of the Riher St. John. 167 



This passage of the waters cannot be approached mth safety in 

 boats on account of dangerous whirlpools, and the steep perpendi- 

 cular rocks prevent minute investigations by land ; the traveller is 

 therefore obliged to leave the banks of the river and ascend the 

 Portage Hill by a circuitous passage to the left. 



The summit' of this hill is 240 feet above the level of the basin 

 below, over which it rises perpendicularly on the north, and vnth a 

 more gradual slope to the south-west. Inclining along the sum- 

 mit of the hill, by a path leading to the north-Avest, the ruins of an 

 old military post are passed on the left ; and a view of the river is 

 again obtained. The portion seen is the upper basin, which is im- 

 mediately above the falls. Turning to the right, a grove of spruce, 

 hemlock, and birch trees, conceal from the eye the abyss, from 

 whence an immense column of steam-like vapour is seen ascending. 

 A hollow tremulous sound now vibrates on the ear, and, on arriv- 

 ing near the spot from whence it proceeds, it seems as if it came 

 from the ground beneath, and that the foot was also sensible of the 

 tremulous motion. 



Emerging from the grove, which, in the direction of the vapour, 

 consists of stunted trees, the traveller unexpectedly finds himself 

 standing on the edge of a rugged precipice overlooking the cataract, 

 the deafening roar of which now suddenly affects the ear, on which 

 it strikes with rather more painful sensations than the first gentle 

 sounds had prepared the tympanum for receiving. The spectator 

 starts back, with an involuntary shudder, from a sense of danger 

 which it requires some nervous resolution to overcome, and restore 

 the mind to a fit state for contemplating the sublime scenery with 

 which he is surrounded. 



The river dashes down a precipice 74 feet in perpendicular height 

 by three divided streams. The central one is the largest, and falls 

 from a curved line. The water is received into a dark narrow cal- 

 dron below, where the agitated current, having much the appear- 

 ance of rolling fleeces of wool, sends up columns of vapour, which, 

 as they catch the sun-beams, display the most beautiful pris- 

 matic colours. Turning round, the spectator perceives that the 

 water again descends from the horrid gulf below by a narrow 

 crooked chasm, which leads to the basin on the other side of th^ 

 Portage Hill, and through which it is urged with violence by a fall 

 of 45 feet, the descent in all, from the upper to the lower basin, 

 being 119 feet. This passage seems to have been produced by the 

 effects of an earthquake, which, by opening this channel, has drain- 

 ed the water from an immense tract of country by thus lowering 

 the fall 121 feet. 



The rock which composes the Portage Hill, and is the barrier to 

 the descent of the river, is an insulated bed of transition limestone, 

 of a blue colour, intersected with white veins. I may also state, 

 that I discovered a transported mass of the same kind of limestone 

 20 miles south, at the falls of the River Rustic, a stream Avhich 

 empties itself into the St. John. 



