THE Falls of Niagara have been very frequently and minutely described,
though it must be acknowledged, as has been well said by the celebrated
Audubon, that all the pictures you may see, all the descriptions you
may read of these mighty falls, can only produce in your mind the faint
glimmer of a glow-worm compared with the overpowering glory of the
meridian sun. ‘What!’ said he, ‘have I come here to mimic nature in her
grandest enterprise, and add _my_ caricature of one of the wonders of
the world to those which I here see? No.――I give up the vain attempt.
I will look on these mighty cataracts, and imprint them where they
alone can be represented,――on my mind!’ The following very full and
accurate description by Mr. Schoolcraft, is the best with which we are
acquainted.
‘On the first of May, I visited the celebrated Falls of Niagara.[14]
Keeping the American shore, the road lies over an alluvial country,
elevated from ten to twenty feet above the water of the river, without
a hill or a ledge of rocks, and with scarce an undulation of surface,
to indicate the existence, or prepare the eye for the stupendous
prospect which bursts, somewhat unexpectedly, into view. The day was
clear and warm, with a light breeze blowing down the river. We stopped
frequently on our approach to listen for the sound of the Fall, but
at the distance of fifteen, ten, eight, and even five miles, could not
distinguish any, even by laying the ear to the ground. It was not until
within three miles of the precipice, where the road runs close to the
edge of the river, and brings the rapids in full view, that we could
distinctly hear the sound, which then, owing to a change in the wind,
fell so heavily upon the ear, that in proceeding a short distance, it
was difficult to maintain a conversation as we rode along. On reaching
the Falls, nothing struck me with more surprise, than that the Baron
La Hontan, who visited it in August, 1688, should have fallen into so
egregious a mistake, as to the height of the perpendicular pitch, which
he represents at seven or eight hundred feet. Nor does the narrator
of the discoveries of the unfortunate La Salle, Monsieur Tonti,
approach much nearer the truth, when he states it at six hundred feet.
Charlevoix, whose work is characterized by more accuracy, learning,
and research, than those who had preceded him, and who saw the Falls in
1721, makes, on the contrary, an estimate which is surprising for the
degree of accuracy he has attained. “For my own part,” he says, “after
examining it on all sides, where it could be viewed to the greatest
advantage, I am inclined to think we cannot allow it less than a
hundred and forty or fifty feet.” The latter, (one hundred and fifty,)
is precisely what the Fall on the Canadian side is now estimated at.
There is a rapid of two miles in extent above, and another of seven
miles, extending to Lewiston, below the Falls. The breadth across, at
the brink of the Fall, which is serrated and irregular, is estimated
at four thousand two hundred and thirty feet, or a little more than
three fourths of a mile. The Fall on the American shore is one hundred
and sixty-four feet, being the highest known perpendicular pitch of
so great a volume of water. The fall of the rapid above, commencing at
Chippewa, is estimated at ninety feet, and the entire fall of Niagara
river from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, a distance of thirty-five miles,
at three hundred feet. Goat Island, which divides the water into two
unequal sheets, has recently been called _Iris_, (in allusion to the
perpetual rainbows by which it is characterized) by the commissioners
for settling the boundaries of the United States, acting under the
treaty of Ghent.
‘In approaching this cataract from Lewiston, the elevated and rocky
description of country it is necessary to cross, together with the
increased distance at which the roar is heard in that direction, must
serve to prepare the mind for encountering a scene which there is
nothing to indicate on approaching from Buffalo; and this impression
unquestionably continues to exercise an effect upon the beholder,
after his arrival at the Falls. The first European visiters beheld it
under this influence. Following the path of the _Couriers de Bois_,
they proceeded from Montreal up the St. Lawrence, to Fort Caderacqui,
and around the shores of Lake Ontario, to the alluvial tract which
stretches from the mouth of Niagara river, to the site of Lewiston.
