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VOL. I.
Tilt: CABIN hL’
Is published every Saturday , by P- L
ROBLYSOJV, IVarrentun , Geo. at
three dollars per annum , which may’ be
discharged by two dollars and fifij/
cents if paid within sixty days of tht’
time of subscribing.
From the American Journal ot'Sc.ence.
Notice of the Tockoa and Tallulah Falls
in Georgia.
BY A FOSTER.
In a southern excursion, during
the autumn of 18 c 27, I visited the T
ble mountain io Pendleton, S-uth
Carolina, and the To koa & rallulal
Falls in flabersliam Georgia. Tlies*
only who have visited and contenipl
ted the interesting section of ou<
country can justly appreciate tb
beauty and magnificence, and tin
wildness and sublimity of the naturu
scenery around the southern termina
tion of the Blue. Ridge.
1< is not now i:i my power togratif
the curiosity of my northern friends
by describingevery thing that delight,
ed or astonished our little party ot
travellers. But to the admirer of hb
Creator’s works, never yet in their
n-tive richness and variety describui
by the geographer, sketched by tin
artist, <r sung by the poet, permit;
traveller to recommend an pyrursiw
al mg the western and mountainous
border of North and South-Caroling
and Georgia. Ifyou have imagined
southern scenery to be tame and uni
form, your disappointment, like my
own will be most gratifying and corn
pie e A brief sketch of the two princi
pal Fills is ail that will at this time
bt attempt ‘d.
Tockoa Fall is in a small creek of
the same name, just before it runs into
the Tugalo, one hundred and fifty
miles above .Augusta, The perpen
cli ular fall is one hundred and eigh
ty six feet, measured by a line. Ii
is surrounded by no wild scenery.
The rivulet disturbed by no rapids,
moves with a gentle current, and
drops without warning into a beauti
ful basin below, expanding into a fine
rain before it reaches the bottom;
and a breeze which always plays
there, spreads a thiT'k spray around,
and’ornaments the falling water, tire
rock and the shrubbery with rain
bows. A carriage road is within a
stone’s throw of the fall, and our par
ty rode to the base and to the summit
of the precipice.
Two beach trees grow near the
base which are so closely covered
with names down into tne very
ground, that he who will carve his
own, must intrude upon a present oc
cupant.—Old and venerable names
have been obliterated to give aeon
spicuous position to some young as
pirant forimmo tality. These beach
es, said a lady of our party, are the
political world in miniature.
The'l’m koa produces a sensation
rather of the beautiful than sublime—
it pleases but does not terrify—it sat
isfies, but does not overwhelm the ex
pectation. It is a fine preparation
for the tremendous scenery which a
waits the traveller 16 miles north
ward.
The rapids of Tallulah are in Geor
gia, ten miles above the union of the
Tallulah and Chatooga rivers which
form the Tugaloo, five miles from the
line of North-Carolina. The river,
which is forty yards wide above the
rapids, is forced, for a mile and a
fourth, through a range of mountains,
into a channel scarcely twenty feet
broad. The mountain receives the
water into abroad basin, surrounded
by solid rock one hundred feet in
height. Here the stream pauses in
Rural Cabinet.
iami< tpaliuii ot liio awful gull,—linn
‘rushes down a cater act forty feet;
then hurrying through a narrow
winding passage, dashing from side to
side against the precipice, and re
peatedly turning at right angles, is
precipitated one hundred feet—and in
a tfioment after, fifty feet more—and
making many short turns, it rushes
down three or four falls of twenty and
ten feet. The sum of the full in the
listance of a mile is estimated at three
mndred and fifty feet.
The rapids, however, splendid, a
part from the sublimity with which
hey are surrounded, are only an ap
pendage to the stupendous banks of
solid rm k, descending almost perpen
dieularly to the water on both sides of
he river, and varying in the distance
T a mile, from seven hundred tonne
thousand feet in. bight, so that tin*
jream literally passes that distance
lira ugh the mountain, or rather
Ii rough the high lands tiiat connect
wo mountains.
