The Argosy — page 394: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

A bout Norway. 375 had now ceased; but the path was wet and slippery, and the shrubs, often up to one’s waist, were dripping water. At last the bottom; and turning sharply to the right, before us was the waterfall we had come so far toseek. A high, perpendicular cliff, straight as a wall, and over the summit came tumbling the white water, in a clear fall of 1,000 feet, touching no rock, meeting no obstacle in its way. In this its greatest attraction consists. Other falls are as high, and higher; other falls have as great a body of water, and greater; but an unbroken descent of 1,000 feet, this is what other falls have not. Fancy an immense column of water falling nearly three times the height of St. Paul’s. And yet we were both disappointed. ‘There was no doubt about that. We had heard so much of the Vettifos; it had been described in colours so glowing as an eighth wonder of the world, and one of the great wonders of Norway, that we had expected more than the reality. In point of beauty it was not to be compared with the two great waterfalls we had passed on the road from Aardal. The surrounding rocks were so gigantic that the immense height could not be realised. ‘The body of water was small: so small that towards the bottom the water lost itself in spray. After heavy rains it increases, but the rains of this one night had not made any percep- tible difference. Jenssaid he had often seen a much greater volume of water than to-day. It was certainly wonderful to see this long, unbroken column ; to trace its progress from the moment it left the height to the very end, always falling, falling, falling ; but it raised little emotion beyond that of marvel. Many things were against us. We had had to turn out at an. early hour; the dull, gloomy morning threatened rain; it was cold and raw; the road had been wet and unpleasant, the walk laborious in the extreme; imagination had found nothing on which to fasten itself. Well for us that the whole way up from Aardal had been so full of beauty—it is one of the grandest passes in Norway—so sublime in its severity, which had more than delighted and repaid us for our exertions: otherwise, to disappointment would have been added vexation of spirit. We could not approach within many yards of the fall: the cold was freezing, and the spray would have drenched us through in a few moments. So we contented ourselves with a seat upon huge stones at a respectful distance, and watched the water, which took all sorts of fantastic devices on its course from the top to the bottom, according to the power with which it fell over the edge. The whole surrounding scene was inexpressibly wild, rugged, and barren, but most beautiful, and with sunshine it would have been far more so. Mountains enclosed us in a great rocky rampart, impregnable, impassable: we were at the ends of the earth. After a sufficiently long spell of gazing, we started again for Vetti. If the downward road had been hard work, what must be said of the GOnlG pools (©) mn