Niagara Falls 



1802 reached [there] about mid October. After a day of needed rest 

 Gosman at Chippewa the artist took up his comfortable quarters at Bur- 



den's farm house hard by the cataract — so near in fact — say 

 800 yards — that a constant tremor pervaded the house and all 

 its belongings, rendering a new comer rather nervous till custom 

 caused it to be unnoticeable. A fork stuck into the floor would 

 quiver like an aspen. 



In 1802 there was no crossing for miles above and below the 

 Falls, and all Vanderlyn's sketches were therefore taken from the 

 Canada shore. The only descent to the water was by " the 

 Indian Ladder," thus perilous enough to deter the timorous from 

 its trial. ' Table Rock," which is so noticeable a feature in 

 Vanderlyn's views, was then unmutilated by the wear of the ele- 

 ments, and the gunpowder experiments which have at length 

 destroyed it. Nature had then no divided empire with art, for 

 save an occasional clearing, and a farm house or log cabin here 

 and there, Niagara doubtless appeared very much as it did when 

 Father de Smet, in 1 6 — , stood upon its banks, and the glories 

 and magnificence of the scene were revealed to the first intelligent 

 European to whom they were revealed. 



The companion engravings afterwards given as the fruits of this 

 tour by Mr. Vanderlyn were a " General View," and a " View 

 of the Great Fall." The first was taken three fourths of a mile 

 below the cataract near the Indian Ladder, which is directly 

 opposite " the American Fall." From the semi-circular sweep of 

 the shelf, this General View gives a surpassing idea of the mag- 

 nitude and proportions of Niagara. The sketch for the Great, 

 or Horse Shoe Fall, was taken from Table Rock. 



A day or two elapsed before the artist employed his pencil. 

 He said it required that time at least to give him any idea of the 

 proportion of the elements of the scene. The absence of grand 

 scenery, of towering rocks or mountain heights as standards of 

 comparison, rendered it impossible at first to seize an idea of the 

 magnitude of the scene. He said that in truth he was dis- 

 appointed — a feeling which is confirmed by most who see 



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