Synthesis - a patented word-making game
- Newt
- Feb 23
- 24 min read
Updated: Apr 15
In 1881, Charles Pierre Goldey patented a game that he had invented, based on the nature of the formation of words from three kinds of morphemes - prefixes, roots and suffixes.
In the sheet that came with the cards, Goldey says that "SYNTHESIS THE GAME OF SYLLABLES" is "CHARMING! INSTRUCTIVE!! ENTERTAINING!!!"
He says that "The object of the Game Synthesis is to furnish a basis upon which may be built a thorough knowledge of the origin and derivation of words in the easiest and most interesting manner possible." and from playing the game, we can say that he succeeded in his aim.
Goldey was 21 when the game was patented, and his father was a witness to the patent. On patenting the game it appears to have been manufactured and distributed as "Synthesis: the game of syllables" by the hardware firm of Butler & Goldey (owned in part by a family member), but the success or otherwise of the game is hard to gauge. and the company was sold to a larger conglomerate in 1884. There is no further mention of the game, so it may be that it was dropped from the line when the family connection ended.
The Game
The game involves making three-syllable words from a prefix, a root, and a suffix. In the sample above, the players could make the words subtracting, unclaimed, contractor, congressed, regressed, receded, receding, reaction, reactive, and so on.
In our recreation of the game there are 23 Prefix cards:
26 Word Root cards
and 23 Suffix cards:
You can see that the last five are special Prize Suffix cards (see the rules below).
This makes for a full set of 72 cards
How we made our pack
We reconstructed the game from the patent description and an old copy of the rule sheet, and made some changes for easier play, but keeping to the typography and layout of the original.
We added index markers for easier play. Index markers are a feature of almost all playing cards since they were invented in the US in the late 19th century, but Goldey came up with the game before they were invented. Now the game can be played with fanned cards like any other.
We added colour to the cards to ensure rapid identification - the Prefixes are red, the Suffixes are green, and the Roots are blue. The originals were in black and white, and were likely kept that way to ensure affordability.
We added some cards. The original arrangement seems to have been set at 64 to make the most use of a standard sheet cut. The division was 25 Root words, 19 Prefixes, and 20 Suffixes (including the 5 Prize Suffixes). Since our cards are cut 72 to a sheet, we added the root VOLV, and upped the Prefix and Suffix cards to 23 each. We have found this makes for a more even play. (You can always set aside the extra cards if you want to play with an original configuration).
You can have a look at the patent at Espace here.
You can buy a copy of Synthesis printed on demand at Make Playing Cards here. As usual, bulk discounts are available, but are set entirely by the manufacturer, not us.
The Game described
Goldey in his game sheet describes the general principles, and the describes 5 modes of play. We will quote them directly:
THE GAME is composed of sixty-four cards divided as follows: Nineteen (19) cards with three Prefixes on each card; twenty-five (25) cards with one Root on each card; fifteen (15) cards with three Suffixes on each card; five (5) cards or prizes with one Suffix on each card.
EXPLANATION.
A Prefix is one or more letters placed before a Root to modify its meaning.
A Root is the part of a word to which are added Prefixes, Suffixes or both,
A Derivative word is one formed from a Root by adding Prefixes, Suffixes or both.
A Suffix is one or more letters placed at the end of a Root to modify its meaning.
The game is played by combining Prefixes, Roots and Suffixes, so as to form derivative words.
The rules of play are given below.
Charles Goldey
So who was Charles Goldey?
Charles Pierre Goldey (1860-1894), according to his obituary in the Brooklyn Eagle, was An Inventor, Business man, and Writer during his life.
The son of academics, he had a prolonged adolescent illness, and tt was during this period he invented the game of Synthesis (no to mention a bow and arrow set to be fired from a bed, also patented). We can only speculate what his health problems were, but when he died at 34 his cause of death was given as "Nervous prostration".
From the obituary:
"From his 17th to his 23d year Mr. Goldey was incapacitated from active study and business by illness, and during that period he made a number of inventions, several of which are on the market to-day."
An account he wrote of a trip to the Adirondacks in 1888 suggests that while his health had recovered to some degree, he was still an invalid:
"THE WAY TO GO A-CAMPING.
