io8 Life of Auduhon. 



and factories. The beautiful falls of the Genesee river, 

 about eighty feet high and four times as broad, I have 

 visited, and have made a slight sketch of them. One and 

 a half miles below is another fall of the same height, but 

 the water is much more broken in its descent. 



'■'■ August 24. Took passage for Buffalo, arrived safely, 

 and passed a sleepless night, as most of my nights have 

 been since I began my wanderings. Left next morning 

 for the Falls of Niagara ; the country is poor, the soil 

 stiff white clay, and the people are lank and sallow. 

 Arrived at the hotel, found but few visitors, recorded my 

 name, and wrote under it, ' who, like Wilson, will ramble, 

 but never, like that great man, die under the lash of a 

 bookseller.' 



" All trembling I reached the Falls of Niagara, and oh, 

 what a scene ! my blood shudders still, although I am not 

 a coward, at the grandeur of the Creator's power ; and I 

 gazed motionless on this new display of the irresistible 

 force of one of His elements. The falls, the rainbow, 

 the rapids, and the surroundings all unite to strike the 

 senses with awe ; they defy description with pen or pen- 

 cil ; and a view satisfied me that Niagara never had been 

 and never will be painted. I moved towards the rapids, 

 over which there is a bridge to Goat island, that I would 

 like to have crossed, to look on the water which was 

 rushing with indescribable swiftness below, but was 

 deterred from the low state of my funds. Walking along 

 the edge of the stream for a few hundred yards, the full 

 effect of the whole grand rush of the water was before 

 me. The color of the water was a verdigris green, and 

 contrasted remarkably with the falling torrent. The niist 

 of the spray mounted to the clouds, while the roaring 

 below sounded like constant heavy thunder, making me 

 think at times that the earth was shaking also. 



" From this point I could see three-quarters of a mile 



