Niagara Falls. 183 



on Fort Erie was even more disastrous in its consequences 

 to the British than had been the attack on Toronto to the 

 Americans when a similar explosion took place. Fort 

 Niagara, on the right bank of the Niagara River where it 

 falls into Lake Ontario, at the same period fell by stratagem 

 into the hands of the British ; a very interesting and 

 detailed account of all these battle-fields will be found in the 

 Second Series of the " Maple Leaves," by J. M. Lemoine, 

 Esq., of Quebec. Fort Niagara has many interesting 

 associations connected with it, as being the scene of many 

 \ severe conflicts between the whites and Indians, and subse- 

 quently between the English and French : the village 

 adjacent to the fort is called Youngstown, and the fort on 

 the Canadian side " Massasauga." Near here is the quiet 

 town of Niagara, 16 miles from the Falls, noted for its 

 healthy position : and it is quite^ a resort for the pleasure- 

 seeker, the merchant, and the student, who come over from 

 Toronto on a Saturday, returning on the Monday by steamer. 

 The old historical name of the town was Newark. 



Before leaving the Niagara district, the traveller should 

 pay a visit to the pretty and almost fashionable town of St. 

 Catharines, about nine miles from the Suspension Bridge. 

 The country through which the road winds affords a very 

 pleasant drive, or, if preferable, it can be reached by railway, 

 it being a station both on the Great Western and Welland 

 Railroads. It is beautifully situated on a tract of table land 

 above the valley through which the Welland Canal is cut, 

 and is surrounded by a section unsurpassed for fertility and 

 cultivation in the western part of the Province. Here the 

 peach, pear, and plum attain almost as great perfection as 

 in the peach-growing districts of the neighbouring States, 

 and from its productiveness, the Niagara District has been 

 styled " the Garden of Canada." St. Catharines is noted for 

 its mineral springs, which are very efficacious in rheumatic 

 affections, and it is quite a resort in summer for invalids 



