Part 28 (2/2)
The progress of that October month had been like the stately march of an Orient army, with all the splendor of blazing banners. It looked as though the glories of the sunset had been distilled into it decked with the glowing hues of crimson, scarlet and gold.
_John Henry Brandow._
The village of Lake George is situated at the head of the lake.
It contains two churches, a court house, and a number of pretty residences. Just behind the court house is the bay where Montcalm landed his cannon, and where his entrenchments began. It ran across the street to the rising ground beyond the Episcopal church.
=Fort William Henry Hotel= is the largest and best appointed hotel on Lake George. It has a most beautiful and commanding location, and the view from its great piazza is one long to be remembered. The piazza is twenty-four feet in width and supported by a row of Corinthian columns thirty feet high. The outlook from it at all times is enchanting, commanding as it does the level reaches of the lake for miles, with picturesque islands and promontories.
About twelve miles from the hotel is Fourteen-mile Island which, with a number of others, form ”The Narrows.” The lake here is 400 feet deep, much fis.h.i.+ng is done, and in the right season hunting parties start out. Black Mountain, the monarch of the lake, rises over two thousand feet above its waters (being 2,661 feet above tide), and from the summit a magnificent view is obtained of Lake Champlain, the Green Mountains, the Adirondacks, and the distant course of the Hudson.
A carriage drive to Schroon Lake and conveyance from Schroon Village to Adirondack resorts can be made from Lake George.
Those who have only a day can make a delightful excursion from Saratoga to Caldwell by rail, then through the lake to Baldwin, and thence by rail to Saratoga, or _via_ Baldwin and up the lake to Caldwell, and so to Saratoga. But, to get the full beauty of this unrivaled lake, the trip should be made with less haste, for there is no more delightful place in the world to spend a week, a month, or an entire summer. Its immediate surroundings present much to interest the student of history and legend; and to lovers of the beautiful it acknowledges no rivals. The elevation and absolute purity of air make it a desirable place for the tourist. It is 346 feet above the level of the sea, 247 feet above Lake Champlain, and is now brought within six hours of New York City by the enterprise of the _Delaware & Hudson Co_. It is a great question, and we talk it over every time we see the genial Pa.s.senger Traffic Manager of this enterprising line, whether Lake George or Lake Luzerne, in Switzerland, is the more beautiful. We were just deciding last summer, on the steamer ”Horicon,” that Lake George was more beautiful, but not so wild, when, as if the spirit of the lake were roused, a great black squall suddenly came over the mountains, and, the ”crystal lake” for a few minutes, was as wild as any one might desire. We all were glad to see her smile again as she did half an hour afterward in the bright sunlight.
Oh the mystical glory that crowns them Reflected in river and lake, Like a fire that burns through the firs and ferns By the paths that the wild deer take.
_Eben E. Rexford._
”At its widest point Lake George measures about four miles, but at other places it is less than one mile in width. It is dotted with islands; how many we do not know exactly--n.o.body does; but tradition, which pa.s.ses among the people of the district for history and truth, says there is exactly one island for every day in the year, or 365 in all. Whatever their real number they all are beautiful, although some of them are barely large enough to support a flagstaff, and they all seem to fit into the scene so thoroughly that each one seems necessary to complete the charm. On either side are high hills, in some places rising gently from the sh.o.r.es, and in others beetling up from the surface of the water with a rugged cliff, or time-worn ma.s.s of rocks, which reminds one of the wild bits of rocky scenery that make up the savage beauty of the Isle of Skye.
”Its clearness is something extraordinary. From a small boat, in many places, the bottom can be seen. Indeed, so mysteriously beautiful is the water that many visitors spend a day in a rowboat gazing into it at different points.”
Each islet of green which the bright waters hold Like emeralds fresh from their bosom rolled.
_Charles Fenno Hoffman._
Charles Dudley Warner says: ”Bolton, among a host of attractive spots on the lake, holds, in my opinion, a rank among the two or three most interesting points. There is no point of Lake George where the views are so varied or more satisfactory, excepting the one from Sabbath-day Point. At Bolton the islets which dot the surface of the lake whose waters are blue as the sea in the tropics, carry the eye to the rosy-tinted range which includes Pilot, Buck and Erebus Mountains, and culminates in the stateliness of Black Mountain. Or, looking northwest, the superb ma.s.ses of verdure on Green Island are seen mirrored on the burnished surface of the lake. Behind rises the mighty dividing wall called Tongue Mountain, which seems to separate the lake in twain, for Ganouskie, or Northwest Bay, five miles long, is in effect a lake by itself, with its own peculiar features.” The Champlain Transportation Company runs a regular line of steamboats the entire length of the lake, making three round trips daily, except Sunday. The ”Horicon” is a fine side-wheel steamer, 203 feet long and 52 feet wide, and will accommodate, comfortably, 1,000 people.
At Fort Ti the tourist can continue his northern route _via_ the _Delaware & Hudson_ to Hotel Champlain, Plattsburgh, Rouse's Point, or Montreal, or through Lake Champlain by steamer. The ruins of Fort Ti, like old Fort Putnam at West Point, are picturesque, and will well repay a visit.
Far off the dreaming waters lie, White cascades leap in snowy foam, Lake Champlain mirrors cloud and sky, The Hudson seeks his ocean home.
_Benjamin F. Leggett._
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