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The traveller, who views the tremendous sce- 

 nery of the cataract of Tequendama, will not be 

 surprised, that rude tribes should have attributed 

 a miraculous origin to rocks, which seem to have 

 been cut by the hand of man ; to that narrow 

 gulf, into which falls headlong the mass of 

 waters that issue from the valley of Bogota ; to 

 those rainbows reflecting the most vivid colours, 

 and of which the forms vary every instant ; to 

 that column of vapour, rising like a thick cloud, 

 and seen at five leagues distance from the walks 

 around Santa Fe. The sixth plate can give 

 but a very feeble idea of this majestic spectacle. 

 If it be difficult to describe the beauties of cata- 

 racts, it is still more difficult to make them felt 

 by the aid of the pencil. The impression they 

 leave on the mind of the observer depends on the 

 concurrence of a variety of circumstances. The 

 volume of water must be proportioned to the 

 height of the fall, and the scenery around must 

 wear a wild and romantic aspect. The Pisse- 

 vache and the Staubbach, in Switzerland, are 

 lofty, but their masses of water are not very 

 considerable. The Niagara and the fall of the 

 Rhine, on the contrary, furnish an enormous 

 volume of water, but their height is not above 

 fifty metres. A cataract surrounded by hills 

 only produces far less effect, than the falls of 

 water which rush into the profound and narrow 

 vallies of the Alps, the Pyrenees, and, above all, 



