The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1891-07-09

Lawyer and a Scientist to Explore Grand Falls
Only Two White Men Have Been There.

Lawyer and a Scientist to Explore Grand Falls
Only Two White Men Have Been There.
Philadelphia Record.
The mystery which has always hung over
the Grand Falls in the interior of Labrador
is to be cleared away at last, and IN q Few
months the scientific world Will know
whether the falls in Grand or Hamilton
river are the greatest in the .world. or
whether the previous accounts have been
greatly exaggerated. Henry G.. Bryant. q
member of the Philadelphia bar. accom-
panied by Professor Kenistor, of George
the falls. and will sail to-day from st.
Johns, Newfoundland. On the next to the
last stage of the journey.
Only two white men have ever seen the
falls. 80 far as is known. and they both
place the height at two Thousand feet. Both
of the men stood high in the service of the
Hudson Bay Company, and. although they
saw the falls at different times, their &C
counts agree in nearly every particular.
Maclean, the first to reach the scene. con-
Quoted an expedition into the interior In
1888. and was stopped by these falls. Ken
nedy reached them under the guidance OF
an lroQuois Indian, who had spent most or
his life in Labrador. Thu native Indians
give the falls q wide berth. owing to q ira
dition long current among them that they
are haunted by evil spirits. n that no
man can look upon them q live.
Above the falls the river is said to be five
hundred yards wide. contracting to nifty
yards 1t the falls themselves. If this &C,
count be true, then in the whole world
there is NO other fall having such Q volume
of water descending at q bound from such
q stupendOus height. Niagara's volume OF
water is far greater, but its height 10 only
but one bundled feet. In the Yosemite val
ley there is q fell IF 1850 feet. but this IS
broken into three leaps. and the volume of
water is not equal to that of the Grand
Falls of Labrador, Thus. taking into aG-
count the combination of height and vol
ume, these Grand Falls of Labrador throw
all others into the shade.
A fall of 1900 feet has generally been
regarded as utterly inconceiv able. however,
AID various efforts have been made to
In 1887 Randle f. Holme. of Oxford Uni
versity. made an effort to reach the falls.
but his provisions gave ont when he sup
posed himself within fifty miles of his jour
ney's end, and he was absolutely forced to
40 back.
Mr.. Bryant has carefully studied the sit
uation, and has made his preparations with
GO much care that his success Is regarded as
assured. He sailed from New York on june
%, and reached st. Johns two days later.
All his supplies were purchased there and
his final arran gements completed, u to-
day he sails for Battle Hsfbor, On the
Strait of Belle Isle. Anothe steamer will
TAX him to Rigolet, a post of the Hudson
DAY COMPANY, I'D IbImIlJOu luloU, lIoAl
where q two days sail will land him at
Northwest, from where he will begin his
last journey of three hundred miles up the
Grand river.
Besides himself and Professor Remission
Mr.. Bryant hopes to take about eight In
dians and a white man for guide If he can
get one. The journey MP the river will be
made In canoes, which must be carried
around the many rapids and falls. 1t 10 es-
timated that the trip of three hundre
miles each way can be made In about six
weeks, and on that estimate Mr.. Bryant
will get back to Northwest about tho mid
die of September, and to Philadelphia
about Oct. L. His idea is, however. to come
back by q different route if practicable. In
q letter to his mother and brothers In this
city Mr.. Bryant speaks very hopefully of
his trip. The French priest, a very intelli-
gent man. who makes pilgrimages through
Labrador, he says, the height Of
the falls at about one thousand feet.
Mr.. Bryant, the head and front of the ex-
petition, is a graduate of Princeton Col
lege. and was admitted to the Philadelphia
bar in 1886. He has not practiced much,
however, devoting most of his. time to
travel and scientific studies. HIS present
venture is undertaken solely on his own
responsibility to settle the lOng-disputed
question of the height of the Great Falls,
and If successful will make him famous In
the world of science and travel. He has q
wide field before him, rs few portions of
Labrador beyond the coast have ever been
visited by white men, and only the barest
outline of it's geography is known.