NIAGARA. 181 



length we came to the side of a more formidable 

 current. My guide walked along its edge until he 

 reached its least turbulent portion. Halting, he said, 

 ' This is our greatest difficulty ; if we can cross here, 

 we shall get far towards the Horseshoe.' 



He waded in. It evidently required all his strength 

 to steady him. The water rose above his loins, and it 

 foamed still higher. He had to search for footing, 

 amid unseen boulders, against which the torrent rose 

 violently. He struggled and swayed, but he struggled 

 successfully, and finally reached the shallower water at 

 the other side. Stretching out his arm, he said to me, 

 * Now come on.' I looked down the torrent, as it 

 rushed to the river below, which was seething with the 

 tumult of the cataract. De Saussure recommended 

 the inspection of Alpine dangers, with the view of 

 making them familiar to the eye before they are en- 

 countered ; and it is a wholesome custom in places of 

 difficulty to put the possibility of an accident clearly 

 before the mind, and to decide beforehand what ought 

 to be done should the accident occur. Thus wound up 

 in the present instance, I entered the water. Even 

 where it was not more than knee-deep, its power was 

 manifest. As it rose around me, I sought to split the 

 torrent by presenting a side to it ; but the insecurity 

 of the footing enabled it to grasp my loins, twist me 

 fairly round, and bring its impetus to bear upon my 

 back. Further struggle was impossible ; and feeling 

 my balance hopelessly gone, I turned, flung myself 

 towards the bank just quitted, and was instantly, as 

 expected, swept into shallower water. 



The oilcloth covering was a great incumbrance ; it 

 had been made for a much stouter man, and, standing 

 upright after my submersion, my legs occupied the 

 centre of two bags of water. My guide exhorted me to 



