From this dizzy height the peaks of the Blue Ridge may be observed for scores of miles in each direction; looking northeast you may see the famous King’s Mountain, seventy miles away, while in the opposite direction, in distinct view, is Stone Mountain, near Atlanta, Georgia, over one hundred miles away. Looking to the north, a distance of a little more than one hundred miles, is the Roan Mountain, while to the northeast is seen the black dome of Mount Mitchell, full sixty-five miles distant. In the northwest, about thirty-five miles away, is Pisgah, resembling a great Egyptian pyramid in outline, while directly to the west are the Highlands of Macon county, with Whiteside Mountain glittering like an iceberg in the sunlight. From the top of this wonderful precipice the view is strangely suggestive of a great stretch of ocean. The blue waves of the sea find their counterpart in the waves of these blue mountains, with their corrugations extending far out until the outline is lost in the hazy distance. There is no grander sight than a view from this point at sunrise, when the world below is buried from sight in an ocean of impenetrable fog, and the great billows of fleecy mist rolling like angry waves, while the breaker-like roar of cataracts a thousand feet below, makes the deception complete. The loftiest peak of the Appalachian system is Mount Mitchell, which is thirty miles from Asheville, and is easiest reached by way of the Swannanoa River. The ascent is by a comparatively easy roadway, but as the altitude of the summit is 6,717 feet, it is not gained without great exertion. Formerly the mountain was called Black Dome, then Clingman’s Mount, but was afterwards christened Mitchell’s Peak, in honor of Professor Elisha Mitchell, of the State University of North Carolina, who was first to measure its exact altitude, and who lost his life by falling over a precipice in making a second ascent to verify his first measurement. The body was found ten days after the fatal accident and conveyed to Asheville, where it was buried. One year subsequently the remains were disinterred and carried to the summit of Mitchell Mountain, and there committed to the grave, over which a beautiful monument now stands, the tribute of a daughter’s loving memory. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: