A Journey in Other Worlds [66]
feet in height, while the
table-land between sloped almost imperceptibly towards the
middle, in which, as they expected, they found a river compared
to which the Mississippi or the Amazon would be but a brook. In
honour of the President of the Terrestrial Axis Straightening
Company, they called this great projection, which averaged about
four thousand miles across by twelve thousand miles long,
Bearwarden Peninsula. They already noticed a change in climate;
the ferns and palms became fewer, and were succeeded by pines,
while the air was also a good deal cooler, which was easily
accounted for by their altitude--though even at that height it
was considerably denser than at sea- level on earth--and by the
fact that they were already near latitude thirty.
The exposed points on the plateau, as also the summits of the
first mountains they had seen before alighting, were devoid of
vegetation, scarcely so much as a blade of grass being visible.
Since they could not account for this by cold, they concluded
that the most probable explanation lay in the tremendous
hurricanes that, produced by the planet's rapid rotation,
frequently swept along its surface, like the earth's trade-winds,
but with far more violence. On reaching the northern coast of
the peninsula they increased their elevation and changed their
course to northeast, not caring to remain long over the great
body of water, which they named Cortlandt Bay. The thousands of
miles of foam fast flew beneath them, the first thing attracting
their attention being a change in the ocean's colour. In the
eastern shore of Cortlandt Bay they soon observed the mouth of a
river, ten miles across, from which this tinted water issued in a
flood. On account of its colour, which reminded them of a stream
they knew so well, they christened it the Harlem.
Believing that an expedition up its valley might reveal something
of interest, they began the ascent, remaining at an elevation of
a few hundred feet. For about three hundred miles they followed
this river, which had but few bends, while its sides became more
and more precipitous, till it flowed through a canon four and a
half miles across. Though they knew from the wide discoloration
of Cortlandt Bay that the volume of water discharged was
tremendous, the stream seldom moved at a rate of more than five
miles an hour, and for a time was free from rocks and rapids,
from which they concluded that it must be very deep. Half an
hour later they saw a cloud of steam or mist, which expanded, and
almost obscured the sky as they approached. Next they heard a
sound like distant thunder, which they took for the prolonged
eruption of some giant crater, though they had not expected to
find one so far towards the interior of the continent. Presently
it became one continuous roar, the echo in the canon, whose walls
were at this place over six hundred feet high, being simply
deafening, so that the near discharge of the heaviest artillery
would have been completely drowned.
"One would think the end of the world was approaching!" shouted
Cortlandt through his hands.
"Look!" Bearwarden roared back, "the wind is scattering the
mist."
As he spoke, the vapoury curtain was drawn aside, revealing a
waterfall of such vast proportions as to dwarf completely
anything they had ever seen or even imagined. A somewhat open
horseshoe lip, three and a half miles straight across and over
four miles following the line of the curve, discharged a sheet of
water forty feet thick at the edge into an abyss six hundred feet
below. Two islands on the brink divided this sheet of liquid
into three nearly equal parts, while myriads of rainbows hovered
in the clouds of spray. Two things especially struck the
observers: the water made but little curve or sweep on passing
over the edge, and then rushed down to the abyss at almost
lightning speed, shivering itself to infinitesimal particles on
striking any rock or projection at the side. Its behaviour was,
of course, due to its weight,
table-land between sloped almost imperceptibly towards the
middle, in which, as they expected, they found a river compared
to which the Mississippi or the Amazon would be but a brook. In
honour of the President of the Terrestrial Axis Straightening
Company, they called this great projection, which averaged about
four thousand miles across by twelve thousand miles long,
Bearwarden Peninsula. They already noticed a change in climate;
the ferns and palms became fewer, and were succeeded by pines,
while the air was also a good deal cooler, which was easily
accounted for by their altitude--though even at that height it
was considerably denser than at sea- level on earth--and by the
fact that they were already near latitude thirty.
The exposed points on the plateau, as also the summits of the
first mountains they had seen before alighting, were devoid of
vegetation, scarcely so much as a blade of grass being visible.
Since they could not account for this by cold, they concluded
that the most probable explanation lay in the tremendous
hurricanes that, produced by the planet's rapid rotation,
frequently swept along its surface, like the earth's trade-winds,
but with far more violence. On reaching the northern coast of
the peninsula they increased their elevation and changed their
course to northeast, not caring to remain long over the great
body of water, which they named Cortlandt Bay. The thousands of
miles of foam fast flew beneath them, the first thing attracting
their attention being a change in the ocean's colour. In the
eastern shore of Cortlandt Bay they soon observed the mouth of a
river, ten miles across, from which this tinted water issued in a
flood. On account of its colour, which reminded them of a stream
they knew so well, they christened it the Harlem.
Believing that an expedition up its valley might reveal something
of interest, they began the ascent, remaining at an elevation of
a few hundred feet. For about three hundred miles they followed
this river, which had but few bends, while its sides became more
and more precipitous, till it flowed through a canon four and a
half miles across. Though they knew from the wide discoloration
of Cortlandt Bay that the volume of water discharged was
tremendous, the stream seldom moved at a rate of more than five
miles an hour, and for a time was free from rocks and rapids,
from which they concluded that it must be very deep. Half an
hour later they saw a cloud of steam or mist, which expanded, and
almost obscured the sky as they approached. Next they heard a
sound like distant thunder, which they took for the prolonged
eruption of some giant crater, though they had not expected to
find one so far towards the interior of the continent. Presently
it became one continuous roar, the echo in the canon, whose walls
were at this place over six hundred feet high, being simply
deafening, so that the near discharge of the heaviest artillery
would have been completely drowned.
"One would think the end of the world was approaching!" shouted
Cortlandt through his hands.
"Look!" Bearwarden roared back, "the wind is scattering the
mist."
As he spoke, the vapoury curtain was drawn aside, revealing a
waterfall of such vast proportions as to dwarf completely
anything they had ever seen or even imagined. A somewhat open
horseshoe lip, three and a half miles straight across and over
four miles following the line of the curve, discharged a sheet of
water forty feet thick at the edge into an abyss six hundred feet
below. Two islands on the brink divided this sheet of liquid
into three nearly equal parts, while myriads of rainbows hovered
in the clouds of spray. Two things especially struck the
observers: the water made but little curve or sweep on passing
over the edge, and then rushed down to the abyss at almost
lightning speed, shivering itself to infinitesimal particles on
striking any rock or projection at the side. Its behaviour was,
of course, due to its weight,