It Is Situated About A Mile And
Half Below The Village, Where A Slight Rising Ground Closes In
The Basin, And Evidently Once Formed, The Shore Of The Lake.
Here
the river enters a gorge, very narrow and tortuous, along which it
rushes furiously for a short distance and then plunges into a
great chasm, forming the head of a large valley.
Just above the
fall the channel is not more than ten feet wide, and here a few
planks are thrown across, whence, half hid by luxuriant
vegetation, the mad waters may be seen rushing beneath, and a few
feet farther plunge into the abyss. Both sight and sound are
grand and impressive. It was here that, four years before my
visit, the Governor-General of the Netherland Indies committed
suicide, by leaping into the torrent. This at least is the
general opinion, as he suffered from a painful disease which was
supposed to have made him weary of his life. His body was found
next day in the stream below.
Unfortunately, no good view of the fall could now be obtained,
owing to the quantity of wood and high grass that lined the
margins of the precipices. There are two falls, the lower being
the most lofty; and it is possible, by long circuit, to descend
into the valley and see them from below. Were the best points of
view searched for and rendered accessible, these falls would
probably be found to be the finest in the Archipelago.
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