NOVEL EXPERIENCE OF A PARTY IN THE ADIRONDACKS.
A Detailed List of Necessaries in the Way of Provisions and Clothing for the Trip-Practical Hints to the Novice In This Kind of Healthful Recreation - A Record of a Delightful Trip by One Who Was There."
(we have it in full below for your enjoyment).
He was active as a sporting journalist, and wrote almanacs issued from New York and sent out across the nation.
"The Sportsman's Directory and Year Book," edited and compiled by Charles Pierre Goldey. published in New York by Pond & Goldey, contains a biographical and descriptive record, with numerous pictures of men and beasts. It has chapters on current topics. sketches of sportsmen. shooting rules, summary of game laws, best sporting records, game and fishing resorts, clubs devoted to outdoor sports, dog breeders, etc. We find in the body of the book a truthful and well executed portrait of Isaac McLellan, the poet, with his poem, entitled "Lion Hunting in Africa," sent from his home at Greenport, L. I. A book which contains so much that is useful to all whom it may concern speaks its own commendation.
From the obituary once more:
"Mr. Goldey was also of a literary turn of mind and was a frequent contributor to newspapers and magazines. In conjunction with "Will Wildwood" He published and edited the Sportsman's Directory for the world fair. At the time of his death be was advertising manager for Turf, Field and Farm. He was a member of St. John's church and a member of the committee of management of the eastern district Young Men's Christian association. His simplicity and straightforwardness drew about him a large circle of friends."
He was a songwriter and recitalist of humorous and dramatic monologues, and the social pages of New York newspapers at the time attest to his popularity. Here is the cover of a song he wrote as Chas. P. Goldey.
His obituaries describe him as well-loved, and attendance at his funeral was full.
Rules for the game
Mode I
Quoting from the sheet
Let each player draw from the pack one card; the first one drawing a Prefix should deal. If no Prefix is drawn on the first round, continue.
Mix or shuffle the cards thoroughly, and let each player in turn act as dealer. Give four cards, one at a time, to each player, and lay four cards, one at a time, face up on the table. When these are used give four more, one at a time, to each player, but none to the table, and proceed in this manner till the pack is used, and if any odd cards remain lay them on the table face up.
Beginning at the left of the dealer, each person plays in turn. For example, A sits at the left hand of the dealer and the four cards ING, RE, PORT, ION lie on the table. A having arranged his cards so that he alone can see them, plays either a Root, or a Prefix, or a Suffix, so as to make a word from one or more cards on the table, and when a word is formed it is taken from the table and laid face down and called a trick.
After a trick has been taken, any player in turn may add a suitable Prefix or Suffix and claim it from the other player, and any other player in turn may take it by still adding. For example, A forms the word TRANSACT, and, taking it from the table, lays it face down. ^B, looking at his hand, sees he cannot add a card to it and cannot make any other word and plays a card to the table. C sees the Suffix ION in his hand, and says, I make it TRANS-ACT-ION by playing the card ION, and takes the trick from A. D sees in his hand the suffix S and plays it, saying, I make it TRANS-ACT-ION-S, and takes the trick from C.
A trick can only be taken from a player in one turn around the table.
When a player takes a trick (or word), if any player in turn can add a card lying on the table to it, he takes the trick without losing his regular turn.
If the four cards dealt to the table contain a word, it should be left there, unless a player can add to it.
Every word formed should contain a Root, and can be made of two or more syllables.
Each player has but one turn, and can play but one card from his or her hand at a time, and is allowed one minute and a half.
If you cannot make a word, or to not wish to form, as will be explained later, you must play one card from your hand to the table, face up.
A player can use any one, but only one of the three Prefixes or Suffixes on the name card.
When a card is played and the player neglects to take a trick formed, any player in turn may take it.
The final E is dropped before a Suffix beginning with a vowel, as CEDE-ED
CEDED.
When the last letter of a Root or Suffix should be dropped by adding an additional syllable, according to the above rule, a dash before that letter will be found, and the card played should be placed upon it, covering it from sight; as in the word confusing from confuse-ing. The player should endeavor to make words of the greatest number of syllables, as a word of four syllables scores one point, five syllables two points, six syllables three points.
