Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1855-12-12
VOL. 2.--NO. 19.--TOTAL, Il.
The North Cane.


We cut the following description ofthe North
Cape of Lapland, from an exehage paper; is
presents a striking picture of a sublime view
OF one of natures widest scenes:
lord Silyerton approached the Cape, and
looked steadily downward. He drew long
breath, and in hushed accents, said:
This reminds ME of Shakspeare's descrip-
ton of the chalk cliffs of Dover, in King Lear
But ,chat are TIE cliffs of Doyer9 But what
are the cliffs of Dover to this North Cape OF
Lapland! This is Observation-Disclosures
lime! The whole world has not its equal.
What would not Shakespeare have written, had
he stood on this North Cape! A sight like
this would make even a common man poet:
but the poet-born would be ethereaizsd--
transported beyond himself-inspired
Give me your hand, my lord said Herr
Kingmlger, fer thial, you have iron nerves
ike myself, and We may venture TO approach
nearer the brink of the precpice.'
They die SO; and Lord Silyerton, accustou-
ed as he had been to ascend 10 the royal yards
Of threc-decker, involGntarliy shrank and
shu1dered, as he gazed down the blue gulf OF
air, and the saw apparently, miniature waves
break at the foot of the mighty Cape, and
heard the faint echo OF their roar.
''Tis Notwithstanding almost horriblei'
murmured he.
Prom our standias-point to the su-fsos Of
the sea below is sheer one thousand feet cool
Is remarked Herr Klingula ger See the guiis
ana tie great 'aess flying halfway down
they look no larger than sparrozss! Only en-
= u : ---.,,
ter, when al is storm and d.sgllne.S, and 'yhel
the ocean, driven in huge waves from the ioy
Arctic regions, burst against this sentinel OF
nature-th;s defiant Cape-and casts up solid
masses OF water in tens Of thousands of tons,
hundreds of feet high, against the rock, and
the foamy spray flies hundred feet above the
summit where we stand!
Listen a moment he continued; 'you feel
the cutting wind, and you hear its shrill wills
tie rs it rushes against Us; but do yoa aiso
hear different and most peculiar sound''
| 's'Tis the boom of the ocean at our feet, is it
! not?' s.Yes; we hear the sound Of the waves
beating '1caviIy-r5 they nave beaten, Without
rest or pause, for thousands Of yeals-against
the base Of the Cape; and the sound is SO faint
at this immense elevation, that one might fan
| c. he WAS standing spot long miles from
| the sea. But it is .not the echo of the waves
that wish you to notice. Bend your hoad
an1 again listen
Lord SilYerton did so; and now he distinct
lily heard a sound, or 4 variety Of sounds, blen-
dcd together, so as to lproduce a species OF
wild, unearthIy symphony. There were wall
ing sounds, vibratory sounds, kissing sounds,
moaning sounds, rumbling sounds, signing
sounds, rushing sounds, quivering sounds,
sharp, soft, and mingled sounds-all heard
| family yet clearly, and impressing the hearer
with pleasing sensation, but unlike the ina
ginary distant concerts We sometimes listen
to in a dream.
''N hat fresh marvel and mystery is this ?"
1T is no mystery, my Lord, but a very ns-
tural and simple phenomenon. The singular
and undesirable sounds are produced by the
very same wind that blows against US, and thew
are caused by the resistance offered by the
wind, its passage, by the head or front of
the Cape beneath our feet; and it is, as YOU
would observe when sailing around it, not
plain surface like a wall or bastion, bull. by
hands, as it at first sight seems, but grooved,
and rifted, and full of hollows and protuberan-
ces, of all sizes and shapes hence the sincu
lar variety OF sounds, all Of which reach us
here in an undertone; but were we suspended
halfway down the front of the Cape, we should
! doubtless be astonished at their Ioudnesst,'
ITO what depth must the solid founds-
| tions descend -
sPerhaps they begin miles below our fosti.