For Forest and Stream. 
W® §omit,v of §eorgin. 
T IIERE are few among the reading public who have 
not heard of Tallulah Falls— of Tallulah, "the Thun- 
derer’’— the great cataract of the South. Many, too, have 
heard of "Toccoa," and have an indistinct idea that there 
is a waterfall there. But if I were to say that it was higher 
than Niagara, people would be amazed. Yet it has over 
two hundred feet clear fall, while Niagara has barely one 
hundred and eighty-six. But then the Toccoa is a small 
stream, while Niagara is a mighty river. One is a question 
of height, the other, one of might. Tallulah, too, is 
a mighty stream, a furious torrent— and as it plunges 
and thunders down its rocky bed, it rushes through 
and forms a part of some of the wildest and grand- 
est scenery on the American continent. Yet how lit- 
tle know nare these sublime and lovely scenes. I hear 
some one say: "Oh! They are in Georgia. Ilearnodthat 
in my geography, when I was a child." "Yes, it is so ” 
and how few have since thought or heard of them. 
Georgia is a large State. Its variety oj soil and climate 
are very great. It is a fertile and rich country. It has its 
wealth of cotton, corn and wine. It has, too, its diamond 
and gold fields, and its mountains are rich iu mineral wealth. 
"But 1 has Georgia any mountains?" "Yes;” and so we 
come to what is known as "The Hill Country of Georgia." 
The northern and north-western portion of Georgia, em- 
bracing the counties of Rabun, Habersham, Ilall, White 
Towns, Union, Lumpkin, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Mur- 
ray, Gordon, Cass, Catoosa, Dade, Walker, Chattooga, and 
Floyd— a tract one hundred nnd forty miles long by about 
seventy-five wide— contains some of the roughest, wildest 
and most picturesque scenery in our land, and this is "The 
Hill Country of Georgia.” 
You will find high mountains, crystal streams, deep, 
dark gorges, roaring torrents, smiling valleys— in short, the 
grand and the beautiful in nature in every conceivable 
form, and the lovers of the rod nnd gun can find in its re 
oesses some of the choicest sport in the South. It is a wild 
country, and it will bo no child’s play hunting and fishing 
through this wilderness. Game of all kinds is abundant. 
Deer and bear are everywhere found, and amid its deep 
fastnesses the scream of the panther is not unfrequently 
heard. Did you ever hear the screech of this huge cat close to 
you? In the dark and still night, when all, save the 
sounds of nature, is hushed— your companions sleeping 
around you— to be wakened by the horrid, cold-blooded, 
flesh-creeping, unearthly cry of the panther 1 If you hear 
it once you will, most assuredly, remember it to your dying 
day. A party of us, some years ago, while in the woods on a 
hunting excursion, were fortunate enough to stumble upon 
an old lumber camp among the mountains. Our hunt had 
been quite successful, and we had plenty of meat. We 
sat round the fire, toasting venison and drinking coffee— 
and, later, smoking our pipes and discussing hunting, fish- 
ing, the morrow’s prospect, and, in short, "everything 
under the sun,” and finally had turned in — spreading our 
blankets on the slab bunks in the shanty. The logs were 
not overly close together, and the moss filling had 
fallen from between the heavy timbers. But this did not 
matter much, for the weather was not cold, and we did 
not even build n fire in the cabin, although its wide fire- 
place of commingled stone, mud and logs offered every in- 
ducement. I suppose, as is camp fashion, we had left pieces 
of cooked meat lying about, and the enticing odor was, no 
doubt, wafted many a mile beyond on the gentle breeze. 
We were all sound asleep — good healthful natural sleep — 
and it was about midnight, when, amid the most unearthly 
cries we were suddenly awakened and leaped from our 
berths. It seemed as if a knife had been thrust through 
our ears. 
"What D it? What’s the matter?" and we grasped our . 
weapons. A half cry and whine together, with the boun- 
ding of some large animal into the brush, told the tale. A 
large panther— we saw his immense tracks the next morn- 
ing — attracted, no doubt, by the savory smell of our re- 
past, had stolen up to the almost extinguished fire nnd 
prowling about had possessed himself of the fragments 
lying around. 
