The canoe steadily proceeds, and the rocky gate of the vista is
approached, so that its depths can be more distinctly seen. To the
right arise a chain of lofty hills rudely and luxuriantly wooded. It
is observed, however, that the trait of exquisite cleanness where
the bank dips into the water, still prevails. There is not one token
of the usual 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.
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