136 FRAGMENTS OP SClENUft. 



really/' says Dean Peacock, "no taste for life in the conn- 

 try: 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 de- 

 lights; 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 pos- 

 sible for them to be seen and known, will be intelligible. 



On the first evening of my visit, 1 met, at the head of 

 Bid die'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. Turning to 

 a photograph, he described, by reference to it, a feat which 

 he had accomplished some time previously, and which had 

 brought him almost under the green water of the Horse- 

 shoe Fall. "Can you lead me there to-morrow?" I asked. 

 He eyed me inquiringly, weighing, perhaps, the chances of 

 a man of light build, and with gray in his whiskers, in such 

 an undertaking. "I wish," I added, "to see as much of 

 the fall as can be seen, and where you lead I will endeavor 

 to follow/' His scrutiny relaxed into a smile, and he said, 

 " Very well; I shall be ready for you to-morrow." 



On the morrow, accordingly, I came. In the hut at the 

 head of Biddle's Stair I stripped wholly, and re dressed 

 according to instructions drawing on two pairs of woolen 

 pantaloons, three woolen jackets, two pairs of socks, and a 

 pair of felt shoes. Even if wet, my guide assured me that 

 the clothes would keep me from being chilled; and he was 

 right. A suit and hood of yellow oilcloth covered all. 

 Most laudable precautions were taken by the young assist- 

 ant who helped to dress me to keep the water out; but 

 his devices broke down immediately when severely tested. 



We descended the stair; the handle of a pitchfork doing, 

 in my case, the duty of an alpenstock. At the bottom, the 

 guide inquired whether we should go first to the Cave of 

 the Winds, or to the Horseshoe, remarking that the latter 

 would try iis most. I decided on getting the roughest done 



