84 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Aug. 25, 1887. 



hy the wagonroad 50 miles around. Big Tom is game- 

 keeper for Mr. Murchison of New York c ty who owns 

 13,000 acres of mountain land, bordering Big Tom's farm, 

 and keeps it as a game and fi.h preserve. Included in 

 Mr. Murchison's domain is Mt. Mitchell, on the very peak 

 of which is the grave of Prof. Mitchell. Big Tom had 

 gone to haul hack some of Mr. Murchison's effect?, for the 

 first of August always finds the latter on his mountain 

 preserve enjoying the invigorating air and scenery and 

 prepared to indulge in the rich hunting and fishing. 

 Our horses are cared for by the boys — Big Tom has ten 

 children living — and soon supper is announced. 



The night air is cool and rejuvenating and we slept 

 Boundly under abundant bedcovering and rose re- 

 freshed. The sun shone clear and promised a lovely day 

 although it still continued warm. The forenoon was 

 spent on the banks of Caney River with Sammy "Wilson 

 as guide. We fished — pretended to — some, loafed some 

 and bathed in the clear, cold mountain stream. There 

 are trout in these mountain streams, although one cannot 

 expect to find them lying around loose. 



At 2 P. M., Dr. Gatchell bade us good-bye and turned 

 Ms horse's head in the direction of Ivy Gap and Ashe- 

 ville. 



John Holden — one of Big Tom's sons — had our horses 

 all ready, but a heavy thunder storm being in progress on 

 the mountain we waited until 3 o'clock, then set out. 

 For some distance our way led us alongside the Caney 

 River and then branched, passing up and parallel to a 

 small swift mountain stream emptying into the Caney. 



At a distance of two miles we passed through a gate 

 entering the domain of Mr. Murchison. Nailed conspicu- 

 ously to a large tree directly in front of the gate was the 

 usual notice against poaching. Soon we came to what 

 might be called the region of the big trees. We rode 

 around one mammoth poplar lift, in diameter and 32ft. 

 in circumference 6ft. from the ground, There are many 

 more 5 to 10ft. in diameter and 60 to 80ft. without a limb. 

 Now our way led along the mountainside gradually but 

 persistently ascending; down short but steep declivities 

 to cross babbling mountain brooks only to scramble up 

 the other side and pursue our tortuous course. At this 

 altitude the rhododendron is just coming into blossom 

 and the air is laden with perfume. How exquisitely 

 lovely are the purple plossoms of these mountain shrubs; 

 the leaves so large and of a brilliant dark green albeit 

 somewhat stiff in arrangement. The rhododendrons 

 about Asheville had long since covered the ground with 

 their snow white petals. While anxiously and intently 

 watching the narrow and difficult bridle path lest my 

 horse should catch his foot in a root or slip on a rock, 1 

 availed myself of moments of respite to note the varied 

 growth of forest trees as we ascended. They seemed to 

 flourish in strata. First came the poplars, linden and 

 cucumber, with occasional beeches and maples. Next 

 magnificent maples and hemlocks from 3 to 6ft. in diam- 

 eter. These are followed by the beeches, and then we 

 pass into a solid growth of birches, the white, yellow and 

 black. The large balsams are next in order. These seem 

 to be of two varieties, at least the mountaineers distinguish 

 them as the black and white. The first has a rough, dark 

 bark with deep scorings. The other (Abies balsamia [?]) 

 has a smooth bark the color of a beech, and it is this tree 

 which furnishes the balsam used medically. The sap ex- 

 udes and forms small blisters containing a few drops 

 each upon the bark, which the mountaineers pxxncture, and 

 by slow and tedious labor gather for the market. As is 

 well known, this balsam has wonderful curative proper- 

 ties, especially for catarrh and throat and lung diseases, 

 consequently two physicians of this place have adopted a 

 method of vaporizing the balsam, which is forced into all 

 the air passages and lungs with wonderful results. Last 

 of all we found the stunted, low-limbed, wind-swept, 

 knotted and twisted balsams of the summit. The ends of 

 the limbs, containing the new growth, were tinted with 

 most exquisite frosty gray-greens. The foliage is massive 

 and heavy, although the limbs are not long, except as 

 they lie along the ground. The limbs and twigs are 

 thickly studded with sp nes or needles about an inch in 

 length and are quite stiff and the wood is heavy and firm. 



