Original - North Central Michigan College Library

anfcwide, and which falls into the Outaouais perpendicularlyfrom the edge of a rock forty feethigh. The appearance of this fall has procuredfor it the name of the rideau, or curtain; andhence the river itself is called the Rideau, orRiviere du Rideau. The fall presented itself tomy view with extraordinary beauty and magnificence,and decorated with a variety of colors.Still ascending the Outaouais, at threeleagues from the fall of the Rideau is that of13La Grande Chaudiere, a phenomenon of adifferent aspect. Here, on the north side of theriver, is a deep chasm running across the channelfor about two hundred yards, from twentyfiveto thirty feet in depth and without apparentoutlet. In this receptacle a large portionof the river falls perpendicularly with a loudnoise, and amid a cloud of spray and vapor,but embellished from time to time with thebright and gorgeous rainbow. The river atthis place is a mile in width. In the rainyseason the depth of the fall is lessened by reasonof the large quantity of water which is receivedinto the chasm, and which for want, as itwould seem, of a sufficient drain, in part, fillsit up. At such times an eddy and an accumulationof foam at a particular chasm have ledme to suspect the existence of an opening beneaththrough which the water finds a subterraneanpassage. The rock which forms the13La Grande Chaudiere, i. e. the Great KettleAuthor.21