The Knickerbocker, Vol. 10, No. 5, November 1837Various
History
The Knickerbocker, Vol. 10, No. 5, November 1837
Various
Periodicals
YOU can lie on your pillow at Catskill, and see the god of day
look upon you from behind the pinnacles of the White Mountains in
New-Hampshire, hundreds of miles away. Noble prospect! As the great
orb heaves up in ineffable grandeur, he seems rising from beneath
you, and you fancy that you have attained an elevation where may be
seen _the motion of the world_. No intervening land to limit the
view, you seem suspended in mid-air, without one obstacle to check
the eye. The scene is indescribable. The chequered and interminable
vale, sprinkled with groves, and lakes, and towns, and streams; the
mountains afar off, swelling tumultuously heavenward, like waves of
the ocean, some incarnadined with radiance, others purpled in shade;
all these, to use the language of an auctioneer's advertisement, 'are
too tedious to mention, but may be seen on the premises.' I know of
but one picture which will give the reader an idea of this ethereal
spot. It was the view which the angel Michael was polite enough,
one summer morning, to point out to Adam, from the highest hill of
Paradise:
'His eye might there command wherever stood
City of old or modern fame, the seat
Of mightiest empire, from the destined walls
Of Cambalu, seat of Cathaïan Can,
And Sarmachand by Oxus, Temir's throne,
To Paquin of Sinæan kings; and thence
To Agra and Labor of great Mogul
Down to the golden Chersonese; or where
The Persian in Ecbatan sat, or since
In Hizpahan; or where the Russian Ksar
In Mosco; or the Sultan in Bizance,
Turchestan born; nor could his eye not ken
The empire of Negus, to his utmost port,
Erocco; and the less maritime kings
Mombaza, and Quiloa, and Melind,
And Sofala, thought Ophir, to the realm
Of Congo and Angola, farthest south;
Or thence from Niger flood to Atlas' mount,
The kingdoms of Almanzor, Fez, and Suz,
Morocco, and Algier, and Tremizen;
On Europe thence, and where Rome was to sway
The world; in spirit perhaps he also saw
Rich Mexico, the seat of Montezume,
(And Texas too, great Houston's seat--who knows?)
And Cusco in Peru, the richer seat
Of Atabalipa; and yet unspoiled
Guiana, whose great city Geyron's sons
Call El Dorado.'
* * * * *
OF the falls, sooth to say, little can be ejaculated in the
eulogistic way. The cataract is only 'on hand' for a part of the
time. It is kept in a dam, and let down for two shillings. The demand
for the article has sometimes exceeded the supply, especially in
dry weather. We quote the sales, as per register, while there, at
perhaps some three hundred yards. Oh, Mercury! Scenery by the square
foot! Sublimity by the quintal!
* * * * *
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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