2i8 Nutcs uii Jungle and Oilier (' iUI Life. 



same time, no view of the Great Fall can i,nve one as true an 

 idea of the mighty plmige taken by that 4O0-foot-wi(le mass of 

 roaring waters. 



One of our party, jjerhaps the most athletic pedestrian 

 and hill-clisber of the outfit, could not l)e persuaded to 

 ai)])roach within 20 feet of the table rock. lie said it " gave 

 him the creei)s "' even to watch me as 1 lay staring down into 

 the depths of the abyss. Such a state of mind argues no lack 

 of bravery, any more than the ability to look the fall in the face 

 shows the opposite. In both instances it is simply a state of 

 mind — probably congenital — comparable to the impulse some 

 folks feel to jump off a high tower or from a belfry, while others 

 love to dangle their feet from the loftiest pinnacle of a cathedral. 



From this near point of view the rainbows of the Fall 

 are generally seen to best advantage. They are often double 

 and sometimes trij^le, while the arcs are wonderfully complete. 

 Aloreover, monochron^e bows --usually rosy-red — were seen 

 during our visit — due, of course, to cloud reflections. 



J he whole of the Potaro canyon also unfolds itself from 

 this point and directly in front for a distance of ten miles. It 

 reveals a deep and gradually widening valley, green-clothed, 

 with a thin median ribbon of silver water ])eeping out of the 

 vegetation here and there; the stream sometimes at rest, some- 

 times stirred into foam as it rushes into ra])i(ls and i)Ours over 

 rocks not yet worn into a smooth river bed. 



As the shadows of the afternoon lengthen in the canyon, 

 and the evening sounds of bird, fiog and bat (there were plenty 

 of the last-named under our rest house rafters) began, the 

 change of scenery on the giant stage of the Kaieteur became 

 marked and rapid — but these are incapable of description (at 

 least by me) because they must be seen to be realized — just 

 like the colour-wonder of the ( ireat Canyon of the Colorado. 



All the foregoing has to do with the Potaro at half-flood. 

 -Not only is a new Kaieteur born at low water but there is a 

 third renaissance, they tell me, when the river overflows, as in 

 June after prolonged rains: so that fully to appreciate the 

 charms of this region one should visit it at various seasons, 

 when all three conditions ])re\ail. and remain a week or so on 

 each occasion. 



To be eunclndcd. 