A Sweep. -- The player who takes all the cards from the table makes, a sweep and scores one point. The next player must play one card to the table, face-up.
The Prizes used in this game are to secure the greatest number of points, and they will be found valued respectively one, two and three.
When all the cards in the pack are exhausted, the player taking the last trick takes all the cards remaining on the table.
Making an incorrect word, or spelling incorrectly, forfeits the player’s turn, and the first card of the incorrect word is taken by the player who first detects the error. If more than one detects it at the same time, the card is played to the table.
Longer words may be made by varying the number of cards dealt to six to each player and four to the table.
The Dictionary should be consults d in the case of all doubtful words. From one to two thousand words may be formed from this game.
FORMING FROM THE HAND.
When a player holds in his hand a complete word, or holds two or more cards which, when combined with a card lying on the table, will form a complete word, he may play one of the cards and say “I form,” calling out the word he intends to form. His other card is held in reserve till his next turn, when he lays it down beside the others and takes the trick.
The cards used in forming a word may be played in any order pleasing to the player.
When a player forms a word from his hand, any player in turn, if he holds the card wanting to complete the word, can claim it. Then, if any player in turn can add to it, when completed, he can take it. For example, A holds in his hand the cards RE and FUL, and the card SPECT lies on the table; he says, I form the word RE-SPECT-FUL. and playing the FILL, holds the RE in reserve till his next turn. B, also holding a RE in his hand, plays it, com-
pleting the word, and takes the trick. In forming a word, it must be completed before the player can play on any other word. The object of forming is to make four, five, or six-syllable words.
score.
Place in a pile all tricks won and by each one or more points, when taken, crossways, on the pile, in front of the winner, to easily distinguish them.
The game is composed of twenty-three points.
There are five Prizes.
Cards | Score |
|---|---|
Prize ANT | 1 point |
Prize IBLE | 1 point |
Prize EE | 2 points |
Prize OR | 2 points |
Prize FUL | 3 points |
The greatest number of cards | 3 points |
Words of four syllables | 1 point |
Words of five syllables | 2 points |
Words of six syllables | 3 points |
Each sweep | 1 point |
Mode II ANOTHER WAY OF PLAYING.
Shuffle the cards. Deal six cards to each player, and now to the table. player must see his cards. The player at the left of the dealer lays a card on the stable and turns it face up. The next player does the same, and if he can form a word, he takes it. Any player in turn if he can add to the word, takes it from the other.
In playing a card, the player can take as many Prefixes, Roots or Suffixes as will make words when joined to the Prefixes, Roots or Suffixes he plays. When a player makes more than one word with the same card, the next player loses his right to retake any of those words by adding an additional syllable. Every word should contain a root.
An incorrect word forfeits the player’s turn, and the card played is taken by the next player.
A trick can be taken only in one turn around the table.
A sweep can be made as in the first way of playing, and the score is also the same.
MODE III PLAYING WITH ONLY PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES.
Remove all the Roots from the pack. Shuffle the cards. Place twelve cards on the table face up, so all may see them. The player at the left of the dealer makes one word by using any Root in the English language his mind suggests, and combining it with any or all of the Prefixes or Suffixes on the table. He then takes the word and lays it in front of him, face down. Any player in turn may take it from him by still adding a Prefix or Suffix from the table. An incorrect word forfeits the player’s turn. A sweep and the score is the same as in the first way of playing.
A word to be taken should contain a Prefix and Suffix, or two Prefixes, or two Suffixes.
MODE IV. MATCHING.
This is a very easy way of playing, and very interesting.
Remove the prizes from the pack.
Deal four cards to each player, and none to the table. Lay those remaining on the table face down. Turn up the top card, which is the “ Leader.” If a Root is turned up, place it in the centre of the pack, and turn up the next card. Only Prefixes or Suffixes can be used as a “Leader.”
The player at the left of the dealer plays one card from his hand to the table. The next player, if he can match a syllable with the cards in his hand with those on the table, plays that one card and takes the trick; if not, he plays any card from his hand.
The player can take all the syllables or cards on the table that any of the three syllables on the card he plays will match. A Root will take any Root on the table.
