frightful noise, all the river boiled, and, more quickly than a rainstorm falls from the clouds, it rose toward the whirl in the form of an immense cornucopia whose undulous movements were like the action of a serpent endeavoring to raise itself to the sky. The column appeared to measure a mile in height; and such was the violence of the winds which came down in a perpendicular direction that in the twinkling of an eye the trees were torn and uprooted and their boughs scattered in every direction. But what is violent does not last. After a few minutes the frightful visitation ceased. The column, not being able to sustain the weight at its base, was dissolved almost as quickly as it had been formed. Soon after the sun reappeared; all was calm and we pursued our journey.
In proportion as we proceeded toward the sources of this wonderful river, the shades of vegetation became more gloomy and the brows of the mountains more cragged. Everything seemed to wear the aspect, not of decay, but of age, or rather of venerable antiquity. Our joy was ecstatic as we sung the following ode composed for the occasion:
Non, ce n'est plus une ombre vaine,
Mes yeux ont vu, j'en suis certain,
Dans 1'azur d'un brillant lointain,
Des Monts Rocheux la haute chaine, &c.
Oh no! - It is no shadow vain,
That greets my sight -yon lofty chain
That pierces the ethereal blue;
The Rocky Mounts appear in view.
I've seen the spotless, virgin snow,
Glist'ning like gems upon their brow -
And o'er yon giant peak now streams
The golden light of day's first beams.
How from their ice-clad summits, steep,
The living waters joyous leap!
And gently on thro' vallies gay,
Sweeter than honey wend their way.