Niagara Falls 



1818 from which small paths diverge, leading to those parts of its rocky 

 shores, where the different aspects of the Falls and Rapids may 

 be viewed to most advantage. The beauties of this island are 

 equally numerous and enchanting — the variety of prospect it 

 affords is indescribable — the luxuriance and verdure which 

 crown its banks bespeak a paradise; while the wild flowers that 

 adorn them, and are nourished by the spray of the cataract, appear 

 to possess a fragrance and a beauty altogether peculiar and 

 exquisite. Oft-times volumes of snow-white vapour, among which 

 the prismatic colours appear with changeful lustre, float along the 

 cliffs of the island, gloriously enveloping them in the effulgence 

 of heaven, and, as it were, isolating the terrestrial elysium which 

 they encircle in the bosom of clouds, lest its delights should 

 become common to the rest of the world. 



A little way above the Falls, the Niagara river expands into a 

 breadth of two miles, and flows with such a gentle current and 

 placid smoothness, that it resembles a small lake. The American 

 shore is covered with trees, but is unenlivened by houses or inhab- 

 itants; while the mingled murmur of the Rapids and cataracts, 

 and the occasional shriek of the wild-duck, are alone heard by 

 him who contemplates the scene ; which appears the more delight- 

 ful, in consequence of its meeting the eye of the traveller immedi- 

 ately after he has been stunned and astonished by the grandeur 

 of the Falls. Thus, two aspects of nature, one the most terrific 

 and tumultuous, the other the most composing and quiet, are to 

 be found within thesshort compass of a mile, individually forming 

 a contrast equally agreeable and unanticipated. 



" The author spent two years and a half in Upper Canada, and, in the 

 course of that time, resided in various parts of the province." He was at 

 the Falls in 1818. His narrative is interesting and trustworthy enough 

 though he seems sometimes to indulge in description for literary effect 

 merely. 



1818 MlLBERT, J. Iu'neraire pittoresque du fleuve Hudson et des parties 



Milbert laterales de l'Amerique du Nord, d'apres les dessins originaux pris sur Ies 



lieux. Paris: Henri Gaugain et Cie. 2:187-204. 



