Bowdoin Boys in Labrador: An Account of the Bowdoin College Scientific Expedition to Labrador led by Prof. Leslie A. Lee of the Biological DepartmentCilley, Jonathan Prince
History
Bowdoin Boys in Labrador: An Account of the Bowdoin College Scientific Expedition to Labrador led by Prof. Leslie A. Lee of the Biological Department
Cilley, Jonathan Prince
Labrador (N.L.) -- Description and travel; Scientific expeditions
It might be his monument as
the Inland Sea was that of Hudson. Then to have the tree marked and
observable to other eyes, in case other eyes should see that country,
he commenced to cut the branches from near the top of the tall spruce.
He regretted much the leaving of the hatchet with Cary as he was
obliged to do the work with his knife. It was a slow and laborious
job. His imagination, as it roamed over the wide land, and his
interest in his present efforts, had consumed time faster than he
knew, and the slanting rays of the western sun started him with
thoughts of Cary and supper. It was dark when he reached Cary and he
was still asleep. The hatchet was idle, and he wished more than ever
that his efforts on the branches of the marked Bowdoin Spruce had been
rendered less laborious and more expeditious by the aid of this, to be
hereafter his constant companion and source of safety along with
another and more diminutive friend, a pocket pistol.
[Grand Falls] The falls proper are three hundred and sixteen feet
high, and just above the river narrows from two hundred and fifty to
fifty yards, the water shooting over a somewhat gradual downward
course and then plunging straight down with terrific force the
distance mentioned, and with an immense volume. The river is much
higher at times and the fall must be even grander, for while the party
was there the ground quaked with the shock of the descending stream,
and the river was nearly at its lowest point. At the bottom is a large
pool made by the change of direction of the river from south at and
above the falls to nearly east below. The canon begins at the pool and
extends as has been described, with many turns and windings, for
twenty-five miles through archaic rock. Above the falls in the wide
rapids, the bed was of the same rock, which seems to underlie the
whole plateau. In 1839, the falls were first seen by a white man, John
McLean, an officer of the Hudson Day Co., while on an exploring
expedition in that "great and terrible wilderness" known as Labrador.
His description is very general, but he was greatly impressed with the
stupendous height of the falls, and terms it one of the grandest
spectacles of the world. Twenty years later, one Kennedy, also an
employe of the Hudson Bay Co., persuaded an Iroquois Indian, who did
not share the superstitious dread of them common among the Labrador
Indians, to guide him to the thundering fall and misty chasm. He left
no account of his visit, however, and in fact, though one other man
reached them, and Mr. Holmes, an Englishman, made the attempt and
failed, no full account of the falls has been given to the world,
until Cary and Cole made their report. Above the falls as far as could
be seen, all was white water, indicating a fall of about one hundred
foot per mile. In the course of twenty-five or thirty miles there is a
descent of twelve hundred feet, nearly equal to the altitude of the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account