152 LABRADOR 



amount of upwards of four million three hundred thousand 

 horse-power. Neglecting the rapids above and below the 

 falls and confining the calculation to the power of the falls 

 itself, we find that it would develop energy equal to one 

 million seven hundred thousand horse-power, an amount 

 sufficient to operate a large proportion of all the manu- 

 factories and railways of Canada. 



For a mile downstream from its lakelike expansion, the 

 river is dotted with small, rocky islands, covered with small 

 evergreens. The great stream is thereby broken into a 

 number of narrow channels with swift current. The river 

 then narrows to less than four hundred yards, and for a mile 

 passes over a number of rocky ledges between low, wooded 

 banks, falling fifty feet in a succession of rapids. It again 

 widens to nearly a mile, and flows swiftly between small 

 islands for two miles ; then, turning southeast, it contracts 

 to less than half its previous width and rushes along with 

 heavy rapids in a shallow channel obstructed by huge 

 boulders. In this manner the river continues for two miles, 

 gradually narrowing as it descends. The banks and bottom 

 are solid rock, and the stream in the next mile has cut a 

 narrow and gradually deepening trough, so that, at the 

 lower end of the course, it dashes through a gorge about 

 fifty yards wide with steep walls, one hundred and ten feet 

 below the level of its upper end. In the last three hun- 

 dred yards the grade is very steep, where the confined 

 waters rush along in a swirling mass, thrown into enormous, 

 long, surging waves, at least twenty feet high, the deafening 

 noise of which completely drowns the heavy boom of the 

 great falls immediately below. With a final great surge 

 the pent-up water is shot down a steep incline for a hundred 



