610 THE UNIVERSE. 



pleases the eye, and the distant murmur of which charms 

 the ear, when great streams meet with obstructions in their 

 way, cataracts and falls are formed of the most formidable 

 aspect. In some cases large sheets of water, as at Niagara, 

 precipitate themselves to the bottom of an immense gulf 

 with a roar which seems to shake the surrounding rocks ; in 

 other cases, as in the falls of the Zambesi, the river divides 

 into several masses, and gives origin to a series of vaporous 

 columns, which rise in eddying swirls towards the clouds 

 and fall in fine rain. 



Niagara stands preeminent among the great cataracts of 

 the globe for the enormous volume of water that is carried 

 over so high a precipice. About sixteen miles from Lake 

 Erie the rapids commence, which continue about a mile, 

 rolling swiftly down among the rocks, accomplishing in this 

 distance a fall of fifty-two feet. These rapids terminate in 

 the great cataract, the precipitous descent of which is 164 

 feet on the American side, and 150 on the Canadian. At 

 this point the river, making a curve from W. to N., spreads 

 out to an extreme width of about 4750 feet. Goat Island, 

 which extends down to the brink of the falls, occupies about 

 one fourth of this space, leaving the river on the American 

 side about 1100 feet wide, and on the Canadian side about 

 double this width. The line along the verge of the Cana- 

 dian fall is much longer than the breadth of this portion of 

 the river, by reason of its horse-shoe form, the curve ex- 

 tending up the centre of the current. The waters sweeping 

 down the rapids are carried with great velocity over the 

 precipice, and form a grand curve. The space between this 

 sheet of water and the precipice widens near the bottom, 