Here the Ridge, emphatically so called, commences, and the number of
elevations which it is necessary to ascend in crossing it, may, without
a proper consideration of the intermediate descents, have led those who
formerly approached that way into error, such as La Hontan and Tonti
fell into. They must have been deprived also of the advantages of the
view from the gulf at the foot of the Falls, for we are not prepared to
admit the possibility of a descent without artificial stairs, or other
analogous laborious and dangerous works, such, as at that remote period,
must have been looked upon as a stupendous undertaking; and could not,
indeed, have been accomplished, surrounded as the French then were, by
their enemies, the jealous and ever watchful Iroquois. The descent at
the present period, with every advantage arising from the labors of
mechanical ingenuity, cannot be performed without feeling some degree
of personal solicitude.
‘It is in this chasm that the sound of the water falls heaviest upon
the ear, and that the mind becomes fully impressed with the appalling
majesty of the Fall. Other views from the banks on both sides of the
river, and from the Island of Iris in its centre, are more beautiful
and picturesque; but it is here that the tremulous motion of the
earth, the clouds of irridescent spray, the broken column of falling
water, the stunning sound, the lofty banks of the river, and the wide
spreading ruin of rocks, imprint a character of wonder and terror upon
the scene, which no other point of view is capable of producing. The
spectator, who, on alighting at Niagara, walks hastily to the brink,
feels his attention imperceptibly riveted to the novel and striking
phenomenon before him, and at this moment is apt either to overrate
or to underrate the magnitude of the Fall. It is not easy to erect a
standard of comparison; and the view requires to be studied, in order
to attain a just conception and appreciation of its grandeur and its
beauties. The ear is at first stunned by the incessant roar, and the
eye bewildered in the general view. In proportion as these become
familiarized, we seize upon the individual features of the landscape,
and are enabled to distinguish between the gay and the sombre, the bold
and the picturesque, the harsh and the mellow traits, which, like the
deep contrasted shades of some high wrought picture, contribute to give
effect to the scene.
‘It was some time before I could satisfy myself of the accuracy of
the accredited measurements of the height of the Fall, and not until
after I had made repeated visits, and spent a considerable time in the
abyss below. There appears a great disproportion between the height
and the width of the falling sheet, but the longer I remained, the more
magnificent it appeared to me; and hence it is, that with something
like a feeling of disappointment, on my first arrival, I left the
Falls after a visit of two days, with an impression of the scene which
every thing I had previously read, had failed to create. At the time
of my visit, the wind drove the floating ice out of Lake Erie, with
the drift-wood of its tributary rivers, and these were constantly
precipitated over the Falls, but we were not able to discover any
vestiges of them in the eddies below. Immediately in front of the sheet
of falling water on the American side, there was also an enormous bank
of snow, of nearly an hundred feet in height, which the power of the
sun had not yet been fierce enough to dissolve, and which, by giving
an Icelandic character to the landscape, produced a fine effect. It
appeared to me to owe its accumulation to the falling particles of
frozen spray.
‘What has been said by Goldsmith, and repeated by others, respecting
the destructive influence of the rapids[15] above to ducks and other
water fowl, is only an effect of the imagination. So far from being
the case, a wild duck is often seen to swim down the rapid to the brink
of the Falls, and then fly out, and repeat the descent, seeming to take
a delight in the exercise. Neither are small land-birds affected on
flying over the Falls, in the manner that has been stated. I observed
the blue-bird and the wren, which had already made their annual visit
to the banks of the Niagara, frequently fly within one or two feet of
the brink, apparently delighted with the gift of their wings, which
enabled them to sport over such frightful precipices without danger.
We are certainly not well pleased to find that some of the wonderful
stories we have read of the Falls, during boyhood, do not turn out
to be the truth; but, at the same time, a little attention is only
necessary to discover that many interesting facts and particulars
remain unnoticed, which fully compensate for others that have been
over-strained or misstated. Among these, the crystalline appearances
disclosed among the prostrate ruins, and the geological character of
the Fall itself, are not the least interesting.
