AT THE FALLS OF NIAGARA. 359 



ran to this natural limit, and there descended to its lower 

 bed. If this really was the fact, it could not have con- 

 tinued to flow for ever there. The deep foundation is 

 the same species of sandstone and shattered slate which 

 sustains the strata where the falls now are. The incum- 

 bent beds of rock are but continuations of those very 

 calcarious layers ; with the addition of some siliceous 

 sandstone between the top and bottom, along the decli- 

 vity of Queenstown. What marvel then that the river 

 should have opened for itself its present profound chan-- 

 nei through rocks of such a stratification and so consti- 

 tuted ? There cannot be a moment's hesitation in the 

 mind of every examiner to admit the readiness with 

 which the slaty strata, cracked through with innumerable 

 flaws, would be dislodged by the force of such an agent. 

 Their minute fragments of loosely cohering particles, 

 would immediately be carried along by the tide. By 

 attrition they would be worn away, and lay aside their 

 shistic form on returning to argillaceous powder. Thus 

 the strata of slate would naturally disappear and leave a 

 passage for the waters. In the meanwhile the limestone, 

 deprived of its support beneath, would separate piece- 

 meal and tumble into the abyss. Every person of science 

 knows that calcarious earth is soluble in water, and that 

 it is liable also to alteration through the chemical and 

 mechanical agencies to which it is subjected. The firm- 

 est limestone will, after sufficient agitation and exposure, 

 lose its coherence and be transformed to sand, or vanish 

 in solution. In either case, whether the rocks are pul- 

 verized or dissolved, the greater impediments are remov- 

 ed and an opening made for the river. And really when 

 it is considered what vast power water possesses as a 

 menstruum, and how irresistibly it acts by impulse, there 

 will be reason enough to conclude that the channel from 

 Queenstown to Chippe way may have been worn between 



