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 

 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 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. 



