Niagara Falls 



1870? Sometimes during a part of the winter, the ice is driven by the 



arham wind from Lake Erie, and poured over the Falls in such immense 



quantities as to fill and block up the river between the banks, for a 

 mile or more, to the depth of from thirty to fifty feet, so that 

 people cross the ice to Canada, on foot, for weeks together: the 

 river itself is never frozen over, either above or below the Falls, 

 but it affords an outlet for vast quantities of ice from the upper 

 lakes. 



Pages 157-159 — "The Village of Niagara Falls. — Number of 

 visitors." 



The country in the immediate vicinity of the Falls on both sides 

 of the river presents many powerful attractions for a permanent 

 residence. For salubrity of air and healthfulness of climate, it 

 yields to no spot in the United States. Here, 



" Nature hath 

 The very soul of music in her looks. 

 The sunshine and the shade of poetry." 



The latitude here is forty-three degrees six minutes north, and 

 the longitude two degrees six minutes west from Washington. The 

 winters are generally much milder than in New England, owing, 

 as supposed, to the action of the two neighbouring lakes, that lie 

 on either side. 



In a pamphlet published in London in the year 1 834, written 

 by Robert Burford, Esq., who spent the summer and autumn of 

 1832, in taking a panoramic view of the Falls, it is stated that this 

 place is " without all question, the most healthful of any on the 

 continent of North America. The heat of summer can there be 

 borne with pleasure, while at the same time, the annoyance of 

 musquitoes and other insects is unknown. Various are the con- 

 jectures whence arises the remarkable salubrity of this region ; but 

 the most natural is, that the agitation of the surrounding air pro- 

 duced by the tremendous Falls, combines with the elevation and 

 dryness of the soil, and absence of swamps, to produce this happy 

 result." 



1232 



