the dull rumble of an earthquake. This uncertain disturbance, which confuses with strange noise, is intensified by a wind that is here created by what appears to be some mysterious agency; and other curious things are noted that suggest to the imaginative mind a region of the supernatural, where indistinct voices warn and then invite, but are always clamorous, like a crowd of bedlamites.

Below the falls the river narrows to eight hundred feet, between precipitous walls, which add swiftness to the current, and three miles from Horseshoe Falls the impetuous stream strikes a point of projecting land in such a manner that a terrible whirlpool is created, capable of sucking down a large steamboat. By means of a car, which is controlled by a cable, visitors may ride down the very steep incline to the edge of Whirlpool Rapids and view in safety the awful, mad-lashing waters, swirling with extraordinary rapidity and throwing high the tousled heads of ravening waves, which appear to be lusting for victims and bellowing for vengeance. It is gratifying to know that the almost incomputable power of Niagara is soon to be transmitted, through the generation of electricity, to mills and machinery, and thus utilized to the honor of human genius as well as to the glory of God.

NIAGARA FROZEN.—Niagara is grand at any and all times, but if you would appreciate the sublimity of its grandeur in the fullest degree, you should visit it in winter, when it is covered with icy fringes and stalactites, and you can approach close to the roaring fountain on the mound of ice formed by the spray which rises from the foot of the precipice. It is only on rare occasions, during very severe winters, that such opportunities are afforded; but when they do occur they attract thousands of visitors from many sections, who come in crowds to witness a scene that has no equal among all the wonders of the world. On such occasions the Falls themselves seem to be a mass of liquid ice, while the shores, the trees and the cliffs are clothed in sheets of white, and made ornate with columns that rival alabaster in their transparent beauty.

BRIDAL VEIL FALLS, NIAGARA.

Great changes occurring in Niagara Falls, which though slow and remittent, are no less certain to destroy the grandeur of that incomparable waterfall some time in the very remote future. It is a well-demonstrated fact that Niagara River has excavated the gorge through which it runs, and within recent years such immense masses of the ledge-stone have been detached by the gnawing waters as to cause an appreciable recession of the cataract, and a corresponding lengthening of the gorge. It is recorded that in 1818 very large fragments of limestone were wrenched from the surface-bed and cast over Horseshoe Falls, and another similar result occurred in 1855. But each year, and constantly, the erosion is marked, so that Table Rock, formerly a striking feature of the river, has been worn away so completely that no present sign of it now remains. It has been computed by Sir Charles Lyell that the average rate of recession is about one foot annually, counting for the past thousand years; but as before stated, the erosive results are spasmodic. There is now eighty feet of hard limestone composing the surface-rock, and it will probably require ten thousand years for the rushing waters to eat this away; after that, however, the wear will be rapid, and in course of centuries the falls will have disappeared, and only a tremendous gorge will remain in their stead. Many wonderful spectacles have taken place at the falls, the most interesting of which was the sending adrift of a condemned lake vessel, drawing eighteen feet of water, in 1829, which passed over the brink without touching bottom, and was dashed in pieces on the rocks below. This experiment was made to test the depth of water on the brink of the precipice.

HECTOR FALLS, WATKIN’S GLEN, IN WINTER.

There is a weary sameness to the generally level or prairie scenery which lies between the Mississippi River and New York State, if we except the rather pleasing diversity of well-cultivated farms, prosperous towns, and evidences of thrift that are everywhere noticeable. But there is more than the greatness of commercial and industrial empire to recommend New York to the sight-seer, for some of the most charming scenery to be found anywhere in the world is within her borders, matching for sublimity even the most marvelous views which we have described. And additional fascination attaches to many of her noted places on account of the Indian names which have been jealously preserved in her geography. The Mohawk Valley is at once a lovely vale and a reminder of Cooper’s “Leather Stocking Stories;” and so are her hundred rivers and lakes that bear the designations bestowed upon them, either by some of the once-powerful tribes, or which perpetuate the fame of their great chiefs, the shades of whom seem to linger about Seneca, Cayuga, Oneida, Oswego, Canandaigua, Chautauqua, Keuka, Skaneateles, over which they once skimmed in light canoes. The romance with which these beautiful waters are invested would draw us irresistibly to their shores were there no other attractions; but to these delightful traditions of a vanished people are the added charms of sylvan glades, exposing vistas of exquisite landscape, blue waters dimpled by soft winds, swift-racing streams dashing under overarching shades, and wild chasms that imprison echo and exhibit some of the most astounding results of glacial action, abetted by upheaval, depression and erosion. After picturing the wonders of Niagara, therefore, two of our party made a trip over the New York Central Line and its connection, to Geneva, a beautiful town on the north shore of Seneca Lake, which in many respects is one of the most remarkable bodies of water in the world. The lake is about forty miles in length, but it is a mere strip, rarely exceeding two miles in width, yet has the extraordinary depth of six hundred feet, so that it is evidently a basin created by the same convulsion that wrought the surprising results which render the Glens atthe south end famous beyond comparison, as will be presently described. It is particularly strange that such a tremendous cleft should be made without showing a wider extent of disturbance, though the shores are a succession of promontories, sweeping back in graceful undulations and well-wooded slopes, save where industry has converted the hills into fruitful fields.

