132 HalVs Remarks on Niagara Falls 



contemplated at the falls, and the erection of manufactories, 

 by which great quantities of water from above the rapids will 

 be returned to the Niagara channel below the falls. Thus far 

 the country supplying water to the upper lakes has been but 

 little changed by the hand of cultivation, the primeval forests 

 still clothe the surface, and evaporation to a great extent is 

 prevented. This cannot always remain so ; the advancing 

 settlements will yet penetrate even the wilderness bordering 

 Lake Superior, and the opening of the surface to the influence 

 of the sun's rays will greatly diminish the supply of water 

 flowing into the tributaries. These causes will sensibly di- 

 minish the quantity passing down the natural outlet ; and the 

 mighty Niagara, the '' Thunder of Waters,^^ is destined to be 

 at certain seasons but a diminutive representative of its former 

 grandeur. 



Note. Since writing the foregoing paper, I have referred to 

 some notes and correspondence with Mr. Roy, Government 

 Engineer at Toronto, U. C. Prom levels which he has made 

 from Lake Ontario to the Q,ueenston heights, at several places, 

 he says the crest of the terrace constantly declines going 

 westward from the river, while the base continues at the same 

 elevation. This fact is opposed to information I had before 

 received, and to the general belief. If this be substantiated, 

 and I have every reason to believe the statement, it may ma- 

 terially alter the reasoning in regard to the former recession, 

 of the falls, and the manner in which the chasm has been 

 excavated. 



From the Niagara river there is a declination of the crest of 

 the terrace eastward, so that at Rochester its summit is about 

 sixtyfive feet below the level of Lake Erie ; giving in this 

 direction a descent of about one hundred feet in eighty miles.* 

 I have no data for determining the rate of declination wester- 

 ly, but whatever it may be, it proves the course of the Niagara 

 to be upon or near the highest part of this terrace. If this 

 inequality of the surface was produced by some force after 



• See New York Geological Reports. 



