AUSABLE RIVER, NEAR THE HEAD OF THE CHASM.—The old mill reproduced in this photograph was at first supplied with motive power by one of those old-fashioned, picturesque water-wheels, which, however, has given place to the more energetic and less artistic steam engine. The dam, originally built upon the rapids, is still there, however, and over its brink the water flows in softest measures, falling upon the rocky shelves below, where it boils and broils in confused dismemberment until joined again in an unruffled stream a few yards below. This point is just above where the royal chasm begins.
KAATERSKILL FALLS, CATSKILL MOUNTAINS.
AUSABLE CHASM, BELOW THE OVEN.
A trip through Ausable Chasm is one of enrapturing pleasures and unspeakable delights. Every step and turn brings some new and surprising wonder into view. The banks rise rapidly until they tower into immense cliffs, between whose crenellated jaws the rays of the sun can penetrate only when it is near the meridian. The stream reaches its greatest depression by a succession of cataracts and falls of the most admirable and diversified character, embracing nearly every phase of the picturesque and beautiful in this class of scenery.