WILD SCENERY. 119 



deep water, thickly studded with sharp angular 

 rocks, sometimes so close together as barely to 

 allow of a passage. The stream having at this 

 part a considerable fall, rushed between or bub- 

 bled over them, with a force that almost swept 

 the hauling men off their legs ; and no sooner 

 had they with great resolution surmounted this 

 difficulty, than a fresh demand was made on their 

 energy by the appearance of three distinct falls, 

 rising like huge steps to the height of forty-five 

 feet. Again, therefore, the whole materiel was 

 to be carried, much to the annoyance of the 

 crew, to whom, on such occasions, the sickness 

 of any of their companions is a matter of serious 

 importance. One or two more rapids, and a 

 narrow fall of twenty feet, terminated the ascent 

 of this turbulent and unfriendly river. No- 

 thing, however, can be more romantically beau- 

 tiful than the wild scenery of its course. High 

 rocks beetling over the rapids like towers, or 

 rent into the most diversified forms, gay with 

 various coloured mosses, or shaded by over- 

 hanging trees — now a tranquil pool, lying like 

 a sheet of silver — now the dash and foam of a 

 cataract, — these are a part only of its picturesque 

 and striking features. 



The canoe having been completely repaired, 

 we entered on a different scene. An amphi- 



i 4 



