174 THE VALLEY OF ENCHANTMENT 



lordly lodges, or, resting, will not rise freely to the fly. 

 They hurry up to the neighbourhood of the foss of 

 Aarnhoe, which is placed exactly where the mountains 

 upon either side of the valley approach each other most 

 nearly. Scenery cannot be set forth in figures of measure- 

 ment, yet some idea of the grandeur of this gorge may 

 be conveyed by repeating that, whereas each side thereof 

 is formed by bare cliffs 6000 feet — i.e. one mile and 

 240 yards — in height, and absolutely vertical in places for 

 1500 feet, the space separating their bases is less than 

 half a mile. The foss itself is the result of the fall of a 

 huge slice of the Troldtinder right across the valley, and 

 the river roars and rages in white fury through and over 

 the ruins of the mountain. It passes human lore to 

 assign even a probable date to this cataclysm; but still 

 you may see the vast chasm whence the mountain was 

 torn from its roots, leaving a scar far lighter in colour to 

 this day than the storm-stained surface of the remainder. 

 Who knows whether of peaceful homesteads is here the 

 sepulchre, or whether the fall happened before man had 

 seized the lordship of the dale. Even now, hardly a day 

 passes that the valley is not startled by a din, sharper 

 than the roar of artillery, and followed by a prolonged 

 rattle as of musketry, as some mass of rock or cliff face 

 topples over and falls for thousands of feet, leaving a dense 

 column of dust in its track. 



The aforesaid foss of Aarnhoe offers an effective barrier 

 to the ascent of salmon until well on in summer, when 

 most of the snow has melted and the river has fallen low ; 

 consequently the cream of the fishing in June and July 

 is found in a couple of miles of water below the foss. It 

 was a very late season when the busy little steamer from 



