48 



the dark green of this tree as seen from a distance that has given the name 

 of " the Black " to this mountain or rather to this long range 6f peaks. It 

 would be too much of a digression to enumerate the many uses to which 

 this tree, with the resin it exudes, is put by the people living about the 

 mountain for many miles from its base. 



The kind hospitality of some of the relatives of Mr. Patton, the proprie- 

 tor, had procured for us the keys of the hotel, and made all our large com- 

 pany free to enter at pleasure every apartment from cellar to garret, and 

 select their places for sleeping. To the same gentlemen and to Dr. Boyd 

 of the " Eagle Hotel," Asheville, we owed the means of satisfying a crav- 

 ing appetite, the necessary consequence of the continuous exercise we had 

 taken. Our numbers making sitting impracticable, we ate standing a pri- 

 meval meal ; using our hands and fingers as plates and forks, and I might 

 add, spoons. We were glad to find in hot coffee, which we swallowed with 

 avidity without milk or cream, an effective sedative to nerves which the 

 cold piercing air of our great altitude was rapidly unsettling. 



In the meanwhile those in charge of the body were toiling slowly up- 

 ward. In many places, the oxen drawing a sled, upon which it had been 

 placed, became useless in consequence of the muddiness or steepness of 

 the way and for short distances the corpse was carried on the shoulders of 

 the mountaineers. It was after nine o'clock, and many of our company 

 had retired for the night before they arrived. One by one, tired, wet, 

 muddy and chilled, these worthy men came in, seeking a share of the sup- 

 per of which we had partaken and the pallets we had spread upon the 

 floors. It was late before the house was quiet and even then, as thoughts 

 of the novelty of our situation and of the mournful purpose for which we 

 were there ; besides occasional whispers from some one more awake than the 

 rest ; and the wintry state of the atmosphere — which not the blazing fires 

 on our hearths, the thick blankets in which we were wrapped, nor the 

 animal heat diffused from the bodies of so many room-mates could entire- 

 ly dispel — all served to prevent our falling asleep for some time. 



An early start, after a hasty breakfast on the remnants of the supper of 

 the preceding evening and securing the animals turned loose to shift for 

 themselves during the night, enabled most of us from the Buncombe side 

 to reach the top of Mt. Mitchell before 9 o'clock. While awaiting the 

 commencement of the ceremonies we had several hours in which to enjoy 

 the magnificent prospect our lofty elevation afforded us. The cold mists 

 that at first enveloped the tops of the mountain were gradually dispersed 

 by the sun as he rose higher in the heavens, and then was revealed to us 

 a grander scene than it had ever before been our lot to behold. The ma- 

 jestic heights of the peaks that with Mt. Mitchell rise from a common 



