Travelers Original Accounts: 1801-1 840 



or entrance, by the assistance of a guide, who makes a handsome 1827-28 

 livelihood by this amphibious pilotage. There was a tolerably 

 good, green sort of light within this singular cavern; but the 

 wind blew us first in one direction then in another with such 

 alarming violence, that I thought at first we should be fairly 

 carried off our feet, and jerked into the roaring caldron beneath. 

 This tempest, however, was not nearly so great an inconvenience 

 as the unceasing deluges of water driven against us. Fortunately 

 the direction of this gale of wind was always more or less 

 upwards, from the pool below, right against the face of the cliffs; 

 were it otherwise, I fancy it would be impossible to go behind 

 the Falls, with any chance of coming out again. Even now there 

 is a great appearance of hazard in the expedition, though experi- 

 ence shows that there is no real danger. Indeed the guide, to 

 re-assure us, and to prove the difficulty of the descent, actually 

 leaped downwards, to the distance of five or six yards, from the 

 top of the bank of rubbish at the base of the cliff, along which 

 the path is formed. The gusts of wind rising out of the basin 

 or pool below, blew so violently against him that he easily 

 regained the walk. 



This enormous cataract, in its descent, like every other cascade, 

 carries along with it a quantity of air, which it forces far below 

 the surface of the water, — an experiment which any one may 

 try on a small scale by pouring water into a tumbler from a 

 height. The quantity of air thus carried down, by so vast a 

 river as Niagara, must be great, and the depth to which it is 

 driven, in all probability, considerable. It may also be much 

 condensed by the pressure; and it will rise with proportionate 

 violence both on the outside of the cascade, and within the sheet 

 or curtain which forms the cataract. 



It had long been a subject of controversy, I was told, whether 

 the air in the cave behind the Falls was condensed or rarified; 

 and it was amusing to listen to the conflicting arguments on the 

 subject. All parties agreed that there was considerable difficulty 

 in breathing ; but while some ascribed this to a want of air, others 



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