above which it is obstructed by several falls, of which the most remarkable are Little Falls, three miles above Washington, with a descent of thirty-seven feet: Great Falls, eight and a half miles further up, with a descent of seventy-six feet; which have been made navigable by means of five locks: Seneca Falls, six miles above, descending ten feet: Shenandoah Falls, sixty miles higher up the river, where the Potomac breaks through the Blue Ridge at Harper’s Ferry: Houre’s Falls, five miles above the Shenandoah.
In addition to the cataracts above enumerated, we may notice the Falling Spring, in Bath county, Virginia, which forms a beautiful cascade, streaming from a perpendicular precipice, two hundred feet high; and the Tuccoa Fall, in Franklin county, Georgia, which, though one of the most beautiful that can be conceived, is scarcely yet known to geographers. It is one hundred and eighty-seven feet in height, and the water is propelled over a perpendicular rock. When the stream is full, it pours over the steep in one expansive magnificent sheet, amid clouds of spray, on which the prismatic colors are reflected with a most enchanting effect.
The cascades of the Catskill Mountains are very romantic and beautiful. The Kasterskill is formed by the union of two branches, one rising in two lakes, about one and a half miles east of the western cascade, the other about half the distance in a northerly direction. The best view of the western fall is from below, the foliage above being so thick as in a great measure to obscure it. Below the fall the banks of the stream, which are nearly three hundred feet in height, rise almost perpendicularly from the surface of the water. The following description is from the pen of Mr. H. E. Dwight.
‘The rocks on each side of the stream project so as partially to eclipse the sides of the fall. They have fallen from time to time, in such a manner as to form seventeen natural steps, rising one above another. We stationed ourselves on these steps, to enjoy the scenery around us. Before us the stream fell in a beautiful sheet, exhibiting its transparent waters, when, striking the inclined plane, it rushed down with headlong fury, bearing on its surface a foam of silvery whiteness. On the right and left, the banks rose over our heads in silent grandeur, as if on the point of detaching their projecting masses into the ravine where we were standing, while below us, the water was visible for about thirty rods, descending in the form of a rapid, when, bending around the point of a projection of the mountain, it disappeared from our view. The spray was so thick as to make a dense cloud, on which the sun, shining with great brilliancy, and being nearly vertical, imprinted a perfect rainbow. This bow, which was not more than eight feet in diameter, formed a circle around us slightly elliptical, near the centre of which we stood. As we approached the fall, the spray thickened, the splendor of the colors increased, and the shrubs, the rocks, and the water, were tinged with its choicest hues. To complete the view, a small rivulet, caused by the late rains, fell about two hundred feet, in the form of a cascade, down the precipice, on the southern bank of the stream, displaying its crystal waters through the green foliage which adorned it. We remained here enjoying the prospect for some minutes, when, drenched with spray, we reluctantly bade it adieu, with all those emotions which the sublimity and beauty of such a scene would naturally awaken.
Catskill Falls.
‘I visited the eastern cascade immediately after viewing the western fall on the Kaaterskill, when the column of water was swollen to eight or ten times its common size, and shall describe it, as it then appeared. The rock over which the water descends, projects in such a manner that the cascade forms part of a parabolic curve. After striking a rock below, it runs down an inclined plane a few rods in length, when it rushes over another precipice of one hundred feet. The column of water remained entire for two thirds the descent, and its surface was covered with a rich sparkling foam, which, as it fell, presented to the eye a brilliant emanation. Here it was broken, and formed a continued succession of showers. Large globules of water, of a soft, pearly lustre, enriched with a prismatic reflection, shot off in tangents to the curve of the cascade, and being drawn by the attraction of gravitation, united again with the stream. The sun, shining through a clear atmosphere, imprinted on it his glittering rays, appearing like a moving column of transparent snow. The spray, rising to the height of several hundred feet, was continually agitated by a strong wind, which gave birth to a number of rainbows. They were elevated one above the other, and increased in brilliancy towards the base of the cascade, where, as well as at the lower fall, an iris spread its arch of glory, tinging the rocks and foliage with its brightest colors.
‘The ground below these cascades continued descending at an angle of forty-five degrees, forming a hollow like an inverted cone, of one thousand feet in depth. This was lined with lofty trees, whose verdant tops, varying from the dark hemlock to the light maple, were bending with the wind. Through this waving forest the cascade appeared at various distances, sparkling with the rays of the sun, and forming a fine contrast to the sombre rocks which surrounded it. From this cavity, at the distance of several miles, a peak rose to an elevation of two thousand feet, while the mountains on the right and left, impressed their bold outlines on the sky beyond them.
‘The best view of this scene, is a few rods from the base of the lower fall. These cascades are both of them in a direct line, and by standing in this position can be united in one. By raising your eyes, a fall of four hundred feet appears precipitated from the precipices above, apparently ready to overwhelm you, while the rocks above overhang the abyss in wild sublimity, threatening you with destruction.
‘The appearance of the upper cascade, in the middle of winter, is very interesting. The rock over which the stream descends, projects in such a manner, that the icicles, which form in that season, meet with no interruption in their descent towards the base of the fall. The water, which strikes the rocks below, begins to congeal and rise (between the column of water and the rock) towards the icicles above. These project towards the base, increasing in magnitude from day to day, while the column from below is greatly enlarged by the water and the spray, which, immediately congealing, in a short time surround the stream. A column of ice, resembling a rude cone, of between two and three hundred feet, is thus formed, through the centre of which the stream pours its current, dwindled, by the congelation of its waters, to one tenth its common size. When illumined by the rays of the sun, it presents a transparent column glowing with brilliancy, reflecting and refracting its rays in such a manner as to present all the colors of the prism. It remains some weeks, a striking example of the power of hoary frost, when, partly dissolved by the genial warmth of spring, it falls, scattering its thousand fragments on the rocks around it.’
GENERAL REMARKS ON CATARACTS AND CASCADES.
Rivers which descend from primitive mountains into the secondary lands often form cascades and cataracts. Such are the cataracts of the Nile, of the Ganges, and some other great rivers, which, according to Desmarets, evidently mark the limits of the ancient land. Cataracts are also formed by lakes, and of this description are the Falls of Niagara; but the most picturesque falls are those of rapid rivers, bordered by trees and precipitous rocks. Sometimes we see a body of water, which, before it arrives at the bottom, is broken and dissipated into showers, like the Staubach; sometimes it forms a watery arch, projected from a rampart of rock, under which the traveller may pass dry shod, as the Falling Spring of Virginia; in one place, in a granite district, we see the Trolhetta, and the Rhine not far from its source, urge on their foaming billows amongst the pointed rocks; in another, amidst lands of calcareous formation, we see the Czettina, and the Kerka, rolling down from terrace to terrace, and presenting sometimes a sheet and sometimes a wall of water. Some magnificent cascades have been formed, at least in part, by the hands of man: the cascades of Velino, near Terni, have been attributed to Pope Clement VIII.; other cataracts, like those of Tunguska in Siberia, have gradually lost their elevation by the wearing away of the rocks, and have now only a rapid descent. The Falls of Staubach are the highest ever known, being nine hundred feet according to trigonometrical measurement.
CHAPTER VI.—LAKES.
