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loosened in their sockets. It is surprising that the handfuls of earth scattered about the crevices and projections of those water-worn crags should be found sufficient to nourish the vegetation that springs from them; climbing up their sides, and towering above their summits, wherever an interval of the various cataracts leaves a space of visible rock. Even a lonely cluster of wild flowers sometimes glows beneath the deep shadow of an overhanging block of stone.

The solemn colouring of these gigantic rocks, their tints comprising all the darkest shades of brown and gray, form a fine contrast to the bright and dazzling sheets of water that pour down and among their declivities, and to whose snowy white and lovely green no pencil has ever yet done justice, or ever can. The green of the Niagara falls is indeed like nothing that can be seen elsewhere. It is not the green of the sea in fathom water, nor the deep blue-green of the lakes. Neither is it the reflection of the trees on the banks." It is something more exquisite still"-a colour so beautiful, so peculiar, that no art can successfully imitate it. Imagine vast and ever-falling torrents of dissolved alabaster, shaded with liquid emerald slightly blended with turquoise, and you may form some faint idea of the tinting of these transcendent waters.

It is well known that the falls of Niagara comprise several distinct cataracts, each so magnificent that any one of them would alone confer celebrity on the place. But when beholding the whole at one view, the mind is lost and the feelings overpowered in their contemplation. There is nothing in the world like Niagara. It is a thing to fall in love with, a thing to adore. It looks like the last and most perfect work of "the glorious Architect Divine!" as if, after having created all else that belongs to the earth, He gave the crowning finish to America, and made Niagara.

How awfully sublime these cataracts must have looked, alone in their wild and solemn grandeur, before civilized man had sought their solitudes, and scattered on their banks structures erected by human hands! The rudest Indian could never have gazed on this temple in the wilderness without amazement and admiration, and without feeling his whole soul pervaded with humble reverence for the Great Spirit. No atheist (if indeed an atheist ever really existed) could see Niagara, and not "believe and tremble." We know not, we shall never know the name of the first white man whose eyes first looked upon a scene that has no rival in Europe, or in the whole wide-spread world; and who found this assemblage of stupendous cataracts pouring on, pouring on for ever, amid the silence and loneliness of the primeval forest. They must have been known to the French Canadians that, more than two centuries ago, commenced settlements on the northern shore of lake Ontario. But the first published account of the falls is found in the book of Father Hennepin, a French missionary, who lived two years at Fort Frontenac, near the site of what is now the British Canadian town of Kingston. From this place

he accompanied La Salle, the French commander, on an expedition, in which, after stopping at Niagara, they explored the upper lakes, and found their way down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico; getting back to Fort Frontenac after an absence of four years. The whole of this journey can now be accomplished in a few weeks.

On his return to Europe, Father Hennepin published two works on America, as he had seen it; and in the second of these books (printed at Amsterdam in 1698) is the first account of Niagara, which he had visited twenty years before.

Amid the numerous beauties of the falls, the spray is not the least. It rises in light misty clouds from the turmoil of conflicting eddies, and the vast bed of foam that rolls around their feet, and dances upwards in a thousand jets, the liquid dust of the cataract, the white smoke of this volcano of raging waters. It is said that in a clear day the smoke of Niagara may be seen at Buffalo. We were not so fortunate as to witness the rainbow that, in a certain position of the sunlight, is so frequently beheld upon the mist cloud that ascends from the Horse-shoe fall. But we looked down upon several small hori zontal rainbows lying flat upon the surface of the froth, beneath the rock on which we stood.

The depth to which the falls descend cannot be ascertained, as the rocks and caverns at their feet are only indicated by the vast body of surging water that whirls and roars among them, and that after raging, seething, smoking, flying upwards and downwards, and tumbling into a thousand varied forms, gradually resolves itself into long white reefs and ripples, diminishing in magnitude and contiguity till they scatter into snowy bells, and float off upon the dark green surface of the river below.

