﻿74 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  recession 
  of 
  the 
  right 
  hand 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  falls. 
  In 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  a 
  

   comparatively 
  short 
  time 
  the 
  channel 
  became 
  so 
  deep 
  on 
  the 
  right, 
  

   and 
  the 
  falls 
  receded 
  so 
  fast 
  on 
  that 
  side, 
  that 
  all 
  the 
  water 
  was 
  

   drawn 
  of¥ 
  from 
  the 
  larger 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  river 
  bed 
  on 
  the 
  left, 
  which 
  

   today 
  remains 
  as 
  a 
  triangular 
  platform 
  comparable 
  to 
  Wintergreen 
  

   fiat, 
  with 
  steep 
  sides, 
  and 
  several 
  hundred 
  feet 
  wide, 
  at 
  its 
  down- 
  

   stream 
  end. 
  The 
  river 
  now 
  flows 
  in 
  a 
  channel, 
  in 
  places 
  less 
  than 
  

   10 
  feet 
  wide, 
  and 
  loo 
  feet 
  below 
  the 
  level 
  of 
  the 
  platform 
  which 
  

   was 
  its 
  bed 
  less 
  than 
  lOO 
  years 
  ago. 
  The 
  present 
  lower 
  fall, 
  having 
  

   mostly 
  receded 
  beyond 
  the 
  upstream 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  platform, 
  again 
  

   extends 
  across 
  the 
  entire 
  bed 
  of 
  the 
  river. 
  The 
  water 
  in 
  the 
  river 
  

   has 
  not, 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  known^ 
  changed 
  in 
  average 
  volume, 
  though 
  above 
  

   and 
  below 
  the 
  narrow 
  part 
  the 
  gorge 
  is 
  many 
  times 
  as 
  wide. 
  All 
  

   the 
  water 
  which 
  passes 
  in 
  a 
  thin 
  sheet 
  over 
  a 
  broad 
  fall 
  above 
  the 
  

   narrow 
  gorge 
  is 
  forced 
  to 
  pass 
  through 
  this 
  contracted 
  portion, 
  and 
  

   presents 
  a 
  rushing 
  current, 
  though 
  the 
  bed 
  is 
  deeper 
  here 
  than 
  

   where 
  the 
  gorge 
  is 
  broader. 
  The 
  time 
  required 
  for 
  the 
  recession 
  

   of 
  the 
  fall 
  over 
  the 
  space 
  of 
  the 
  2000 
  feet 
  of 
  narrow 
  gorge, 
  must 
  

   have 
  been 
  much 
  shorter 
  than 
  that 
  required 
  for 
  the 
  recession 
  through 
  

   a 
  similar 
  length 
  in 
  the 
  broader 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  gorge, 
  for 
  the 
  con- 
  

   centration 
  of 
  the 
  waters 
  here 
  enabled 
  it 
  to 
  do 
  much 
  more 
  effective 
  

   work. 
  

  

  Judging 
  by 
  analogy, 
  we 
  may 
  assume 
  that 
  the 
  narrow 
  channel 
  op- 
  

   posite 
  Foster's 
  fiats 
  was 
  cut 
  by 
  a 
  stream 
  of 
  the 
  full 
  power 
  of 
  the 
  

   present 
  Niagara, 
  but 
  whose 
  main 
  mass 
  of 
  waters 
  was 
  carried 
  over 
  

   the 
  right 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  fall 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  bend 
  in 
  the 
  stream 
  above. 
  

   The 
  present 
  Horseshoe 
  falls 
  is 
  cutting 
  a 
  much 
  narrower 
  gorge 
  than 
  

   that 
  to 
  the 
  north 
  of 
  it, 
  owing 
  to 
  its 
  peculiar 
  position 
  at 
  the 
  angle 
  

   of 
  a 
  second 
  great 
  bend. 
  (Fig. 
  19) 
  From 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  cutting 
  

   was 
  most 
  profound 
  on 
  the 
  eastern 
  or 
  right 
  bank 
  of 
  the 
  river 
  at 
  

   Foster's 
  fiats, 
  this 
  bank 
  has 
  received 
  the 
  precipitous 
  character 
  which 
  

   it 
  has 
  retained 
  to 
  the 
  present 
  day. 
  

  

  An 
  interesting 
  fact 
  bearing 
  on 
  the 
  interpretation 
  of 
  the 
  history 
  

   of 
  Foster's 
  fiats, 
  is 
  the 
  occurrence 
  in 
  the 
  sands 
  among 
  the 
  huge 
  

   boulders 
  near 
  the 
  foot 
  of 
  the 
  ancient 
  falls, 
  of 
  shells 
  of 
  the 
  small 
  

   fresh-water 
  gastropod, 
  Pomatiopsis 
  lapidaria 
  Say,^ 
  

  

  ^See 
  chapter 
  5, 
  

  

  