This Is Nearly Two Miles Above The Steps By Which The
Descent Is Made; And Not A Foot Of This Distance But Is Wildly
Beautiful.
When the river is very low there is a pathway even
beyond that block; but when this is the case there can hardly be
enough of water to make the fall satisfactory.
There is no one special cataract at Trenton which is in itself
either wonderful or pre-eminently beautiful. It is the position,
form, color, and rapidity of the river which gives the charm. It
runs through a deep ravine, at the bottom of which the water has
cut for itself a channel through the rocks, the sides of which rise
sometimes with the sharpness of the walls of a stone sarcophagus.
They are rounded, too, toward the bed as I have seen the bottom of
a sarcophagus. Along the side of the right bank of the river there
is a passage which, when the freshets come, is altogether covered.
This passage is sometimes very narrow; but in the narrowest parts
an iron chain is affixed into the rock. It is slippery and wet;
and it is well for ladies, when visiting the place, to be provided
with outside India-rubber shoes, which keep a hold upon the stone.
If I remember rightly, there are two actual cataracts - one not far
above the steps by which the descent is made into the channel, and
the other close under a summer-house, near to which the visitors
reascend into the wood.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 292 of 538
Words from 77705 to 77960
of 143277
