Open Road — Guides — Railroads — Canals — Bridges 



Lit up most royally with the pure beam 1870? 



That dwells in them; or, haply, the vast hall Barham 



Of fairy palace, that outlasts the night 



And fades not in the glory of the sun; 



Where crystal columus send forth slender shafts. 



And crossing arches, and fantastic aisles 



Wind from the sight in brightness, and are lost 



Among the crowded pillars." 



The winter scenery about the Falls is peculiar, a sight of which 

 is worth a journey of thousands of miles. Myriads of wild ducks 

 and geese spend the day in and above the rapids, and regularly 

 take their departure for Lake Ontario every night before dark; 

 though some are often found in the morning with a broken leg or 

 wing, and sometimes dead, in the river below the Falls. This 

 generally happens after a very dark or foggy night; and it is sup- 

 posed that, as they always have their heads up stream, while in 

 the water, they are carried down insensibly by the rapids, till they 

 find themselves going over the precipice, and then, in attempting to 

 fly, they dive into the sheet of water, and are buried for a time 

 under the Falls, or dashed upon the rocks. 



Dead fish too, of almost all sizes and descriptions, and weigh- 

 ing from one to seventy pounds, are found floating in the eddies 

 below the Falls, forming a dainty repast for gulls, loons, hawks, 

 and eagles. The splendid gyrations of the gulls, and their fear- 

 less approaches, enveloped in clouds of mist, up to the boiling 

 caldron directly under the Falls, attract much attention. But the 

 eagle, fierce, daring, contemplative, and tyrannical, takes his stand 

 upon the point of some projecting rock, or the dry limb of a 

 gigantic tree, and watches with excited interest the movements of 

 the whole feathered tribes below. Standing there in lordly pride 

 and dignity, in an instant his eye kindles and his ardour rises as 

 he sees the fish-hawk emerge from the deep, screaming with 

 exultation at his success. He darts forth like lightning, and gives 

 furious chase. The hawk, perceiving his danger, utters a scream 

 of despair, and drops his fish; and the eagle instantly seizes the 

 fish in air, and bears his ill-gotten booty to his lofty eyrie. 



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