Whether ho was dissatisfied with the result, or whether 
his acute senses, distracted from his scanty repost, had de- 
tected our presence, we never knew. But he had squatted 
on a log not six feet from our ears, nnd given vent to the 
most unearthly yell on record; and with the result afore- 
said— for our hasty rising disturbed his equanimity— he 
rushed into the thicket and was out of sight before we had 
half gathered our scattered senses. If there was ever a 
fiendish sound in the whole world, it was when the woods 
and hills raug with that unearthly scream as wo sprang 
from our sound sleep. 
The visitor to the hill country will also find turkeys, 
partridges (quail) and squirrels abundant, nnd the seasons 
iu this elevated region are but little earlier than much 
further north. As to the fish, I cannot give so favorable an 
account. As a general thing fish are scarce; 6uckers, bull- 
pouts and several other varieties are found in most of the 
streams. Where the wuter is clear and cold the chub and 
bream abound, and most of the lakes and mill-ponds con- 
tain "trout," e. c., the black bass of the South. These 
bass are also found in the rivers whenever they are not ob- 
structed by falls or two steep rapids. East of the Blue 
Ridge, the mountain or speckled trout (salmo fontinali*) are 
not found, save in one creek — “Warwoman’s Creek"— in 
Rabun county. On the west side of this ridge, however, 
they abound. Why this is the case I cannot say, but 
while I resided in Virginia I knew some gentlemen who 
had taken the pains to stock some streams on the east side 
of the Ridge with the trout taken from the western. 
After a year or two, thinking there had been time for an 
increase, they fished for them most diligently, but failed to 
find one. As the trout had been netted and tiansferrcd 
with the utmost care, and without loss of time, there must 
be some natural cause for this. In Virginia, the Roanoke 
River breaks through the Blue Ridge. Trout are caught in 
abundance in its head waters; but after it has broken 
through the Blue Ridge, and received the waters from the 
eastern slopes, no trout have ever been found in it, so fur 
as I could learn, and I mado diligent inquiry. This seems 
to be the case all the way down from middle Virginia. 
The east side has no trout, save in the stream above men- 
tioned. Who shall explain this. Do our pisciculturists or 
ichthyologists know the cause? 
A good rod, with the necessary accompaniments, then, 
will not be useless, though the riflo or smooth bore will 
yield the most sport. In the Spring or Full of the year- 
say, as the sportsman goes or returns from Florida — a 
number of exceedingly pleasant excursions can be made; 
and over and beyond the game to be found, the beautiful 
and wild scenery will amply repay the visitor. Tulluluh 
Falls alone is worth the visit, be it Spring, Summer, Fall 
or Winter. Deer and turkey are abundant. Thore is an 
excellent hotel, the best I have ever met in the South out- 
side of the cities. A week will be all too little to explore 
its various beauties. It is one of the moat singularly 
placed falls I ever saw. As you ride over the country to 
it, except the usual heavy roll of a mountain country you 
will see nothing unusual, and you pass along the ridge- 
hearing the sound of the cataruct in your ears, but seeing 
no sign of any river or fall. The surface of this ridge is 
comparatively flat, with a gentle incline, even to the very 
edge, und gives no indication of the terrific gulf below. 
The reason is that the river has, literally, cut out for it- 
self a gorge or gash through the ridge, whose almost per- 
pendicular walls, in some places, are quite, or more, than a 
thousand feet in height. 
There ate three distinct falls, with steep rapids between. 
The "Upper Fall" is almost a rapid, consisting of a series 
of almost perpendicular leaps, amounting in all to about 
one hundred and fifty feet. Tho Middle, or "Tem- 
pesta," Fall, as it is •ailed, is about one hundred and forty- 
five feet high, about one hundred of which is sheer fall, 
andjthe rest almost perpendicular. The Lower, or "Hur- 
ricane" Fall, is some hundred and sixty or seventy feet in I 
height, and is, again, not a sheer fall, but a steep and I 
almost perpendicular pitch. There are rapids both aboTe 
and below, as well as between tho fulls. 
