Not much more than a quarter of a mile from
the reservoir, we found Mrs Birst's mill, or rather a memorial of its
former existence, in a tall furnace-chimney, for literally no more
survives. The deposit of rubbish was here eight or ten feet deep, and
a number of workmen were engaged in excavating from it fragments of
machinery and other articles. They had cleared out the ground-rooms of
the house, though little more than the base of the walls remained. The
scene was precisely like an excavation at Herculaneum. The outline of
the rooms was beginning to be traceable. A grate and a fireplace
appeared. We observed a child's shoe taken out and laid aside--an
affecting image of the household desolation which had taken place. Mrs
Birst, however, and her whole family, had been fortunate enough to
escape with life, although with the loss of all their property. This
mill, from its nearness to the reservoir, as well as the
contractedness of the valley at the spot, had experienced the violence
of the flood in a degree of intensity unknown elsewhere.
The space between Mrs Birst's mill and the reservoir is for a good way
comparatively open, and here some good land had been completely
destroyed; but for two or three hundred yards below the reservoir the
valley is very narrow, and there some extraordinary effects are
observable. The flood, at its first outburst here, has exercised great
force upon the sides of the valley, carrying off from the cliffs
several huge blocks, which it has transported a good way down.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25