The Hudson: Three Centuries of History, Romance and InventionBruce, Wallace
History
The Hudson: Three Centuries of History, Romance and Invention
Bruce, Wallace
Hudson River (N.Y. and N.J.) -- Guidebooks
To those persons who do not desire long mountain jaunts, who simply
need some quiet place for rest and recuperation, I would suggest this:
Select some place near the base of these clustered mountains, like the
tasty Adirondack Lodge at Clear Pond, only seven miles from the summit
of Tahawas, or Beede's pleasant hotel, high and dry above Keene Flats,
near to the Ausable Ponds, or some pleasant hotel or quiet farm-house
in the more open country near Lake Placid and the Saranacs. But
I prophesy that the spirit of adventure will come with increased
strength, and men and women alike will be found wandering off on
long excursions, sitting about great camp-fires, ay, listening like
children to tales which have not gathered truth with age. If you have
control of your time you will find no pleasanter months than July,
August and September, and when you return to your firesides with
new vigor to fight the battle of life, you will feel, I think, like
thanking the writer for having advised you to go thither.
* * *
To shut up a glen or a waterfall for one man's exclusive
enjoying; to fence out a genial eye from any
corner of the earth which nature has lovingly touched;
to lock up trees and glades shady paths and haunts
along rivulets, would be an embezzlement by one man
of God's gifts to all.
_N. P. Willis._
* * *
I have written in this article the Indian name, Tahawas, in the place
of Mt. Marcy, and for this reason: There is no justice in robbing the
Indian of his keen, poetic appreciation, by changing a name, which
has in itself a definite meaning, for one that means nothing in its
association with this mountain. We have stolen enough from this
unfortunate race, to leave, at least, those names in our woodland
vocabulary that chance to have a musical sound to our imported Saxon
ears. The name Tahawas is not only beautiful in itself, but also
poetic in its interpretation--signifying "I cleave the clouds."
Coleridge, in his glorious hymn, "Before sunrise in the vale of
Chamouni," addresses Mount Blanc:
"Around thee and above
Deep is the air and dark, substantial, black--
An ebon mass. Methinks thou piercest it.
_As with a wedge!_"
The name or meaning of Tahawas was never made known to the great
English poet, who died sixty years ago. Is it not remarkable that
the untutored Indian, and the keenist poetic mind which England has
produced for a century, should have the same idea in the uplifted
mountains? There is also another reason why we, as a State, should
cherish the name Tahawas. While the Sierra Nevadas and the Alps
slumbered beneath the waves of the ocean, before the Himalayas or the
Andes had asserted their supremacy, scientists say, that the high
peaks of the Adirondacks stood alone above the waves, "the cradle of
the world's life;" and, as the clouds then encircled the vast waste
of water, Tahawas then rose--"Cleaver" alike of the waters and the
clouds.
* * *
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account