Description of the Falls of Niagara. 41 



incomparably superior to any thing of the kind, in 

 the known world, is the vast body of water which 

 they precipitate into an immense abyss. 



The St. Laurence is one of the greatest rivers of 

 America. It is very deep, and about 742 yards wide 

 at the Falls. The perpendicular descent there is 

 about 140 feet, down to the level of the water below. 

 How far the water rushes downwards, still further 

 within the chasm underneath, is uncertain. It falls 

 58 feet within the last half mile above the Falls, 

 which adds to the force and velocity of the cataract. 

 The sound occasioned by the great and precipitate 

 fall of such a vast body of water has the most grand 

 effect that can be conceived. It far exceeds in solem- 

 nity any other sound produced by the operations of 

 nature. It is only at the Niagara-Falls that the force 

 of that figure made use of in the book of Revelations 

 can be fully felt: " I heard a voice as the voice of 

 many waters." And what did that voice say ? It 

 proclaimed aloud, as if all Heaven spoke, " Hallelu- 

 jah : for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth." This 

 is the language that has been thundered, for ages, 

 from the Falls of Niagara. 



Every hour of the day, and every change of the 

 weather, varies the scenery of this romantic, this 

 magnificent display of the wonders of nature, com- 

 pared with which, every attempt of art to produce 

 the sublime, sinks into utter insignificance. The 

 first day that we spent there, the weather was clear. 

 The next day, it became cloudy, and rained a little. 



F 



