The mirror., 1922-03-30


against poisonous snakes.
The Potaro river, above Potaro landing,
is divided into number of stretches, by
cataracts, and the only available craft in
the navigable portions are fiat bottomed
punts.
AT point about 109 miles from George
town the Potaro river gives up its tortu-
Gus course and straightens out into the
lower gorge of Kaieteur. So straight is
the gorge that proceeding up the stream,
far in the distance the tiny white patch
of the falls may be seen. Once the por-
tails of the canyon are passed the gorge
through which the falls has cut its way
during the ages opens up more clearly.
Massive precipitous rocks rise out of the
jungle as sharply as the sides of a Nor
wegian ford. Suggestive, too, of the Scan
dinavian fjords are the lace-like waterfalls
that come tumbling down from these
heights.
Though the falls may be seen from the
lower reaches of the gorge they are miles
away and days of labor must be spent be-
fore they are reached. Four miles below
the fall even small boats must be aban-
doned, for the valley from there is quite
impossible.
The land route lies up the steep side of
the gorge along trail hardly to be
recognized as such, but which to the In
dian in this back country is the highway
to Brazil. With no idea of zigzagging up
the side of a mountain the Indian has ap-
piled the principle that straight line is
the shortest path between two points, no
matter what the angle. The trail, there
fore, resembles ladder of stone. The
burros of the Andes are not used here;
and it is safe to say they never will be
until more gentle grade is established.
Though the climb is through a dense
jungle, once the top is reached one finds
himself in open country. The top of the
plateau near the river is almost solid rock,
and in spite of the heavy rainfall only
scrubby vegetation and orchids can grow.
"A short walk from the head of the trail .
over the rocky surface brings one to the
brink of dizzy precipice which falls
away sheerly below. Opposite rises ma
jestically the other side of the gorge; and
to the right perhaps 500 yards away is
the all but inaccessible fall. The beauty
OF this great cataract strikes the observer
at once, but it is only by degrees that his
mind compasses its magnitude. Over the
red brown cliffs that form the head of
the chasln pours vast sheet of water
more than 800 feet in height-a white cur
tain all the more distinct because of the
dark cavern followed behind it.
The waters pour down into the depths
with tremendous roar, to be heard for
miles around, and the mists rise always in
clouds that are striped with rainbow color
SO distinct as to impress themselves upon
the Aim of the camera. The breadth is
800 feet and more in time of flood. and the
symmetry is wonderful 1t is this per-
feet proportion, in fact that tricks the eye
into failure to grasp at first the huge scale
of the scene.
To the American viewing Kaieteur per-
haps the best way to realize its magnitude
is to compare its heights with his WELL
known skyscrapers. The Singer building,
if set with its base where the water strikes
the floor of the gorge, would fail to reach
the rim of the fall by more than 100 feet;
the top of the Metropolitan tower would
be 40 feet below the rim and of the Wool
worth building only the upper 81 feet
would show above the cliffs
But comparisons with the structures of
man are perhaps the last that should be
made. The setting is perfect for one of
the worlds greatest natural wonders.
Neither on the great plateau, nor up the