We gazed with unwearied and increasing interest, continually discovering new beauties. In consequence, perhaps, of the state of the atmosphere or the direction of the wind, the sound of the falls was less loud than we had anticipated. There were, in fact, two sounds perpetually accompanying each other, and seeming like the tenor and bass in music. One sound was that of an everlasting pouring and splashing; the other was a low and awful thunder tone, that forever murmured far down beneath us, coming up from the caverned recesses of the sunken rocks, and shaking the ground on which we stood. I think there is some exaggeration in most reports of the great distances at which the falls of Niagara can be heard.

Though prepared for the grandeur of Niagara, I had not anticipated its surpassing beauty. It was indeed a divine picture, painted by an Omnipotent Artist. All that has been done by His hand was perfect; the design, the colouring, the accessories-not a touch could be added to improve it. The water, the rocks, the trees-all harmonized-all combined to produce a scene unequalled in the universe-graceful, with its wildness; lovely, with its strength; elegant, with its terrific and resistless power,

It was a long time before we could withdraw | opposite shore, stepped upon British ground, our eyes from this world of waters to look and found ourselves in the dominions of Victoria. around upon objects made by mortal hands. I seemed to be breathing a different atmosphere, The neighbouring structures had all been erected and fancied that everything looked more English with reference to the accommodation of visitors, than American. Yet probably it was only fancy. or to facilitate their access to the finest points of A few minutes employed in crossing a river view; therefore we had no right to complain of (at this place scarcely more than half a mile wide), their interrupting the sublimity of the original had brought us into another dominion; into a scenery; but no work of art could possibly be country ruled by a sovereign that was not "the in accordance with this masterpiece of nature. people." Here the queen, and not the president, Still there were some few buildings individually is prayed for in church; the letters U. S. are picturesque. One was a light and graceful dead letters, the royal R. taking their place; the pagoda, very tall and of numerous stories, with stars and stripes are exchanged for the union an inclosed spiral staircase running up inside, cross of Britain; the inhabitants are subjected and encircled with tier upon tier of open bal- to English laws, and English prohibitions, and conies, each guarded with a Chinese railing; so are expected to be loyal; the word loyalty, that, at a distance, the whole structure had a which expresses nothing that Americans can feel, sort of lace-work appearance, as, standing on the being well understood across this narrow water. summit of one of the highest rocks, it rose against the bright blue sky. On the other hand was a tower of dark gray stone, erected amid the foam of the rapids, and on the verge of the great American fall. Behind us was our hotel, the Cataract House, with the buildings belonging to it. Before us, on the opposite side of the river, lay the Canadian shore, with the Clifton Hotel in the immediate vicinity of the Table Rock, and commanding from its verandas an extensive prospect, comprehending all Niagara at a glance.

In the afternoon we resumed our rambles, and visited the stone tower, which we reached by a narrow bridge of planks thrown across a part of the rapids. This tower, with its projecting iron railing round the top, has much the appearance of a lighthouse. From the balcony, to which we ascended by a winding staircase, we had a glorious sunset view of the falls, so splendidly beautiful that I cannot attempt to describe it. We afterwards visited the pagoda, and remained on its lofty summit till twilight was beginning to steal over the landscape; but long after all other objects were blended into one sombre tint, we discerned the white and varied forms of the cataract standing out in the darkening gloom.

Next day, after being lulled to sleep by the roar of the waters, we rose in time to see the falls beaming in the rays of early morning. Immediately after breakfast, we set out on an expedition across the river, to view Niagara from the Canada side. By means of an immensely long flight of wooden stairs, roofed over to preserve them from the weather, we descended a stupendous cliff, over a large part of which the highest of the American falls was rolling magnificently down. This staircase leads to the ferry; and on emerging into the open air at its foot, we found ourselves covered with the spray from the cataract. The ferry boat was waiting beneath the rock; and with several other ladies and gentlemen, we were rowed across by a man well versed in the intricate navigation among the conflicting eddies; the spray flying over us nearly all the time, our parasols affording but an imperfect screen.

