284 WAVES OF THE SEA 



trace the phenomenon to its cause ; for, returning 

 to the cliffs on the Canadian side directly above 

 the spot, I saw travelling waves buffeting their 

 way to mid-stream from either side (but swept 

 down-stream, so that their resulting course was 

 inclined at an acute angle with the current) meet 

 together just where the crossing of the standing 

 waves made one of the great mounds of water 

 opposite the railway station. When the two travel- 

 ling waves met each other and the great standing 

 wave, the water leaped high into the air, shattering 

 and scattering all regularity of form or structure. 

 After seeing the thing from this point of vantage, 

 I was able on another occasion to recognise the 

 process from the nearer but lower point of view 

 close to the railway station. My eye having become 

 accustomed to the maze of motion (acquiring thus 

 a temporary efficiency far beyond one's ordinary 

 powers of seeing), I actually saw several waves con- 

 verge at the same time to produce a leaping wave. 



I may add that I never noticed any great leaping 

 up of the water except the leaping of a standing 

 wave when progressive waves converged upon it. 



In the voyage from Kingston, Ontario, to 

 Montreal, passing through many rapids, including 

 those of Lachine, I was able to make my observa- 

 tions under another set of conditions viz., while 



