﻿26 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  Brock's 
  monument, 
  which 
  commands 
  the 
  hights 
  above 
  Queenston^ 
  

   on 
  the 
  Canadian 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  river. 
  Looking 
  northward 
  from 
  this 
  

   elevation, 
  the 
  observer 
  sees 
  an 
  almost 
  level 
  plain, 
  cut 
  only 
  by 
  the 
  

   winding 
  lower 
  Niagara, 
  stretching 
  from 
  the 
  foot 
  of 
  a 
  pronounced 
  

   and 
  often 
  precipitous 
  escarpment 
  to 
  the 
  shores 
  of 
  Lake 
  Ontario, 
  7 
  

   miles 
  away. 
  Ordinarily 
  the 
  distant 
  northern 
  shore 
  of 
  the 
  lake 
  is 
  

   not 
  readily 
  recognized 
  by 
  the 
  unaided 
  eye, 
  though 
  on 
  clear 
  days 
  a 
  

   faint 
  streak 
  of 
  land 
  may 
  be 
  seen 
  between 
  sky 
  and 
  water 
  on 
  the 
  dis- 
  

   tant 
  horizon. 
  A 
  good 
  field 
  glass 
  however 
  will 
  generally 
  disclose 
  

   the 
  opposite 
  shore, 
  and 
  the 
  much 
  eroded 
  clififs 
  of 
  Scarborough. 
  Far 
  

   beyond 
  these, 
  fully 
  a 
  hundred 
  miles 
  to 
  the 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  observer, 
  the 
  

   crystalline 
  rocks 
  of 
  the 
  Laurentide 
  mountains 
  rise 
  from 
  beneath 
  their 
  

   covering 
  of 
  Paleozoic 
  strata, 
  as 
  formerly 
  they 
  rose 
  above, 
  the 
  waters 
  

   of 
  the 
  Paleozoic 
  sea. 
  These 
  ancient 
  Canadian 
  highlands, 
  together 
  

   with 
  the 
  Adirondack 
  mountains 
  of 
  New 
  York, 
  and 
  the 
  old 
  crystal- 
  

   line 
  regions 
  of 
  the 
  Appalachians, 
  constitute 
  the 
  chief 
  visible 
  rem- 
  

   nants 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  pre-Cambric 
  North 
  American 
  continent. 
  The 
  

   erosion 
  of 
  these 
  ancient 
  lands 
  has 
  furnished 
  much 
  of 
  the 
  material 
  

   from 
  which 
  beds 
  of 
  later 
  date 
  in 
  this 
  region 
  were 
  derived. 
  Some 
  of 
  

   these 
  beds 
  may 
  be 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  sections 
  cut 
  by 
  the 
  rivers 
  through 
  

   the 
  deposits 
  in 
  comparatively 
  recent 
  times, 
  and 
  no 
  more 
  instruc- 
  

   tive 
  example 
  than 
  the 
  gorge 
  of 
  the 
  Niagara 
  need 
  be 
  cited. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  banks 
  of 
  the 
  lower 
  Niagara 
  gorge 
  may 
  be 
  seen 
  the 
  cut 
  

   edges 
  of 
  the 
  red 
  shales 
  and 
  sandstones 
  of 
  the 
  Medina 
  group, 
  the 
  bril- 
  

   liant 
  color 
  of 
  which 
  is 
  in 
  striking 
  contrast 
  with 
  the 
  greenish 
  blue 
  of 
  

   the 
  water, 
  and 
  the 
  darker 
  green 
  of 
  the 
  foliage 
  which 
  fringes 
  its 
  

   borders. 
  The 
  plain 
  above 
  is 
  dotted 
  with 
  farms, 
  orchards 
  and 
  ham- 
  

   lets, 
  and 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  richest 
  agricultural 
  and 
  fruit 
  districts 
  of 
  the 
  

   country. 
  In 
  the 
  foreground, 
  on 
  opposite 
  banks 
  of 
  the 
  river, 
  lie 
  the 
  

   sister 
  towns 
  of 
  Queenston 
  and 
  Lewiston, 
  former 
  rival 
  guardians 
  

   of 
  the 
  head 
  of 
  navigation 
  of 
  the 
  lower 
  Niagara, 
  but 
  now 
  for 
  the 
  

   second 
  time 
  joined 
  by 
  bands 
  of 
  steel 
  across 
  the 
  intervening 
  gulf. 
  

   Farther 
  down 
  the 
  stream 
  Niagara-on-the-Lake 
  and 
  Youngstown 
  

   crown 
  respectively 
  the 
  left 
  and 
  right 
  bank 
  of 
  the 
  river. 
  These 
  four 
  

   towns 
  of 
  the 
  lower 
  Niagara, 
  hold 
  daily 
  communication 
  by 
  ferry^ 
  

   steamboat 
  or 
  electric 
  railway; 
  the 
  last 
  and 
  the 
  steam 
  railway 
  keep- 
  

  

  