76 
The traveller^ who views the tremendous sce- 
nery of the cataract of Tequeiidama, 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. 
