284 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



a mile, and becomes quite unnavigable. Inglis had never heard of 

 this rapid before arriving in its neighbourhood ; but ranks it, 

 in grandeur and effect, above either the Welsh waterfalls, 

 or the Geisbach in Switzerland. The river Adige, in the 

 Tyrol, near Meran, rushes, with resistless force and 

 deafening noise, down a descent nearly a mile in 

 length, between quiet, green, pastoral banks, present- 

 ing one of the most magnificent spectacles to be met 

 with in Europe. The celebrated cataracts of the Nile 

 are, more properly speaking, rapids, as there is no 

 considerable perpendicular fall of the river ; 

 but for a hundred miles at Wady Hafal, the 

 second cataract reckoning upwards, there 

 is a succession of steep descents, and a 

 multitude of rocky islands, among which 

 the river dashes amid clouds of foam, and 

 is tossed in perpetual eddies. It is along 

 the course of the American rivers how- 

 ever that the most sublime and imposing 

 rapids are found, rendered so by the 

 great volumes of water contained in their 

 channels. The more remarkable are 

 those of the St. Lawrence, the chief of 

 which, called the Coteau du Luc, the 

 Cedars, the Split Rock, and the Cascades, 

 occur in succession for about nine miles 

 above Montreal and the j unction of the 

 Ottawa. At the rapid of St. Anne, on 

 the latter river, the more devout of the 

 Canadian voyageurs are accustomed to 

 land, and implore the protection of the 

 patron saint on their perilous expeditions, 

 before a large cross at the village that 

 bears her name. The words of a popular 

 song have familiarised English ears with this 

 habit of the hardy boatmen : 



" Faintly as tolls the evening chime, 



Our voices keep tune and our oars keep time. 

 Soon as the woods on shore look dim, 

 We'll sing at St. Ann's our parting hymn. 

 Row, brothers, row, the stream runs fast, 

 The Rapids are near, and the daylight's past. 



" Utawa's tide ! this trembling moon 

 Shall see us float over thy surges soon. 

 Saint of this green isle hear our prayers, 

 Oh grant us cool heavens and favouring airs. 

 Blow, breezes, blow, the stream runs fast, 

 The Rapids are near, and the daylight^ past." 



The Kaaterskill Falls here represented are celebrated in 

 America, for their picturesque beauty. The waters which Kaaterskiii Fails. 



