Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1889-03-05
m!aHTlER THAN MACAO.


''""se stories OF Wona.-
~, '"s "iias Of Iabrada,v asssas
Marvellous stories are rel.,as
lew Montagnais and Nascansaa I, y the
VINO have penetrated far int indians
terror OF Labrador respec,;s o me IN.
ract' beneath whose tsra,s s cata-
Niagara pales into ;nsian,S leap
But one white man has uca0cs.
these falls. and the Indians, ;s seen
measurements and distances aoas Of
imperfect that, even wbss. are 50
stories agree, it is exceediuolv a,s sneir
to deduct from shem anv ia sl'ncul!
reliable data. An expedition s l., ass
n u, by Randle F. Holme 'r's \
G. 5, and II. Duff, fellow Of Al, = : K
College, Oxford, to exp,oro !, SOULS
terror OF Labrador and INV a.e IN
these falls unfortunately failed I' !.
OBJECT. the explorers having beon :, y
led by erroneous calculations as i - a.
tanccs and the exact location ~ ~ s !,
cataract, and compelled to re,,,s. '',e
consequence of running short !, - N
visions. They got so near to II. p'o'
ject of their expedition, howeva. ;. ~ y.
they were enabled, from tho ua. ''ias
conhguration of the country, to io,aa
what must be a tolerably correct 49,, u
mate as to both the location Nv =,
magnitude of the cataract. a'u
This estimate agrees with tbo 4
scription of the grand falls furniss u
by Maclean, who visited them in ,saa
and whose further progress into ~,
interior was stopped by them H.
gave the width of the river INN
diately above the falls at 1900 fan,
but says that the cataract itself q NJ
more than $50 feet across. The beinb.
of the falls he estimates at 9 0OO o..
This estimate is endorsed by b.'t
breed named Kennedy, met by Messrs
Home and Duff in the interior ona
who, thirty years ago, was in charge
of Fort Nascapee, on Lake Petcbi
kapou. One of the chief difficulto.
encountered by explorers DESTROYS i
reaching the falls is the obstinate "a
fusal by the Labrador Indians to an
proach them. They believe them r.
be haunted. and think it impossible 4
look upon them and live. Kennel,
was conducted to them by an old In
dian named LOUISE ver-the-Fire. who
being an Iroquois, did not share tn,
superstitious belief of the Montacpai,
and Nascapees. Messrs. Holme ant
Duff were principally misled BY III,
erroneous statements and calculation;
as to distances contained in Prof
Kinds Labrador" the leading au
thority upon this virtually unknown
country.
The falls are on the Grand or Petcbi
kapou river, which flows into Hamilto
Inlet. They are thirty miles aboy
Lake Waminikapou, "a body of waite
which is itself forty miles long, an
situated $50 miles inland from tn
mouth of the river. Prof Hind give
this lake as only 100 miles from til
u outh of the river, so that the exped
ton of Messrs. Holme and Duff Ia
brought to light the fact that the be.
works heretofore published upon thi
terra incognita contain any thing bu
reliable data. They agree. however
with Prof. Hind that the elevation
the immense tableland which form
the interior of Labrador is about 2,2i
feet. On this height of land are Il SUI
cession of great lakes joined by broa'
placid streams, and when the;
reach the edge OF the tablelar
| they commence their wild care'
to the sea. The Moisie and the Col
water rivers descend by successiN
falls, but toward the southeast tt
descent from the elevated tableland
quite sudden This is particularly trl
of the Grand river, which has dr.
of over 1000 feet in the thirty mil
commencing with the falls and endll
t Lake Waminikapou. There is
slight rapid below the falls, but MOI
near the lake, and every thing goes
show that the height of the grand ia
is very little. if any thing, short
1000 feet.
They are by a great deal the hight
falls in existence that are composed
any great volume of water. There
mere mountain torrents that fall ire
a greater height, and the great fall
the Yosemite Valley measures 10
feet, but it is broken into three d
tinct leaps. Niagara, on the ON
hand, has height of l64 feet only
Quebec Cor. Boston Herald.