After proceeding a short distance on the next day, Aug. 13, a loud roar was heard in the distance, and a course was laid for the river at the nearest point.  The river at this point, about one mile above the falls, was 500 yards wide, narrowing to fifty yards a short distance below, where great clouds of spray floating in the air warned the weary travelers that their object had been attained.  Quickly they proceeded to the scene, and a magnificent sight burst upon their view.

Grand Falls, though not approaching the incredible height attributed to it by legendary accounts of the Indians, is a grand fall of water.  Its total descent is accomplished in a series of falls aggregating nearly 500 feet.  The greatest perpendicular descent is not over 200 feet.  The half dozen falls between this grand descent and the bed of the river on the plateau vary from ten to twenty-five feet, adding to the majesty and grandeur of the scene.  It was with great difficulty that the bottom of the falls was reached and a photograph of the scene taken.

After leaving the plateau and plunging over the falls, the waters enter an immense canon or gorge, nearly 40 miles long and 300 yards wide, the perpendicular sides of which rise to a height of from 300 to 500 feet.  The sides of this canon show it to be hollowed out of solid Archaean rock.  Through this canon the water rushes with terrific rapidity, making passage by boat wholly impossible.  Many erroneous stories have been told in regard to the height of these falls, all of them greatly exaggerating the descent of the water.  The Indians of this locality of the tribe of the Nascopee or the race of Crees have long believed the falls to be haunted by an evil spirit, who punished with death any one who might dare to look upon them.  The height of land or plateau which constitutes the interior of the Labrador peninsula is from 2,000 to 2,500 feet above the sea level, fairly heavily wooded with spruce, fir, hackmatack, and birch, and not at all the desolate waste it has been pictured by many writers.  The barrenness of Labrador is confined to the coast, and one cannot enter the interior in any direction without being struck by the latent possibilities of the peninsula were it not for the abundance of flies and mosquitoes.  Their greed is insatiable, and at times the two men were weakened from the loss of blood occasioned by these insects.

The object of the expedition being attained, the return trip was begun, and the sight of the cached boat and provisions eagerly watched for.  On Aug. 15 the camp was sighted, but to their horror they saw smoke issuing from the spot.  It at once flashed upon their minds what had taken place, and when they arrived they found that their fears had been all too truly realized.  Charred remains of the boat, a burned octant, and a few unexploded cartridges were all that remained of the meager outfit upon which they depended to take them to the mouth of the river, a distance of over 250 miles.  The camp fire, not having been completely extinguished, had burned the boat and destroyed all their provisions.