The visiter approached from the
west, finds an easy descent for the
ast mile, and drives his carraige to
he very edge of the gulf. No uuusu
-1 rppearanccs of pointed rocks or
troken lands admonish him that the
rapids are near, till suddenly he sees
he opening abyss. He advances
cautiously, trom tree to tree, till he
looks down upon the water. Instant
ly, his mind surrenders itself to the
overwhelming sensation of awe and
amazement. He neither speaks nor
smiles—and even a jest or smile from
a friend is painful to his feelings;!
whi< h, particularly with the ladies,|
(as at (he Niagara Falls.) are often
relieved by weeping. Some of our
company, hurrying down to the brink
without giving ttse mind time to col
lect itself, experien ed dizziness and
faintness, and were compelled to
era \ 1 ba k.
Here are no artificial embellish
ments. The scenery wears the art
less robe of natures’ wildness. The
rnnuitic variety, magnificence and
sublimity of Jehovah’s works are uu
touched by human hands. The rapids
are in the bosom of a forest, in which
are seen burrows off ixes, and dens
of rattle snakes, and in which arc
heard the howling of wolves, and the
screaming of eagles—there, the wild
deer bound gracefully through the
small bushes, and pass the trees rifted
by lightning
In front of the spectator, the per
pendicular fare of toe rock on the op
posite shore, presenting an endless
variety of colors—brown, white, a
zureand purple—overhanging, reced
ing, angular and square surfaces—
figures in bass relief ornamented with
shrubbery—small rivulets falling in
graceful cascades down the precipice
—the opening abyss, lined with mas
sive rock—the foaming, roaring wa
ter at the bottom encircled by rain
bows, all seen at one view, produce
sensations unutterable. The feeling
once enjoyed you desire to recall, but
it cannot be recalled only by placing
yourself again upon the spot. Nor;
does the scenery lose its power by
long and minute examination. I lin
gered about the Rapids three days,
and the effect was rather lightened
by new discoveries, than by familiar
ity.
The most magnificent general view
is from a part of the precipice which
projects over the abyss twenty feet,
and which is gained by a descent of
fifteen feet. This is half way be
tween the commencement and termi
nation of the rapids, near the highest
part of the mountain through which
they pass, not less than one thousand
feet above the water, and affords the
Warren ton, August 16, 1828.
nest view us uie second amt third
l ills, one of which is almost under the
projection. Our company had just
gained this site, sufficiently agitated
with our situation, when instantly a
P ‘dl of thunder burst over us, and
the rain descended upon us. The
young ladies took shelter under a
projecting bank, from which one
step might have precipitated them
one thousand feet into the foaming
river—tbe rest of the party crowded
under a single umbrella upon the
point of tiie over hanging rock. The
rck house formerly the entrance of
the Indian’s piradire, but now the
eagle’s habitation, was bes ire us—the
earth i>i front and on either hand open
ed wide and deep—over us roared the
thunder—under us, at about the same
distavi e, were seen and heard the
pouring and dashing of the cataracts
—‘lie even's red artillery’ played a
rouud—and the wind swept, by with
great violence. At this moment a
largo pine near us was rifted by the
lightning, and its trunk entirely
splintered to the ground Echo an
swered echo from side to side, rum’*,
ling long and loud, through the cav
erns ol the broken mountain. We
all trembled, and I keil at each other
in silence. The ladies sustained the
shock with unexpected equanimity,
and kept their places. In half an
hour the cloud passed over—the wind
slept—the sun casting its brilliant
rainbows round the falls, spread over
the wilderness a mild and enchanting
serenity, and we pursued our discov
eries with augmented interest.
This however, was the most sub-
lime and awful hour of my life. LV.r
haps few have ever been favoured
with a display more magnificently
impressive of the power and presence
ot Omnipotence, Haven and earth
seemed to display their terrific opera
tions, and conspired to make us feel
our own feebleness.
The Rock House is an entrance ap
paren iy ten feet square, leading into
the perpendicular face of the rock,
too far down the side to be access!
hie. We were informed by the guide
of an Indian tradition that this is the
door of paradise. They had fro
quently traced their lost companions
to this spot, and could never hear of
them again; since which no ludi an
has been known to hunt alone near the
Rapids of Tallulah. At present the
less superstitious eagle finds this a
safe retreat to rear her young.
