Burke's weekly for boys and girls. (Macon, Ga.) 1867-1870, September 10, 1870, Image 1
Entered according to Act of Congress, in June,lß7o, by J. W. Burke & Cos., in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the So. District of Georgia
Vol. IV—-No. n.
TALLULAH PALLS.
HE Falls of Tallulah are twelve
uj? ret- m^es fr° m Clarkesville, by a
A * road of very varied beauty.
From Toccoa to Tallulah the cut across
is five or six miles only. There is an
hotel near the edge of the gorges tra
versed by this wild mountain stream,
and hard by its army of waterfalls.
The Tallulah, or Terrora as the In
dians more appositely called it, is a
small stream, which rushes through an
awful chasm in the Blue Ridge, rending
it for several miles. The ravine is 1,000
feet in depth, and of a similar width.
Its walls are gigantic cliffs of dark
granite. The heavy masses piled upon
each other in the wildest confusion,
sometimes shoot out, overhanging the
yawning gulf, and threatening to break
from their seemingly frail tenure, and
hurl themselves headlong into its dark
depths.
Along the rocky and uneven bed of
this deep abyss, the infuriated Ter
rora frets and foams with ever-varying
course. Now, it flows in sullen ma
jesty, through a deep and romantic
glen, embowered in the foliage of the
trees, which here and there spring from
the rocky ledges of the chasm walls.
Anon, it rushes with accelerated mo
tion, breaking fretfully over protruding
rocks, and uttering harsh murmurs, as
it verges a precipice.
“ Where, collected all.
In one impetuous torrent, down the steep
It thundering shoots, and shakes the country
round.
At first, an azure sheet, it rushes broad;
Then whitening by degrees as prone it falls,
And from the loud-resounding rocks below
Dashed in a cloud of foam, it sends aloft
A hoary mist, and forms a ceaseless shower.”
The most familiar point of observation
is the Pulpit —an immense cliff which
projects far into the chasm. From this
position, the extent and depth of the
fearful ravine, and three of the most
romantic of the numerous cataracts are
observed. At various other localities
fine glimpses down into the deep gorge
are afforded, and numerous other paths
lead to the bottom of the chasm. At
MACON, GEORGIA, SEPTEMBER 10,-1870.
TALLULAH FALLS.
the several cataracts —the Lodore, the
Tempesta, the Oceana, the Serpentine , ,
and others —the picture is ever anew
and striking one; which the most
striking and beautiful, it would be very
difficult to determine. The natural re
cess called the Trysting Rock, once the
sequestered meeting place of Indian
lovers, is now a halting-spot for merry
groups as they descend the chasm, just
below the Lodore cascade. From this
point, Lodore is upon the left up the
stream; a huge perpendicular wall of
parti-colored rock towers up in front
and below; to the right are seen the
foaming waters of the Oceana cascade,
and the dark glen into which they are
surging their maddened way. Tem
pesta, the Serpentine, and other falls,
lie yet below.
The wild grandeur of this mountain
gorge, and the variety, number, and
magnificence of its cataracts, give it
rank with the most imposing waterfall
scenery in the Union.
He that revenges knows no rest;
The meek possess a peaceful breast.
Whole No. 167.
The Bell-Bird.
£.f|||-ANDERING in a tropic fqjr-
am ldst the gorgeous
growths and wild garlands 01
climbing vine and brilliant blossoms in
the early morning, one’s ears are lit
erally pained with the mingled din that
comes from everywhere ; above, below,
behind, before, right and left; curious
cries, jubilant songs, angry discussions,
growls, snarls, croaks, and hisses, from
bird, beast, insectand reptile, make the
jungle a very Babel of unintelligible
sounds. Then as the scorching sun rays
pierce the clustering tangle of vegetable
life, one by one the sounds die away, they
close their petals, the leaves drop lan
guidly from every branch and spray; not
a breath of air stirs even the delicate tree
ferns; the stillness is that of death, as if
the world of things had ceased to be.
As you crouch under the wide leaves
of the plantain, seeking shelter from
the burning heat, suddenly a loud sound
is heard, like a deep, full-toned bell. A
short time elapses, and again it sounds,
and so on at intervals of three or four
minutes. Often other singers join the
peal, and then the “forest chimes” toll
their mournful music from far and near.
You cautiously creep out, and peer cu
riously in the direction of the noise, to
discover what living creature could pro
duceasound so exactly like abell. At last
you spy him out, and catch him in the very
act, seated on the top of a dead palm—
his belfry. By travellers, he is aptly
named the bell bird. On the top of the
head there is something like the horn
of a fabled unicorn. This tube of flesh
is hollow, and communicates with the
palate. When the “bell bird” is silent,
this strange spire-like affair hangs down
over the beak, just as the red, fleshy
wattle dangles on the front of a turkey
cock’s head ; but when sounding his
bell-like voice, it is filled tightly with
air, and stands erect and stiff as a horn.
A late traveler says : “At a distance
of three miles you may hear this snow
white bird tolling every four or five min
utes like a distant convent bell.”