Falls of the Niagara. 3 



of the Niagara river. The river is at this place about Q quarter 

 of a mile broad ; and, as I gazed on its dark and deep and 

 hurrying stream, I felt a sensation of interest stealing over 

 me, similar to that M^hich I have experienced in reading of 

 th(; preparations of men for some momentous expedition. 

 Opposite Biack Rock, on the Canada side, is the village of 

 Waterloo, to which we were ferried over, and from which we 

 commenced our ride down the river, which runs north into 

 Lake Ontario. There is also a road on the American side, 

 from Buffiilo to the Falls, a distance, either way, of about 

 fifteen miles. 



From Waterloo we pass on by a level road, immediately 

 on the western bank of Niagara, and observe that the river 

 continually becomes wider, till at length it divides into two 

 streams which sweep round an island several miles in length. 

 They then unite again, forming one stream as before, only 

 that it is increased in breadth and swiftness. And now the 

 interest thickens, and begins to grow intense. Hitherto we 

 had been travelling on the side of a large river, it is true, but 

 one not much distinguished otherwise, either by its motion, 

 its shape, or the beauty of its borders. We are obliged to 

 call on ourselves to consider where we are, and whither we 

 are going ; for Niagara itself seems unconscious of the grand 

 associations with which it is freighted. It moves as if 

 unmindful, or as not caring to put the traveller in mind, that 

 its waters have come down through the whole length of Erie 

 from the far away Huron, Michigan, Superior; that they are 

 just about to rush over the wondrous precipice below, and 

 then are to hasten forward into another majestic lake, and 

 from it are to pass through the portals of a thousand islands, 

 and the alternate rapids and lakes of a noble and romantic 

 river, washing the feet of cities,* and so to flow on into the 

 all-receiving sea. We are obliged to remember this, I say; 

 for the unpretending waters, though pressing forward contin- 

 ually and intently, have thus far told us nothing, themselves, 

 of their long pilgrimage behind, or the yet more eventful 

 journey before them. But here, as they are meeting round 

 Grand Island, they break their silence and speak, and the 

 whole scene becomes full of spirit and meaning. Here, about 

 three miles from the Falls, you see the white crested rapids 

 tossing in the distance before you. Here, even in the most 

 unfavorable state of the weather, you hear the voice of the 

 cataract, pervading the air with its low, monotonous, contin- 

 uous roar. And here you see a column of mist rising up, 



* Montreal and Quebec are both on the St. Lawrence. 



