738 [Assembly 



the wild solitude of the place, awe and impress. Many miles 

 from human habitation^ nature here reigns in her primitive si- 

 lence and repose. The eagles form their eyries amid these inac- 

 oessible cliffSj and seem like some humble bird as they hover over 

 the deep abyss. The heavy forests that clothe the steeps of Mc 

 Martirij and shroud the broken and confused masses of rock iu 

 the gorge, add to the gloom and solemnity of these dark recesses. 

 A tiny rivulet just starting from its birthplace amid these solitudes, 

 chafes and frets along its rocky passage, in its course to the Hud- 

 son. 



The " Wilmington J^otch.'^'' — The western branch of the Au Sa- 

 ble breaks through its mountain barrier, in a scene almost as thril- 

 ling and impressive. The river compressed in a narrow passage 

 of a few feet, becomes here an impetuous torrent, f^^ams and 

 dashes along the base of a precipitous wall, formed by the White- 

 face Mountain, which towers above it, in nearly a perpendicular 

 ascent of thousands of feet, whilst on the other side it almost 

 reaches the abrupt, naked and rugged craggs, of another lofty 

 precipice. Bursting through this obstacle, it leaps into an abyss 

 of more than an hundred feet in depth, so dark and impervious 

 from mantling trees and impending rocks, that the eye cannot 

 reach its hidden mazes. The accomplishment of a projected 

 road, designed to lead through this pa;s, will render this remarka- 

 ble spot accessible to the tourist ; and I can imagine no scene 

 more attractive by its wild and romantic beauty, or its stern and 



appalling grandeur. The whole course of the Au Sable and its 

 branches presents a series of falls, cascades and rapids, which, 

 whilst they adorn and animate the scenery, afford innumerable 

 sites of water power, rarely exceeded in capacity and position. 



*' Walled hanks of the Au Sable.^^ — The passage of the Au Sable 

 river, along its lofty and perpendicular banks and through the 

 chasm at the " high bridge" is more familiar to the public mind, 

 than most of the striking and picturesque features in the roman- 

 tic and interesting scenery of that stream. The continued and 

 gradual force of the current, aided perhaps by some vast ef- 

 fort of nature, has formed a passage of the river through the deep 

 layers of sandstone rock, which are boldly developed above the 