Before reaching the balsam growth we passed through 

 a blackberry patch, the tops of the vines of which I 

 could not reach from my horse. We were obliged to 

 force our way through these vines, with the mud 8in. 

 deep, due to the heavy rains and the numberless springs. 

 The vines, bushes and trees were heavy from the previous 

 showers, and the Professor, who led the way on foot, 

 was drenched to the skin. We finally reached an open 

 space, about a mile from the peak, and for the first time 

 in our ascent obtained a view of the reg'on round about. 

 We exclaimed with wonder and admiration, but the 

 guide interrupted with, "Come, gentlemen, it is late, we 

 cannot stop; wait till you get to the peak." Just before 

 arriving at this open spot John Holden had noticed a 

 snowbird fly out from a mossy bank beside the trail, and, 

 dismounting, he pushed aside the portiere of damp moss 

 and thrusting in his hand brought out one of the delicate 

 eggs for our inspection. The remaining mile the trail is 

 composed of rough, loose stones and boulders, with an 

 occasional ledge of rock. At last John , who is lame, slips 

 off his mule, with the remark, "You'll have to walk to 

 the summit." A huge flat rock, inclined at an angle of 

 60 and loft, long by 6ft. wide, with only a seam or ledge 

 2in. wide for a foothold, and situated on a sharp curve in 

 the trail, must be overcome before we can stand upon the 

 very peak. The mule goes up like a fly on a window 

 pane. George's horse also does very well. Will mire do 

 as well? I looked, around to find some way by which I 

 could dodge the obstacle. I dared not leave the trail, so 

 scrambled up and called to my horse to follow. He made 

 a good start, progressed about half way, his feet slipped, 

 and, going on his haunches, he slid to the bottom, where 

 he sat up, forefeet hanging like a poodle begging for a 

 cracker. The sudden jerk nearly dislocated my neck and 

 shoulder, and I was forced to follow my horse. Fortu- 

 nately my feet found a small projection, and by pulling 

 lustily on the bridle rein I prevented my horse from roll- 

 ing over backward. Gaining my feet by the time the 

 horse does his, I started again, and the horse came with 

 a rush and gained the top, trembling in every limb. 



We have reached our goal and stand beside the rocky 

 cairn surrounding the grave of Prof. Mitchell, 6,711ft. 

 above sea level. Our heads are bared to the breeze and 

 the company stand several minutes lost in reverent ad- 

 miration, wonder and delight at the magnificent panorama 

 spread before us. Mt. Mitchell stands nearly in the cen- 

 ter of a sea of mountain peaks more or less sharp, some 



of which are almost as high as itself. To the east and far 

 below stands a curious shaped mountain called Table 

 Rock. Its conformation justifies the name, and it guards 

 a gap out into the valley of the Blue Ridge. Bald Moun- 

 tain is in the northwest. The rugged Balsams stand far 

 away in the southwest, while far beyond them, faint and 

 hazy in the fading light, the great Smokies guard the 

 boundary line between North Carolina and Tennessee. 

 Below us to the southeast the Blue Ridge stretches along 

 at this height more like a range of hills than mountains. 

 Hawk's Bill in the north is very suggestive. Lying be- 

 tween us and Hawk's Bill are Hairy Bear and Cat Tail 

 peaks in the order named. A short distance away, south 

 southwest, stands Clingman's Peak, nearly as high as Mt. 

