Preliminary notice. Niagara, a short description of the Maelstrom is inserted in this work. It is from the pen of an American gentleman, who visited the place he describes. If any travellers to the American Whirlpool would wish to experience all the sensations of danger and peril which came over those who passed the disk of the Maelstrom, they have but to launch a boat on the Niagara, and attempt an excursion, for examining more closely the whirling waters. In so doing, they will truly peril their lives, and feel sensations of terror, to their hearts' content; or the waves of Niagara will make buoyant their bodies, and infuse courage, more than natural, in the hearts of those who ride over them. "Bear me, Oh bear me to sequester'd scenes, The party at the Falls having taken seats in the omnibus, or having engaged a barouche or carriage, are on their way to the Whirlpool. After riding one and a half miles, they come to the junction of the Lewiston road with the Niagara Falls and Schlosser roads. In former days, this road was the great thoroughfare between the lower and upper lakes. When all the surrounding country was wild and solitary, unimproved, and uninhabited except by the natives of the forest, this road exhibited a scene of busy life. It was crowded with teams, with animals and men, and all was activity and animation. Since then, it has greatly changed: the Erie canal opened a new communication, and the Wel Gad Pierce. land canal, in Canada, connects lakes Erie and Ontario. These works have drawn the business from the Portage road; and now, although the country through which it passes, is improved and productive, it is far more lonely than it was in former days. "Who does the utmost that he can, Does well, acts nobly: angels could no more." At the junction of the Portage with the Niagara Falls road, was, some years since, kept the public house of Gad Pierce. He was, in the time of the war with Great Britain, an active frontier partizan. When hostilities commenced between the two countries, there was a very small number of troops on the American side of the river, and a single company only to garrison Fort Niagara. It was expected, every night, that the fort would be attacked by the British, who had a large body of men at Fort George. Mr. Pierce, aware of this state of things, one day raised all the inhabitants of the country, far and near,-- young and old. The country was then thinly populated, and they assembled at Lewiston from several 'miles distant. Horses of every kind were brought into requisition, and when the citizens were mounted, they appeared at a distance like a formidable troop of cavalry. Among them, too, were several of the Tuscarora Indians, who entered with spirit into the maneuvre. In the place of swords, they used walking canes, sticks, and ramrods. Several of the ramrods were of polished steel or iron, which made a very bright and flashy appearance. A cavalcade.-An attack. The cavalcade moved from Lewiston, along the river road, in sight of the enemy, and entered Fort Niagara ; the blankets of the Indians fluttering in the wind, and the many-colored and various habiliments of the farmers; the limping and over-strained plough horse; the nibbling gait and twitching head of the wild pony; with now and then a noble horse of the Pennsylvania breed; formed, to those who were near, a most ludicrous spectacle. In the fort, they dismounted, and performed some slight evolutions in the most laughable style. At the command to mount, some of the Indians executed the order in such a masterly manner, as to throw themselves entirely over their ponies. To the British, the imposing appearance of the troops, with their steel ramrods, which glittered in the sun like broadswords, had the desired effect: the contemplated attack was not made. At the time of the general invasion of the frontier, Mr. Pierce had his family conveyed to a place of security, but. would not himself quit his premises. He, and three or four others, formed the little garrison, with which he determined to defend his house. They waited for the approach of the enemy. At length, a company of British regulars appeared in sight, and a fire was opened upon them. They continued the defence for some time; but, as their opponents were numerous, it was impracticable to keep them at a distance. A part advanced upon the front of the house, succeeded in breaking down the door, and fired their pieces as they entered. The defenders effected their escape in an opposite direction, without an individual of their number being wounded. Whether the attacking party suffered any loss, was not known. Two miles from the Falls, a small open building, painted white, with Grecian columns, is pointed out by the guide, as one of the works of Benjamin Rathbun. It stands between the road and the river, and is placed over a mineral spring. The spring is sulphurous, and the water, it is said, very much resembles that of Harrowgate, in England. In rheumatic and scrofulous diseases, it has been used to advantage, in several cases; and it only requires interested and suitable efforts, to give it celebrity and favor with the public. The situation, too, is very pleasant, and a distinct view of the Falls is obtained from the road-the view which Capt. Bazil Hall so much admired, and which so vividly, he says, remained fixed upon his mind. After all, to Rathbun must be awarded the credit of having a very sound judgment in making his purchases. He selected the most choice and valuable situations; and, had it not been for his unfortunate aberration from the path of rectitude, his high expectations, as to value, would have been realized. Traveller." Is the property still his?" Guide." It has gone with the general wreck of his estate; and it now belongs to the gentleman of whom it was first purchased." As the party roll along the road, they desire of the Guide, a description of the Whirlpool. He complies with the request. "Imagination, baffled, strives in vain! The wildest streams that ever poets feign, This grand and beautiful scene is three miles from the Falls of Niagara, and four miles from the village of Lewiston. Standing on the right bank of the Niagara, two hundred and fifty feet above the river, you behold at a distance the advancing waters; not mild and gentle, but agitated, rushing, and roaring, with deafening sound, they hurry on. They come, in all their power: majestic, solitary, and alone. No vessel, or work of man's formation, floats on the raging torrent: nothing of life rides over the resistless waves, or floats unscathed on the mist-crowned billows. This mighty flood is more lonely and mysterious than the solitary ocean. Man passes with comparative security over the vasty deep; but, on these waters, living, he must not: he is powerless. They rage, in their solitude, alone,- for ever; and man can only behold them with emotions of awe, and reverence that Almighty Power "who weighs the hills in a balance, and holds the waters of the ocean in the hollow of his hand." Still forward, in wave after wave, rushes the resistless flood; and all that floats therein, is peeled, dismembered and crushed. If an object is beheld, it is but for a moment: swiftly it passes the hollow of the crested waves - rises amid the feathery mist—and then, again, |