Niagara Falls 



type, varying from matter-of-fact description or cold criticism of 

 scenic effects to the profoundest religious reflection and most 

 exclamatory rhapsody. Moreover, it takes but the most cursory 

 examination of this great variety of Niagara expression to make 

 clear that the literature of the Falls is a record not merely of facts 

 concerning the Falls but a study of the effect which the spectacle 

 had on the writer in question. Many authors confess to keen 

 disappointment while others find the reality far in excess of their 

 liveliest expectations. We gather that dizziness and depression 

 of spirit held equal sway with pleasure and fascination. Some 

 observers are moved to tears, others struck dumb by the sight, 

 while still others testify to utter forgetfulness of self and their 

 surroundings for hours at a time. In some cases the effect of the 

 falling waters is so great as to inspire an almost uncontrollable 

 desire to leap into the foaming tide. It is perhaps this power 

 of the cataract to lure to self-destruction that the Indians tried 

 to explain in their legend that the Falls demand four victims 

 annually. Be the explanation what it may, this psychological 

 effect of the Falls on certain temperaments is an interesting study. 



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