Western North Carolina [pp. 587-588]

18ESTEWESTERN VOR?TH CAR OLI1A.58
crossed the frontier on the 1st day of October, marched straight upon
Paris, overcoming all resistance in his way. Before winter set in he
stood at the foot of Montmartre, and invested the city. Very much
like the Moltke of our day, he had to detail a portion of his army to
ward off the hosts attempting the rescue of the beleaguered place; but,
unlike the result in the present instance, he was obliged to withdraw
without effecting his object. Winter and disease decimating his troops,
he eventually returned the way by which he came. There is an old
story that, before leaving, the Germans assembled on Montmartre and
sang a Te Deum with so vast an energy of lungs, that all Paris reechoed
the sound. Why they should have offered up their thanks in this boisterous manner, when foiled in their efforts, is a riddle unsolved to this
day.
The strength of the place having thus been proved by experience,
King Philip Augustus, at the beginning of the thirteenth century, extended its fortifications, adding several hundred towers to the walls.
King Charles V., in the latter part of the fourteenth century, surrounded the new suburbs with a fresh enceinte, built a citadel called
the Bastille, and constructed a fort on the isle of St. Louis. Notwithstanding these new defences, the English took Paris, after the battle
of Agincourt, in 1420. The Maid of Orleans, attempting to recapture
Paris, 1429, was repulsed by the English, who, however, seven years
later, were obliged to march out, owing to the gallantry of Dunois, le
BAtard Royal.
King Henry IV. was the next to assail the devoted capital. As he
was a Protestant, it would not recognize his authority. Having defeated the Catholic League at Ivry, March 17, 1590, he approached
Paris in forced marches, and, occupying Corbeil, Lagny, and Creil, cut
off provisions, then chiefly received by the river. He next planted his
guns on Montmartre, and, from this dominant position, left the Parisians-his naughty children, as he jokingly called them-to choose between bread and bombs. Not less obstinate then than they are now,
fifteen thousand of the inhabitants died of hunger before the town
opened negotiations with the king. Just in the nick of time, however,
the Spaniards, who assisted the Catholic League, sent General Farnese
with a large army from Belgium to the rescue. Henry was compelled
to raise the siege, and only entered Paris four years later, when he
had embraced Roman Catholicism, and then he was welcomed with the
greatest enthusiasm.
France now rapidly increasing in power, Paris remained more than
two hundred years unvisited by an invading army. In the reign of
Louis XIV., the mere idea of the foreigner venturing into the heart of
France had come to appear so preposterous as to lead to the razing of
the old fortifications. Louis XV. in 1726 again encircled the city with
a wall, which, however, was not intended to serve a military purpose.
As an open town, Paris underwent the storms of the Revolution.
When, in 1814, the allied armies arrived in front of it to avenge the
deeds of Napoleon I., a few redoubts, hastily thrown up, were all the
impediments in their way. Twenty-five thousand regulars, under Marmont and Mortier, and fifteen thousand National Guards, with one
hundred and fifty guns, held the place for a day against forty thousand
Prussians and Russians. When Montmartre had been taken by storm,
and the Cossacks and Uhlans were swarming in La Chapelle and La
Villette, the proud capital surrendered. On March 31st, Frederick William III. of Prussia, the father of William I. of the present day, and
Alexander I. of Russia, made their entry into the city.
The following year witnessed the repetition of the feat. On July 2,
1815, the Prussians, under Blucher, took Montrouge and Issy by storm,
while Wellington forced his way into the northern and eastern suburbs.
On the 7th of July the English and Prussian Guards once more trod
the Boulevards.
Such is a brief summary of the history of successive sieges of Paris
before the memorable investment of the year 1870.
WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA.
WVITH AN ILLUSTRATION BY HARRY FENN.
