Travelers' Original Accounts: 1 80) -1 840 



twice I was obliged to retrace my steps, lest I should be suffocated 181 8 

 by the blast of dense spray that whirled around me; however, 

 the third time, I succeeded in advancing about twenty-five yards. 

 Here darkness began to encircle me; on one side, the black cliff 

 stretched itself into a gigantic arch far above my head, and on 

 the other, the dense and hissing torrent formed an impenetrable 

 sheet of foam, with which I was drenched in a moment. The 

 rocks were so slippery, that I could hardly keep my feet, or hold 

 securely by them; while the horrid din made me think the 

 precipices above were tumbling down in colossal fragments upon 

 my head. 



Dead wild-ducks are found in great numbers along 

 the banks of the river, near the bottom of the cataract, on the 

 mornings that succeed dark and stormy nights. Some people 

 suppose that these animals are carried over while asleep ; but more 

 probably they get entangled among the rapids above, and are 

 swept away before they are aware of their danger. 



Goat Island lies about a thousand feet from the 

 American shore; and such is the velocity of the current between 

 the two banks, that most people would consider the scheme of 

 raising a bridge there altogether chimerical, were not the thing 

 already effected. Mr Porter first placed his bridge near the upper 

 extremity of the island, but the ice destroyed it; however, he 

 soon, with admirable spirit and perseverance, commenced another 

 on a better plan, and in a more advantageous situation. This 

 structure, which is now completed, combines, in an eminent 

 degree, both strength and simplicity. Each of the piers is formed 

 of a very strong wooden box, filled with large stones and gravel, 

 sunk in the river, upon which is placed the body of the bridge, 

 consisting of plank, and sufficiently strong and wide to admit car- 

 riages of any description. The greatest depth of water under it 

 is about seven feet, and the velocity of the current perhaps exceeds 

 eighteen knots an hour. 



Goat Island contains about seventy acres of excellent soil, and 



is covered with fine timber. A carriage-road winds around it, 



155 



