Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1870-10-13
THE RIVAL OF NIAGARA.
The Great Cataract in South America
Nearly Eight Hundred Feet FaII.-A
CoIume Of Snow White Foam. 9re

OF tne ESSequebo River, by MIR. Z
a b. Brown of the Geological Survey
+ of British Guiana. Being short o1
: provisions, and at great distance
from his boats, Mr.. Brown was moi
: able to devote more than a couple OF
hours to the examination of the
r falls, which, by hasty barometrical
: observations, he found to be nearly
900 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 conse-
quence of the strong desire ex-
pressed by the community that a
cureful survey should be made of
the falls without delay. Mr.. Brown
was instructed by the Governor to
proceed at once to the falls for that
purpose, accompanied by Sir G..
Young, Mr.. Charles Mitchell, and
Mr.. King. The result of their
Journey is embodied in the inclosed
article, published in a Demerara pa
per of the Sd inst, which, perhaps,
you will deem of sufficient interest
to insert in the columns of your
widely circulated journal.
Sir George Young gives the fol
lowing detailed description of the
cataract to a Georgetown paper:
Although ! am anxious that Mr..
Brown, as discoverer of the Great
Kaiteteur Fall, and the director to
the successful expedition which we
were permitted to accompany, should
have the telling of his own story,
yet lean understand that his friends
in Georgetown will be anxious to
hear at once of his success. The
Fall has a clear descent, according
to barometrical observations taken
simultaneously by Mr.. Brown at the
bottom, and by my colleague, Mr..
Mitchell, at the top, of $50 feet.
Above the Potaro glides smoothly
in slight depression of the table
of conglomerate sandstone. and dis
appears over the edge in body
which we estimated at 80 yards in
width, and of depth uncertain in the
center, but Swallowing rapidly to-
ward either bank. When Mr.. Brown
discovered the Fall in April, the
rocky channel was completely coy-
cred, and the stream must have had
a width of at least 100 yards. At
present it is diminishing in volume,
and, as the Indians assured us, will
continue to do so till October, when
only the central and deeper portion,
about one-third of the whole, will
remain. The best time, therefore,
for visit is in Spring, at the end of
what appears to be the rainy season
of this elevated tract.
AS we saw the Fall / cannot i'm
agine anything more beautiful. The
central portion, which is never dry, |
forms a small horseshoe or Renter
ing angle, and the water in this part |
preserves its consistency for short |
distance from the ledge. But every
where else, and here also, at few |
feet from the top, all semblance of
water disappears; it breaks up, or
blossoms, into fine foam or spray,
which descends in the well known
rocket-like forms of the Staubbach
and similar waterfalls, but multiplied
a thousand times, into a small dark
pool, over semi-circular curtain of
precipice deeply followed by the
action of the spray. The cavern be-
hind the Fall is the home of thous-
ands of swallows, which issue from
it in the morning, and may be seen
returning in their multitudes at
night. The Fall itself is one vast
descending column of a fine dry
looking, snow white substance, bear
ing resemblance, in color and con-
sistency, to the snow of an ava
lanche, and 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 col
ored loop or ring, into which the
whole mass seemed to precipitate it
self and disappear, and dart out
from underneath, black and foam
ing, at the gorge and outlet of the
pool.
"We 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 Patamona vii i
large. In this stage there are five
two of which at least are
We spent two days in
the foot and summit of the
fall, and descended to the settlement,
leaving Messrs. Brown and King to
the survey and sketches of
the country in four days and a half.
We expect our companions by the
steamer on the 1st of August, when
this imperfect record will be supple
We had fine weather, and
suffered nothing from the climate or
from fatigue, for which we are in
debted mainly to Mr.. Browns fore
sight and ability" Il
Mr.. Brown and Mr.. King remained
at the Fall two days after the de-
parture of Sir George Young and
Mr.. Mitchell, making sketches of
the Fall and observations of the
width, depth, and velocity of the
stream above. On carefully working
out the main result of five separate
observations taken simultaneously II
at the top and bottom of the Fall, i
Mr.. Brown found that they gave the ]
total hight of the perpendicular Fall t
and cataract as S17 feet. The depth '
Of the cataract was subsequently {
taken at the edge of the pool on the t
western side, by aneroid barometer I
tit being impossible to carry large c
barometer to the foot of the Fall J, In
and found to be 81 feet, making the
hight of the perpendicular Fall 1856
feet. The width of the river 200
yards above the Fall was 134 yards, {
md its greatest depth Is feet .
inches, feet less than at high water.
On the morning of the 2lst of July Il
MIR. Brown and Mr.. King started ON
4 4. \ 1. IL