Morning journal and courier., 1891-11-02
THE BIG LABRADOR CATARACT.
As Seen and Described by MT. Bryan
 and Professor Kenaston.
From the New York Tribune. I


 From the New York Tribunel
 Having reached a seventh lake the party left their canoe, and abandoning the Indian trail, struck out for the falls in a north west direction, being in light marching or der, and carrying only small stock of provisional Their course now lay through trackless wilderness, awful in it's desolation, having been swept by fire. Countless lakes were seen; huge boulders cavered the surface. Burned timber ob- structed their advance.
 At length, after wearisome tramp for two days, their hearts were gladdened by & sight of the object of their tolls, the noise of which they had heard on their first march along the Indian trail, at distance of 25 miles. It was sight never to be forgotten-one that engraves itself on memory's tablets forever. After strug- gling through the dark woods, they stood in front of the Grand falls. It was one of those supreme moments which occur only occasionally in a lifetime. The great mass of white, ,fosming water leaping into an un- fsthomable abyss from height twice as great as that of Niagara made the solid rocks all around tremble and sent up a vast column of vapor, which mounted hundreds of feet into the atmosphere, being visible at distance of 9 mics Thedeep, incessant roar, reverberating along the rocky walls of the gorge below, gave an impressive idea of the mighty forces at work within the seething caldron. From the deep pool into which the river hurls itself, the water rushes away in wild tor rent through a narrow chasm, with rocky wall, 300 to 400 in height. Striking against the sides of this tortuous channel which makes frequent turns, and flowing over a rough sloping bottom, the water forms whirlpool rapids, which, impinging on one bank, rush back, eddying and whirling, to the opposite side. The appearance below the falls. as far as the eye can reach, is that of sea in a storm. The length of this narrow chasm through which the river flows be- low the falls is not less than 9 to 39 miles -one of the most remarkable canons in the world
 Having feasted their eyes on this grand spectacle, the explorers made their way to their height over the falls. Here they were able to study the formation of the falls. which in several aspects is unique. Going back half a mile from the point where the cataract occurs, they found the river there to be from 400 to 500 yards wide. Then il begins to narrow graiually-the banks ap- proach each other till at the falls, the width does not exceed 900 feet. There are three distinct rapids immediately above the falls which greatly add to the grandeur of the scene. It reminds us of the rapids above the falls of Niagara, though on 8 far small CT scale, in which for mile the river rush es along foaning over rough bottom. The last of the three rapids preparatory to the final leap is 11S feet in length, and the angle of the slope 30 degrees. The conse- quence is that the water driven by the two rapids behind and compressed into chan nel only 200 feet wide rises into surges, broken and abrupt, and precipitates it. self over the rocky edge with great yio- lence.
 By careful measurement the explorers as- certained that the height of the fall is SIG feet. If the three rapids be included, the entire descent would be 800 feet. At Mia gara the rivar makes decent of 52 feet ill the mile before being precipatated into the basin below. On the American side the height $ 16i: feet: and the Canadian ljO: but the enormous body of water gives Mi agara falls surprssing grandeur to which nothing else of the kind can be compared with the exception of the Zambesi falls, which are only two hundred feet in height At Niagara the large cataract is s third oi 8 mile broad; the smaller six hundred feet. It is their great height which give, to the Grand falls of Labrador their gran deur and impressiveness. At great peri NIT. Bryant managed to scramble dowr the rugged and precipitous bank to tn, bottom of the falls, aud obtained aneroiC readings, which were checked by meas urements from above, and gave the result already stated of three hundred and six teen feet. He ventured down alone, and for time his companions were anIiou: regarding his safety; but after an absence of three hours he returned unscathed
 Mir Bryant obtained excellent photo graphs of the falls from various points oi view, and Prafessor Ksnaston made care full measurements of the rapids and of the river for some distance above them.