SPLENDID SUNRISE.

257

like the dawn of a new creation.

There were accu

mulated, in the immediate quarter of the heavens where the sun arose, a series of strata in the clouds, of different shapes, densities, and distances, which produced a variety of lights and tints, from the palest amber to the deepest purple; and caused the straight edges of some, and the wavy or undulated edges of others, to be tipped with the brightest lustre, sometimes of silver-sometimes of paler, and sometimes of deeper gold, so as to form altogether one of the most gorgeous and splendid skies that could be imagined; while overhead in the zenith, and in every other quarter but the east, a serene azure, over which sailed clouds of fleecy whiteness, completed the beauty of the picture.

At the same time, the billowy surface of the cloudy sea beneath our feet, still completely hiding every spot of the earth from our view, was made so radiant with the slanting beams of the rising sun thrown horizontally along its waves, that they looked like a sea of the brightest snow, heaving and rolling in some places in rounded surges, and in others flinging up their spiral points to the sky, like the conflict of opposing streams, or the spray of a vast cataract. Altogether the scene was as indescribable as it was splendid and sublime, and we dwelt upon it with an intensity of admiration which almost made the head ache with the pleasure of the sight.

About an hour after sunrise, we began to discover a partial breaking away of the cloudy awning, or rather the opening of patches and spaces in it, which bespoke its approaching dissolution. The first place in which this was visible, was over the channel of the

Hudson river, the track of which could be plainly traced, by a corresponding hollow, or long and winding valley in this misty sea. The next places were close by the sides of the mountain on which we stood, where little slits, or loop-holes, gradually opened, through which we could peep downward, and see, at a great distance below, the green fields, and thick woods, with little farm-houses, just visible as white spots on a speckled plain.

At ten o'clock the mist had so cleared away over the Hudson, that its stream became visible, but no portion of the green banks of the river could be seen on either side, so that it was like a mighty stream winding its way through a bed of clouds. At eleven, large hollow patches in the mass of clouds opened in several places, so as to enable us to see corresponding portions of the earth's surface through them; and the manner in which these hollow patches altered their forms, expanding in some parts, and contracting in others, reminded me strongly of the theory of the late Dr. Herschell, as to the spots on the sun, which he supposed to be merely patches of the opaque body of the sun's orb seen through hollows or openings in the luminous atmosphere by which it is surrounded; and certainly if this vast mass of clouds that hung between us and the earth should be as bright as it was at sunrise, and a spectator in the moon should be looking at our earth at the time, these open gaps or hollows in the illuminated stratum, would make the patches of the soil, seen through them, look like spots on its surface, of varied and fluctuating forms and sizes, just as those on the sun appear to us from the earth.

EXTENSIVE LANDSCAPE.

259

By noon, the whole of the clouds below us were dissipated, and the full glory of a meridian sun beamed down upon one of the most extensive and beautiful landscapes that could be well conceived. Behind us, to the westward, rose the peaks of mountains higher by a thousand feet and more, than the summit of that on which we stood, and completely intercepting all further view in that direction. To the east, however, the prospect was almost boundless. At the foot of the steep slope of the range beneath our feet, commenced the cultivated plain, covered with cleared land, in farms of different sizes and in different degrees of cultivation, interspersed with patches of thick wood, of variegated trees, and dotted over with farm-houses, country residences, and other buildings. This plain continued for seven or eight miles in a straight line, till it reached the western bank of the Hudson.

Beyond that stream, the lands, equally fertile, and as extensively cleared and cultivated, rose gradually in an ascending slope till it terminated in a range of hills, at a distance of forty or fifty miles, intercepting the eastern horizon, and bounding the view in that direction. In the centre of the valley or plain, and between these distant ranges of eastern and western elevation, flowed down the noble river, which could be distinctly traced along its path for thirty miles at least, here contracting its channel between abrupt projecting bluffs-there expanding it into ample bays-and several times, throughout its length, having its current interrupted by beautifully-fertile islands; while its surface was studded with at least a hundred sails, as white as the fresh-fallen snow, floating on its glassy bosom, like so many buoyant pearls.

Altogether the prospect was enchanting, and worth going a hundred miles to see. It reminded me, more strongly than any other scene I remember, of the view of the plain of Damascus from the summits of the hills by which it is environed. It wanted, it is true, the camel, the dromedary, and the herds and flocks of that eastern picture, as well as the meandering and pellucid streams of the Pharpar and Abana, and the gorgeous and glittering city of domes and palaces, environed with its cypress groves and citron gardens in the centre; but still, even with the absence of these, the resemblance was striking, and to say this is to admit that it was as grand and beautiful as any scene in nature can be.

About two miles from the Mountain House is a fine water-fall, which the nature of the road to it,

and my own state of health at the present moment did not admit of my visiting. My wife and son, however, joined a party from the hotel in an excursion there, and were highly gratified. The cavernous hollow from which the fall is seen, the semicircular theatre of rock around it-the romantic combinations of the clustered wood, and the imposing aspect of the cataract itself, which, by two separate falls, of 175 feet to a projection of shelving rock, and from thence, of 85 feet to the bottom, complete a descent of 260 feet in the whole and the late heavy rains having furnished an abundant supply of water, the cataract was witnessed to the greatest advantage.

Soon after noon, we left the Mountain House for the river, to embark for Albany. On our way down, the bright sunshine, clear atmosphere, and perpetual vistas of beauty through the trees, made a pleasing contrast to the thunder-storms and mists of our ascent. We found the way therefore more agreeable; but on the road from the foot of the mountain to the villagethe dislocating jolts and shocks were repeated: and it seemed to me that I had been more bruised and beaten by this ride of twelve miles, than I could be in Europe by the longest journey that could be undertaken.'

We reached the wharf at the landing-place about three; and the steam-boat from New York arriving soon after, we re-embarked and proceeded onward to Albany, with a still larger company of passengers, and in a larger and finer boat than that in which we had come thus far.

From Catskill to Albany the river appeared narrower than below, and the banks become more tame