to lock up trees and glades shady paths and haunts
along rivulets, would be an embezzlement by one man
of God's gifts to all.
N. P. Willis.
I have written in this article the Indian name, Tahawas,[page 210] in the place of Mt. Marcy, and for this reason: There is no justice in robbing the Indian of his keen, poetic appreciation, by changing a name, which has in itself a definite meaning, for one that means nothing in its association with this mountain. We have stolen enough from this unfortunate race, to leave, at least, those names in our woodland vocabulary that chance to have a musical sound to our imported Saxon ears. The name Tahawas is not only beautiful in itself, but also poetic in its interpretation—signifying "I cleave the clouds." Coleridge, in his glorious hymn, "Before sunrise in the vale of Chamouni," addresses Mount Blanc:
"Around thee and above
Deep is the air and dark, substantial, black—
An ebon mass. Methinks thou piercest it.
As with a wedge!"