 Mitchell. Pisgah, which from Asheville appears mighty 

 and towering, with the ever-climbing, never-wearying 

 Rat struggling up its crest, now has dwindled to an al- 

 most insignificant hill, and occupies a position 50 miles 

 distant southwest. The Grandfather Mountains bound 

 the horizon on the southeast. John says, "I wish pap 

 was here, he could tell you the name of every peak and 

 valley you see." I am told one can, on a clear day, look 

 into seven States from Mitchell's Peak, and cover with 

 his gaze a radius of 200 miles. John cuts our meditations 

 short by saying "Come gentlemen, it'll soon be dark and 

 the wood is wet." We turn reluctantly, and following 

 him down a sharp declivity reached our camping place. 

 A large shelving rock projecting out 12ft. or more and 

 extending along the side of the cliff 30ft. offers us shelter. 

 By extra exertions and much blowing we succeeded in 

 starting a blaze. Balsam boughs are gathered, which, 

 together with what have been used by a previous party 

 of campers are to form our mattress. Some spread the 

 blankets while two others go to a neighboring spring fox- 

 water and to gather more wood for the night. Supper is 

 next in order. During the progress of the meal George 

 regales us with an account of his experience a year ago 

 when some time in the night the horses concluded they 

 had had enough of camping and left for pastures new 

 and home. They were found in the morning by Big Tom 

 half way down the mountain. We expressed the hope 

 no such calamity would befall us, and John said "They 

 won't go off, and if they do the trailing ropes will stop 

 them." After a time John startled us with the exclama- 

 tion, "I believe those doggoned animals have gone off!" 

 Neither the horses nor the mule were in sight, and John 

 and George jumped up and ran around the cliff. Soon 

 they returned, leading the erring beasts, who, led by the 

 mule Beck, were found on the peak headed for home. 

 The horse Nig and Beck are securely tied and the other 

 remains near. We reclined about the fire and caught 

 what few stray tints were vouchfafed us from the setting 

 sun reflected in the east. 



The clouds were still heavy and low enough to hide the 

 glories of the sunset which we had come so far to see, and 

 we consoled ourselves with hopes for the morning. As 

 night shut down a cooler breeze blew across the moun- 

 tain, although coming from the west and our cave open- 

 ing to the east we were in a measure protected. At four 

 o'clock in the morning, as if by mutual instinct, Professor 

 Waller and I simultaneously sat bolt upright and gazed 

 upon the eastern sky as the first cool gray tints arose. We 

 stood upon our feet and piling on a fresh supply of fuel 

 placed our backs to the fire and watched. How thankful 

 we were for the promise of a clear sky, with just enough 

 of the floating cumuli to give value to the rising sun and 

 his glory. Look at the mass of clouds below us. How 

 cold and like the heaving sea frozen in its moment of 

 action. 



See this is a bold rocky headland upon which we stand. 

 Yonder projecting peak is a mighty rock rising from the 

 sea cold and dark, gray with its covering of seaweed and 

 drift. Out there is a rocky island, while scattered about 

 are inlets and rocks bordering a dangerous coast. Beyond 

 is the almost landlocked harbor, out through the gate 

 stretching far, far away is the frozen sea with its broken 

 undulating surface. We cannot b3 deceived, this is a 

 glimpse of the silent polar sea. Meanwhile the sky is 

 flushed with the richest of crimson colors, and the mass 

 below us reflected in cooler tints the glory above. About 

 us twitter the snow birds as they flitted from rock to cliff 

 and slu'ub to tree in cheeriest appreciation of the beauty 

 of the scene. As the sun rose higher the ruddy richness 

 of his countenance changed to a more metallic lustre, and 

 the projecting surface of the motionless sea reflected a 

 golden hue, while the cold blue shadows gave place to 

 warm gray tones. 



Prof. Waller likened the mass directly under our feet 

 to a mighty glacier, its precipice here at the opening to 

 the sea and its body stretching far up among the everlast- 

 ing mountains. The sun has reached sufficient height to 

 touch some of the masses of clouds, and as his ray pene- 

 trate and warm them portions are detached, and rising 

 float away on noiseless wing like thistledown on the 

 morning's breath. Language fails and adjectives lose 

 their value. To very few is it vouchsafed to behold such 

 a sunrise from Mt. Mitchell. 



