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river debris. To the left the character of the scene is softer and more
obviously artificial. Here the bank slopes upward from the stream in
a very gentle ascent, forming a broad sward of grass of a texture
resembling nothing so much as velvet, and of a brilliancy of green which
would bear comparison with the tint of the purest emerald. This plateau
varies in width from ten to three hundred yards; reaching from the
river-bank to a wall, fifty feet high, which extends, in an infinity of
curves, but following the general direction of the river, until lost in
the distance to the westward. This wall is of one continuous rock, and
has been formed by cutting perpendicularly the once rugged precipice of
the stream's southern bank, but no trace of the labor has been suffered
to remain. The chiselled stone has the hue of ages, and is profusely
overhung and overspread with the ivy, the coral honeysuckle, the
eglantine, and the clematis. The uniformity of the top and bottom lines
of the wall is fully relieved by occasional trees of gigantic height,
growing singly or in small groups, both along the plateau and in the
domain behind the wall, but in close proximity to it; so that frequent
limbs (of the black walnut especially) reach over and dip their pendent
extremities into the water. Farther back within the domain, the vision
is impeded by an impenetrable screen of foliage.
These things are observed during the canoe's gradual approach to what I
have called the gate of the vista. On drawing nearer to this, however,
its chasm-like appearance vanishes; a new outlet from the bay is
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