CAVERN CASCADE, WATKIN’S GLEN, IN WINTER.

The trip from Geneva to Watkins, which covers the extreme length of the lake, is comfortably and enjoyably made by means of fine steamers, which land at many intermediate points, and give summer tourists opportunity for thoroughly examining the towns and beautiful banks along the way. Watkins, which is the objective place of all pleasure travelers, has its feet bathed by Seneca Lake, and its head shaded by the brow of Buck Mountain, at whose base is the main street, running parallel therewith. Following this street a short distance, the visitor reaches a bridge that affords passage over a small stream, and proceeding along the banks of this little water-course for less than half a mile, he is suddenly confronted by a massive and lofty natural wall that prevents further progress. Stairways, however, have been built, by which we mounted to the summit of this wonderful masonry, and from that eminence surveyed the matchless scenery of Watkin’s Glen. But the view is interrupted by intervening precipices and densely wooded copses, so that to see the amazing wonders and the bewildering beauties of this marvelously diversified region a tour of its many attractions is necessary. To do this requires a pair of strong legs and good breath, for the climbing is severely taxing, though owing to the substantial and well protected stairways is never dangerous.

TERRACED FALLS, WATKINS GLEN, NEW YORK.—The most eloquent pen pauses in its futile efforts to depict the marvels, and the wonders, and the glories that are presented on every hand in Watkins Glen. In all the varied scenery of the world there is nothing to be compared to this, for here Nature seems to have done her utmost in fashioning something new and novel in the line of her handiwork for the admiration of mankind. At every footstep, for a distance of three miles along the gorge which cleaves the earth to a depth of 300 feet, some new wonder or marvelous creation is presented, each seemingly more superb than its neighbors.

WATKIN’S CASCADE FROZEN.

Passing through Glen Alpha, where the awful sublimity of a tremendous chasm oppresses the visitor on first view, we caught sight of Twin Falls, where the waters pour down in two great sluices and become wedded in a swirling pool that pours out the overflow through a cañon whose walls have been scarified by the teeth of centuries. Below the falls is Whirlpool Gorge, an amphitheater that is striated and terraced into forms so variable as to please every conceit and yet arouse amazement. The stream dashes into this capricious auditorium at a maddening pace, but encounters resistance in the curving walls, and is thus thrown into a rapid, whirling movement like a maelstrom; and this rotary action of the waters has worn the half-encircling walls into many singular, though usually symmetrical shapes.

Climbing out of Whirlpool Gorge and moving southward a short distance along a railed ledge, we come in sight of Peek-a-boo Falls, a beautiful sheet of water plunging over a precipice fifty feet high, and scattering its spray along the walls that confine its descent, for the chasm is very narrow here, and charming for its sylvan weirdness. The cliffs are very pictures in stone, rising in tiers and carved into fantastic forms, while the overhanging trees, graceful ferns and velvety mosses make the place a bower in which fairies might delight to dwell.

GIANT’S GORGE, IN CHATEAUGAY CHASM.

WHIRLPOOL GORGE, WATKINS GLEN.

These excellent photographs afford a splendid conception of the grandeur of the scenery where these points are located. The winding chasm, the rushing torrent, the glimmer of the sunlight above the tall cliffs, the bold, serrated rocks—all these tell us of the splendors which Nature has fashioned and deposited in this favored region.

PORTLAND CASCADE, HAVANA GLEN.

