Niagara Falls 

 1827-28 the rate of six or seven miles an hour, making a noise not unlike 



Hall 



that of the sea on a shallow ledge of rocks. . . . 



I had the satisfaction of walking over the whole of Goat Island 

 one day with the proprietor, who seemed unaffectedly desirous 

 of rendering it an agreeable place of resort to strangers. He had 

 been recommended, he told me, by many people, to trim and 

 dress it; to clear away most of the woods; and by all means to 

 extirpate every one of the crooked trees. I expressed my indig- 

 nation at such a barbarous set of proposals, and tried hard to 

 explain how repugnant they were to all our notions of taste in 

 Europe. His ideas, I was glad to see, appeared to coincide 

 with mine; so that this conversation may have contributed, in 

 some degree, to the salvation of the most interesting spot in all 

 America. 



On his asking me what I thought he should do, I took the 

 liberty of advising him to let nature alone as to the trees ; to make 

 a gravel walk all round the island, broad enough for three per- 

 sons to walk abreast; to open little paths in the direction of the 

 best situations for seeing the Falls, and having put down half a 

 dozen commodious seats at the said points, to leave all the rest 

 to the choice of the worthy tourists themselves. I had almost 

 forgotten to mention that some one had seriously urged him to 

 place a great tavern immediately over the Horse Shoe Fall ; but, 

 for the present at least, his own good taste revolted at such a 

 combination of the sublime and the ridiculous. I have little 

 doubt, however, that this descent, which we know from high 

 authority and example costs but one step, will be made in the 

 course of time. . . . 



I visited on three different occasions the extraordinary cave 

 formed between the cascade and the face of the overhanging cliff 

 — first, on the 3d of July, out of mere curiosity; again on the 

 9th, to try some experiments with the barometer; and lastly, on 

 the 1 Oth, in company with a friend, purely on account of the 

 excitement which I found such a strange combination of circum- 

 stances produce. We reached a spot 1 53 feet from the outside, 



166 



