nformed us that she got small comfort in the churches
in the neighborhood, and gave us, in fact, a discouraging account of the
unvital piety of the region.

The descent from the summit of the Gap to Judge Logan's, nine miles, is
rapid, and the road is wild and occasionally picturesque, following
the Broad River, a small stream when we first overtook it, but roaring,
rocky, and muddy, owing to frequent rains, and now and then tumbling
down in rapids. The noisy stream made the ride animated, and an
occasional cabin, a poor farmhouse, a mill, a schoolhouse, a store
with an assemblage of lean horses tied to the hitching rails, gave the
Professor opportunity for remarks upon the value of life under such
circumstances.

The valley which we followed down probably owes its celebrity to
the uncommon phenomena of occasional naked rocks and precipices. The
inclosing mountains are from 3000 to 4000 feet high, and generally
wooded. I do not think that the ravine would be famous in a country
where exposed ledges and buttressing walls of rock are common. It is
only by comparison with the local scenery that this is remarkable. About
a mile above judge Logan's we caught sight, through the trees, of the
famous waterfall. From the top of the high ridge on the right, a nearly
perpendicular cascade pours over the ledge of rocks and is lost in the
forest. We could see nearly the whole of it, at a great height above us,
on the opposite side of the river, and it would require an hour's stiff
climb to reach its foot. From where we viewed it, it seemed a slender
and not very important, but certainly a very beautiful cascade, a band
of silver in the mass of green foliage. The fall is said to be 1400
feet. Our colonel insists that it is a thousand. It may be, but the
valley where we stood is at least at an elevation of 1300 feet; we could
not believe that the ridge over which the water pours is much higher
than 3000 feet, and the length of the fall certainly did not appear
to be a quarter of the height of the mountain from our point of
observation. But we had no desire to belittle this pretty cascade,
especially when we found that Judge Logan would regard a foot abated
from the 1400 as a personal grievance. Mr. Logan once performed the
functions of local judge, a Republican appointment, and he sits around
the premises now in the enjoyment of that past dignity and of the fact
that his wife is postmistress. His house of entertainment is at the
bot