LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. 41 



earth itself will never be fully enjoyed till 

 we are somewhere above it. The Lookout 

 woods, as I now saw them, were less mag- 

 nificent in sweep, but hardly less beautiful. 

 And below them was the valley bottom, 

 Lookout Valley, once the field of armies, 

 now the abode of peaceful industry : acres 

 of brown earth, newly sown, with no trace 

 of greenness except the hedgerows along the 

 brooks and on the banks of Lookout Creek. 

 And beyond the valley was Kaccoon Moun- 

 tain, wooded throughout; and behind that, 

 far away, the Cumberland range, blue with 

 distance. 



A phoebe came and perched at my elbow, 

 dropping a curtsey with old-fashioned polite- 

 ness by way of " How are you, sir ? " and a 

 little afterward was calling earnestly from 

 below. This is one of the characteristic 

 birds of the mountain, and marks well the 

 difference in latitude which even a slight 

 elevation produces. I found it nowhere in 

 the valley country, but it was common on 

 Lookout and on Walden's Ridge. Then, 

 behind me on the summit, another north- 

 ern bird, the scarlet tanager, struck up a 

 labored, rasping, breathless tune, hearty, 