In less than fifteen minutes we reached the

As soon as we found ourselves in Canada, we took a very handsome and convenient open carriage-one of several carioles or carryalls that were waiting at the wharf-and in it we "rode three miles on British land." We saw a few small farm-houses, with rough-cast walls and white-curtained windows, and pretty gardens redolent of flowers. My nephew thought they had a very English-cottage-like look; and I thought so too, till we afterwards saw precisely such dwellings on the American side between Niagara and Lewiston. It is true the pattern might have been taken from those across the water.

Near Drummondsville, a small dull-looking village (where we saw an old-fashioned inn, with an old-fashioned sign swinging from a post; an exhibition that in the states is no longer considered genteel), our driver pointed out to us Lundy's-lane, where was fought the most sanguinary and desperate battle of the last war. May it always continue to be designated as the last! It was afterwards called the battle of Bridgewater, and more recently that of Niagara ; but the place is not in sight of the falls, though their thunder may be heard there when the wind sets that way. The American generals were Brown, Scott, and Ripley; the British commanders, Generals Drummond and Riall; the latter was taken prisoner. The fight commenced about five in the afternoon on the 25th of July, 1814, and continued till after eleven, being fought partly by moonlight. The British fell into several important errors in this night combat, the identity of language and the darkness causing them to mistake the U. S. men for their own. More than a thousand bodies were found on the field next morning; but the inferiority of loss on either side was so little, that it might almost have been called a drawn battle.

We soon arrived at the Burning Spring, which is sheltered by a small wooden building or shanty. In the middle of the spring is placed a sort of churn-shaped bottomless barrel, within which the water, as it wells up, is kept continually in a boiling state by the gas that rises beneath. The man in attendance lifted off the barrel, and then lighting a twisted paper at a lamp, he set fire to the water; the surface of

which was immediately covered with a bright clear blaze, that rose up and continued burning for some minutes. After the flame had exhausted itself and subsided for the present, the man dipped two glasses into the spring, and presented each of us with a tumbler of its very clear water; which, on tasting, we found, to our surprise, was cool and palatable, having no peculiar taste or odour. He told us that this wonderful spring was accidentally discovered, in consequence of some hunters who had rested beside it, and kindled a fire to cook their game, having left the fire burning when they departed; so that one of the logs had rolled into the water, and ignited it. In this state it was found by some persons who came along immediately after. Specimens of the rock near the bottom of the spring are kept here for sale. They look very volcanic.

ever seen do I remember so well, or delight so in remembering.

On descending from the house-top and joining my companion, we went to the house where proper dresses are furnished to persons desirous of passing under the great sheet of that part of the Horse-shoe fall which terminates at the Table Rock. For myself, I thought not even for an instant of attempting this exploit; but my nephew, another gentleman, and a young lady prepared for the enterprise. Accompanied by some others of the party, I followed these adventurers down a long steep flight of wooden steps erected against the face of the rock, at the bottom of which we stood to see them go in beneath the fall. The young lady had put on over her whole dress a large loose yellowish oil-skin wrapper, confined at the waist with a belt; a hood of the same being attached to the collar, so that it could be drawn over her hair. The gentlemen were dressed in red flannel shirts, coarse thick trowsers, and had tied handkerhiefs on their heads. They expected not in this apparel to escape a drenchbut it was assumed to save their own clothes from injury.

Near this place once stood the village of Bridgewater, which was entirely destroyed at the time of the battle; nothing being now there but a few deserted ruins. Much was added to the usual horrors of war by the merciless destructioning, of towns along the frontier.