CON DE E
For example, the cards PRE IN PER lie on the table. The player EX IM AP
CON
holds in his hand the card DE with this card he takes all three cards E
from the table.
The player getting the greatest number of cards like the Leader scores three points. That is, if a Prefix is the Leader, the greatest number of Prefixes; or if a Suffix is the Leader, the greatest number of Suffixes. The greatest number of cards scores two points. Every syllable that matches one on the Leader scores
CON
one point; as DE is the Leader. Every CON, every DE and every E scores E
one point. If two syllables of the Leader happen on a card, they score two points.
The game is thirteen, points.
MODE V.
When a player builds or forms a word, any player in turn may take it by substituting another Prefix or Suffix for the one which has not yet been played. For example, A forms RE-PORT-ER, and plays the RE, holding the ER till his next turn.. B says he makes it RE-PORT-ED, and playing the ED, takes
A Trick can be taken only in one turn around the table.
Butler & Goldey Catalogue
The game of Synthesis was advertised here along with bread knives and screwdrivers in 1881
GOLDEY'S TRAVELOGUE
In the Brooklyn Daily Times of Saturday, Sep 8, 1888 Charles Goldey wrote this account of a hiking trip. We have included it here to share his "sacred memories", as Ned Rorem once put it, so that "they are recorded that would otherwise vanish without a trace".
THE WAY TO GO A-CAMPING
NOVEL EXPERIENCE OF A PARTY IN THE ADIRONDACKS.
A Detailed List of Necessaries in the Way of Provisions and Clothing for the
Hints to the Novice in This Kind of Healthful Recreation—A Record of a Delightful Trip by One Who Was There.
Lake George, September 1.—We are just returning from the Adirondacks, where we have been enjoying the novel experience of “roughing it’’ among the mountains.
Our trip was unique, delightful and inexpensive, it requires, however, reasonable strength and endurance to withstand the constant activity and can only be recommended to young men in ill-health when taken with guides and thorough provision against the dew and cold. With these modifications I believe it to be the best tonic in the world for a sick man capable of undergoing at the start a moderate amount of fatigue.
The plan of our outing was to spend two weeks mainly on foot, penetrating the heart of the Adirondack wilderness, traveling with map and compass and without guides from North Creek over the crest of Mount Marcy and northeast to Port Kent, on Lake Champlain, a distance of 120 miles.
Thence sailing down Lakes Champlain and George, on the latter of which we had arranged to stay.
Having decided on our route, we selected the list of articles necessary to be taken, bearing in mind that the burden should be as light as possible.
Four rubber cloths, two 4 by 6 and two 8 by 6, weight of small sizes, three pounds, Cloths should be furnished on four sides, with hooks and eyes to be readily joined.
Additional articles carried by each man: One warm blanket lined on one side with drilling, one change red flannel underclothing, one change long woolen stockings, needle and thread, lint, one box safety pins, candles, drinking cup, comb, towel, vaseline, sun cholera mixture, two and five grain quinine pills, fishing line, flies, revolver and clasp hunting knife.
In addition the following articles were distributed among the four: One map Adirondack Mountains (Stoddard), one compass, one double barreled shotgun, one Winchester rifle, 200 rounds ammunition, one sharp hatchet, two two-quart kettles, one tablespoon, one small package old newspapers, six boxes matches, one ball twine and one of heavy cord.
Provisions; One ten-pound cured ham, one and one-half pounds coffee, three and one-half pounds sugar, one small bag salt, three loaves bread, two cans of canned corn beef. Our dress was soft felt hats, rough clothes, with thick jackets (no vests), heavy shirts (preferably woolen), suspenders, flannel underclothing, long woolen stockings and strong water tight shoes. Cartridge belts were worn around the waist, with pockets for knives and revolvers.
Having divided the luggage into four equal parts, each man carefully wrapped his portion in his rubber blanket, making a slim pack shaped to rest easily on the shoulders. Cloth straps with arm loops were then adjusted to the packs so that they could be easily slung on or off the back. The weight of each man's burden varies from twenty to twenty-five pounds.
We arrived on the 3d inst. at North Creek via Saratoga and the Adirondack Railroad,where after a hearty dinner we took stage for Minerva (Kellogg’s), eleven miles distant.
