At the break of day, we were awakened from a short but refreshing sleep by the singing of birds; and when the cheerful sunlight had reached the bottom of the ravines, we were enjoying a comfortable breakfast in the cabin of my friend.
The principal attractions, associated with Tahawas are the Indian Pass, the Adirondac Lakes, the Adirondac Iron Works, and the mighty hunter of the Adirondacs, John Cheney. The Pass, so called, is only an old-fashioned notch between the mountains. On one side is a perpendicular precipice, rising to the height of eleven hundred feet; and, on the other, a wood-covered mountain, ascending far up into the sky, at an angle of forty-five degrees. Through this Pass flows a tiny rivulet, over which the rocks are so thickly piled, as frequently to form pitfalls, that measure from ten to thirty feet in depth. Some of these holes are never destitute of ice, and are cool and comfortable even at midsummer. The Pass is nearly half a mile in length, and, at one point, certain immense boulders have come together and formed a cavern, which is called the “meeting house,” and is, perhaps, capable of containing a thousand people. The rock on either side of the Pass, is a grey granite, and its only inhabitants are eagles, which are very abundant, and occupy the most conspicuous crag in the notch.
The two principal lakes which gem the Adirondac wilderness are named Sanford and Henderson, after the two gentlemen who first purchased land upon their borders. The former is five miles in length, and the latter somewhat less than three, both of them varying in width from half a mile to a mile and a half. The mountains which swoop down to their bosoms are covered with forest, and abound in a great variety of large game. There is not, to my knowledge, a single habitation on either of the lakes, and the only smoke ever seen to ascend from their lonely recesses, comes from the watch-fire of the hunter, or the encampment of surveyors and tourists. The water of these lakes is cold and deep, and moderately supplied with salmon trout. Lake Henderson is admirably situated for the exciting sport of deer-hunting, and though it contains two or three canoes, cannot be entered from the West Branch of the Hudson without making a portage.