Niagara Falls 



1805 



1805 BlGELOW, TlMOTHY. Journal of a tour to Niagara Falls in the year 



Bigelow 1305. Bost: John Wilson and Son. 1876. Pp. 56-68. 



The grandeur of this scene is only to be exceeded by the 

 ocean, in some of its wildest moods ; and, were there nothing else 

 in the vicinity worthy of attention, this alone would be resorted 

 to from great distances by the curious, as a just subject of wonder 

 and astonishment. 



Having, according to custom, examined this wonderful 

 phenomenon from the Table Rock, we proceeded down the 

 river to the place where, by the help of a ladder, it is practicable 

 to descend to the edge of the water below the fall. To com- 

 prehend this difficulty, one must know that from the foot of the 

 fall to the village of Queenstown, seven or eight miles down- 

 stream, the river Hows in a kind of canal or trench, the banks 

 or sides of which are of solid rock, of the same elevation at first 

 as the precipice at the fall, and this elevation gradually increases 

 as the water sinks in its course. These banks some ways from 

 the bottom are perpendicular, but near the top they project 

 towards the river so much that the Table Rock itself is thought 

 to extend near four rods beyond the sides of the rock which sup- 

 ports it underneath. 



The ladder above mentioned is called the Simcoe Ladder, 

 because it was provided by order of the lady of the late governor 

 of that name. It is situated about three quarters of a mile below 

 the Table Rock, at a place where the bank does not project so 

 much as at most other places, and where there is a mass of the 

 fallen rock for its foot to rest on, from whence one may make his 

 way to the river. The passage of this ladder is by some thought 

 to be so perilous that they forego their curiosity rather than 

 attempt it. This actually happened with a gentleman who was 

 there about an hour before us. The ladder is placed edgeways 

 against the bank, a little declining from a perpendicular direction. 



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