From the Burning Spring, we took a circuit round, till the carriage at last set us down on the Table Rock, which, sloping inward as it descends, shelves out at the top like a broad cornice, impending frightfully over the abyss below. It requires some nerve to look down from the extreme edge of this vast hanging shelf, which seems to tremble beneath your feet from the vibration of the air forced against it by the immense body of water that thunders down beside you. Here you have the nearest and most magnificent view of the Horse-shoe fall, the largest part of which belongs to the Canada side, and which extends entirely across the river, retiring back in the centre, and resting one extremity of its curve on the American shore, and the other on the British. The height is computed at one hundred and fifty-eight feet, and that of the great fall on the New York side at one hundred and sixty-four. This is judging from the rocks over which it throws itself. Into how deep a basin it descends is unknown, as the bottom of the falls can never be seen, hidden as they are by hills of foam and clouds of spray. While my nephew was sketching on the verge of the Table Rock, I was invited to the top of a small house that stands at a little distance, and commands from its flat roof a fine view of the whole of the falls, and the rapids branching off to supply them all. Here I sat on a chair that was tremulous with the concussion of the surrounding air; the roof shaking under my feet, and the whole building seeming to jar like a steamboat with a powerful engine. I gazed on the transcendent scene spread out beneath me, with a hopeless wish that the whole view, with all its most minute details, could be for ever impressed on my memory in forms and tints as vivid as I saw it then. So far has my desire been granted, that there is scarcely an hour in the day when a vision of Niagara does not glance upon my mind; and no place that I have

After the adventurers (I thought them bold ones) had, on turning an angle of the cliff, been for a few minutes lost to the spectators, we saw them emerge into view, the lady led on by the guide--a stout black man, who said he went under the fall twenty times a day. I shuddered as I saw them enter the dark misty cavern between the vast projecting sheet of water and the rock behind it. Of this cavern, and its terrors and dangers, I had heard awful accounts; but still no instance is recorded of any one, amidst its gloomy recesses and on its narrow and slippery pathway, having actually lost their footing and their life; for, in this frightful excursion, to miss one is to lose the other. The path or walkingplace is a shelf, wet and slimy, and not three feet wide, projecting from the face of the rock, and sloping downwards. It overhangs a preci pice seventy feet high, the base of which is washed by the surging waters below; and above, it towers up to the height of ninety feet. When on this perilous platform-where to look up or to look down is equally terrific-you see far above you the inside of the cataract rolling over the summit of the cliff, which inclining forward, forms, high over head, an arch of rock and water; the vast sheet of fluid, seeming to descend in a solid mass, interposing its heavy curtain, and shutting out the world from your view.

On first entering this gloomy recess, the rush of the caverned wind almost deprives you of breath. You are deafened and confused by the loud noise of the warring elements of air and water, at strife with the rugged and creviced rocks. And the blinding spray, flying in your face, causes you to hold down your head and close your eyes. This being the moment of fear, is therefore the moment of danger. After the first shock, the men who venture into this strange and appalling region always recover their presence of mind, and, directed by the guide, proceed unshrinkingly along the slanting

and slippery ledge, with steady eye, firm step, and well-braced nerves. They find courage to cast their gaze upward at the roof of rock that seems ready to break down with the heavy weight of the water that pours over it. They advance towards the dim chaos of mist and darkness and indefinable things, which bounds their view as they look before them, and whose secrets have never been discovered. But the guide warns them to turn back, as they have reached the Termination Rock; and in attempting to proceed further, they may return no more. The ladies, that venture behind the fall, feel usually more terror and find more difficulty than they anticipate; and they cling fearfully to the hand of the guide, depending on him at every step.

I was glad, indeed, when I saw our young adventurers come out in safety from the wild horrors of this dark and dangerous passage. They soon joined us at the foot of the staircase. The gentlemen were drenched with the spray; but it had run off from the oiled-cloth wrapper of the young lady without penetrating it. She looked pale, and said that having now satisfied her curiosity, she would never again try the feat of passing under the fall. The youngest of the gentlemen said he liked it so well, that if he lived at Niagara he should delight in taking this cold vapour bath every day.

To see enough of Niagara seemed impossible. What stranger ever did see enough of it? The longer you stay, the more beauties you discover, the more deeply you are impressed with awe and admiration, and the more reluctant you are to leave it. Who can leave Niagara, and not wish to return thither? And who can give it a farewell look, and not hope to visit it again?

