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56 Tf/garfs Valley.- 



tains, and shut out from the strife and tumult of the surrounding 

 world, this valley affords, at certain seasons of the year, all the nat- 

 ural and picturesque beauties of the fabled valley of Johnson. Here 

 may be found nearly all the rare and curious shrubs, and flowering 

 trees, indigenous to the 'western country. Enticed by the depth 

 and warmth of the valley, protected from the cold winds by the lofty 

 ridges which surround it, Flora here commences her earliest la- 

 bors. Various species of honeysuckle entwine their branches around 

 the trees in careless festoons ; the broad petaled cornus florida, un- 

 folds its white blossoms in strong contrast w^ith those of the pink 

 colored " Burning bush," or " Circis Ohioensis," that stands by its 

 side ; the rich fragrance of the crab apple, Chickasaw plum, and 

 innumerable grape vines, all combine to shed over this spot the va- 

 rious beauties of the vale of Tempe, or of the favored recesses on 

 the borders of Italy, to which the lofty peaks of the adjacent moun- 

 tains bear no inapt resemblance. The slopes and sides of the moun- 

 tains, bordering the valley, are clothed with the Liriodendron tuli- 

 pifera, whose towering top and gigantic shaft, justly declare it the 

 monarch of the hills, while its rich orange colored blossoms encircle 

 its head with a flowery crown. The magnolia acuminata, with its 

 graceful form and richly mottled branches^ is often seen to rival the 

 poplar in height and towering grandeur, while its more humble 

 brothers, the tripelata and glauca, yet more beautiful in foliage and 

 in flowers, stand modestly by its side. Still higher on the moun- 

 tain sides are seen the hickory, the various species of oak, and ma- 

 ny other trees too numerous to name with the prolific chesnut crown- 

 ing the summits of the ridges. Numerous water falls and rapids, 

 below " the gates of the mountain," give to this sequestered spot, 

 by their noisy contrast, a still greater air of tranquility. In the dis- 

 tance of twenty five miles, the river has a descent of several hun- 

 dred feet, as it passes down the broad plateaux of the mountains in- 

 to the valleys below. Much of this descent is made up of rapids 

 and ripples ; but in other places it forms perpendicular cascades, and 

 pitches over the sandstone rocks w^hich generally form its bed. The 

 first of any importance after the river leaves the valley, are called 

 " Mote's falls." At one of these, the water has a fall of fourteen feet, at 

 the other, of sixteen feet. The lower one is also, often called the 

 "Well's falls," from the numerous cavities worn in the solid rock to 

 the depth of eight or ten feet, and of the diameter of an ordinary 

 well. These are formed by the unceasing whirl of hard pebbles, 



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