CHIMNEY ROCK, ON THE FRENCH BROAD RIVER.—After passing through the Blue Ridge Mountains at Hickory Nut Gap, the valley of the French Broad River is encompassed by one of the grandest cañons to be found in any part of the world. For a distance of nine miles on either side, giant mountains rise to a dizzy height, forming massive walls of blue granite, often reaching an altitude of more than a thousand feet, while not a sprig of vegetation appears on their surface. They are cut and carved by the elements into many curious and remarkable shapes, designated by names more or less appropriate. Chimney Rock, photographed on this page, is a circular column four hundred feet high, bearing upon its top a curiously shaped rock closely resembling the cap of liberty. ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: ABOVE THE CLOUDS ON MITCHELL’S PEAK, NEAR ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA.] “High mountains bound this vale on north and south, while directly in front of us, like companion sentinels guarding the western gateway, down which the sun was to march, stands Round Top and Chimney Rock Mountains. Behind Chimney Rock, trending toward the west, arise in close succession a number of mountains with distinct, broken summits—a long palisade fencing the gap in whose depth rushes the Broad River. In the center of the west stands Bear Wallow Mountain, the last visible knob of Hickory- Nut Gap. “The sun was sinking behind the white cumuli that capped this mountain. Streamers of golden light, like the spokes of a celestial chariot, whose hub was the hidden sun, barred the western sky. The clouds shone with edges of beaten gold. Their centers, with every minute, changed to all hues imaginable. The fronts of the Sentinel Mountains were somber in the shadows, while the gap was radiant with the light pouring through it, and every pine on the top of the palisade stood black against the glowing sky.” The “Old Man’s Face” is another wonderful natural curiosity which divides interest with the finest scenery in this remarkable region, and is on the west side of Bald Mountain, in prominent view, for the rocks are barren and garish from the light of the sun. This singular formation is a faithful representation of a three-quarter view of an old man’s face, with forehead, eyes, nose, mouth and beard in such perfect proportion that one can hardly believe, without close examination, the face is only an accidental result of the elements, in their unceasing work of denudation.