NIAGARA 193 



stones. They were sharp and trying. The base of the first 

 portion of the cataract is covered with huge bowlders, ob- 

 viously the ruins of the limestone ledge above. The water 

 does not distribute itself uniformly among these, but seeks 

 out channels through which it pours torrentially. We 

 passed some of these with wetted feet, but without diffi- 

 culty. At length we came to the side of a more formi- 

 dable 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 toward 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 bowlders, against which the current rose violently. 

 He struggled and swayed, but he struggled successfully, 

 and finally reached the shallow 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 be- 

 low, which was seething with the tumult of the cataract. 

 De Saussure recommended the inspection of Alpine dan- 

 gers, with the view of making them familiar to the eye 

 before they are encountered; 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. 



SCIENCE V 9 



