. When approaching the platform I was positively
startled by a vast shrieking clang which suddenly burst on the ear and
seemed to fill the air. This I afterwards found had come from the
semi-cavernous gorge of rock about half a mile away, into which fall the
waters of the Rajah and Roarer rapids, and though I afterwards heard
somewhat similar sounds issuing from these falls, I never heard again
anything approaching to this singular and startling burst of sound. These
sounds have often been remarked upon, but no one seems to have attempted
to trace their cause, but they most probably arise from the escape of air
which has been driven by the falling waters into some deep fissures of the
rock.

Having thus taken a general view of the situation, I then returned to the
bungalow for breakfast, and in the afternoon at about two o'clock returned
to Watkin's platform by the route of the ferry across the pool, and, with
my companion, set out for the foot of the falls, first of all by a steep
winding path, and then by a flight of very rough and uneven steps which
had been formed by placing stones in places on and between the rocks. When
descending, we often paused to view the constantly changing scene, for,
as we got lower and lower, the rainbow hues across each fall, which were
at first widely broken by the masses of cliff stretching between the
falls, came closer and closer, till at last, when we reached the region
where the spray of all the falls was mingled, the iris hues stretched
across the gorge in an unbroken band of colour. At length, as we neared
the foot of the fall, we reached a small open-sided shed, which had
recently been erected on the occasion of the Maharajah of Mysore's visit.
From this, which was probably fifty feet from the bottom of the gorge and
about 100 yards from the falls, an admirable view was obtained of the
entire situation, and we began to realize how impossible it is to form any
adequate conception of the falls from the top, or from the higher sides of
the gorge. We next descended to the bottom of the gorge, where the ground
is strewn with vast boulders of rock, which had evidently fallen from the
cliff as it had been eaten back by waters toiling through countless bygone
ages. Many of these masses of rock lie at some distance from the foot of
the falls, and on the partially decayed surfaces of some of them
vegetation had evidently been flourishing for an indefinite period of
time. Huge masses of rock