The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1870-10-07
THE RIVAL OE NIAGARA.
The Great Cataract In south America
Nearly Eight hundred Feet Fall
A Column Of snow White Foam.

AAAA1 MI vi
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The Great Cataract In South America
Nearly Eight Feet Fall
A Column OF Snow Whit Foam.
MIR. Richard Brown writes to the London
Times, on the 10Th ult.:
In the msnth Of April last, waterfall Of
most unusual hight was discovered on the
'Potaro, a tributary Of the Essequebo River,
by MIR. @. b. Brown OF the Geological Sur
vey of British Guiana. Being short Of pro-
visions, and at a great distance from his
boats, Mr.. Brown was not able to devote
more than a couple of hours to the exam
instion of the falls, which, by hasty baro-
metrical observations, he found to be nearly
500 feet in hight, the breadth Of the river
at the top of the falls being 100 yards
and its depth Is feet. On his return to
Georgetown, in consequence of the strong
desire expressed by the community that a
careful survey should be made of the falls
without delay, Mr.. Brown was instructed
by the Governor to proceed at once to the
falls for hat purpose, accompanied by Sir
g.. Young, Mr.. Charles Mitchell, and Mr..
King. The result of their journey is en-
bodied in tn inclosed article, published in
a Demerara paper of the Sd inst, which,
perhaps, you will deem OF sufficient inter
est 10 insert in the columns of your widely
circulated journal.
Sir George Young gives the following de-
tailed description of the cataract to a
Georgetown PAPER:
although l am anxious that MIR. Brown,
rs a discoverer of tine Great Kaieteur Fall,
and the director to the successful expedi-
ton which We were permitted to accompa-
ny, should haye the telling of his wi
story, vet L can understand that his friends
in Georgetown will DO anxious to hear at
once of his success. The Fall has n clear
descent, according TO borometrical obser-
vations taken simultaneously by MIR. Brown
at the bottom, and by my colleague, MIR.
Mitchell, at the top, of 100 feet. Above,
the PotarO ghdes smoothly in a slight de-
preston OF the table of conglomeratA
sandstone, and disappears over the edge In
a body which we estimated at eighty yards
in width, and of depth uncertain in the
center, but Swallowing rapidly toward the
bank. When MIR. Brown discovered the
fall in April, the rocky channel WAS COM
pletely covered. and the streams must
have had a width of at least 100 yards. At
present 1t is diminishing in volume, and,
as the Indians assured us, will continue to
do SO until October, when only the central
and deeper portion, about one-third of the
MuOic, Will IctDdlu. Inc Dcbb blult, lucIc-
fore, for a visit is in spring, at the end of
what appears to be the rainy season of this
elevated tract
'tAs We saw the Fall I cannot imagine
ANYTHING more beautiful. The central pOr-
ton, which is never dry, forms a small
horseshoe or re- entering angle, and the wa
Ger in this part preserves its consistency
for q short distance from the ledge. But
I ayrarNvyrhara afca an6 hara alcn afo faur
feet from the top. all ~semblance of water
disappears; II breaks up or blossoms, into
fine foam or spray, which descends In the
well-known roeket-like forms of the Staub-
bach and similar waterfalls, but multiplied
a thousand times, into a small dark pool
over a semi-circulsr curtain of precipice
deeply followed by the action of the
spray. The cavern behind the Fall is the
home of thousands of swallows, which
issue from it in the morning and may be
seen coming in multitudesa at night. The fall
itself is one vast descending column of a
fine dry-looking, snow-white substance,
bearing Il resemblance, In color and con-
sisteDcy, to the snow Of an avalanche, but
surprising all avalanches | nave seen in
size, ard in the beauty of the forms taken
by the material of the Fall. Rainbows OF
great splendor were observed, one from the
front of the Fall in the morning, one from
the Summit in the afternoon; but this last
reverted, forming a colored loop or ring,
into which the whole mass seemed to pre-
cipitate itself and disappear, and dart ont
underneath, black and foaming, at the
gorge and outlet of the pool.
awe spent IL days in ascending the
Essequebo, which was heavy in flood, and
detained us double the time anticipated.
Five days brought us from Tumatumari,
the lowest Fall on the Potaro, to the Pata-
mona village. In this stage there are five
cataracts, two of which az least are inac-
esssible.
Mr.. Brown and Mr.. King remained at
the Falls two days after the departure OF
Sir George Young m MIR. Mitchell, max
ing sketches of the Falls and observations
of their width, depth, and the velocity Of
the stream above. On carefully working
out the mean result of five separate obser-
~yations, taken simultaneously at the top
and bottom of the Fall, Mr.. Brown found
that they gave the total height of the per-
pendiculRr Fall and cataract as SI7 feet.
The depth of the cataract was subsequent
ly taken at the edge of the pool on the
western side, by aneroid barometer lit be
ing impossible 10 carry a large barome-
ter to the foot of the Fall) and found it to
be 81 feet, making the height of the per
pendicular Fall 736 feet. The width Of
the river 200 yards above the Fall was 1877
yards, and its greatest depth 10 feet Z
inches, 5 feet less than at high water.
The NEW CANADIAN FIFTY CfST PIFm