There are three places of descent
to the bed of the river* two of these
meet at the same place, ami the other
leads to the bottom of the fall. The
other falls have been approached very
seldom, and only by fording up the
stream. Both descents cannot be ea
sily performed the same day; the up
per one to the fall is the most interest
ing. To look out at the opening of
this deep gulf pays the excessive fa
tigue of the lower descent, hut the
view from several pjsitjnns above,
produces the most enchanting effect
of grandeur and sublimity.
At these Rapids, 1 very forcibly
felt the influence by which the prinii
jtive worshippers selected grand tcri
ble scenes as the most favorable pla ,
ces to hold converse with the Deity.—
The mountain’s top—the deep valley
! —the base of the waterfall—and the
mouth of the grotto were selected b>
the rude inhabitants of untaught na
lions as the dwelling place of a presid- j
ing divinity.
I left this place with an unsatisfied
curiosity, convinced that a year might
have been consumed in examining!
every object interesting to a scientific
traveller.
In prefering the rapids to the ta-
tile iitouiiiain, its 1 rte< mW Uiy do, in
common with many < f superior taste
in scenery, I would object to no part
of the admiration so largely bestow ed
on the latter. Each presents scenes
like no other in the U. S. the one is
perfectly unlike the other, and both
are so remarkable, that a visit to the
one, in no respect supersedes the pro
priety of seeing the other.
The efleet from the table rock is
one unmixed overwhelming sensation
of the sublime. As tlie spei tatur
walks along the edge of the sloping
precipice for a third of a mile his
mind demands time for expansion to
receive the full influence of its new
situation. ’This is a< coiiq lished by
fixing the attention upon eai h ohj rt
separately—the falls of Sli king be
fore him—the plantations below him—
the mountain around him and tho
broad bosom of the forest spreading
every way—but the eftVi t of the pre*.
cipiie under him prevails over all
other emotions. As the spectator
walks half a mile under the pre< ipice,
the height of which is at this distance
about seven hundreo and thirty feet,
and the base ofwhuh contains a nar
row path midway between the summit
and base of the mountain, a variety
of emotions is enjoyed too complex to
be, definitely desi ribed. Objects
pleasing, novel, beautiful and sublime,
are every moment demanding his at
tention.—On the summit his counte
nance is gruvg, his words few and his
imagination strongly ex bed. At
the base his countenance is lighted op,
and liis conversation animated and
brilliant.— For his visit to the summit
lie feels re warded, anil his mind Ins
expttifdcd. Wnh his visit to the base
lu* is more than satisfied; he is de
lighted; his feelings have been kin
dled; the company are endeared to
him, and on retireing lie says, ‘no
day of my life has passed more a
greeable, or more profitably.* Tho
best judges, however unanimously
express a preference for the rapids of
Tallulah—As at the table Mountain,
so also two days at least should be de
voted to the rapids*
Mud Creek Fall is twenty Pre
miles north of Tailuiah. I did r•.t
visit, it, but was informed that tho
whole fall of this cat arm t is two hun
dred and eighty feet; that it is in a
large creek, and the eflVct eminently
interesting.
Thi Cutrihee Mountain, one mile
from the To< koa Fulls, :*fl‘ rds a rich
reward for the toil of gaining its sum
mit; O.i the north is a view of {he
Blue Itidge surpassed in its'prospect
of *m xmtaios piled on mountains, *
peril qis by no other site in tlio U •;ir
ed States. On the south, Georgia
and South Carolina, with the excep
tion of a few plantations oh the Tu
galoo, present one unbroken forest as
far as the sight extends. As you tra
verse this forest you will sometimes
see spSendid situations insulated from
the rest of the world, in the fertile val
ies, surrounded by the conveniences,
the elegancies, and the domestic re
finements of social life.
“ IVHATB LV A
The custom f altering names, if
’ ever commendable, is so in the fol
lowing instan e, which we copy from
a law of the State of Maine, publish
ed in the S onerset Journal. ‘Resolv
ed, that Moses Tvvitchell, (here fol
low the names of 13 more Twitchells,
‘male and female) all of New Port
land, in the county of Somerset, bo
severally allowed to lay aside the sur
name of Twitched, and take the sur
name of Mitchell.
[We think, says, tiie Savannah
Georgian, that the name should have
been altered to Switch ell.]
No. 12.