After a delightful ride through a mountainous region in the midst of which picturesque Mount Moxon stands grandly out, we arrived at Kellogg’s where we bade farewell to the world and its cares, adjusted our packs to our backs and started afoot on our long tramp. Toward evening we halted on a knoll, removed our packs and pitched camp. We selected as dry and level a spot as possible, then cut down and trimmed two saplings, driving them in the earth at a distance from each other of about eight feet. A third sapling was extended horizontally across their tops, and over this was stretched our tent, made by hooking the two larger rubbers together. The loose ends on either side were tied to stakes driven in the ground and the rear of the tent was closed with the remaining rubber, the front being left open. For a bed we cut down hemlock boughs and spread them evenly under the tent. While two of our party were thus occupied the others were busily engaged in building a fire and preparing supper.
Happy hour! Away from the haunts of men, buried in the interminable forests, the dying sun bathing the landscape of surrounding mountains in golden light, while we joyfully toil at our novel labor, with the sunbeams playing around us and the song of birds falling serenely on the ear.
An evening of wit and humor, a night of rest and waking with the birds, we arrange our packs and continue our tramp.
Towards evening we hail with joy the banks of the Boreas River.
A brilliant thought here strikes the learned member of the party, and pointing over a dense mass of underbrush to a grove of lofty pines he exclaims: "Under those trees, gentlemen, you will find a clean spot for your tent."
After a hard battle with the underbrush we reached the desired haven, only to discover that our scientific friend had become a Wiggins, and that the grove would not serve our purpose.
Fighting our way to the river, close at hand, we were confronted with the problem how to return to the road without a second battle with the almost impenetrable underbrush.
The mechanical genius of our party then declared that our best plan was to wade through the waters of Boreas River until we reached the road.
Acting on his suggestion we removed our shoes, and with packs aloft, carefully planted our tender feet on the jagged stones that form a bottom of that picturesque stream. Exquisite agony it was for full ten minutes, and when the last step was taken four weary men heaved a sigh of grateful relief.
We finally made camp, and after a second night of rest were again bound northward. A tramp of eight miles through a beautiful country, which seemed to be the ideal home of the raspberry, and we arrived at Tohawus, or the Lower Iron Works, the property of the Adirondack Club.
At this point we learned that the surrounding country north, east and west, covering an area of about 150,000 acres, is the property of an association of New York millionaires terming themselves the Adirondack Club, who also own private clubhouses at the Upper and Lower Iron Works.
After a hearty dinner at the clubhouse we tramped two miles beyond and camped on a hill, among the pines and balsams, where we rested for two days.
Days to be long remembered! Away from the world of care, free as the mountain air we inhaled, the birds charming us with their songs, the roads freighted with berries and wild flowers and the sun pouring a flood of golden light, then gradually melting away, casting streaks of yellow and gold across the surrounding hill or throwing weird shadows in the dim hollows of the distant mountain sides. Roughing it, truly, we think, as we kindle our pine fire and soon listen to the sizzle and splutter of the ham. Then a grave conference is held, and four solemn arguments are delivered to determine the exact amount of coffee that should be deposited in the kettle to produce a cup of nectar fit for the gods. Then the old bachelor carves the bread with a jack knife, sighs for butter, forgets to sweeten the coffee, and in a few moments four tramps are stretched at full length on the soft earth, with mouths full of a miscellaneous assortment of delicious ham, bread and coffee, which are eaten from elegantly constructed dishes rather difficult to describe.
A few dreamy days of rest and we engage a teamster to drive us ten miles north, to the second clubhouse, situated at the Upper Iron Works.
Here we laid in fresh supplies, adding a two pound box of rolled oats, the most nourishing diet for the mountains, and continued our tramp.
Passing through a magnificent valley surrounded by distant mountains, with a sweep of clear, dry mountain air that imparted wonderful vigor, we were soon plunged into a forest and launched on the trail to Colden Lake.
On we traveled, now crossing a broad stream with a miniature falls, then winding in and out along its banks until we find ourselves lumbering along a deserted old road across which great trees have fallen, and which leads up into the mysteries of an unknown mountain side.