I have never seen tho measurements, but I should esti- 
mate the entire fall, from the top of the upper rapids to tho 
bottom of tho lower one to be about fifteen hundred feet. 
The falls proper are ubout a quarter of a tnllo apart, fol- 
lowing the course of the stream. Tho walls of the chasm, 
though almost perpendicular, are in some places slightly 
terraced, and I noticed tlvo rows of tall trees, one above 
the other, growing out of tho crovices and fastened to tho 
terraces, which seemed to be hardly wide enough for tho 
heavy trunks of tho trees. The walls of tho gorgo hero 
arc about nine hundred feet high. 
Tho edge of the stream can bo approached in but few 
places between tho upper nnd lower inpids, though it is 
contemplated to construct a series of stairs nnd bridges, iu 
the manner now adopted at “Watkins Glen," from one end 
to Hie other. Thoro is now but one narrow bridge across 
tho rapids hotweon tho upper and mlddlo fall, connecting 
tho counties of Rabun nnd Habersham. Almost the only 
other plucc the edge of tho torrent can bo nppronched 
without using ropes, is at the head of the middlo fall, 
where is a deep, green, still pool, from tho edge of which 
the water slips smoothly over into tho abyss below. This 
is called "Hawthorne's Pool," from a visit once made by 
that eminent individual. 
One peculiarity of the fulls is that the whole of each fall 
is white as milk, while the rapids between are dark green. 
A rainbow glitters in the mist arising from tho foot of ouch 
fall. Tho volume of the stream, ns estimated some ten 
miles above tho falls, is about Mxty yards wide by four feet 
deep, with a six-mile current. The amount of water is 
therefore very great. Viewed from tho top tho y’ec in so 
wild und grand as to almost defy description, and yet thoro 
are so many small gems of beauty that it would requlro a 
folio to describe them. There is the usual “Lover's Leap” 
and "Venus’ Chair." Then there is "Juno's Throne,” 
about fifteen hundred feet high, and so on, cul infinitum. 
Some of lh6 prettiest views are down the gorge. Tho 
alternate rapids and pools, dark and still— tho fringe of 
pines and tho rugged walls of everlasting rock behind 
them— make a scene peculiarly wild and "Swiss” in char- 
acter. The vultures flying hundreds of feet below you, 
and sweeping around, with motionless wings, in vast 
circles, give an appreciation of the idea of height and dis- 
tance not easy to describo. And then at night, at tho full 
of the moon, you lie on the top of tho cliff— say tho 
"Lover’s Leap" — bathed in the white moonlight. t Below, 
nil is of an intense blackness. An occatfionnl glimmer of a 
white, ghost like sheet of foam is distinguished through 
the gloom. By degrees, as the moon mounts higher and 
higher, cliff and cataract come out little by little, till all in 
the abyss is light as day. The effect is wonderful. How 
it would appear from below I know not. I have never yet 
seen any one bold enough to attempt tho descent of the 
cliffs in the gorge at night. 
At various times accidents have occurred at these falls; 
but the victims never were found. Whether there are 
caverns under the falls into which they were washed, no 
one knows, for this prave has never yet given up her dead. 
Two deer, pursued by five dogs, once dusked down tho 
steep above the middle fall, and, arriving in safety at the 
rocks below, attempted the crossing of Hawthorne’s Pool; 
but the smooth, swift and treacherous current swept them 
over the edge of Tcmpesta. Strange to say, one of tho 
deer and one dog escaped uninjured. The remains of tho 
others were never seen more. The only man who ever fell 
into that stream and escaped with his life, fell in the rapids 
above the middle fall, near where tho bridge now is. As 
he was swept down, he was thrown into the eddy of Haw- 
thorne's Pool, near its head, close to the side, and was able 
to scramble out on the smooth rocks. There are numerous 
legends connected with these falls, but want of space com- 
pels me to forbear. That of the Cherokee maiden and her 
Creek lover, who sprang from the "Lover's Leap,” is very 
touching. 
To go to Tallulah, you leave the Atlanta nnd Richmond 
Air Line Railroad at Toccoa City. There a carriage can 
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