6 THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE BY LAND. 



as to bar all passage, lias a striking beauty beyond 

 comparison. We stayed but to see tbe glorious 

 plains of Abraham, and then hastened up the St. 

 Lawrence by Montreal, through the lovely scenery of 

 the " Thousand Islands," and across Lake Ontario to 

 Toronto. 



We determined to spend a day at Niagara, and, 

 taking another steamer here, passed over to Lewiston, 

 on the American side of the lake, at the mouth 

 of the Niagara River. From Lewiston a railway 

 runs to within a mile of the Palls, following the 

 edge of the precipitous cliiFs on the east side of the 

 narrow ravine, through which the river rushes to 

 pour itself into Lake Ontario. Griad to escape the 

 eternal clanging of the engine bell warning peoj)le to 

 get out of the way as the train steamed along the 

 streets, we walked across the suspension bridge to the 

 Canadian side of the river, and forward to the CKffcon 

 House. We heard the roar of the cataract soon 

 after leaving the station, and caught glimpses of it 

 from time to time along the road; but at last we 

 came out into the open, near the hotel, and saw, in 

 full view before us, the American wonder of the 

 world. Our first impression was certainly one of 

 disappointment. Hearing so much from earliest 

 childhood of the great Falls of Niagara, one forms a 

 most exaggerated conception of their magnitude and 

 grandeur. But the scene rapidly began to exercise a 

 charm over us, and as we stood on the edge of the 

 Horseshoe Fall, on the very brink of the precipice 

 over which the vast flood hurls itself, we confessed 



