Box 4, Folder 5: Miscellaneous Typewritten Letters

1874.

one of these steep slopes and lodged, fortunately, upon a small projection inaccessible except by means of ropes fastened above. In this way he was relieved from his perilous situation by one whose courage should be remembered.

The monument formerly existing here, eighty feet high, was blown down in one of those heavy storms that best with such excessive force upon the mountain tops, and afterwards consumed by fire. Nothing now remains of it, but a few old nails, which the rains are fast removing down the mountain slopes. The very rock upon which this monument stood is softened and sealed off by the intense heat, leaving the surface scattered with gradually decaying fragments.

After feasting our eyes upon the extended landscapes, after having examined the several points of interest pointed out by our faithful York and after filling our now empty lunch basket with mementoes for future reference, we reluctantly commenced a rapid descent.

The study of the grandeur, the beauty and the wonders of this immense dome cannot be fully appreciated by a ramble to and view from the summit. Therefore with York's aid we soon found a conveyance more suitable for the bodily comfort of the occupants, and a horse--scarcely of the racer breed; and commenced the journey of seven miles around the base of the mountain. One is richly repaid by a slight of the grand old rock, especially on the north and east sides for any inconveniences and discomforts of the "drive".

A rock a thousand feet in height, with one continuous curved surface from top to bottom (see sketch p. 16) where the

1874.

rock overhangs, entirely bare of vegetation except the adhering lichens, striped everywhere from top to bottom by little currents of water when it rains, giving differences of color to the lichen covered surface, is a sight rarely to be seen. These stripes by their regularity and persistence give the rock an appearance of great beauty and strangeness. Here is an ideal section of the great rock. (Sketch).

One chief object of my visit to this mountain remains to be explained and the results given. It has long been known that there are certain marks upon the surface of the granite rocks of Stone Mountain, "consisting of a slightly circular line cut from two to three inches deep and from one to two feet from the center" which are supposed to be some hieroglyphics left by the ancient mound builders. Other writers have assigned a different purpose for which they were supposed to have been made by these ancient people.

We found traces of these curious fairly circles as soon as we commenced the ascent; and they exist everywhere in the mountain. Their number must be thousands; their position without order or system; the smallest one we measured was but six inches in diameter; the largest may be four or five feet.

There can be no doubt but that these appearances are the result of the action of the weather upon rock with a concretionary structure; the grooves and other marks being the softer places which have been more deeply penetrated by the disintegrating agents. The concretions may have been round and globular originally, and have been flattened into lenticular masses, some of which are loose and may be removed. They make excellent stone seats when resting upon three or more small stones.

1874.

Their great number, their position on the level or sloping surface, their want of regularity of size and shape, preclude the idea of their artificial character. Some are convexo-concave or ear-shaped; some are cut only upon one side, the other portion having disappeared. Though they thus differ materially in size and shape they present none of the characters of hieroglyphics, or of letters; and though it might be difficult even for a practiced geologist to explain exactly how they were produced, yet the fact that they were the work of nature and not of art is quite apparent. (See sketch p. 18.) They are found upon the summit and upon every side; they are upon level surfaces and upon slops. Within the circle the raised portion usually [nets?] an opening where softer portions of rock have been carried away.

The suggestion of Dr. C.C. Jones that they were places where the ancient mound-builders built their fires and cut channels to lead the falling rain water away from them, is not sustained by the facts observed. A fire with a drain channel cut around it, which has only a diameter of six inches could not have been put to any useful purpose. The thousands of fires scattered all over the mountain, often in inaccessible places, could hardly have been needed for any known purpose of human wants. Many of the channels are only on the lower side; and many of them hold rain water, rather than form drains for its discharge.

When first made known in Europe, it was supposed that this dome might have been artificial, built up like the pyramids of Egypt by the continuous labor for many ages of a people who were subject to the yoke of some tyrant king. The slightest examination dispelled this view.

It may be regarded as a great "roche montonee", such as formed by the action of glaciers in the mountains, or in the "ice

1874.

period". The north and east sides present many of the appearances of such rocks; especially in being rounded and smoothed and destitute of debris. Whether the great glaciers of the ice period extended quite as far south, may seem doubtful, but we here have evidence to show that they probably did so. Possible the motion was from the north-eastward, dividing and flanking this mountain on the north and east sides, leaving the south and west sides protected from their ravages. Whether the granite constituting Stone Mountain has a texture and composition enabling it to resist the action of the weather, which is so conspicuous upon the surrounding rocks; or whether it has been smoothed off and left bare of detritus by a passing glacier, thus showing that it is only an immense Roche Montanee, are questions only to be decided upon further and more complete investigations. Surely there must be some reason for the existence of this prominent feature in Georgia landscape; and it is to be hoped that Georgia savans will be found to grapple with and settle this question.

To people accustomed to see rocks covered and protected from the disintegrating agencies by a thick covering of drift, this decay of rocks in place seems wonderful.

I.A.L.

--------------

Feb. 19. Today I examined under the guidance of Prof. B. Mallon, the accomplished city superintendent of the public schools (common, grammar and high schools), which though only in the 2d year of their existence appear to have already assumed a high position among public schools of our country. They are graded with the greatest care, there being four divisions or departments in each of the three grades of schools, pupils being passed from one to

1874.

the next as soon as their attainments will justify it. Starting anew with the experience of older places, the superintendent seems to have hit upon the most thorough and complete system that could well be devised. Our examination developed the fact that the pupils were under judicious training. Defects in the common every day speech of the people are to be heard in the earlier classes, but in the high school we hear no such defective pronunciation, as "government", &c.

We could not see but that the Atlanta public schools were upon a par with those of our best managed public and private schools.

Feb. 22. Left Atlanta at 9 1/2 P.M. on sleeping car via Chattanooga, Knoxville, Lynchburg, and Charlottesville, [&c.] for Washington. At Greenville, Andrew Johnson's home, we saw the bands of temperance women praying at the saloons.***

Feb. 24. Left Lynchburg, Va., 8 A.M. in a light snow storm. Rocks at L. decayed as at Atlanta. Arrived at Washington at 6:40 P.M.

Feb 26. Went to Smithsonian Institution, White House, saw President Grant; to the Treasury department and other places of interest. Saw Prof. Baird, Prof. Henry and others at Smithsonian.

Feb. 27. Left Washington for Philadelphia at 8 A.M. Drove about the city from 1.30 to 3.15, then went to Germantown to visit Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Meehan. Mr. Meehan's greenhouses are so arranged that the warm air passes from one to the other, saving heat, thus (sketch). Went to rooms of the Philosophical society.***

March 1. Went to Pittsburg by way of Altoona, Horse Show curve, tunnel, &c.,--2,500 ft. above the sea. Visited Rev. H.W. Spaulding and family.

March 2. Pittsburg to Urbana, and on the 4th arrived in Milwaukee.