HE scenery of the Naugatuck Valley | ing railroad, as seen from this point, that sents some of its boldest and most characteristic features. This portion I shall designate as "the Highlands of the Naugatuck." The illustrations which appear in this article exhibit some of its most striking and characteristic features. The above illustration represents the Falls of the Naugatuck at Seymour. It was in the vicinity of these falls that the Naugatuck Indians fixed their abode, and where the remnants of the tribe lingered until a comparatively recent period. The view looking up the valley from Seymour is peculiarly characteristic of the scenery of this region. It was sketched from a hill on the east side of the river, known as "The Promised Land." On the left of the engraving appears the railroad, on the right the old turnpike. So circuitous is the stream and its accompany to penetrate through hills which appear so completely to shut in the view in the back ground. The singular and nearly cone-shaped mountain known as Rock Rimmon, presents a bold, grand outline, as seen from various points of view. It is the abrupt termination of the line of hills known as "the Beacon Hills," from the most considerable elevation of which Long Island Sound is distinctly visible at a distance of about fifteen miles. Tradition says that in Revolutionary times the beacon fire was kindled on these hills to give warning of approaching danger. The small cluster of houses and the large manufacturing establishment known upon this road as the Beacon Falls Station are most picturesquely situated in the midst of some of the wildest scenery of this portion of Connecticut. The exten Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by sive manufactory which appears in the cut Carlton & Porter, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York. is devoted to the production of the vulcan the railroad passes is here approached. On the one side is the river, and above dark, stern, and frowning heights arise. The illustration which I present of a view near Beacon Falls, is of a point about one mile above that station, near the house known as the Sherman Place. At the distance of about half a mile from this place, in a wild gorge of the mountains, approached by a delightful walk following a small tributary of the Naugatuck, is Jones's Gap. This singularly beautiful spot is comparatively little known, but to the lovers of the picturesque it is well worth a visit. From Seymour to Naugatuck, a distance of about seven miles, every step of the way develops some charming point of view. The traveler by the train is so hurried through this singularly wild and picturesque scenery that he can form at best but an imperfect impression of its characteristic features. Indeed, there are few portions of Switzerland or Norway where the pedestrian is better repaid for a ramble through them. Like our American scenery in general, this lacks the Alpine | features so peculiar to those countries, but in the picturesque and wild it is scarcely excelled in either. The view of Naugatuck which I present was sketched from a hill near the cemetery, upon the Waterbury turnpike. It can scarcely be said to be a general view, as the town is much scattered and built upon both sides of the river. It, however, gives a good impression of the central part of the village, Naugatuck was formerly a society of Waterbury known as Salem Bridge. In 1844 it was incorporated as a town under the name of Naugatuck. On the right of the cut appears the Congregational Church, a structure highly creditable to the place, which was completed in 1855. On the left is St. Michael's Church, (Episcopal,) and near these the High School. Naugatuck is a thriving place, with numerous manufacturing establishments, among which" Goodyear's Metallic Rubber Shoe Company" is the most prominent. Mr. Charles Goodyear, the well-known inventor and patentee of various articles manufactured from India-rubber, although not a native of Naugatuck, passed the earlier portion of his life at this place, with which his name is intimately associated. It was at Naugatuck that he developed many of his plans. Mr. Goodyear was born at New Haven in 1799, soon after which his father removed with his family to Naugatuck, where he resided up to the time of his decease. In 1834 Mr. Charles Goodyear engaged in the manufacture of gum elastic in the city of New York. To the American Phrenological Journal of December, 1856, I am indebted for most of the following facts, which are given in a biographical notice of this gentleman. enterprise on the far-off shores of the Pacific, making the solitary wilderness of the West vocal with the hum of industry, and "the desert to bud and blossom as the rose." This spirit inspired Audubon to bury himself in the trackless forests for years, to add to the science of ornithology the rich treasures of his discoveries, and thus to gather a plume for his brow from every wing that cuts the air, and to write his name with the quill of that imperial bird which his country had chosen as the symbol of her liberty. It was enthusiasm that warmed the blood of Kane and his companions, amid the eternal monuments of Polar winter; it was this same exultant energy which nerved the gallant Fremont to scale the frosty crags of the Rocky Mountains, to open to the world the golden gate of California. Enthusiasm is pre-eminently an American characteristic. It was an enthusiastic love of liberty, and freedom to worship God without control or restraint, that led the Pilgrims and the Huguenots to abandon the luxuries of the Old World, to meet the privations of the howling wilderness, and to overcome the obstacles which threatened to make them martyrs. This spirit was seen in the Revolution, is evinced in the pioneer spirit which settles new Fulton suffered poverty, privation, and territories and plants cities of wealth and ridicule, as he toiled earnestly to perfect In every branch of industry this spirit is cropping out, indicating boldness, perseverance, and a self-sacrificing heroism that scorns hardships and mocks opposition. THE VALLEY OF THE NAUGATUCK. the steamboat, while his enthusiasm was warmed by the prophetic visions which now float over the waters of the wide world like fairy palaces. Morse, too, penniless, and almost friendless, secluded in a garret, with seedy garments and scanty fare, studied and labored to harness the fiery agent which the enthusiastic Frank The lin, three quarters of a century before, had coaxed from the angry heavens. poor artist has become a millionaire, or has earned the right to be one, and that which was once called "arrant folly" is now regarded as sound philosophy. The world calls its pioneers fools, or crazy; but when they give material form and SKETCH IN JONES'S. GAP. action to their great thoughts, then they | his credit with cool business-men, and became wise and sound instantly. But tardy justice is better than none. Charles Goodyear, imbued with the same spirit, would listen to no persuasion from his friends to abandon what, to them, appeared a hopeless project; and though he had expended his means, and exhausted been denied further aid from ardent capitalists, and he saw nothing before him but penury and the poor-house, still he did not give up his darling thought. His hope, undimmed, burned with unabated fervor in the darkest hour, and thus sustained him until his conquest was completed. |