We refer our readers to this article for an excellent description of this waterfall, and especially to the engraving there given of the fall, which is from an original sketch by Captain Campbell.
The sun shone high; the sky was Italian blue. Ole produced his rope; carefully securing it round our body, he steadied himself at a small tree and held the other end of the rope. Then we advanced to the edge of the hanging cliff. The wild heath formed an arched and matted roof above the far distant rocks in the abyss below. As we cautiously leant over, Nature broke upon us in all the light of her splendid magnificence. Who can doubt the power of a great Creator who views such scenes? We could have stayed there never-tiring to eternity. As we seemed to catch as it were the broken ground with our legs, almost suspended in mid air, we could not divest ourselves of the thought that some of the finest scenes in Nature are often overlooked. Had the shelving cliff given way we were secured by a rope, but we must say our position would have been unpleasant. The cliffs on either side stand abruptly out and are overhanging, so that it is difficult to get a good view of the fall from above, except at the point we were looking over. The rocks below, which receive the waters of the fall, for some distance upwards are almost black.
When we retired from the cliff’s edge, we roped Ole and he had a similar view. Notwithstanding all that had been said by Captain Campbell, the Mörkfos far surpassed our expectations in height, volume of water, and picturesque beauty. There is no drawback. All accessories are perfect. Mountain outline, rock, tree, forest--all that surround the fall, rival it in their several perfections of harmonious beauty. Reluctantly we must say, that even the Rjukan fos and its romantic association of the “Lovers” or “Marie stein” is scarcely equal to the Mörkfos.[104] Other lovers of nature who visit this wild scene may probably pass a decisive opinion either to confirm or reverse ours. Both falls have their separate beauty.
The valley of the Aardal below, is all the most enthusiastic lover of nature could desire.[105] Opposite to us were the magnificent steeps of the Maradalstinder. The waterfall roaring down its sides, was only dwarfed, by its more splendid rival the Mörkfos. The fall opposite is the Maradals elv fos. As we watched it, a beautiful iris of red, yellow, and blue, hovered above the foaming waters, the only one, we had ever seen.
