The entire region is mantled with forests to the summit of every peak; the valleys and many of the adjacent coves are cleared and inhabited by a happy, healthy, and hospitable people. It is rich in picturesque scenery—romantic rivers, luxuriant forests, majestic mountain heights, valleys of exquisite beauty, quaint villages, cliffs, and waterfalls. It is rich in a life-giving climate, brilliant skies, fertile lands, pastured steeps, and timber and mineral wealth.
It is of this country—the Heart of the Alleghanies—that in the following pages we have treated in as full, concise, and entertaining a manner as we could conceive and carry into execution.
UNAKA KANOOS.
THE NATIVE MOUNTAINEERS.
All kinds of creatures stand and fall
By strength of prowess or of wit;
’Tis God’s appointment who must sway,
And who is to submit.
—Wordsworth.
