358 THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE BY LAND. 



tain, for six or eight miles. Tlie road tlien went 

 up rapidly, and brought us to the top of the famous 

 "• Rattlesnake Grade." We found ourselves on the 

 brink of a precipitous descent of 2,000 feet, and in 

 full view below saw the road following the con- 

 figuration of the hill, with the numberless wdndings 

 and zigzags which had given rise to its name. Cut 

 out of the mountain side, and resting for several feet 

 of its width on overhanging beams, it was not broad 

 enough to allow two vehicles to pass in safety, 

 except at the points of the turns, nor was ttere any 

 railing to guard the edge of the precipice. 



Every one immediately volunteered to ease the 

 poor horses by walking down, but Johnny negatived 

 the proposition at once, and drove us down at a 

 furious rate, the heavily-laden wagon swinging 

 round the sharp turns in a most unpleasant manner. 

 The giving way of the break, or of a wheel, or the 

 pole, must have been fatal ; but all held together, as 

 of course it was likely to do, and we reached the 

 bottom safely. 



After leaving Clinton, where the road from Yale 

 comes in, the road began to ascend, and on the right 

 we passed an extraordinary chasm. Commencing by 

 a gradual depression at the northern end, it became 

 a deep fissure in the rocks about a quarter of a mile 

 in length, ending abruptly in the valley to the south. 

 The depth of the gulf is some 400 or 500 feet, 

 and its width about the same. The sides of the 

 chasm were perpendicular and smooth, as if the 

 rocks had been split asunder. The road still went 