A PECULIARITY of Western North Carolina is the union of a
rich soil with a healthful climate. This is due to topographical and geological causes. Let any one take a map and examine this
extreme western part of North Carolina. It will be found that near
Christiansburg, in Virginia, a spur of the Blue Ridge strikes off to the
southwest. This spur forms the western boundary of North Caro
lina, dividing that State from Tennessee. The range is there called
the Unaka or Smoky Mountains. The Blue Ridge proper continues
on its southward course until it strikes the South Carolina line; there
it turns almost directly westward, and meets the other range. The
section of country between these two ranges of mountains has a sort
of egg-shape-flattened a little on one side of the broad end. Across
this section, and generally at right angles to the main ridge, run
other ranges of mountains, between which are found streams of crystal water, with numerous beautiful and sublime cascades, canions
almost as grand and far less known than those of the Sierra Nevada,
fertile valleys, and flourishing villages. These streams all rise ill or
near the Blue Ridge, and flow through the Unaka Mountains. The
lowest point of the Blue Ridge is about two thousand eight hundred
feet above the sea-level, while the highest is about six thousand;
in the intermediate land the lowest land surface is about fifteen
hundred, and the highest six thousand seven hundred and eleven feet
above the sea-level.
Hence we have here a character of valley protected on all sides
by mountains. The tops of the highest of these mountains are covered with balsam-trees, which extend down the sides to a certain
limit. The geographical centre of this region is near the town of Asheville; and Nature has also made it the topographical centre, as the
streams and mountains of a large portion of this region converge at
that place. In latitude it is about thirty-five degrees, in longitude
about eighty-two. The town is located on a hill above the French
Broad River, and is, at its highest point, two thousand two hundred
and twelve feet above the sea-level. Thus located its mean of summer temperature in 1870, by data gathered from the meteorological
reports of the Government Agricultural Department, was less than
that of Oswego, New York, eight degrees farther north; while on the
same parallel two hundred and fifty miles east, the mean was twelve
degrees higher.
In summer the winds prevail from the southern points of the compass; they come to Asheville cooled by passage over the high mountains, and slightly tinctured with the balsamic odors gathered therefrom. In winter, as they come from the northern points, their force is
broken by the mountains on that side, and in descending to the valley
meet the milder temperature there generated. Then, ill the spring,
that trying time for consumptives, these winds are the more specially
laden with the soothing balsam odor from the bursting buds and
"blisters;" indistinguishable it may be, but it has its influence in
giving that astonishing property to these winds, so often noted by
sufferers, of being pleasant rather than irritating. Standing in thetown of Asheville, one may look far west and see the black tops of
the Balsam Mountains; north, the still higher peaks of the Roan andf
its kindred range; while east and north the towering peak of Mount
Mitchell and its seven brothers give thousands of acres of surfaceto the balsam-tree-forming thus a perfect cordon of this growth.
We have stated that the soil of this region is singularly fertile..,
This is due in the valleys to the wash from the mountains, but manyT
of the mountains of this interior basin present the strange anomaly
of being fertile to their very tops. It is a singular fact respecting
this country that the sharp-peaked mountains are all poor land, while
those which are rounded, and come up rather rolling and gently, are
almost invariably rich. There are no lakes in this region, and yet,
from the peculiar formation of certain sections, it would seem that
there once had been. The soil is generally a decomposition of granite, gneiss, and limestone. It is rich in potash, and contains undissolved particles of mica; its color is dark, and to the touch has a soapy
feel. The tree growth is chestnut, oaks, hickory, black and white
walnuts, cucumber-tree, ash, linden, and sugar-maple. Dr. Curtis, a
distinguished geologist, once said that he found every shrub and
flower near Niagara Falls duplicated in Buncombe County, North
Carolina.
It has been but a few years since this region was in the possession
of the Cherokee Indians, and even yet a respectable remnant of the
tribe reside seventy miles west of Asheville. AAs may be well inferred,
much of this land is yet in its native wildness. It is cheap in price, inviting the sturdy settler by its fertile soil and luxuriant tree-growth,
while the elastic and invigorating climate offers extraordinary inducements to the invalid. We have presented in the JOURNAL, at different
times, various illustrations of this beautiful and yet little known region.
The view of the Freneh Broad River, given in this number, will for
the present close our series of North Carolina scenes.
587
1871.]