Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1891-10-30
The Grand Falls of Labrador.
The wonderful Cataract visited and De-

The New \ Ork tribune has printed the
first extended account which has been Civ
EN- of the journey of exploration to the
Grand Falls of Labrador, which was made
last summer by Henry G. Bryant of Phia-
delpha, young lawyer and naturalist. and
Prof. Kenaston of Washington, secretary
of the national geographical society. The
explorers left New York on the 27th of
June and reached st. Johns, Newfound-
land, July I'd. Much difficulty was, expe-
rienced i'm securing transportation and ma
tive guides to proceed up the river on ac-
count of the superStitous dread of the
falls which fills the minds of the Indians.
On August 3D., however, the party started
from the mouth of the Grand or Hamilton
river, on which the falls are located This
is the principal river of Labrador, and a
stream of large volume. They proceeded
some 200 miles by boat up the river, passing
through several large lakes through which
the river flows. At last the upper limit
of navigation was reached and they were
obliged to make their way through the
wilderness on foot, following for a time a
disused Indian trail. So difficult was their
progress that sometimes no more than two
or three miles day could be made FL
nally their hearts were gladdencd bv a
sight of the object of their tolls. the noise
of which they had heard on their first
march along the Indian trail, at a distance
of - miles. Ii was a sight never to be
forgOtten-One that engraves itself on
memory's tablets forever. After struggling
through the dark woods, they stood in
front of the Grand Falls. II was one of
those supreme moments which occur only
occasionally in lifetime The great mass
of white, foaming water leaping into an
unbelievable 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 % miles. The deep, inces-
SAINT roar, reverberating along the rocky
walls of the gorge below, gave an impress
sive idea of the mighty forces at work
within the seething caldron. From the
deep pool into which the river hurls itself,
the water PUSHES away in wild torrent
through narrow chasm, with rocky walls,
300 to 400 feet 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 the
one bank, rush back, eddying and whirling,
to the opposite side. The appearance be-
low the fails, as far as the eye can reach,
is that of sea in a storm. The length of
this narrow chasm through which the riv-
er flows below the falls is not less than -
TO 80 mileS-One Of the most remarkable
cahons in the world.
Having Toasted their eyes on this grand
spectacle, the explorers made their way To
the height over the falls. Here they were
able to study the formation of the falls.
which n several a l.. ttpi,p. I,f,,,r
back half mile from the point where the
cataract occurs, they found the river there
to be from 100 to 800 yards wide. Then it
begins to narrow gradually-thc banks ap-
proach each other, till, at the falls, the
width does not exceed 200 feet There are
three distinct rapids Immediately above the
falls, which add greatly to the grandeur of
the scene. 1t reminds one of the rapids
above the falls of Niagara, though on
far smaller scale. in which for mile the
river PUSHES along fOaming over rough
bottom. The last of the three rapids pre-
paratory To the final leap is ISIS feet in
length, and the angle of the slope 80 de-
grees. The consequence is that the water
driven by the two rapids behind and COM
pressed into a channel only 200 feet wide
rises into surges, broken and abrupt, ard
precipitates itself over the rocky edge with
great violence.
BY careful measurements the explorers
ascertained that the height OF the falls is
3l6 feet If the three rapids he included,
the entire descent is 800 feet At Niagara
the river makes a descent of ~ feet i'm the
mile, before being preciptated about 100
feet into the basin below. 1t is their great
height which gives to the Grand Falls Of
Labrador their grandeur and impressive
ness, the volume of water being far less
than at Niagara.
The first visit ever made by white man
to the Grand Falls was that of John Me
Lean, an officer of the Hudson Bay COM
pany, in August, 1889. In an account of
his journey and discovery he says that, fol-
lowing the stream in his canoe, he was pro-
ceeding gayly and swiftly down this river
which no white man had ever seen before,
when, one evening, "The roar of a mighty
cataract burst upon our ears, warning us
that danger was at hand. We soon reach
ed the spot, which presented to us one of
the grandest spectacles in the world
About six miles above the fall the river
suddenly contracts from a width of 400
to 600 yards to about 100 yards; then,
rushing along in a continuous foam
ing rapid, finally contracts to breadth of
about 80 yards ere it precipitates itself
over the rock which forms the fall; when
still roaring and foaming, it pursues its
maddened course for about a distance of
30 miles, pent up between walls of rock
that rise sometimes to the height of 800 feet
on either side. This stupendOus fall eX-
ceeds in height the falls of Niagara but
bears no comparison to that sublime object
in any other respect, being nearly hidden
from the view by the abrupt angle which
the rocks form Immediately beneath us
If not seen, however it is felt such is the
extraordinary force with which il tumbles
into the abyss underneath that we felt the
solid rock shake under our feet as we stood
200 feet above the gulf. A dense cloud of
vapOr, which can be seen at great dis
lance in clear weather, hangs over the spot"
Only twice since then until this year have
the falls been visited by white men, 20
years later by Mr. Kennedy, also a Hudson
Bay emplOye, and in 1887 by an English
man named Holme. The Indians have "A
tradition that no one can look upon the
falls and live They believe them to be the
abode of evil spirits, who are fitting about
under the mist-canOpy that shrouds the
dreadful boiling caldron.
1t will be a long time, says the Tribune
article from which we quote before the
Grand Falls of Labrador become a resort
for ordinary tourists. Nature has placed
this magnificent cataract i'm one of her
deepest sOltudes, and guarded the APP
proaches to it with jealous care. For un-
known myrads of years its deep thunder
GUS diapasOn has been resOunding through
this grim wilderness, the only listeners to its
music being the wild creatures that roam