Illustration: Bridge and Rapids above the Falls.
‘The scenes where nature has experienced her greatest convulsions, are
always the most favorable for acquiring a knowledge of the internal
structure of the earth. The peaks of the highest mountains, and the
depths of the lowest ravines, present the greatest attractions to the
geologist. Hence this cataract, which has worn its way for a number of
miles, and to a very great depth, through the stony crust of the earth,
is no less interesting for the geological facts it discloses, than for
the magnificence of its natural scenery. The chain of highlands, called
the Ridge, originates in Upper Canada, and running parallel with the
south shore of Lake Ontario, forms a natural terrace, which pervades
the western counties of New-York, from north to south, affording, by
its unbroken chain, and the horizontal position of its strata, the
advantages of a natural road, and terminates in an unexplored part
of the county of Oswego, or thereabout. It is in crossing this ridge,
that the falls of the Niagara, of the Gennessee, and of the Oswego
rivers, all running into Lake Ontario, are produced; together with
those of an infinite number of smaller streams and brooks. Through
this, the Niagara has cut its way for a distance of seven miles, and
to a depth of more than two hundred feet, disclosing the number, order
of stratification, and mineral character, of the different strata of
secondary rocks, of which it is composed.
‘These rocks, (sandstone, slate, and limestone,) however their
properties may be found modified by future discoveries, will probably
be found, with a proper allowance for local formations and disturbances,
to pervade all that section of country, which lies between the Niagara
and Seneca rivers, between lakes Ontario and Seneca, and between the
Alleghany river and the south shore of Lake Erie, as general boundaries.
All this section of country appears to be underlayed by a stratum of
red sandstone, such as appears at the Gennessee Falls, but which is
imbedded at various depths, as the country happens to be elevated
above, or depressed below the level of the Niagara stratum, in which
no inclination is visible. No order of stratification could have been
effected by nature, which would have afforded greater facilities to the
wasting effects of falling water, so visible as these Falls. The slate
which separates the calcareous from the sandstone rock, by a stratum
of nearly forty feet in thickness, is continually fretting away, and
undermining the superincumbent stratum of limestone, which is thus
precipitated in prodigious masses into the abyss below. The most
considerable occurrence of this kind, that has recently taken place,
is that of the _Table Rock_,[16] on the Canadian shore, which fell
during the summer of 1818, disclosing a number of those crystallized
substances, which have already been alluded to. By these means, the
Falls, which are supposed by the most intelligent visitors to have been
anciently seated at Lewiston, have progressed seven miles up the river,
cutting a trench through the solid rock, which is about half a mile
in width, and two hundred feet in depth, exclusive of what is hidden
by the water. The power, capable of effecting such a wonderful change,
still exists, and may be supposed to operate with undiminished activity.
The wasting effects of the water, and the yielding nature of the rocks,
remain the same, and manifest the slow process of a change, at the
present period, as to position, height, form, division of column,
and other characters, which form the outlines of the great scene; and
this change is probably sufficiently rapid in its operation, if minute
observations were taken, to imprint a different character upon the
falls, at the close of every century.’
