in a few moments on the bank of the river just above the fall. There
stood the buck at bay in a large pool about three feet deep, where the
dogs could only advance by swimming. Upon my jumping into the pool, he
broke his bay, and, dashing through the dogs, he appeared to leap over
the verge of the cataract, but in reality he took to a deer-path which
skirted the steep side of the wooded precipice. So steep was the
inclination that I could only follow on his track by clinging to the
stems of the trees. The roar of the waterfall, now only a few feet on my
right hand, completely overpowered the voices of the dogs wherever they
might be, and I carefully commenced a perilous descent by the side of
the fall, knowing that both dogs and elk must be somewhere before me. So
stunning was the roar of the water, that a cannon might have been fired
without my hearing it. I was now one-third of the way down the fall,
which was about fifty feet deep. A large flat rock projected from the
side of the cliff, forming a platform of about six feet square, over one
corner of which, the water struck, and again bounded downwards. This
platform could only be reached by a narrow ledge of rock, beneath which,
at a depth of thirty feet, the water boiled at the foot of the fall.
Upon this platform stood the buck, having gained his secure but
frightful position by passing along the narrow ledge of rock. Should
either dog or man attempt to advance, one charge from the buck would
send them to perdition, as they would fall into the abyss below. This
the dogs were fully aware of, and they accordingly kept up a continual
bay from the edge of the cliff, while I attempted to dislodge him by
throwing stones and sticks upon him from above.

Finding this uncomfortable, he made a sudden dash forward, and, striking
the dogs over, away he went down the steep sides of the ravine, followed
once more by the dogs and myself.