TBE CLEFT. 



of tlie cleft, wHicli I judge to be about seventy-five 

 feet in height. Wliere it cui'ved over the side of the 

 precipice it was confined^ but, m soon as it began to 

 fall, it spread out and came down, not in one con- 

 tinuouB, unvarying sheet of water, but in a series of 

 wavelets, until the whole resembled a huge comet 

 tiying, as it were, to escape fi'om earth up to its 

 proper place in the pui'e sky above it. On either 

 side of this pulsating fall is a sheet of green vegeta- 

 tion, which has gained a foothold in every crevice 

 and on every projecting ledge in the precipice. Be- 

 hind the falling water there is a wall of black, vol- 

 canic rock, and at its foot is a mass of angular debris 

 which has broken off from the cliff above. Kow we 

 turned sharply round to the north, and began ascend- 

 ing to the plateau. The cleft has not been formed in 

 a straight but in a zigzag line, so that, in looking up 

 or down, its sides seem to meet a short distance be- 

 fore you and prevent any farther advance in either 

 direction; but, as you proceed, the road suddenly 

 opens to the right or left, and thus the effect is never 

 wearying. It resembles some of the dark canons in 

 our own country between the Eocky Mountaias and 

 Sierra Nevada, except that while their dark sides are 

 of naked rock, the sides of this ravine ai'e covered 

 with a dense growth of vines, shrubs, and large trees, 

 according to the steepness of the acclivities. Here 

 were many trees and shrubs with very brilliantly- 

 colored leavea The whole sceneiy is so grand that 

 no description, or even photograph, coidd convey an 

 accurate idea of its magnificence. For four miles we 

 rode up and up tliis chasm, and at last came on to the 