Though both Watkins and Havana Glens are gems of nature in summer-time, their rarest robes of beauty are worn in winter, when the Ice King takes them in his embrace and bejewels them with crystals more exquisite than ever graced a royal bride. For the winter views which are here presented we are indebted to other photographers, as we are also for the frost pictures of the Lake Superior coast, as our visit was made in the summer-time. Examples of the sublime magnificence, the divine-like embellishment of Watkin’s Glen, when the lips of winter have kissed the noisy waterfalls into frozen silence, are seen in the illustrations of Cavern Cascade, and Hector Falls, and Watkin’s Cascade, where the frost-sprites and the little children of the snow hide beneath opalescent icicles and light the lamp of joy in grottoes that open toward the voiceless gorge.

Further up the chasm, where the broken fronts of vertical walls begin, is a quiet retreat known as the Council Chamber, spanned by a pretty bridge that is hung upon opposite ledges and conducts to a passage that runs along a shelf, then down a stairs to a path that leads from the water’s edge to the town. The walls that enclose this strip of river are exceedingly beautiful, built up as they are with thin layers, of a few inches’ thickness, each strata being very distinct, and the face of the cliffs wrought into lovely shapes, with a shelf here and there as if inviting lovers to seek them for the delightful seclusion which they offer. The glen is about three miles in length, and the walls frequently three hundred feet in height, with enough variableness in the scenery to make it a source of unwearying admiration.

Three miles south of Watkin’s Glen, and properly a continuation, for there is really a very brief interruption in the rugged character of the valley, is Havana Glen, quite as famous as its adjacent brother. The cliffs here are scarcely so vertical, but the general formation is practically the same, and similar means are provided for viewing its wonders to advantage. Bridal Veil Falls is Havana’s most alluring object, and well do they repay the tourist for his visit. The water at this point falls thirty feet down a very steep slope in a great column that, contracted at the plunge, spreads as it flows over a succession of terraces and dashes into the deep stream below with sullen roar.

PEEK-A-BOO FALLS AND PICTURED CLEFT, WATKINS GLEN.—This romantic scene is thus beautifully described: Climbing out of Whirlpool Gorge and moving northward a short distance along a railed ledge, we come in sight of Peek-a-Boo Falls, a beautiful sheet of water plunging over a precipice fifty feet high, and scattering its spray along the walls that confine its descent, for the chasm is very narrow here, and charming for its sylvan weirdness. The cliffs are picturesque in stone, rising in tiers and carved into fantastic forms, while the overhanging trees, graceful ferns and velvety mosses make the place a bower in which fairies might love to dwell.

EAGLE FALLS, HAVANA GLEN.

Portland Cascade is another charming fall, but the chasm being wider at this point and broken by many shelves, the water flows with less turbulence, though the cascades are made more beautiful by spreading into thin, veil-like sheets, so transparent that the wall behind them is visible. A bridge is thrown across the leaping stream, from which a glorious view is had of the chasm as it winds away towards the south, while the copse which fringes the western edge constitutes a bower of extraordinary loveliness.

Eagle Falls, a hundred yards below the cascades, is, perhaps, the most daintily exquisite object in all this vale of natural wonders, a very poem of beauty and charming sequestration, where the brown cliffs sleep to the lullaby of flowing waters, and the wild flowers listen to the murmurs of the breeze. Stairs lead to the brink, under overarching trees that provide a delightful nook, but a more entrancing view is obtainable from the bottom of the charming dell into which the waters fall. There is neither grandeur nor sublimity in the sight afforded, but a soft witchery, a gentle soul-rapture that is kin to inspiration in the monody of the stream as it pours over the ledge in a rhythm that is as musical as April rain upon a cottager’s roof, and shimmers in its fall like a lace curtain stirred by the wind. Eagle Falls is plainly a misnomer, for the name suggests a thing of prey. The Nymphs’ Bath is more appropriate, for here it would seem that all the little people of the water and the wood might find what Titania and Diana longed for—a place of absolute seclusion, “where the bright eyes of angels only might behold a paradise so pure and lonely.”

COUNCIL CHAMBER, WATKINS GLEN, NEW YORK.—This is one of the most imposing and impressive points of the Glen, and has been well named the Council Chamber. The walls that enclose this strip of river are exceedingly beautiful, built up as they are with thin layers, of a few inches’ thickness, each stratum being very distinct, and the face of the cliffs wrought into lovely shapes with shelving spaces here and there as if inviting lovers to seek them for the delightful seclusion which they offer. The chamber is spanned by a rustic bridge that is hung upon opposite ledges, affording a safe passage-way and a desirable point of view.

