oarings, gushed over the awful rock. Descending the footpath on my
right, the whole scene of terror and grandeur burst upon me. The evening
was approaching apace, and slowly and reluctantly I began to ascend,
after having scrambled to almost every accessible spot on the side where
I was. So much did the noise and sublimity affect me, that I felt one of
my unsettled fits stealing over my mind. Strange thoughts began to
arise. I quickened my pace until I reached the top of the height; and
the glorious view--the beautiful sloping braes of Nemplar, and the
village gilded by the beams of the setting sun--burst upon me. I again
longed for a view of the magnificent fan-looking cascade from a new
point; and so imperative was my desire that I never thought of the
danger. Stepping to the brink of the chasm, where the fearful tumult
raged many feet below, I could only catch an angular glance; and, to
extend it, I caught a bush, and leaned forward upon one hand and my
knees. Dreadful moment! horrid recollection!--I felt the bank giving
way. A convulsive effort to regain my equilibrium, and a stifled cry for
mercy, are all I recollect--my heart collapsed, and all consciousness
ceased.

How long I continued in this state I have no means of ascertaining; my
first sensation was a sickness that almost made me again relapse into
insensibility, accompanied by a feeling of pain in all my limbs.
Languidly I opened my eyes; all was dark as midnight. The roar of the
waters stupified every sense. The horrors of my situation chilled my
soul, and annihilated all my courage. How I retained, by the energies of
despair, unaided by reason, my half pendulous position, I cannot
explain. I was, for a time after consciousness returned, incapable of
reflection; my mind, a chaos of fear and horror. I felt wet to the skin,
from the thin spray, which fell upon and enveloped me like a cloud; a
profuse sweat stood upon my forehead, and rolling down in large drops,
made my eyes smart. I grasped something that sustained me, yet I
scarcely knew how. Gradually the sickness left me, and cool thoughts of
my perilous situation began to occupy my mind; my energies and native
desire of preservation began to strengthen. My first care was to
ascertain if any of my bones were broken. My legs hung over a ledge of
the rock, upon which the rest of my body lay supported by my hands,
which still clung to the small object I had grasped; cautiously I moved
my legs, the one afte