And now, to descend to minor considerations, I must in justice mention that we were excellently accommodated at the Cataract House, a large, elegant, and well-kept establishment, with handsome drawing-rooms, comfortable chambers, efficient servants, and a table not inferior to those of the chief hotels in the Atlantic cities. The waiters were very numerous, and of every shade of what, in their case, is denominated colour; black, brown, and yellow; and one or two were copper-tinted and Indian-featured. They were all dressed alike, in clean white jackets and trowsers; but their style of hair displayed a pleasing variety. It was amusing so see the manner in which this troop of well-drilled domestics brought in the dessert, and placed it on the table; or rather the tables, as there were two very long ones, and a set of waiters for each. At a signal from the major-domo (who was stationed at the upper end of the room between the tables), the waiters took up the line of march in Indian file, and proceeded round with military precision, military step, and military faces. They were armed with japan trays or servers, each holding a different article. One man carried all the dessert plates, which, as he passed along, he deposited in their places, slapping them down "with an air." A second had all the knives; a third the forks; a fourth the spoons; each article being put down with an

air. Then came the pie-man; then the puddingman; next the pudding-sauce man; then he of the calves-foot jelly; and he of the blanc-mange; and he of the ice-cream-this last being the most popular. There were also some who had been detained on the almond and raisin and mottosecret service. Pine-apple and other fruit men brought up the rear. In this manner the whole dessert was placed on the tables in a few minutes, and in the most complete order.

On leaving Niagara, we took the cars to Lewiston, gazing back at the falls till the last glimpse disappeared, and the last sound died away. Nearly the whole seven miles of the road we looked down upon the river, flowing green and beautiful between walls of rock averaging three or four hundred feet in height; and we passed a number of pretty houses and gardens belonging to fine farms. On arriving at Lewiston, where we took the boat, all reminded us that we were on border land. The chief hotel looked directly over to Canada, and bore a sign in very large letters of The Frontier House. Opposite, on the heights of Queenston, stood the lofty monument erected on the spot where Brock, the English general, was killed in the Queenston battle, 1812. His remains are interred beneath it. About five years ago, a miscreant attempted to destroy this fine column (which was built of freestone) by blowing it up with gunpowder placed in the basement. He did not succeed in prostrating it, but the whole interior, including the spiral staircase, was destroyed, leaving nothing within but a heap of rubbish. The monument rearing on high its shattered pillar, with the top blown entirely off, is still a conspicuous landmark.

At Lewiston we embarked in one of the small but handsome steamboats that convey passengers from that place to Oswego. On each shore, where the Niagara strait widens into Lake Ontario, is a promontory defended by a fortressFort Massasanga on the Canadian side, and Fort Niagara on ours, seeming to frown defiance across the water; the flag of England waving from one, and that of the United States from the other. Having passed these forts, we entered fairly upon the broad lake. The day declined, and "soon as the woods on shore looked dim," I thought of the Canadian boat song. The prow of our boat, which from Lewiston had pointed northerly, was now directed to the east, and the faint outline of Canada was soon lost to our sight.

A mist began to settle round, obscuring even the New York shore; and the solitude of our lonely lake resembled that of the ocean deserts. A dark dense cloud had gathered in the west; and below it, directly above the verge of the horizon, lay a narrow strip of clear sky, just broad enough to show the crimson and dilated disk of the setting sun, as he slowly descended from behind the black mass of vapour that had obscured his beams for the last hour. We watched him as he seemed to sink, by less than inches, into the reddening wave; and when the rim of his upper edge was seen no more, and

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darkness fell upon the water, we almost thought that we had witnessed a sunset at sea.

through the village of Salina, where each side of the canal is lined with a long range of salt-houses, containing furnaces over which the water of the Onondaga salt springs is boiled till the liquid evaporates, and leaves the granulated salt at the bottom of the kettle. It is then dried in baskets placed on the top of the kilns. These springs belong to the state of New York, and are leased to the owners of the works, who pay a duty to the state of six cents a bushel. The salt is very

As the twilight came on, a dark, gigantic perpendicular mist rose on the lake behind us, and seemed to be following the boat closely, coming fast upon us in the form of a strange black wall, ascending from the surface of the water up to the heavens. I confess I did not look at this phenomenon without some apprehension; for I had heard of the sudden squalls that are so dangerous on these vast lakes, and of a steam-white and fine. boat that had been wrecked on Ontario the preceding summer. But none of our companions seemed alarmed; and contrary to my misgivings, we took our tea in quiet, and without any increase in the rolling motion of the boat. On returning to the deck, the dark wall of mist no longer pursued us (having been dispersed by the wind, or taken another direction); and the moon, having climbed above a bank of clouds, was silvering their edges with her beams, and trembling in broken light upon the ruffled surface of the water.

