420 THE FOREST AND THE FIELD. 



river re-echoed the reverberations of their songs in 

 a remarkable manner, and on the first occasion 

 gave rise to some alarm. 



In the afternoon I heard a noise like waves 

 breaking on the sea-shore — the distant sound of 

 falling waters — and soon afterwards we came to the 

 falls, or rather to a succession of rapids, which at 

 this time of the year were very insignificant, but a 

 few months' later, during the height of the rainy 

 season, I have no doubt but that they are 

 well worth seeing; although I much question 

 whether the landscape would present a more 

 beautiful appearance than it did on that evening, 

 for the rays of the setting sun gilded the mountains 

 with the richest tints, and the sky in the back- 

 ground was intensely blue. 



We remained here during the night; and the 

 next morning, leaving the boat in charge of three 

 of the people, I took the rest with me, and explored 

 the mountains above the falls, which were about 

 1500 feet in height. 



The river above the falls seemed very shallow in 

 places, but there was quite sufiicient water for a 



