SPRING AT THE CAPITAL 145 



a sudden bend or over a rocky bed; receiving at 

 short intervals small runs and spring rivulets, \vliich 

 open up vistas and outlooks to the right and left, of 

 the most charming description, — Rock Creek has 

 an abundance of all the elements that make up not 

 only pleasing but wild and rugged scenery. There 

 is, perhaps, not another city in the Union that has 

 on its very threshold so much natural beauty and 

 grandeur, such as men seek for in remote forests and 

 mountains. A few touches of art would convert 

 this whole region, extending from Georgetown to 

 what is known as Crystal Springs, not more than 

 two miles from the present State Department, into 

 a park unequaled by anything in the world. There 

 are passages between these two points as wild and 

 savage, and apparently as remote from civilization, 

 as anything one meets with in the mountain sources 

 of the Hudson or the Delaware. 



One of the tributaries to Rock Creek within this 

 limit is called Piny Branch. It is a small, noisy 

 brook, flowing through a valley of great natural 

 beauty and picturesqueness, shaded nearly all the 

 way by woods of oak, chestnut, and beech, and 

 abounding in dark recesses and hidden retreats. 



I must not forget to mention the many springs 

 with which this whole region is supplied, each the 

 centre of some wild nook, perhaps the head of a 

 little valley one or two hundred yards long, through 

 which one catches a glimpse, or hears the voice, of 

 the main creek rushing along below. 



My walks tend in this direction more frequently 



