Chapter III 



TRAVELERS' ORIGINAL ACCOUNTS: 1801-1840 



1801 



HERIOT, GEORGE. Travels through the Canadas, containing a descrip- 1801 

 tion of the picturesque scenery on some of the rivers and lakes; with an 

 account of the productions, commerce, and inhabitants of those provinces. 

 . . . Lond.: Richard Phillips. 1807. Pp. 159-173. 



Along the boundaries of the river, and behind the falls, the 

 elevated and rocky banks are every where excavated by sulphure- 

 ous springs, the vitriolic acid uniting with the limestone rock, and 

 forming plaster of Paris, which is here and there scattered amid 

 the masses of stone which compose the beach beneath. 



These excavations extend in many places to a distance of fifty 

 feet underneath the summit of the bank. 



Casting the eye from the Table Rock into the basin beneath, 

 the effect is awfully grand, magnificent, and sublime. No 

 object intervening between the spectator and that profound abyss, 

 he appears suspended in the atmosphere. 



The lofty banks and immense woods which environ this 

 stupendous scene, the irresistible force, the rapidity of motion 

 displayed by the rolling clouds of foam, the uncommon bril- 

 liancy and variety of colours and shades, the ceaseless intumes- 

 sence, and swift agitation of the dashing waves below, the 

 solemn and tremendous noise, with the volumes of vapour 

 darting upwards into the air, which the simultaneous report and 

 smoke of a thousand cannon could scarcely equal, irresistibly 

 tend to impress the imagination with such a train of sublime sensa- 

 tions, as few other combinations of natural objects are capable 



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