, 1887.]

* * * * *

THE FALLS OF GAIRSOPPA.

At the extreme south of the presidency of Bombay, separating the
district of Kanara from the territory of Mysore, are the too little
known Falls of Gairsoppa.

Far higher than Niagara, four distinct divisions of the river Shiravatti
(traditionally created by a cleft made by the arrow of the great god
Rama) fall over a precipice of gneiss rock into an abyss eight hundred
feet below. Each of these cataracts differs in type of flow.

The "Rajah," eight hundred and thirty feet, and at a breadth of
fifty-six, shoots silent and sheer over an uplifted lip of rock in the
bed of the stream, casting a dark shadow behind him when faced by the
sun; the "Roarer" makes noise enough in its headlong rush to vibrate the
strong, stone-built travelers' bungalow on the heights above; the
"Rocket" is straight in descent, and, as a commentator has already
remarked, as much like a rocket as anything else; and "La Dame Blanche,"
a triptych of rhythmical flow, spreads a dainty, silky, sheen of white,
whispering, glistening, softly falling water over a slightly shelving
width of rock, touched here and there with prismatic color and strong
light.

[Illustration: THE FALLS OF GAIRSOPPA, BETWEEN KANARA AND MYSORE, BOMBAY
PRESIDENCY, INDIA

The Falls From Below. The Falls From Above.]

At the bottom of the chasm, seven hundred feet across, and stretching
over a muddy, turbulent, seething cauldron of spray, a brilliantly
distinct rainbow in the full light of day may be seen with its scarcely
less glorious reflection, dazzlingly beautiful.

In these regions 210 inches of rain is an average downpour for the
monsoon between May and October, the heaviest fall being generally in
July. The cataracts then become frequently confluent, though not more
picturesque. They are then too difficult of access, and the whole
district is very malarious. December and January are the best months for
travelers, before the dry season fairly sets in again, during which
there is but little water, even insufficient to form four distinct
falls.

The best route to them is from Bombay to Honaurre by sea, _via_ Kawai,
and on to Old Gairsoppa by river boat and palanquin to the "Jog," as the
special points of interest (the "Falls") are called by the Kanarese.

To the enthusiastic shikari, however, the way from Hubli (on the
Southern Mahratta Railway, easily reached by G.I.P. line from