of the tales of youth — Arabian Nights, and all — seem tame, compared with the living, growing reality. Here and there, through the whole ex- tent, you will find openings in the sides, into which you may thrust the person, and often stand erect, in little grottoes, perfectly incrusted with a delicate, white substance, reflecting the light from a thousand different points. All the way you might have heard us exclaiming, Won- derful ! wonderful! 0 Lord, how manifold are thy works ! ''
The route by which this cave is commonly reached is by the daily line of U. S. mail stages from Louisville to Nashville, over a very good turnpike road. The stock has been subscribed for a railroad between these places, and in a few years the cave will be rendered much easier of access.
MITCHELL'S PEAK, N. C.
This lofty peak, which now enjoys the reputa- tion of being the highest summit on the E. side of the Rocky Mountains, is seen on the road , leading from Morgantown to Asheville, through the Swannanoa Gap, a few miles from where the Gap is entered. This name was given it in honor of Professor Mitchell, of Cincinnati, who has recently determined its altitude to be more than 250 feet higher than Mt. Washington in N. H., which had always before been supposed to be the highest land in the U. S., E. of the great chain of the Rocky Mts.
MONADNOCK MOUNTAIN, N. H.
This lofty mountain, whose summit is 3718 feet above the level of the sea, is situated in the towns of Jaffrey and Dublin, about 22 miles E. of Connecticut River, and 10 miles N. of the southern boundary of the state. It has long been visited as one of the most celebrated mountain heights in New England. The prospect from its top is most extensive and delightful. The ascent has been much improved within a few years past, and, for so great a height, is by no means diffi- cult. Visitors have not unfrequently found a serene and beautiful atmosphere upon the summit of this mountain, while thunder, lightning, and tempest have been raging below. For a more minute description, see the towns above named.
MONTAUK POINT, N. Y.
See Mountains, &c., p. 221.
MONTMORENCI FALLS, CANADA.
This beautiful cataract is the greatest natural curiosity in the vicinity of Quebec. It is about 9 miles N. E. of the city, by the usual land route, on the river of the same name, which, coming from the N. W., in a stream about 60 yards wide, here falls directly into the St. Lawrence, over a perpendicular precipice 250 feet in height. Viewed from a distance, this magnificent waterfall appears like a motionless streak of snow upon the precipitous bank of the river. It is seen to great advantage from the St. Lawrence, immedi- ately abreast of the cataract, where it appears a mighty torrent, projected with incredible velocity over the lofty cliff into the river, acquiring a' fleecy whiteness as it falls; while the sun, in fine contrast with the snowy effulgence of the falling water, paints a deeply-tinted rainbow on the vapor at its base. The breadth of the fall is 100 feet, and its height, as will be perceived from a com- parison, is about 100 feet greater than that of
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Niagara Falls. The volume of water is so much less than that of Niagara, that the effect of the fall, in sublimity and grandeur of impression, bears no comparison, of course, to the effect of that stupendous cataract. Yet, from its great perpendicular descent, the ample woods with which it is fringed, and the broken rocks which surround and intersect its channel, sending it over the brink in foam resembling snow, spar- kling in the light with its myriad crystal points, it has long been regarded as one of the most ro- mantic and beautiful curiosities of the kind on the American continent. These falls may be seen in all their beauty and grandeur from the summit of the hill, near the shore of the St. Lawrence, and also on the S. side, from a position which may be gained with no great difficulty, part of the way down the bank.
On the hill near the falls is the house which was once the residence of the late Duke of Kent It is now the residence of the proprietor of the extensive saw mills in the vicinity. These mills are carried by water taken out of the Montmo- renci, about half a mile above the falls. They have upwards of a hundred saws in motion, and are said to be capable of turning out an entire cargo of planks in a day.
It was on the high grounds N. of these falls that General Wolfe first encountered the French, in 1759, and was repulsed, with the loss of 700 men — a disaster which he so fully retrieved for the British arms, though at the cost of his own life, a few days afterwards,upon the Plains of Abraham.
The ride from the city to the falls, on the S. side, is through the suburb of St. Roch, over the St. Charles River, near its mouth, and onward amidst beautiful farms and orchards to the pretty village of Beauport, which is well worth seeing, as furnishing a specimen of the better sort of Canadian country settlements. The view of Quebec, of Point Levi, of the St. Lawrence, and other interesting points, which is enjoyed in re- turning over this beautiful drive, is sufficiently splendid of itself to compensate all the trouble of obtaining it.
MONTREAL,
City, river port, seat of government, and chief mart of the commerce of Canada. The com- munication with this city from the U. S. has be- come so free and frequent, both for purposes of business and of pleasure, that we deem it de- sirable to give in this work a brief notice of the place. Its position at the head of ship naviga- tion on the St. Lawrence, and near the conflu- ence of that river with the Ottawa, in connection with its situation in relation to the U. S., renders it necessarily one of the most important com- mercial emporiums of America. It is the centre of the trade between Canada and the States, which is carried on by Lake Champlain and the Hudson to New York; with the west by the La- chine and Welland Canals and the lakes; and with New England by the railroads connecting with its ports. It is situated on the S. side of the large island from which it takes its name, and extends, with its suburbs, nearly two miles along the bank of the St. Lawrence, having, for some distance, nearly an equal breadth inland. It is divided into the Upper and the Lower towns, although the difference of elevation between the two parts is but slight. The Upper town, being the more modern, is the more handsomely built
The situation and appearance of the city from | |