NIAGARA. 135 
At the southern extremity of the Horseshoe is a promon- 
tory, formed by the doubling back of the gorge excavated 
by the cataract, and into which it plunges. On the prom- 
ontory stands a stone building, called the Terrapin 
Tower, the door of which had been nailed up because of 
the decay of the staircase within it. Through the kindness 
of Mr. Townsend, the superintendent of Goat Island, the , 
door was opened for me. Frmii ^thisjtower.at all hours of the 
dav, and at some hours of the night, 1 watched and listened - 
to the Horseshoe Fall. The river here is evidently much 
deeper than the American branch; and instead of bursting 
into foam where it quits the ledge, it bends solidly over, , 
and falls in a continuous layer of the^~m<>st vivid green. ^ >) 3>D{ 
The tint is not uniform; long stripes of deeper Tine alter-/ 
Dating with bands of brighter color. Close to the ledge 
over which the water rolls, foam is generated, the light 
falling upon which, and flashing back from it, is sifted 
in its passage to and fro, and changed from white tO'emer- 
ald-greeu. Heaps of superficial foam are also formed at 
intervals along the ledge, and are immediately drawn into 
long white striae.* Lower down, the surface, shaken by 
the reaction from below, incessantly rustles into whiteness. 
The descent finally resolves itself into a rhythm, the water 
reaching the bottom of the fall in periodic gushes. or-is 
the spray uniformly diffused through the air, but is 
wafted through it in successive veils of gauze-like texture. 
From all this it is evident that beauty is not absent from 
the Horseshoe Pall, but majesty is its chief attribute. The 
plunge of the water is not wild, but deliberate, vast and 
fascinating. From the Terrapin Tower, the adjacent arm 
of the Horseshoe is seen projected against the opposite one, 
midway down; to the imagination, therefore, is left the 
picturing of the gulf into which the cataract plunges. 
The__JLelight which natural scenery produces in some 
minHs is difficult to explain, and the conduct which it 
prompts can hardly be fairly criticised by those who have 
never experienced it. It seems to me a deduction from the 
completeness of the celebrated Thomas Young, that he 
was unable to appreciate natural scenery. "He had 
*The direction of the wind with reference to the course of a ship 
may be inferred with accuracy from the foam-streaks oil the surface 
of the sea. 