Holden has been some time astir preparing breakfast, 

 and while eating we questioned John about Prof. Mitchell 

 and how and where his father found the body. 



Thirty years ago on the 8th of July, having searched 

 for days, Big Tom Wilson found the body of Prof. Elisha 

 Mitchell in a pool of water 18ft. deep at the foot of a cliff 

 40ft. high on Sugar Camp branch of the Cat Tail fork of 

 Caney River. He had evidently wandered around, no 

 one knows how long, lost in the darkness and jungles of 

 the mountain side, and falling over the precipice had 

 been drowned in the pool below. The remains were taken 

 to Asheville for interment, but were afterward removed 

 to the very summit of the mountain which bears his 

 name. 



Prof. Mitchell at the time of his death was sixty -four 

 years of age, and had gone upon the mountain to verify 

 measurements and observations taken at a previous time. 

 Around the grave h? s been reared a cairn of loose stones 

 picked up from the mountain top, and each visitor adds 

 one to the wall in memory of the illustrious sleeper. 



Breakfast over John said we must start soon in order 

 to reach home for dinner. We cast one long, lingering 

 look to photograph the picture on. our memories, and just 

 as we were passing off the crest I dismounted to cut a 

 balsam stick for a memento. It was just nine o'clock 

 when we left, and we anticipated reaching the house at 

 eleven. On our way we started a woodcock feeding 

 along the trail. The others did not recognize it, but the 

 whistle was music to my ears. 



It was 9 A. M. the next clay when when we bade good- 



bye to the hospitable family and turned our faces toward 

 Ivy Gap. At 1 P. M. we reached Chambers, and before 

 leaving I planned with Hardy for a week's hunt some time 

 in the fall. We reached Asheville at 7 P. M., tired but in 

 jolly good humor, and reveling in the memory of what 

 we had seen, having spent four days on the trip. 



P. P. Staunton. 



A CHAPTER ON PTERYLOGRAPHY. 



BY R. W. SHTJFELDT, U. S. ARMY. 

 Member American Ornithologists' Union, etc. 



WERE the question propounded to any person who 

 had never given the matter a thought — are the 

 feathers of birds implanted in their skin in such a way as 

 to spring frorn it by an even and unbroken distribution 

 over the entire surface of the body, or are the feathers 

 arranged upon any plan, so that were they all trimmed 

 down close to the skin there would be presented to us 

 some definite pattern of arrangement duly outlined by 

 the remaining extremities of the quill-butts? I am in- 

 clined to suspect that not only that person but perhaps a 

 great many people would at first say, "Why, a bird's 

 body is entirely covered with feathers, of course, and they 

 arise by an even distribution all over it." Now, the truth 

 of the matter is that there are but a very few birds in- 

 deed that at all approach any such condition (penguins, 

 toucans and ostrich-like birds), the vast majority of the 

 class having their feathers arranged upon their bodies 

 after some definite plan. This particular arrangement of 

 a bird's plumage is technically designated by those en- 

 gaged in investigating their structuie as its Pterylosis 

 From the several parts of the body the feathers spring 

 from the skin along certain lines, or from definite cir- 

 cumscribed areas, in either case known as "tracts" 

 (ptei'ylce), while the unfeathered portions which occur in 

 between these are defined as "spaces" (apteria). Such 

 being the case science in due time seized upon this dis- 

 covery and enlisted so useful a characteristic in aid to 

 the classification of birds, as men were not long in find- 

 ing out that the pterylosis differed in the several families 

 and orders of the class. A great continental naturalist, 

 Ni zsch, has done more for us in this direction than any 

 one else, and I may add that the pterylosis of a great 

 many of our United States birds remains yet to be de- 

 scribed, and that, too, in many important forms demand- 

 ing a more correct classification than has thus far been, 

 awarded them. Further on I will demonstrate this latter 

 statement by a forcible example, and as the pterylosis of 

 a bird with due care can easily be described and worked 

 out, it is the chief object of this contribution to excite 

 the interest of naturalists and others in this subject, with 

 the hope that further investigation in the field will be 

 duly undertaken. 



