300 THE ADIRONDACK. 



excellent soil for farming purposes. So in fact it was, 

 but I hinted that most of his transactions in produce 

 must be with himself. 



But the superb view here obtained of the Adirondack 

 masses, though the finest beyond all comparison I have 

 ever seen from their bases, is not the only attraction this 

 place presents. The panorama from the top of Mount 

 Tahawus, embracing as it does nearly three hundred 

 miles of forest, lake, and mountain, is one of the most 

 striking and peculiar that our country affords. The 

 closely surrounding peaks, gloomy and stern — the mul- 

 titude of lakes of every shape and size, dotted with 

 islands and framed in green — the deep interminable 

 gashes in the forest, showing where the broad, deep, but 

 invisible rivers flow — the innumerable ridges that lap 

 and enfold each other till the whole seem involved in an 

 inextricable labyrinth — and, where the mountains melt 

 away into gentler swells, the ocean of vast green billows 

 that roll on towards the distant horizon — combine to 

 make it one which leaves an impression on the beholder 

 that he can never forget. Yet the ascent of this moun- 

 tain has been such a difficult task that few ever attempt- 

 ed it. When I formerly ascended it no human foot had 

 profaned its summit for six years. 1 took my guide 



