HIGHLANDS 253 
or else veiled in a misty blue atmosphere, sharp 
Chimney Top to the right of it and the bold form of 
ShortofT to the left, rise conspicuously above the 
countless mountains that reach away to the far Bal- 
sam and Pisgah Ranges, while against the western 
sky is seen the ever-beautiful form of the Nantahala 
Range. Turning now towards the south, away from 
the tumultuous sea of the high mountains, one looks 
off over the receding levels of Georgia, out of which 
rises the calm and beautiful form of the Rabun Bald, 
lending a great sense of peace to the landscape. 
The road from Highlands to Whiteside Mountain 
winds along through a thin forest and gives no hint 
of what is coming until you reach the "bench" of 
the mountain, where all of a sudden the land drops 
in a vertical wall to the valley below. From this 
bench the mountain-top rises precipitously above 
your head, the path up through the trees and bushes 
being very steep, like a flight of steps in places; but 
it is also very sweet, and you stop every few mo- 
ments to gather a flower, inhale the fragrance of 
some blossoming bush, and look off at the mountains 
lying far away. 
The top of the mountain, although somewhat less 
than five thousand feet in elevation, gives one a 
feeling of being very high above the earth. For the 
air is singularly stimulating, and the rocks are cov- 
ered with the growths of high places, among them 
"heather," as the people call the delightful little 
evergreen Dendrium buxifolium, and the hardwood 
trees through which the path leads are dwarfed and 