The _Great Falls of the Missouri_ are the grandest in all North America,
those of Niagara excepted, and though inferior to these in volume of
water, depth of descent, and awful grandeur, yet they are far more
diversified and beautiful. These Falls are within sixty geographical
miles of the easternmost range of the Rocky Mountains. Here the river,
two hundred and eighty yards, or eight hundred and forty feet wide,
is pressed in by a perpendicular cliff on the left, one hundred feet
high, and extending for a mile up the river; on the right, the bluff,
or high steep bank, is also perpendicular for three hundred yards above
the falls. For ninety or one hundred yards from the left cliff, the
water falls in one smooth even sheet over a precipice of eighty-seven
feet eight inches, according to Captain Lewis; but ninety-eight feet,
according to Cass, and Captain Clarke. The remaining part of the river
precipitates itself with a more rapid current; but being received as
it falls by the irregular and projecting rocks below, forms a splendid
prospect of perfectly white foam, two hundred yards in length, and
eighty in perpendicular elevation. This spray is dissipated into a
thousand different shapes; sometimes flying up in columns of fifteen
or twenty feet, which are then oppressed by larger masses of the
white foam, on all which the sun impresses the brightest colors of the
rainbow. As it rises from the fall, it beats with fury against a ledge
of rocks extending across the river, at one hundred and fifty yards
from the precipice. From the perpendicular cliff on the north, to the
distance of one hundred and twenty yards, the rocks rise only a few
feet above the surface of the water; and when the river is high, the
stream finds a passage across them; but between the southern extremity
of this ledge and the perpendicular cliff on the south, the whole body
of water runs with great rapidity. At the distance of three hundred
yards is a second abutment of solid perpendicular rock, sixty feet high,
projecting at right angles from the small plain on the north for one
hundred and thirty-four yards into the river. Below this, the Missouri
regains its usual breadth of three hundred yards, but there is a
continued succession of rapids and cascades. At the second grand fall,
the river, four hundred yards wide, precipitates itself, for the space
of three hundred yards, to a depth of nineteen feet perpendicular, and
so irregularly, that Captain Lewis termed it the _Crooked Fall_.
Above this fall, the Missouri bends suddenly to the northward, where,
four hundred and seventy-three yards wide, it is suddenly stopped by
one shelving rock, which without a single niche, and with an edge as
straight and regular as if it had been formed by art, stretches itself
across from one side of the river to the other. Over this the Missouri
precipitates itself in one even, uninterrupted sheet, of four hundred
and seventy-three yards broad to the perpendicular depth of forty-seven
feet eight inches; whence, dashing against the rocky bottom, it rushes
rapidly down, leaving behind it a spray of the purest foam across the
river. At the distance of less than half a mile, another of a similar
kind is presented. Here a cascade stretches across the whole river,
for a quarter of a mile, with a descent of fourteen feet seven inches,
though the perpendicular pitch is only six feet seven inches. For the
space of one thousand one hundred and seventy-seven yards above this
cascade the river descends fifteen feet. Immediately above this, one
of the largest springs in America falls into the river. Its water
is cold, of the most perfect clearness, and of a bluish color, which
it preserves, even for half a mile after falling into the Missouri,
notwithstanding its rapidity. This fountain rises in the plain,
twenty-five yards from the river, on the south side. In its course to
the river, it falls over some steep, irregular rocks, with a sudden
descent of eight feet perpendicular, in one part of its progress.
The water boils up from among the rocks, and with such force near
the centre that the surface seems higher than the earth on the sides
of the fountain, which is a handsome turf of green grass. The water
is pleasant to the taste, not being impregnated with lime or any
adventitious substance. For the space of a mile and one thousand one
hundred and sixty-six yards above the mouth of this spring, the descent
of the river is thirteen feet six inches.
During the upper part of its course, this river is remarkable for
a succession of rapids, cascades, and cataracts, and in a course of
about three miles it has a descent of no less than three hundred and
fifty-two feet.
On the _Mississippi River_ are several sets of rapids. One called _Les
Rapides des Moines_, is eleven miles long, and consists of successive
ledges and shoals, extending from shore to shore across the bed of the
river. One hundred miles higher up is another, about eighteen miles in
length, and consisting of a continued chain of rocks, over which the
water flows with turbulent rapidity.
About thirty miles from its source, the Mississippi, after winding
through a dismal country, covered with high grass meadows, with pine
swamps in the distance, which appear to cast a deeper gloom on its
borders, is suddenly pent up in a channel about eighty feet wide, where
it has a descent of twenty feet in three hundred yards. This fall is
called _Peckagama_. Immediately at the head of the falls is the first
island noticed in the river. It is small, rocky, covered with spruce
and cedar, and divides the channel nearly in its centre.
