The Portland daily press., 1891-11-06
THE BIG LABRADOR CATARACT.
AS Seen and Described by anr. Bryant
and Prof. Kenastor.
New York Tribune.l

Having reached a seventh lake the par
ty left their canoes, and, abandoning the
Indian trail. struck out for the falls In
northwest direction, being in light march
ing order, and carrying only small stock
Of provisions. Their course now lay through
a trackless wilderness, awful in its desola-
tion. having been swept by fire. Countless
lakes were seen; huge boulders covered the
surface. Burned timber obstructed 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. 1t was sight never to be forgotten
-one that engraves itself on memory's tab
lets forever. After struggling through the
dark woods, they stood in front of the Grand
Falls. 1t was one OF those supreme mom-
entS which occur only occasionally in
lifetime. The great mass Of white, foaming
water leaping into an unfathomable abyss
from height twice as great as that of Nj
agara made the solid rocks all around trem-
bic and sent up vast column of vapor,
which mounted hundreds of feet into the at
m0sphere; being visible at a distance of 20
miles.
The deep. 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
torrent through narrow chasm, with rocky
walls, 800 to 400 feet in height. Striking
against the sides of this tortuous channel,
which makes frequent turns, and flowing
over trough, sl0ping bottom, the water
forms whirlpool rapids which, impinging on
one bank, rush back, eddying and whirling,
to the opposite side, The appearance, be-
low the falls. as far as the eye can reach, is
tnat OF sea In storm. The length of this
narrow chasm through which the river
flows below the falls is not less than % to
90 milestone of the most remarkable can
yons in the world.
Having feasted their eyes on this grand
spectacle, the EMPLOYERS made their way
to the height over the falls. Here they were
able to study the formation of the falls,
which In several aspects Is unique Going
back half mile from the point where the
cataract occurs, they found the river there
TO De from 400 to 800 yards wide. Then 1t
begins to narrow gIadually-the 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 greatly add to the grandeur Of the
scene. IT reminds us Of the rapids above the
Tails OF Niagara, though on far smaller
scale, In which for mile the river rush es
along foaming o'er rough bottom. The
last OF the three rapids preparatory to the
final leap Is 188 feet in length, and the angle
Of the slope 80 degrees. The consequence Is
that the water driven by the two rapids be-
hind and compressed into channel only 200
feet wide rises into suIges. broken and alb
rupt, and precipitates itself over the rocky
edge with great violence.
BY careful measurements the explorers
ascertained that the hight of the falls Is 3l6
feet. Ii the three rapids be included, the en-
tire decent would be 500 feet At Niagara
the river makes descent of 90 feet In the
mile before being precipitated into the basin
below. On the American side the height Is
164 feet; on the Canadian 150; but the enor-
nous body OF water gives Niagara Falls a
SURPRISING grandeur to which nothing else
Of the kind can be compared, with the
exception OF the Zambesi Falls, which are
only 200 feet in height. At Niagara the
large cataract is third of a mile broard
the smaller 600 feet. 1t is their great height
which gives to the Grand Falls of Labrador
their grandeur and impressiveness.
at great peril Mr.. Bryant managed to
scramble down the rugged and precipitous
| bank to the bottom of the falls, and
| obtained aneroid readings, which were
| checked by measurements from above, and
gave the result already stated of 316 feet
| He veutured down alone, and for time his
| companions were anxious regarding his
| safety; but after an absence of three hours
he returned unscathed.
Mr. Bryant obtained excellent photographs
| of the falls from various points of view
Prof. Kenaston made careful measure
| ments of the rapids and of the river fol
| some distance above them.