Suddenly the trail ends and a tangled mass of underbrush extends beyond. The following hours of exploring and beating our way up mountain and down valley, vainly searching for the continuation of the trail. Discouraged, we acknowledge to having lost our way, and prepare to camp for the night.
A hot supper of ham, potatoes and coffee soon loosens our tongues, and the stories fly thick and fast until Morpheus closes our eyes, and the great forests are sombre and silent save for the sighing of the breezes among the lofty tops of the pines.
The sixth day of our tramp dawns bright and clear. A council of war being held, two of our party agree to climb the mountain, with the hope of seeing the lake from the summit, while the others return to the clubhouse, about four miles distant, and endeavor to discover the cause of our error.
After many adventures we strike the lost trail late in the afternoon and are again on our way. An hour's tramp and we emerge from the forests on the edge of a meadow, across which we behold Calamity Pond, where Mr. David Henderson lost his life in 1845, in memory of which sad event a fine monument stands at the head of the lake.
A short distance further on we beheld a long, wide sheet of water, unknown to us by name, surrounded by magnificent mountains, that cast weird shadows down on its calm, mirror-like surface.
We afterwards learn that this lake - one of the most beautiful in the Adirondack region - is called the "Flowed Lands," so named because it is formed by two dams. Following a trail on the eastern shore we travel until our trail suddenly disappears into the lake.
Lost again. Suddenly through the trees we espy a rude hunter's log cabin, and with a dash we are in it, exploring its nooks and crannies for we know not what. We gladly hail the sight of an old stove, a raised wooden hay covered shelf that served as a bed, and we all jump as one of our party cries : "Eureka! I have it!" and proudly displays his discoveries, consisting of a paper of tea, an old pan and a broken knife. A place fit for a King, we cry, and immediately prepare a royal repast, which is shortly followed by our disappearance among the hay, from the depths of which four gentle snores are soon under way.
With the morning's dawn we are up bathing in the lake. Ever and anon our eyes gaze about and our hearts thrill with the sublimity of the scene before us.
Panther and Avalanche Mountains, rising directly from the lake, with lofty pines covering their mountain sides, fill us with wonder and delight, while their rocky crests, standing out clear out against the blue sky, form a picture of grandeur the effect of which is softened as the eye gazes on the sombre hills that chain the mountains together, and the faces on the deep clear waters of the lake that sparkle with the golden shafts of sunlight playing upon its surface.
The cry of a bird suddenly comes floating down the mountain side, reverberates from crag to crag, peals out across the lake and echoes far away in the many twists and turns of the great hills.
After breakfast we strike a new trail across the dam at the head of the lake. We plunge into the forest and soon again are mystified by the faintness of the trail. Up and down the mountain side we wander, breaking our way through the dense underbrush, slipping, sliding, falling, following an almost impossible clue, until with a cheer we emerge on a well-defined trail showing the footprints of some passing mountain guide. A few hours’ patient travel and we behold a beautiful lake.
"Colden," we cry, but on approaching its shores we are mystified by its peculiar shape. Again our trail leaps into the lake, and seeing a solitary row-boat nestling among the overhanging branches, two of us unmoor it and start on a paddling expedition of exploration. The situation was romantic and the sensation pleasant. On the bosom of an unknown lake, surrounded by mountains, our boat forced by the strokes of our paddle around a tortuous course that unfolded new views of wondrously shaped rocks, of broadening and narrowing waters and of misty valleys beyond. An hour's industrious labor and I cry "There's a camp!"
"Good," replies my friend. "Let us make it," and away bowls the boat.
We approach. “‘It is a dam,” says M. Closer we draw. Now our boat crashes among the underbrush. A glance around and, with a sudden faintness that overcomes both voyageurs, he who had risen to secure the boat falls nervelessly in the water. Climbing to terra firma we both gaze sadly into each other’s eyes, clasp hands and murmur: “The very dam we started from this morning to find Lake Colden.”
We had indeed followed a trail through the forests skirting the shores of “The Flowed Lands,” and it had brought us out at the other end, whence we had bravely paddled back to our starting point.
Returning to our friends we were pleased to find that during our absence they had discovered the right trail, which we tramped till 5 o’clock, when Lake Colden lay sparkling before us.
