CESAR'S HEAD, CHIMNEY ROCK 93 
abyss of the Dismal and fill it with glory. Below, 
you will see surging, lifting and falling, soft thunder- 
heads of gold, of bronze, of copper, and purple. The 
Dismal seems a wizard's gulf, swallowing the hues 
of the heavens, which one imagines it will in time 
cast forth again to sweep over the sky. And walking 
back towards the hotel in the twilight one may look 
through an open space at Hogback and Glassy 
Mountains against a calm and radiant background, 
and above them the whole Saluda Range, beautifully 
outlined. 
Besides the views offered by the position of 
Caesar's Head, just below it passes one of the few 
roads that cross the barrier of the Blue Ridge to the 
upper mountains, this one leading to the renowned 
valley of the French Broad River. 
Early spring is a good time to visit either Caesar's 
Head or Chimney Rock, and perhaps you will turn 
towards Chimney Rock before nature has begun to 
cover her red soil with summer verdure. The road 
leads down and around the end of Tryon Mountain 
and between the hills that lie to the north of it. The 
grain in places is well started ; here and there you see 
a glowing hillside sparsely covered with pale-blue 
rye or bright-green wheat. The red soil is furrowed 
in concentric lines, curves and counter-curves ; rows 
of beans are visible, and young corn-blades are up. 
Nature, never weary, is gayly beginning her perennial 
task of feeding the world. In some of the fields cot- 
ton is lifting up its head, and about the houses fruit 
trees are in bloom. 