_St. Anthony’s Falls_ are situated on the Mississippi river, more than
two thousand miles above its mouth. Above the falls, the river has a
width of five or six hundred yards. Immediately below, it contracts
to a width of two hundred yards; and there is a strong rapid for a
considerable distance below. This beautiful spot in the Mississippi is
not without a tale to hallow its scenery, and heighten the interest,
which, of itself, it is calculated to produce. In the narrative of
Long’s Second Expedition, we find the following romantic story, related
by an old Indian, whose mother was an eye-witness to the transaction:
Illustration: St. Anthony’s Falls.
‘An Indian of the Dacota nation had united himself early in life to a
youthful female, whose name was Ampota Sapa, which signifies the _Dark
Day_; with her he lived happily for several years, apparently enjoying
every comfort which the savage life can afford. Their union had been
blessed with two children, on whom both parents doated with that depth
of feeling which is unknown to such as have other treasures besides
those that spring from nature. The man had acquired a reputation as a
hunter, which drew around him many families, who were happy to place
themselves under his protection, and avail themselves of such part of
his chase as he needed not for the maintenance of his family. Desirous
of strengthening their interest with him, some of them invited him to
form a connection with their family, observing, at the same time, that
a man of his talent and importance required more than one woman to wait
upon the numerous guests whom his reputation would induce to visit his
lodge. They assured him that he would soon be acknowledged as a chief,
and that, in this case, a second wife was indispensable.
‘Fired with the ambition of obtaining high honors, he resolved to
increase his importance by an union with the daughter of an influential
man of his tribe. He had accordingly taken a second wife without ever
having mentioned the subject to his former companion; being desirous to
introduce his bride into his lodge in the manner which should be least
offensive to the mother of his children, for whom he still retained
much regard, he introduced the subject in these words: “You know,” said
he, “that I can love no woman so fondly as I doat upon you. With regret
have I seen you of late subjected to toils which must be oppressive
to you, and from which I would gladly relieve you, yet I know no other
way of doing so, than by associating with you in the household duties,
one who shall relieve you from the trouble of entertaining the numerous
guests, whom my growing importance in the nation collects around me.
I have, therefore, resolved upon taking another wife, but she shall
always be subject to your control, as she will always rank in my
affections second to you.”
‘With the utmost anxiety, and the deepest concern, did his companion
listen to this unexpected proposal. She expostulated in the kindest
terms, entreated him with all the arguments which undisguised love and
the purest conjugal affections could suggest. She replied to all the
objections which his duplicity led him to raise. Desirous of winning
her from her opposition, the Indian still concealed the secret of
his union with another, while she redoubled all her care to convince
him that she was equal to the task imposed upon her. When he again
spoke on the subject, she pleaded all the endearments of their past
life; she spoke of his former fondness for her, of his regard for
her happiness and that of their mutual offspring; she bade him beware
of the consequences of this fatal purpose of his. Finding her bent
upon withholding her consent to this plan, he informed her that all
opposition on her part was unnecessary, as he had already selected
another partner, and that if she could not receive his new wife as a
friend, she must receive her as a necessary incumbrance, for he had
resolved that she should be an inmate in his house.
‘Distressed at this information, she watched her opportunity, stole
away from the cabin with her infants, and fled to a distance where her
father was. With him she remained until a party of Indians with whom he
lived, went up the Mississippi on a winter hunt. In the spring, as they
were returning with their canoes loaded with peltries, they encamped
near the Falls. In the morning as they left it, she lingered near the
spot, then launched her light canoe, entered into it with her children,
and paddled down the stream, singing her death-song. Too late did her
friends perceive it; their attempts to prevent her from proceeding
were of no avail; she was heard to sing in a doleful voice the past
pleasures which she had enjoyed, while she was the undivided object
of her husband’s affection; finally her voice was drowned in the
sound of the cataract; the current carried down her frail bark with an
inconceivable rapidity; it came to the edge of the precipice, was seen
for a moment enveloped in spray, but never afterwards was a trace of
the canoe or its passengers seen. Yet it is stated by the Indians, that
often in the morning a voice has been heard to sing a doleful ditty
along the edge of the fall, and that it dwells ever on the inconstancy
of her husband. Nay, some assert that her spirit has been seen
wandering near the spot with her children wrapped to her bosom. Such
are the tales or traditions which the Indians treasure up, and which
they relate to the voyager, forcing a tear from the eyes of the most
unrelenting.’
