CHRISTMAS AT SABBA DAY FALLS. 277 
across the channel rose a cliff of dark granite 
crowned with black spruces and one or two 
pines whose lofty tops were pale in the fog. As 
we drew near, the majestic beauty of the place 
became apparent. At the foot of the black cliff 
was a deep pool full of strange colors, — greens, 
olives, and white. The waters in it were rest¬ 
less, rising and settling back, but forever wash¬ 
ing the sides of their basin. Four gigantic 
icicles hung from the top of the cliff, extend¬ 
ing to the bottom. One of them, at its lower 
end, touched a flat shelf of rock, and so became 
a graceful column supporting the overhanging 
mosses from which it started. Another adhered 
to the rock all the way, and was a crystalline 
pilaster. The other two were free throughout 
the whole of their thirty feet of length, and 
tapered to needle points threatening the pool 
below. The colors in the pool were in fact bor¬ 
rowed from the mosses and ferns which grew in 
masses at the sides and upon the top of the cliff. 
Living in perpetual dampness, these exquisite 
plants flourish and become perfect examples of 
their kind. The trailing fern fronds were as 
green and as clean in outline as in summer. 
They sprang from beds of mosses wonderful in 
tints. Some were golden olive, others pale 
green, and still others blood red. Pressed 
against the upper edge of the black cliff, they 