GIANT FALLS, AUSABLE CHASM.

Having feasted our sight, and caught the spirit of inspiration that haunts the romantic retreats of Havana Glen, we departed northward and took a train on the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad for Clayton, situated on the south bank of the St. Lawrence River, near where it receives the flow from Ontario Lake. At this point steamer was taken for a ride among the Thousand Islands to Ogdensburg, a trip more charming than our remembrance of love’s first dream. This part of the river is broken into many channels that meander through avenues worn in the granite which confines its course. The Thousand Islands is no misnomer, for they seem to be beyond number, scattered like a myriad of emeralds, with deep water between, and yet so close together that they may almost reach hands across the breach. Every islet is a dome of rock, ground into symmetrical shape by glacial action long ago, then covered by a sediment from the river sufficient to support a profuse vegetation. The Canada pine is conspicuous, lifting its scraggy head to a great height, and pointing its stout branches in every direction, a stately figure among the brushwood that surrounds it.

Many of the islands are only little green dots scarcely large enough for a fairy’s bower, while others are of considerable size, occupied by lovely villas, the resort of those wealthy enough to own beautiful summer houses where the air is fragrant with sweetest odors, and the gamest fish invite the enthusiastic angler.

Departing from Ogdensburg, one of our party proceeded to Montreal, by way of Ottawa, to photograph some Canada scenery in the vicinity of those cities, while the other took train for Chateaugay, each mapping out for himself the work to be done in the regions which he had chosen to picture. Chateaugay is in the extreme northeastern part of New York and about thirty miles from Lake Champlain. A river of the same name flows by the place and through some scenery which is almost matchless in marvelous grandeur, probably excelling in extraordinary cleavage that found in Watkin’s and Havana Glens. Giant Gorge is one of the first tremendous rents which we observe in the chasms of Chateaugay River, but several other precipitously walled cañons occur between that point and Chateaugay Lake, twenty miles below, where the Adirondack Mountain region begins, with its wilderness of untamable savagery, as wild now as when its rugged solitudes were first disturbed by an invading Indian seeking the game that there abounded. This darksome haunt of nature is cleft by the Saranac, Raquette, Boquet and Ausable Rivers, and in these gloomy recesses whence the day is dispelled are the lake sources of the noble Hudson.

BRIDAL VEIL FALLS, HAVANA GLEN, NEW YORK.—Havana Glen is three miles south of Watkins, and is properly a continuation of the latter. The cliffs are scarcely so vertical, but the general formation is practically the same, and similar means are provided for viewing its wonders to advantage. Bridal Veil Falls are Havana’s chief attraction, and they merit the distinction. The water at this point falls thirty feet down a very steep slope, in a great column, which, contracted at the plunge, spreads as it flows over a succession of terraces until it dashes into the deep stream below with a sullen roar.

ELBOW FALLS, AUSABLE CHASM.

Crossing over to Lake Champlain, we took a Delaware and Hudson Railroad train at Plattsburgh and rode down to Port Kent and thence visited Ausable Chasm near-by. Indian Pass is also in the same vicinity. The scenery is a repetition of that in Watkin’s Glen, with the added interest of a more considerable stream, upon which boating is a royal pleasure. The freshness which description by another writer may furnish is my excuse for introducing the following from the pen of Alfred B. Street:

“At North Elba we crossed a bridge where the Ausable comes winding down, and then followed its banks to the northeast, with thick woods continually around us, and the little river shooting darts of light at us through the leaves. At length, a broad summit, rising to a taller one, broke above the foliage at our right, and at the same time a gigantic mass of rock and forest saluted us, and we stood before the giant portals of the Notch. As we entered, the pass suddenly shrank, pressing the river into a deep and narrow stream. It was a chasm cloven boldly through White-Face, so that on each side towered the mountain escarpment; on the left, the range rose in still sublimer altitude, with grand precipices, like a majestic wall or a line of palisades, climbing sheer from the half-way forest upward. The crowded rows of pines along the broken and wavy crest were diminished to a mere fringe. As we rowed slowly through the still narrowing gorge, the mountains soared higher and higher, as if to scale the clouds, presenting truly a terrific aspect. I shrank within myself, and appeared to dwindle beneath it. Something akin to dread pervaded the scene. The mountains appeared to be knitting their brows into threatening frowns at our daring intrusion into the solitudes. Nothing seemed native to the awful landscape but the plunge of the torrent and the scream of the eagle. Below, at our left, the dark Ausable dashed onward with hoarse, foreboding murmurs, in harmony with the loneliness and wildness of the spot.”

