Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1849, by
GEO. P. PUTNAM,
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New-York.

TO
JOSEPH GALES, ESQ.,

Mr Dear Sir,—

I have two reasons for embellishing this little volume with your distinguished and honored name. In the first place, the material of which it is composed, was originally published in the National Intelligencer; and in the second place, I desire to record the fact, that for many years past, in all matters appertaining to my pen you have been to me an invaluable counsellor and friend.

CONTENTS.

LETTER I.

PAGE

Dahlonega, 9

LETTER II.

Trip to Track Rock, 20

LETTER III.

Valley of the Nacoochee, 25

LETTER IV.

Cascade of Tuccoah, 31

LETTER V.

The Falls of Tallulah, 36

LETTER VI.

The Hunter of Tallulah, 47

LETTER VII.

Trail Mountain, 53

LETTER VIII.

Down the Owassa, 58

LETTER IX.

Across the Mountains, 65

LETTER X.

Notes on the Little Tennessee, 75

LETTER XI.

The Smoky Mountain, 84

LETTER XII.

The Cherokees of Carolina, 93

LETTER XIII.

Cherokee Customs, 100

LETTER XIV.

Cherokee Characters, 106

LETTER XV.

Hickory Nut Gap, 115

LETTER XVI.

Down the French Broad, 122

LETTER XVII.

Trip to Black Mountain, 131

LETTER XVIII.

The Catawba Country, 139

LETTER XIX.

The Mountains and their People, 151

LETTER XX.

The Nameless Valley, 157

LETTER XXI.

The Valley of Virginia, 166

ADDENDA.

Geology of the Alleghany Mountains, 173

Soil of the Alleghany Mountains, 182

Minerals of the Alleghany Mountains, 186

Miscellaneous Remarks on the Alleghany Mountains, 192

LETTERS FROM THE ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS.

LETTER I.

Dahlonega, Georgia, April, 1848.

The Cherokee word Dah-lon-e-ga signifies the place of yellow metal; and is now applied to a small hamlet at the foot of the Alleghany Mountains, in Lumpkin county, Georgia, which is reputed to be the wealthiest gold region in the United States. It is recorded of De Soto and his followers that, in the sixteenth century, they explored this entire Southern country in search of gold, and unquestionable evidences of their work have been discovered in various sections of the State. Among these testimonials may be mentioned the remains of an old furnace, and other works for mining, which have been brought to light by recent explorations. But the attention of our own people was first directed to this region while yet the Cherokees