Niagara Falls 



1829 our admiration was engrossed by the prospect of one of the most 

 glorious uncultivated landscapes upon which the eye of man ever 

 reposed. Beneath our feet on the north, and extending from east 

 to west as far as the eye could reach, was stretched a belt of 

 woodland, apparently perfectly level, from the base of the moun- 

 tain to the southern shore of the lake. Although the whole of 

 this tract of land is sparsely settled, yet the forest so far predomi- 

 nates over the occasional spots of cultivation, that the latter were 

 entirely merged in, and lost in the former. To the eye, the tops 

 of the trees presented the even surface of a parlour floor; and 

 the forests having changed the verdant foliage to those number- 

 less bright and beautiful hues which are the peculiar mark of our 

 American autumn, rendered the whole surface far more beautiful 

 than the most gorgeous carpet ever imported. All the colors and 

 hues which Nature can paint, were here blended together in the 

 sweetest harmony; and had the whole extent been covered by a 

 grand collection of all the blossoms that ever bloomed since the 

 gates of Paradise were closed, glowing in their richest and bright- 

 est tints, they could not have constituted a richer flower garden. 

 But ". . . expression cannot paint the breath of Nature 

 and her endless bloom! " 



Beyond this, the most delightful region that " fancy's foot- 

 steps ever trod," rolled the dark waters of Ontario, bounded on 

 the north by the azure hills of Upper Canada, which rose dimly 

 in the distant horizon ! Soon after we descended upon this lovely 

 plain, we came in sight of Lewiston beyond which the monu- 

 ment which Canadian patriotism has erected to the memory of 

 Gen. Brock, upon Queenston Heights, rose loftily in view. 

 Lewiston is a very pleasantly situated and pretty town. We did 

 not stop at the spacious and inviting hotel, but as the sun was 

 yet shining brightly upon us, we rode directly down to the ferry. 

 And here, for the first time did I behold the troubled waters of 

 the Niagara — the mighty river, the name of which of all others 

 was the most deeply implanted in my memory in my school boy 

 days ! the grand outlet of the great inland seas of the still greater 



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