All Are Spurred On By
The Real Or Imaginary Necessities Of Their Position, Driven Along Their
Headlong Course By Avarice, Ambition, Or Eager Competition.
The Falls of Montmorenci, which we reached after a drive of eight miles,
are beautiful in the extreme, and, as the day was too cold for picnic
parties, we had them all to ourselves.
There is no great body of water,
but the river takes an unbroken leap of 280 feet from a black narrow
gorge. The scathed black cliffs descend in one sweep to the St. Lawrence,
in fine contrast to the snowy whiteness of the fall. Montmorenci gave me
greater sensations of pleasure than Niagara. There are no mills, museums,
guides, or curiosity-shops. Whatever there is of beauty bears the fair
impress of its Creator's hand; and if these Falls are beautiful on a late
October day, when a chill east wind was howling through leafless trees
looming through a cold, grey fog, what must they be in the burst of spring
or the glowing luxuriance of summer?
We drove back for some distance, and entered a small cabaret, where some
women were diligently engaged in spinning, and some men were
superintending with intense interest the preparation of some soupe
maigre. Their patois was scarcely intelligible, and a boy whom we took
as our guide spoke no English. After encountering some high fences and
swampy ground, we came to a narrow rocky pathway in a wood, with bright
green, moss-covered trees, stones, and earth.
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