ink and looking over, we gazed into a world of mists and mighty
reverberations. Here the exquisite colors of the rainbow fascinated the
eye, and majestic sounds of falling waters continued the paean of the
ages. Below and beyond the seething caldron the river appeared, pursuing
its turbulent career, past frowning cliffs and over miles of rapids,
where it heard "no sound save its own dashings." The babel of waters
made conversation a matter of difficulty, and after a mute exchange
of congratulations, we turned our attention to examining the river in
detail above and below the Falls.

A mile above the main leap the river is a noble stream four hundred
yards wide, already flowing at an accelerated speed. Four rapids,
marking successive depressions in the river-bed, intervene between this
point and the Falls. At the first rapid the width of the stream is not
more than one hundred and seventy-five yards, and from thence rapidly
contracts until reaching a point above the escarpment proper, where the
entire column of fleecy water is compressed within rocky banks not more
than fifty yards apart.

Here the effect of resistless power is extremely fine. The maddened
waters, sweeping downward with terrific force, rise in great surging
billows high above the encompassing banks ere they finally hurl
themselves into the gulf below. A great pillar of mist rises from the
spot, and numerous rainbows span the watery abyss, constantly forming
and disappearing amid the clouds of spray. An immense volume of water
precipitates itself over the rocky ledge, and under favorable conditions
the roar of the cataract can be heard for twenty miles. Below the Falls,
the river, turning to the southeast, pursues its maddened career for
twenty-five miles shut in by vertical cliffs of gneissic rock, which
rises in places to a height of four hundred feet. The rocky banks above
and below the Falls are thickly wooded with firs and spruces, among
which the graceful form of the white birch appears in places.

[The Falls were photographed from several points of view, and
carefully measured, the vertical descent proving to be over
three hundred feet, while the chute or rapid at their head
made a farther descent of thirty-two feet.]

The deep, incessant roar of the cataract that night was our lullaby as,
stretched out under a rough "barricade," we glided into that realm of
forgetfulness where even surroundings strange as ours counted as nau