NIAGARA.. 179 



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 at- 

 tribute. 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 pro- 

 jected 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 natu- 

 ral 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 intelligible. 



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

 of Biddle's Stair, the guide to the Cave of the Winds. 

 He was in the prime of manhood large, well built, 

 firm and pleasant in mouth and eye. My interest in 

 the scene stirred up his, and made him communicative. 



