AT NATURAL BRIDGE 



With the exception of a tedious delay at 

 East Radford it was a very enjoyable fore- 

 noon's ride from Pulaski to Natural Bridge, 

 through a country everywhere interesting, 

 and for much of the distance gloriously wild 

 and beautif id. Splendid hillside patches of 

 mingled Judas-tree and flowering dogwood 

 — one of a bright peach-bloom color, the 

 other royal masses of pure w hite — bright- 

 ened parts of the way south of Roanoke. 

 There, also, hovering over a grassy field, 

 were the first bobolinks of the season. 

 From Buchanan northward (new ground to 

 me by daylight) we had the company of 

 mountains and the James River, the road 

 following the windings of a narrow bank 

 between the base of the ridge and the water. 

 It surprised me to see the James so large 

 and full at such a distance from its mouth. 