Nitzsch employed foxu- principal methods of studying 

 the pterylosis of a bird ; (1) by examining nestlings ; 

 (2) by plucking adult specimens ; (3) by clipping off all 

 the feathers, wetting the body, and then examining it ; 

 and (4) by skinning the bird, and studying the pteryke 

 and apteria upon the inner surface of the skin. 



In the present connection it is hot the writer's intention 

 to enter upon the subject of the study of the structure of 

 the numerous forms that feathers themselves are known 

 to assume, for as interesting as this is, space alone would 

 prevent such a step here. Nor do I intend to dwell, and 

 for the same reason, for any length upon the arrangement 

 or number of the feathers-in-chief of the wings (remiges) 

 or the tail (rectrices), both of which are known to be so 

 various in birds. Much less do I intend to enter upon the 

 character of plumage itself, and the fantastic variations it 

 may display in a great many of the representatives of the 

 class. 



On the other hand, I shall aim to present the several 

 names which have been bestowed upon the feather- 

 tracts, to designate them ; and by pointing them out by 

 the aid of my drawings, herewith presented, show then- 

 relative position in one of our birds ; and finally will offer 

 another bird, nearly related, and with appropriate figures 

 endeavor to point out the value of pterylosis in classifica- 

 tion. 



By this means I hope to lay a safe guide before any 

 one, who in the future may have the opportunity to study 

 the pterylosis of our birds, and especially in those forms 

 which, up to the present writing, have not fallen into the 

 hands of science except in dried skins, which are useless 

 for such purposes. 



Any accurately recorded pterylographical notes are 

 of the highest importance to the science of ornithology. 



Let us next investigate this matter in the way I have 

 already proposed above, and for this purpose I choose an 

 adult male specimen of Harris's woodpecker (Dryobates 

 villosus harrisii), and an adult male specimen of the red- 

 naped woodpecker (Sphyrapicus varvus nuchalis). These 

 birds are now before me; and first we will pluck them 

 both carefully, commencing at the base of the mandibles 

 in each case, and extending it down as far as the root of 

 the neck. 



It will at once be observed that in these two wood- 

 peckers the head-tract or capital pteryla (P. capitis) is 

 very different. In Harris's woodpecker there is a median 

 naked space on top, for the most part overlying the eleva- 

 tion caused by the epibranchials of the hyoidean arches, 

 which Nitzsch says occurs in all the woodpeckers he ever 

 examined, but this authority never inspected a specimen 

 of our Sphyi^apicus, and in this bird the head is com- 

 pletely covered with feathers (Figs. 4 and 5), and no such 

 median naked space is to be found. Moreover, as Sphyra- 

 picus has a hyoidean apparatus very much as we find it in 

 the majority of birds where the epibranchials are not 

 curled over the top of the skull as shown in Fig. 2 at c, 

 the skin is not elevated along that region. In some birds, 

 of course, as the condors, the head is destitute of feathers. 

 The head-tract, as a rule, however, includes the head and 

 the lateral tracts of the neck, merging below into the 

 ventral and spinal tracts (Figs. 4 and 5). We may next 

 completely finish the plucking of our two specimens, 

 closely observing the position of the feathers as we 

 deliberately remove them. Now it will be found that 

 with some few, very few comparatively, birds a strip of 

 feathers of uniform width run down the entire length of 

 the back, but as a rule the greatest amount of variation 

 exists in this particular. In the case of the two wood- 

 peckers before us a marked difference is again seen, for 

 this spinal-tract in Harris's woodpecker commences above 



