Ml MltehrB— Lonman .alVcJ ooil of II* vif up.
An 1848
Trip to
Mitchell
llul when Linman visil«*<l
ii. the peak was rnllrd
“Blark Noulain."
By f HARMS LA N14 AN
Asheville. June IN4K
Twenty -five miles from this place, in
a northerly direction, stand, fltor*
Mountain, which is the gloomy look¬
ing patriarch of the ADcghanics. and
claimed to to the most elevated point
of land eastward of the Mbuuippi It
is nearly seven thousand feet high,
and. with its numerous pinnacles, cov¬
ers an area of territory which must
measure in length
л
distance ol at
least twenty miles. Unlike its fellows
in this Southern land, it is covered with
a dense forest from base to summit,
where may be found nearly every varie¬
ty of American trees, from the willow
and the elm. to tbe oak and the Canada
fir; and it b the parent of at least a
hundred streams. Not a rood of its
rocky and yet fertile surface has ever
hcen cultivated, and its chief inhabi¬
tants arc the paniher, the bear, and the
tlccr Almost its only human denizen
is one Frederick Burnet, a "mighty
hunter." who is now upward, of forty
yean of age. and b said to have
«bin between five hundred and m
hundred hears upon thb mountain
al«mc. To obtain an adequate idea of
its height and grandeur, it should be
viewed from at least a dozen points of
the compass, and with regard to the
circular and apparently boundless
panorama which it commands, it can
be far better imagined than described.
On questioning one of the wild natives
of the region as to the character of
this prospect, be repbed “Good God'
sir. It looks down upon every seaport in
the United Stales, and across the whole
of Mexico." On learning this truly re¬
markable circumstance, my curiosity
was of course excited, and I question¬
ed my informant as to the facilities nl
looking oil from the peak. "Directly
on the highest point." said he. "stands
a single fir-tree which you have to
climb, and thus look down on all crea¬
tion." “And how do you reach the sum¬
mit?" I continued "O’ it's a vory C3sy
matter, stranger; you only have to
watt about six miles, and right straight
up the roughest country you ever did
see."
With this intelligence I was fully sat¬
isfied, and thereupon concluded that
I should waste none ol my strength
merely for die privilege of "climbing
a tree." even ihough it were the most
elevated in the land. One of my Ashe¬
ville friends, however, to whom I had
brought letters of introduction, spoke
to me of the Black Mountain m the
most enthusiastic terms, said that
I ought to visit
и.
and added that he
had gotten up a party of one dozen
gentlemen including himself, who
were resolved upon visiting the foot of
the mountain in my company. They
were described as lovers of scenery,
anglers, and hunter*, and it was pro¬
posed that we should go on horseback
though accompanied by a kind of
tender, consisting of a small wagon load
of provisions, lishing-rods. and guns,
which was to be under the especial
charge of an old Negro named Sam
Drymond I was of course delighted
with this arrangement, and, as the ex¬
pedition was accomplished to the sat¬
isfaction of all concerned. I will give
an account of iu principal incidents.
Our cavalcade started at the break
of day. and. as Miss Fortune would
have
Й,
in what we imagined a morn¬
ing shower. It so happened, however,
that it rained almost without ceasing
until we reached our place of destina¬
tion, which was a log shantcc not far
from the base of the Black Mountain,
and about six miles from its summit.
Our course by up the valley of ilw
Swannanooh, which, in spite of the
rain, I could not but admire lor its
varied beauties. This river rise* on the
Black Mountain, b a charming tribu-
tary of the French Broad, from five to
twenty yards in width, cold and clear,
very rapid, and throughout its entire
length b overshaded by a most
luxuriant growth of graceful and
sweet-scented trees and vines. The
plantations on this stream arc highly
cultivated, the surrounding scenery is
mountainous, graceful, und pictur¬
esque, and among the small but nu¬
merous waterfalls which make the
Tint half of its course exceedingly ro¬
mantic, may to enjoved the finest of
trout filling
To describe the appearance of our
party a\ we ascended the Swannanoah.
through the mud and rain, were quite
impossible, without employing a mili¬
tary phrase. We looked more like a
party ol "used up" cavaliers, returning
from an unfortunate xeige. than one in
pursuit of pleasure; and in spite ol
our efforts to be cheerful, a few of our
17
TMI
ШТАТЕ.
M** 7. I94S
