On the left side of the river also the waterfall made an amphitheatre of rock somewhat smaller than the right fall. Down below, at the foot of this, it formed huge masses of white foam, above which profuse spray rose up like a heavy mist. Just beyond was disclosed a diabolical whirlpool, far beyond words to describe, which extended—as white as snow with the amount of foam it carried, twisting and retwisting in a thousand circles on the surface—for over 500 m. from the lower step of the waterfall.
I measured the height of the fall with a string. The exact height of the upper terrace was 6 m. 90 cm.; the height of the lower terrace, 7 m. 73 cm.—or a total height of 14 m. 63 cm.
I also took the differential height with the several aneroids I possessed, and the elevation with the boiling-point thermometers above the fall and below, with a result of 48 ft. for the actual height of the fall.
The Wooden Railway constructed by Author in order to take the Canoe Overland for Two and a Half Kilometres at the August Falls.
Formation of Rock below the August Falls.
One fact was certain, and that was that the canoe could not possibly go down by water. There was only one way to get out of that difficulty; that was by taking the canoe overland until we could find a navigable spot in the river down below. To make things worse, there was a hill range on the right bank of the river, on which we were. I must find a way to make the canoe go over that hill range—that was all.