VIEW OF THE THOUSAND ISLANDS IN ST. LAWRENCE RIVER.—The Thousand Islands is no misnomer, for they seem to be beyond number, scattered like myriads of emeralds, with deep water between, and yet so close together that they almost clasp hands across the dashing channel. Every islet is a dome of rocks, ground into symmetrical shape by glacial action long ago, then covered by a sediment from the river sufficient to support a profuse vegetation. Many wealthy persons have purchased possessions in these picturesque islands, upon which they have erected stately and imposing summer residences, some of them rivaling in splendor the ancient palaces of Venice.

THE SUMMIT OF WHITE-FACE MOUNTAIN.

From the top of Mount Marcy, overlooking Indian Pass, the view is inspiring in its expansive and tumultuous grandeur. Towards the southeast gleams the white crest of Boreas Mountain, and rising beyond is the leaning tower-like peak of the Dial, which pays its obeisance to Dix’s Peak, that from afar exhibits the form of a crouching lion. “Thence stagger the wild, savage and splintered tops of Gothic Mountain, at the Lower Ausable Pond, linking themselves on the east with the Noon-Mark and Roger’s Mountains, that watch over Keene’s Valley. To the northeast rise the Edmonds Pond Summits—the mountain-picture closed by the sharp crest of Old White-Face, the stately outpost of the Adirondacks.”

A trip through Ausable Chasm is one of unspeakable delight and enrapturing surprises. Just above the point where the chasm begins there is an old mill, once run by a wheel driven by a sluice connected with the river, but steam has superseded this natural power and detracted somewhat from the interest which would otherwise invest the place. The dam is still there, however, and over its brink the water flows in softest measures, to strike the rocky shelves below, where it boils and brawls in confused dismemberment until joined again in an unbroken stream. The banks rise rapidly, while the river draws deeper into its bed, until presently making a leap at Giant Falls it plunges into a great gorge whose walls have been eaten by the floods and ice of centuries. But it is by a succession of falls and cataracts that the stream reaches its greatest depression, which is known as the Grand Flume. Elbow Falls scarcely deserve to be dignified by so large a title, as they are rapids rather than falls; but for beauty they are almost incomparable, and afford an opportunity for the painter’s brush as great as may be found anywhere in the Adirondacks.

AUSABLE RIVER, NEAR THE HEAD OF THE CHASM.—The old mill reproduced in this photograph was at first supplied with motive power by one of those old-fashioned, picturesque water-wheels, which, however, has given place to the more energetic and less artistic steam engine. The dam, originally built upon the rapids, is still there, however, and over its brink the water flows in softest measures, falling upon the rocky shelves below, where it boils and broils in confused dismemberment until joined again in an unruffled stream a few yards below. This point is just above where the royal chasm begins.

KAATERSKILL FALLS, CATSKILL MOUNTAINS.

AUSABLE CHASM, BELOW THE OVEN.

A trip through Ausable Chasm is one of enrapturing pleasures and unspeakable delights. Every step and turn brings some new and surprising wonder into view. The banks rise rapidly until they tower into immense cliffs, between whose crenellated jaws the rays of the sun can penetrate only when it is near the meridian. The stream reaches its greatest depression by a succession of cataracts and falls of the most admirable and diversified character, embracing nearly every phase of the picturesque and beautiful in this class of scenery.

GRAND FLUME IN AUSABLE CHASM.—It is difficult to describe so grand and splendid a scene as this. The Grand Flume is the most admirable part of Ausable Chasm, the most picturesque section of this wonderful river, sublime in its grandeur, yet idyllic in its poetic and dreamy beauty. Here the Oreads might have sported while Diana pursued the untamed deer that have for ages made their favorite pastures in these mountain fastnesses and green valleys, where the grasses grow with ever-increasing luxuriousness each succeeding summer. Lovers of the grandly beautiful in nature can find no more desirable resort than Ausable Chasm.

