THE FALLS OP NIAGARA. 53 



The distance from the inn where I lodged to the nearest part of the great 

 Horse Shoe fall is about 300 yards, yet the concussion of air caused by 

 the cataract is so great, that the window frames, and indeed the whole 

 fabric, are continually in a tremulous motion, and in winter when the 

 wind drives the spray in the direction of the buildings, the whole scene 

 is coated with sheets of ice. Reason and imagination are alike confounded 

 at the awfulness and grandeur of the scene, so completely does the first 

 view of this mighty cataract absorb all human faculty, except to see and 

 wonder ! The first distinct view from the elevated Table land, or 

 * Mountain,' as it is called, is of a tolerably compact column of white 

 mist, ascending perpendicularly to a vast height, when it apparently 

 encountered a current of upper air, which broke it into small fleecy clouds 

 that floated horizontally towards the sunny west, as far as the eye could 

 reach. As I approached nearer, this column was truly beautiful, and 

 before I had reached the immediate vicinity of the cataract, the sun had 

 so far declined that his slanting rays were magically reflected in a beauti- 

 ful bow thrown across the river, varying in its splendour according to 

 the density of the ascending spray. The most interesting and beautiful 

 point of view is from a cliff opposite to Fort Schloper cataract; although 

 much less magnificent, yet it excites much more interest than any other 

 station, having a delightful view of the steep and lofty cliffs composed of 

 earth and rocks, which are generally quite perpendicular; here, however, 

 one half of the Horse Shoe fall is concealed by the projecting cliff, but 

 its partial view is beautiful in the extreme. The descent to the bottom 

 of these falls is accomplished by very long pine trees formed in the shape 

 of ladders, on which a visitor can descend to the bottom amidst a variety 

 of huge rocks and pendant trees, which ever and anon seem to threaten 

 him with destruction. The color of the water of these cataracts depends 

 upon the state of the atmosphere, the force and height of the wind and 

 sun ; at times the spray rises above the falls, and seems to mingle with 

 the clouds ! The stream descends very rapidly for nearly eight miles 

 below the falls, and is not safely navigable until it reaches Queen's Town, 

 which is quite ten miles from the cataract. It is reckoned that the 

 quantity of water which rushes over the falls is 674,000 tons per minute." 

 '' Beyond the Horse Shoe is Goat Island," says the lady we have 

 already quoted from, " and beyond Goat Island, the American fall, bold, 

 straight, and chafed to snowy whiteness by the rocks which oppose its 

 course, but it does not approach in sublimity or awful beauty to the 

 wondrous crescent on the other shore. There the foam of the mighty 

 cauldron, into which the deluge pours the hundred silvery torrents 



