Niagara Falls 



1838 



Buckingham 



1838 



1838 

 Gurney 



bined, the mist rose in clouds so thick, as sometimes to veil the 

 surface of the Cataract, and then become gradually transparent 

 like a thin sheet of the finest muslin. At intervals, when the 

 sun shone out, the rainbows at the feet of both the Falls, were 

 splendid, sometimes stationary, arched, and of the most vivid 

 and clearly defined colours; at others, presenting a sort of rain- 

 bow clouds, where bodies of mist would have all the prismatic 

 rays marked on them, but in a floating and undulating series of 

 curves, advancing and receding, so as to form a wavy line, in 

 perpetual motion, as if some colossal serpent of the mist was 

 straining to ascend perpendicularly over the cliff, and waving the 

 folds of his body in that undulating motion called serpentine, 

 reflecting the prismatic rays from every part as it moved; it was 

 altogether an unusual and most brilliant sight, and an ample com- 

 pensation for the rainy morning in which it was seen. 



The above extract is quoted as giving a good description of the Falls 

 on a rainy morning, an aspect under which few authors have written of 

 them. It gives also a detailed account of the rainbows seen at the foot 

 of the Falls and the effect of the rain upon the mist arising from the stream 

 below. 



Buckingham, James Silk. The Falls of Niagara. (British and 

 foreign institute, transactions. Lond. : 1845. 1:401-403.) 



Reading from Buckingham's Journal of tour in Umted States. Gives 

 a description of the Falls and a poem, the latter written on the spot. 



A chapter on Niagara. (Am. month, mag. June, 1838. 1 1 (n.s.5) : 

 529-535.) 



An appreciation of Niagara in warmest terms, not overdone and written 

 in good literary style. 



More leaves from Mr. Keeley's journal. (Colburn's new mo. mag., 

 1838. 53:191-197.) 



Gurney, Joseph John. A journey in North America, described in 

 familiar letters to Amelia Opie. Norwich: Printed for private circula- 

 tion. 1841. Pp. 317-324. 



A lucid and interesting account of the Falls from below on the American 

 side, the view from the Canadian side, the beauties of Goat Island, the 

 drive to Lewiston, the geology of the country. 



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