Glimpses of America: A Pictorial and Descriptive History of Our Country's Scenic MarvelsBuel, James W. (James William)
History
Glimpses of America: A Pictorial and Descriptive History of Our Country's Scenic Marvels
Buel, James W. (James William)
United States -- Pictorial works
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.”
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[Illustration:
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.
]
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[Illustration: GIANT FALLS, AUSABLE CHASM.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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