The Distance From Haukaness Is A Little More
Than Two Miles.
I had to mount a horse to reach the waterfall,
which was yet eleven miles distant.
The road runs through a narrow
valley, which gradually narrows still more until it can only contain
the river; and the traveller is obliged to ascend the heights and
grope on along the sides of the mountains. Below in the vale he
sees the foam of the waves surging against the rocks; they flow like
a narrow band of silver in the deep chasm. Sometimes the path is so
high that one neither sees nor hears the river. The last half mile
has to be journeyed on foot, and goes past spots which are really
dangerous; numerous waterfalls rush from the mountain-sides, and
have to be crossed on paths of tree-trunks laid alongside each
other; and roads scarcely a foot wide lead along giddy precipices.
But the traveller may trust unhesitatingly to his guide's arm, who
has hitherto led every one in safety to his destination.
The road from Haukaness to the waterfall must be the finest that can
be imagined on a bright sunny day; for I was enchanted with the
wildly-romantic scenery in spite of the incessant rain and my wet
clothes, and would on no consideration have missed this sight.
Unfortunately the bad weather increased, and thick fogs rolled down
into the valleys. The water flowed down from the mountains, and
transformed our narrow path into a brook, through which we had to
wade ankle-deep in water. At last we reached the spot which
afforded the best view of the fall. It was yet free from mist, and
I could still admire the extraordinary beauty of the fall and its
quantity of water. I saw the immense mountain-rock which closes the
valley, the tremendous pillar of water which dashes over it, and
rebounds from the rock projecting in the centre of the fall, filling
the whole valley with clouds of spray, and concealing the depth to
which it descends. I saw this, one of the rarest and of the most
magnificent of natural beauties; but alas, I saw it only for a
moment, and had scarcely time to recover from the surprise of the
first view when I lost it for ever! I was not destined to see the
single grandeurs of the fall and of the surrounding scenery, and was
fain to be content with one look, one glance. Impenetrable mists
rolled from all sides into the wild glen, and shrouded every thing
in complete darkness; I sat on a piece of rock, and gazed for two
hours stedfastly at the spot where a faint outline of the fall was
scarcely distinguishable through the mist sometimes this faint trace
even was lost, and I could perceive its vicinity only by the
dreadful sounds of the fall, and by the trembling of the rock
beneath my feet.
After I had gazed, and hoped, and raised my eyes entreatingly to
heaven for a single ray of sunshine, all in vain, I had at last to
determine on my return.
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