IV 



LAND OF THE SKY 



I LEFT by the Southern Railroad that evening, 

 and passed the night in a luxurious, if much- 

 heated, Pullman car. Postponing my arrival in 

 Florida for a few days, I planned a digression 

 from the main track that I might see the famous 

 Sapphire country, otherwise " Land of the Sky," 

 of North Carolina. I had heard the praises of 

 that region in New York, and the President con- 

 firmed this from hearsay, though he had not 

 then visited the district himself. As my itinerary 

 was marked through Florida, which is flat rather 

 than flowery, it seemed desirable to get one 

 glimpse at least of American mountain scenery, if 

 not the much - described Rockies, at anyrate the 

 spurs of the Alleghanies. 



Next morning, therefore, I changed trains at 

 a small and ugly station (God rest the man who 

 built it !) on the Carolina border, where a large 

 negress seized my lighter baggage, looking as 

 though she could have seized me as well, and 

 bore it to the other car. My heavier trunks were 

 checked through to Jacksonville, and there I found 

 them three or four days later. In a few minutes, 

 not more than half an hour late by schedule, I 

 found myself zigzagging amid the lovely mountains 

 that frame the Asheville plateau, and enjoying 



57 