The Adirondack Club’s sentinel welcomed us and informed us that we were not permitted to indulge in hunting or fishing on their ground.
A cold sleep in a rude camp discovered near the picturesque cabin of Alfred Taylor, Jr., of New York, and with the morning light we are on the trail for Marcy.
The trail is well defined and winds in and out, up and down, now climbing the mountain side, then swerving around or rushing across a rocky brook, while trappers’ trails cross and recross the path.
We are silently moving up the mountain side, with the stream dashing along below us, when we suddenly stand on the edge of a wooded bluff and behold the water strike a succession of massive rocks and go roaring over, forming a series of waterfalls, while far down at their base the waters lay in a great, dark pool, whose depth and clearness are wondrous to behold.
Towards evening we arrive within a mile of the summit, which is then plainly visible, Imagine a mountain 5,344 feet in height, densely covered with mighty forests from the base to within a few hundred feet of the top, where the trees end and steep rocky sides--save here and there a stinted growth—sharply climb to a needle like point above the clouds.
The view being partially obscured we decide to camp within a few hundred feet of the crest and immediately make preparation for our protection from the severe cold.
We are hardly settled when down comes the rain, and we huddle together under our rubber tent, alternately gazing at our blazing fire and the magnificent scenery dimly seen through the falling rain drops and ever and anon veiled by the filmy clouds floating far below us.
As night approaches the rain increases in volume, the cold more bitter, until despite our efforts the fires are extinguished and we are forced to prepare for a shivering sleep on wet hemlock boughs in a rainstorm nearly 5,000 feet above the sea.
With the dawn we leap from our wet couch and are scrambling up the rocky sides to the crest.
Labor well rewarded, we cry, as, standing on the narrow, rocky summit of Marcy, we gaze on a sea of mountain peaks that kiss the sky. Old Macintyre and Sewart, Whiteface and Panther, hedged in by scores of rugged mountain tops, surround us, rendering homage to the king on whose crest we stand.
And the forests! Over mountain and valley they stretch, forming a canopy so vast that the eye searches in vain for a break save where a turbulent stream goes dashing down the mountain side or winding through a valley, forming a dim serpentine outline in the distance.
Looking far away between the mountain tops we behold the grand lakes of the Adirondacks, sparkling like precious gems, with a dark setting of forest trees.
To the north, buried in the forests ten miles away, we see Clear Pond, our next point of destination, and ten miles beyond Lakes Placid and Mirror are visible, with Old Whiteface Mountain in the background. Filled with the glories of Marcy, we start down the northern side and tramp for four or five hours, varying our walk by involuntarily sitting down now and then in a mud puddle as vast in proportion as the surrounding country.
At last we reach Clear Pond and gladly welcome the sight of the Adirondack Lodge. Imagine a hotel built entirely of rough logs, constructed in an artistic manner, with broad log piazzas, spacious grounds, picturesque in their natural wildness, extending to and around a beautiful mountain lake, where the trout disport themselves and the deer steal down at night to drink its waters.
Here we thawed out, and endeavored unsuccessfully to secure new shoes for our old ones, which were strewn piecemeal down the mountain trail.
The day following we drove ten miles over to Lake Pincid, and after a day spent in this region we took wagon for a forty-mile drive northeastward through the Wilmington Notch and valley, around the base of Whiteface, along the Ausable River, passing the Big and Little Falls.
As the sun began to touch the western sky with a wealth of color we made our way between the massive rocky walls of the Ausable Chasm, which twist into wondrous shapes, here steep and straight as an arrow, there forming huge cracks; here archly forming a cozy nook and there hollowed out into great caverns formed by the terrific rush of waters in centuries gone by. Soon we are in the deep rowboats shooting the rapids, our boat flashing through the water with a speed which brightens the eye and heightens the pulse.
Through the chasm and we again shoulder our packs, tramp, three miles to Port Kent, where the next morning we take steamer down Lakes Champlain and George, whence the traveler may continue to New York or rest on the banks of the most beautiful lake in America.
Such a trip as I have described, excepting the expense of guns, which I would advise others to leave at home, cost us, including all fares, $35 each, for twelve days of rare sport and a rich experience that will be sacredly cherished in memory for many years to come.
CHARLES P. GOLDEY.
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