All was quiet during the night, till we reached the mouth of the Genessee river, and landed some passengers who were to proceed down to Rochester, which is but six miles distant from Lake Ontario. Early in the morning, we disembarked at Oswego, where there is a large fort, and a considerable town. Having breakfasted at one of the hotels, we took the canal boat for Syracuse. This boat was for passengers only, and handsomely fitted up. There were some very agreeable persons on board; and their society made this slow and monotonous way of travelling less tedious than I had anticipated. But how very, very slow it seemed after being accustomed to the rapidity of steam-travelling. Though the distance is but thirty-eight miles by the canal, from Oswego to Syracuse, we were eight hours in performing it; while we go from New York to Philadelphia by steamboat and railroad in little more than six. But if canaltravelling is slow, it is also sure; and so safe that it is scarcely possible to meet with an accident: provided always you remember when on deck to stoop your head in passing under the numerous bridges (all of which are too low), you have nothing else to fear. The boat cannot sink; and should you fall into the water, if nobody takes you out, you can scramble up the bank yourself. And in case of fire, you have only to step on shore. Also, canal-horses never run away with the vehicle. It is true, we saw in our three brisk-trotting quadrupeds great eagerness to keep the lead of the other boats, and evident indignation at attempts of other horses to pass them.

There was little to vary the sameness of our route, except going through the locks, always the chief events of canal-travelling, and happily very frequent. Our other adventures were passing other boats, laden with merchandize, or with European emigrants seeking a new home in the lake regions. Those that we saw were all Germans or Swiss.

Towards the close of our voyage, we passed

We spent the remainder of the afternoon at Syracuse; and after breakfast, next morning, we took the cars to Albany; arriving at that large and flourishing city in full time to embark in the evening boat for New York.

The boat, that night, was the Knickerbocker; literally a floating palace, and so large and divided into so many compartments that it makes you think of a floating town. In conformity to the name of this enormous steam fabric, an oil portrait of Washington Irving is placed at the head of the staircase that leads down to the refectory; and on the door of each of the numerous state-rooms connected with the ladies' cabin, is inscribed the name of one of the ancient Dutch families; as Van Rensselaer, Van Vechten, Tenbroeck, &c.; the rooms being designated by these names, instead of calling them by numbers in the usual manner. The state-rooms on the upper deck have a panel of each door ornamented with a landscape of American scenery. Among them are Wolf's Rest (Washington Irving's country residence) and Willis's Glenmary. These doors are painted white, beautifully varnished, and with their pictured landscapes and bright gilding, look as if made of fine porcelain. The ladies' cabin is immensely large, furnished in excellent taste with a crimson and white Brussels carpet, chairs, sofas, ottomans, and tabourets of crimson white and gold, and curtains of thin white muslin embroidered with crimson. The tout ensemble has a grand and beautiful effect. The fare in this splendid boat is one dollar, with a separate charge for food and bed.

The first time I went up the Hudson was towards the close of the monopoly of the old North River Company. The fare was then ten dollars from New York to Albany. I went in a boat called the Richmond, the slowest even of that period, seldom performing her voyage in less than thirty-six hours. All her appointments were in the cheapest style. The cabin walls were plain white wainscot; the carpets very course in grain; the chairs and tables common wood painted; the curtains of dingy red and brown India calico, such as was bought at twelve cents a yard. How steamboat times have changed!

Time is but as a puny feather shed from the illimitable pinion of Eternity.

J.

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