NIAGARA 191 



rustles into whiteness. "The descent finally resolves itself 

 into a rhythm, the water reaching the bottom of the fall 

 in periodic gushes. Nor 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 Fall, 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 delight which natural scenery produces in some 

 minds 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 

 really," says Dean Peacock, "no taste for life in the 

 country; he was one of those who thought that no one 

 who was able to live in London would be content to live 

 elsewhere." Well, Dr. Young, like Dr. Johnson, had a 

 right to his delights; but I can understand a hesitation 

 to accept them, high as they were, to the exclusion of 



That o'erflowing joy which Nature yields 

 To her true lovers. 



To all who are of this mind, the strengthening of desire 

 on my part to see and know Niagara Falls, as far as it is 

 possible for them to be seen and known, will be intelli- 

 gible. 



On the first evening of my visit, I met, at the head 