BOGG’S RIVER FALLS, ADIRONDACKS.

The chasm rapidly deepens and narrows below Elbow Falls, and becomes a wild gorge of intricate mightiness at a point called the Oven. The walls are lifted so high above the stream, with their crenated fronts exhibiting so many quaintly distorted and terribly jagged projections that the effect is most bewildering, while in places they are opposed with only a few feet between, giving to the passage the oppression of a prison. Hell Gate is not inappropriately named, because it is in a way begirt with difficulties that render boating dangerous. The river is here greatly compressed, but the channel is not sufficiently deep to hide the sharp-pointed rocks that split the stream and convert it into a rapid, but by means of stairs this interrupted water-way may be passed, and below are boats in which the pleasant passage may be continued through Grand Flume. This is the loveliest part of the chasm, the most picturesque section of this wonderful river, sublime in its grandeur, yet idyllic in its poetic and dreamy beauty, where the Oreads might have sported while Diana pursued the deer that have for ages made these mountain fastnesses their favorite haunts, for

“Here were her orchards, walled on every side,To lawless sylvans all access denied.”

“Here were her orchards, walled on every side,

To lawless sylvans all access denied.”

From Ausable station, which may be reached by rail, a road leads southward through Ausable Forks, by White-Face Mountain, and thence into the very heart of the Adirondacks. This remarkable tract lies principally between Lakes Champlain and George, and covers an area of nearly 5,000 square miles, with one arm reaching northward to the St. Lawrence and another southward as far as Saratoga. Within this district there are said to be no less than 500 mountain peaks, several of which are 5,000 feet high, measured above the sea level, and as many as 1,000 lakes. Owing to the ruggedness of the country, its dense forests, numerous water-ways and prodigious chasms, the region was a comparatively unexplored wilderness forty years ago, and until its vast lumber interest attracted the attention of capitalists.

MOUNT MORRIS, FROM TUPPER LAKE, ADIRONDACKS.

BUTTERMILK FALLS, ADIRONDACKS.

Those who visit the Adirondacks in search of the wildest beauties of nature will not make the trip in vain. Within this district there are said to be no less than 1000 lakes, and 500 mountain peaks, several of which rise to the height of 5000 feet. It is the Switzerland of America, in the same degree that America is greater and grander in all respects than any of the countries of the Old World.

ADIRONDACK LODGE AND CLEAR LAKE.

Some of the loftiest peaks are Mounts Morris, Marcy, White-Face, Seward, Pharoah, Dix and Snowy Mountain, and of the lakes there are Tupper, Saranac, Long, Avalanche, Clear, Henderson, Raquette, Newcomb, Pleasant, and many others scarcely less in size and famous for the game-fish that swarm in their transparent waters. As a hunting-ground the Great North Wilderness, as it is often called, is probably the best now to be found anywhere in the United States, abounding as it does in deer, bear, panther, wolf, wolverene, and immense numbers of smaller game, so that whether lost or found, a man with a loaded gun need never go hungry in the Adirondacks.

It is not surprising that a region noted for its mountains, lakes and dense forests, should abound with features magnificently picturesque; and those who visit the Adirondacks in search of the wildest beauties of nature will not make the trip in vain. It is the Switzerland of America, equaling the best scenery of that country, and exceeding it in some respects, notably its intricate chain of lakes, its flaming chasms, and the solitudes of its deep wildernesses, so tangled and intricate that more than two-thirds remain yet to be explored. Night in these fastnesses is inexpressibly doleful and at times fearful. The Black Forest of Germany is not nearly so lonely, nor is the Brocken so ominous with its colossal specter as the mountain summits of the Adirondacks, clothed with evergreens and groves of birch, maple, beech, ash and cedar, in which the bear, wolf and wild-cat have their lairs. In these wild seclusions, the recesses of dark valleys and the dreary isolation of soaring peaks, darkness is enthroned and veiled by shadows, amid which savage animals and dusky night-birds hold their carnivals. The catamount sets up a chilling wail that brings response from the deep-voiced loon that keeps his lonely watch on a lake far below; then across a stretch of deep wood falls the hooting echo of a solemn owl, whose complainings excite condolement of whip-poor-will and katydid, and the chorus thus begun is taken up and joined in by a thousand whimpering, screeching, strident and wailing things that make the lonesome forest their assembling place.

Back to Index Next