There are many other falls in the United States, which have been
the subject of no extended descriptions, but which would excite
admiration in any quarter of the world. In New York, the Great Falls
of the Genesee, about half a mile below Rochester, are ninety feet
perpendicular, and a few rods above is another of five feet, surmounted
by a rapid. On the same river are several other falls. _Trenton Falls_
are on West Canada Creek, a tributary of the Mohawk, fourteen miles
north of Utica; they consist of several grand and beautiful cascades,
some of them forty feet in descent. The river here passes through
a rocky chasm four miles in length, presenting the greatest variety
of cascades and rapids, boiling pools and eddies. The rock is a dark
limestone, and contains abundance of petrified marine shells. _Glen’s
Falls_ are upon the Hudson, eighteen miles above Saratoga, and are
a grand rapid, falling sixty-seven feet in a course of one hundred
and seventy yards. _Jessup’s Falls_ and _Hadley Falls_ are beautiful
cataracts on the same stream, a few miles above. _Claverack Falls_ are
upon a stream near the city of Hudson; they descend down a precipice
of dark rocks into a deep chasm shaded with forest trees. The cataracts
near _Ithaca_ comprise four hundred and thirty-eight feet of descent in
a mile; the fall of the Cohoes on the Mohawk is seventy feet.
At _Bellows Falls_, five miles from the town of Walpole, on the
Connecticut, the whole descent of the river, in the space of half a
mile, is forty-four feet; and it includes several pitches, one below
another, at the highest of which a large rock divides the stream into
two channels, each about ninety feet wide. When the water is low, the
eastern channel is dry, being crossed by a solid rock, and the whole
stream falls into the western channel, where, being contracted to the
breadth of sixteen feet, it flows with astonishing force and rapidity.
A bridge has been built over these falls, from which an advantageous
view is had of their interesting and romantic scenery. Some years
ago a canal, over half a mile long, was dug through the rocks
around the falls, for the passage of flat-bottomed boats and rafts.
Notwithstanding the velocity of the current, salmon used to pass up the
fall in great numbers. _Amoskeag Falls_, in the Merrimack, consist of
three successive pitches, falling nearly fifty feet. The _Housatonic
Falls_, in the north-west part of Connecticut, are the finest in New
England.
The _Passaic Falls_, in Paterson, New Jersey, twenty-two miles
north-west of New York, are highly picturesque and beautiful. The
river Passaic rises in the northern part of New Jersey, and after a
circuitous course, falls into Newark Bay. At the town of Paterson,
about twenty miles from its mouth, is the Great Fall, where the river,
about one hundred and twenty feet wide, and running with a very swift
current, reaches a deep chasm, or cleft, which crosses the channel, and
falls perpendicularly about seventy feet, in one entire sheet. One end
of the cleft is closed up, and the water rushes out at the other with
incredible rapidity, in an acute angle to its former direction, and is
received into a large basin. It thence takes a winding course through
the rocks, and spreads again into a very considerable channel. The
cleft is from four to twelve feet in breadth, and is supposed to have
been produced by an earthquake. When this cataract was visited by a
late British traveller, the spray refracted two beautiful rainbows,
primary and secondary, which greatly assisted in producing as fine a
scene as imagination can conceive. It was also heightened by the effect
of another fall, of less magnificence, about ninety feet above.
Illustration: Source of Passaic Falls.
