Sugar planter. [volume] (West Baton Rouge [i.e. Port Allen, West Baton Rouge Parish, La.]) 1856-1925, 1858-01-02

Che o'nei GOWN thrOugn the Key
stones Of the arch, and prolonged
from the left end of the tunnel
through thirty miles Of hills, the
the pathway being 100 feet down
from the bed Of the river instead Of
what it is, with the lips Of the fs-
sure from 50 to 100 feet apart then
fancy the Thames 1eaping bodily
into the gulf, and forced there to
change its direction, and flow from
the right to the left bank, ane then
rush roaring and boiling through
the hills, he may have some idea Of
what takes place at this, the most
wonderful sight I had witnessed in
Africa. In looking down the fs-
sure On the right Of the island, one
sees nothing but a dense white
cloud which, at the time we visited
the spot, had two bright rainbows
on it.
From this cloud rushed up a
great jet tof yapor exactly like steam,
and it mounted two hundred Or
three hundred feet high; there con-
densing, it changed its hue to that
Of dark smoke, and came back in
q constant shower, which soon wet
ted to the skim. The shower falls
chiefly on the opposite side Of the
tissure, and a few wards back from
the lip there stands a straight hedge
Of evergreen trees, whose leaves are
always wet. From their roots a
number Of little rills run back in
to the guilt but, as they flow down
the steeo wall there, the column Of
vapor, ii its asc Mt, licks them up
clean off the rock. and away they
mount again. They are constantly
running down, but never reach the
| bottom.
| On the LETT Of the island we see
the water at the bottom, q white rol-
ling mass moving away to the pro
longation Of the tissure, which bran
ches of near the left bank Of the
river. 4 piece OF the rock has fall
len off & spot on the left Of the ISL
and, and just out from the water
below, and from it I judged the dis
tance which the water falls to be
about one hundred feet. The gi-
gantic cracks are perpendicular, ,and
composed of one homogeneous mass
Of rock.
! have mentioned that we saw
five columns Of vapor ascending
from this strange abyss. They are
evidently formed BY the compress
l. ion suffered by the force Of the wat
er's own fall into AL uny:eldlns
r wedge-shaped space. This was th<
) period Of low water Oh the Leeam
bye; but, as far as I could guess
Z there flow of five Or six hundred
= yards of water, which, at the edg'
; Of the fall, seemed at least thre
! feet deep. 7 write in the hope tha
= others, more capable Of Judging Ills
t t tances than myself, Will visit tn
. scene; and I state simply the I'm
press;ons made on my mind at tn
time. I thought, and do still think
the river above the falls to be on
= thousand yards broad; but I am
Il poor Judge Of distances on water
for I Showed a naval friend what.
= supposed to be four hundred yard
u in the Bay Of Loanda, and, to n
. . surprise, pronounced it to be min
= hundred.
81 tried to measure the Leearnby
q with a strong thread, the onl
It line I had IN my possession, b1
n when the men had gone two c
~ ~ three hundred yards, they got int
= conversation, and did not hear t
= shouting that the line had becon
f. entangled. But still going on the
y broke it, and, being carried ava
~ a down the stream, It was lost on
IL snag. In vain I tried to bring
4 4 my recollection the way I had bee
# taught to measure river by taklr
n n an angle with the sextant. That
20 20 once knew it, and that it was cas-
~ ~ were all the lost ideas / could reca]
~ ~ and they only increased my vex
10 tion. However, I measured tt
~ ~ river farther down by another pla