The spirit of utility, in its stern disregard of the picturesque,
has diverted the current of the Passaic into so many channels for the
supply of manufactories, that the cascade is now an object of interest
only during the wet season.
The Potomac, which forms the boundary between the states of Maryland
and Virginia, is navigable to the city of Washington; above which it is
obstructed by several falls, of which the most remarkable are _Little
Falls_, three miles above Washington, with a descent of thirty-seven
feet: _Great Falls_, eight and a half miles further up, with a descent
of seventy-six feet; which have been made navigable by means of
five locks: _Seneca Falls_, six miles above, descending ten feet:
_Shenandoah Falls_, sixty miles higher up the river, where the Potomac
breaks through the Blue Ridge at Harper’s Ferry: _Houre’s Falls_, five
miles above the Shenandoah.
In addition to the cataracts above enumerated, we may notice the
_Falling Spring_, in Bath county, Virginia, which forms a beautiful
cascade, streaming from a perpendicular precipice, two hundred feet
high; and the _Tuccoa Fall_, in Franklin county, Georgia, which, though
one of the most beautiful that can be conceived, is scarcely yet known
to geographers. It is one hundred and eighty-seven feet in height, and
the water is propelled over a perpendicular rock. When the stream is
full, it pours over the steep in one expansive magnificent sheet, amid
clouds of spray, on which the prismatic colors are reflected with a
most enchanting effect.
The cascades of the Catskill Mountains are very romantic and beautiful.
The Kasterskill is formed by the union of two branches, one rising
in two lakes, about one and a half miles east of the western cascade,
the other about half the distance in a northerly direction. The best
view of the western fall is from below, the foliage above being so
thick as in a great measure to obscure it. Below the fall the banks
of the stream, which are nearly three hundred feet in height, rise
almost perpendicularly from the surface of the water. The following
description is from the pen of Mr. H. E. Dwight.
‘The rocks on each side of the stream project so as partially to
eclipse the sides of the fall. They have fallen from time to time,
in such a manner as to form seventeen natural steps, rising one above
another. We stationed ourselves on these steps, to enjoy the scenery
around us. Before us the stream fell in a beautiful sheet, exhibiting
its transparent waters, when, striking the inclined plane, it rushed
down with headlong fury, bearing on its surface a foam of silvery
whiteness. On the right and left, the banks rose over our heads in
silent grandeur, as if on the point of detaching their projecting
masses into the ravine where we were standing, while below us, the
water was visible for about thirty rods, descending in the form of a
rapid, when, bending around the point of a projection of the mountain,
it disappeared from our view. The spray was so thick as to make a
dense cloud, on which the sun, shining with great brilliancy, and being
nearly vertical, imprinted a perfect rainbow. This bow, which was not
more than eight feet in diameter, formed a circle around us slightly
elliptical, near the centre of which we stood. As we approached the
fall, the spray thickened, the splendor of the colors increased, and
the shrubs, the rocks, and the water, were tinged with its choicest
hues. To complete the view, a small rivulet, caused by the late
rains, fell about two hundred feet, in the form of a cascade, down the
precipice, on the southern bank of the stream, displaying its crystal
waters through the green foliage which adorned it. We remained here
enjoying the prospect for some minutes, when, drenched with spray, we
reluctantly bade it adieu, with all those emotions which the sublimity
and beauty of such a scene would naturally awaken.
Illustration: Catskill Falls.
‘I visited the eastern cascade immediately after viewing the western
fall on the Kaaterskill, when the column of water was swollen to
eight or ten times its common size, and shall describe it, as it then
appeared. The rock over which the water descends, projects in such a
manner that the cascade forms part of a parabolic curve. After striking
a rock below, it runs down an inclined plane a few rods in length, when
it rushes over another precipice of one hundred feet. The column of
water remained entire for two thirds the descent, and its surface was
covered with a rich sparkling foam, which, as it fell, presented to the
eye a brilliant emanation. Here it was broken, and formed a continued
succession of showers. Large globules of water, of a soft, pearly
lustre, enriched with a prismatic reflection, shot off in tangents
to the curve of the cascade, and being drawn by the attraction of
gravitation, united again with the stream. The sun, shining through a
clear atmosphere, imprinted on it his glittering rays, appearing like
a moving column of transparent snow. The spray, rising to the height
of several hundred feet, was continually agitated by a strong wind,
which gave birth to a number of rainbows. They were elevated one above
the other, and increased in brilliancy towards the base of the cascade,
where, as well as at the lower fall, an iris spread its arch of glory,
tinging the rocks and foliage with its brightest colors.
‘The ground below these cascades continued descending at an angle of
forty-five degrees, forming a hollow like an inverted cone, of one
thousand feet in depth. This was lined with lofty trees, whose verdant
tops, varying from the dark hemlock to the light maple, were bending
with the wind. Through this waving forest the cascade appeared at
various distances, sparkling with the rays of the sun, and forming a
fine contrast to the sombre rocks which surrounded it. From this cavity,
at the distance of several miles, a peak rose to an elevation of two
thousand feet, while the mountains on the right and left, impressed
their bold outlines on the sky beyond them.
‘The best view of this scene, is a few rods from the base of the lower
fall. These cascades are both of them in a direct line, and by standing
in this position can be united in one. By raising your eyes, a fall
of four hundred feet appears precipitated from the precipices above,
apparently ready to overwhelm you, while the rocks above overhang the
abyss in wild sublimity, threatening you with destruction.
‘The appearance of the upper cascade, in the middle of winter, is very
interesting. The rock over which the stream descends, projects in such
a manner, that the icicles, which form in that season, meet with no
interruption in their descent towards the base of the fall. The water,
which strikes the rocks below, begins to congeal and rise (between the
column of water and the rock) towards the icicles above. These project
towards the base, increasing in magnitude from day to day, while the
column from below is greatly enlarged by the water and the spray,
which, immediately congealing, in a short time surround the stream. A
column of ice, resembling a rude cone, of between two and three hundred
feet, is thus formed, through the centre of which the stream pours
its current, dwindled, by the congelation of its waters, to one tenth
its common size. When illumined by the rays of the sun, it presents a
transparent column glowing with brilliancy, reflecting and refracting
its rays in such a manner as to present all the colors of the prism.
It remains some weeks, a striking example of the power of hoary
frost, when, partly dissolved by the genial warmth of spring, it falls,
scattering its thousand fragments on the rocks around it.’
GENERAL REMARKS ON CATARACTS AND CASCADES.
Rivers which descend from primitive mountains into the
secondary lands often form _cascades and cataracts_. Such are
the cataracts of the Nile, of the Ganges, and some other great
rivers, which, according to Desmarets, evidently mark the limits
of the ancient land. Cataracts are also formed by lakes, and
of this description are the Falls of Niagara; but the most
picturesque falls are those of rapid rivers, bordered by trees
and precipitous rocks. Sometimes we see a body of water, which,
before it arrives at the bottom, is broken and dissipated into
showers, like the Staubach; sometimes it forms a watery arch,
projected from a rampart of rock, under which the traveller may
pass dry shod, as the Falling Spring of Virginia; in one place,
in a granite district, we see the Trolhetta, and the Rhine not
far from its source, urge on their foaming billows amongst the
pointed rocks; in another, amidst lands of calcareous formation,
we see the Czettina, and the Kerka, rolling down from terrace to
terrace, and presenting sometimes a sheet and sometimes a wall
of water. Some magnificent cascades have been formed, at least
in part, by the hands of man: the cascades of Velino, near Terni,
have been attributed to Pope Clement VIII.; other cataracts,
like those of Tunguska in Siberia, have gradually lost their
elevation by the wearing away of the rocks, and have now only a
rapid descent. The Falls of Staubach are the highest ever known,
being nine hundred feet according to trigonometrical measurement.