1852 



Sullivan 



Niagara Falls 



1852 the awful grandeur of the Falls before us whenever we lift our 

 Ticknor eyes, and their solemn roar forever in our ears. . . . 



Last night Frankenstein, a painter from Ohio, — whom we 

 had known before, — took us in a boat, and rowed us about for 

 near an hour. Nobody has done such things before ; not because 

 they are dangerous, but because no eye for picturesque effect 

 had ever detected its power. The moon was nearly full, and 

 I cannot describe the awful solemnity, magnificence, and in one 

 instance preternatural gorgeous glories, of the scene. We went 

 quite near the American Falls, and when we emerged from the 

 shade of the grim shores, and the moon began to illumine the 

 edge of the waters above us, as they plunged down, there was a 

 quivering mass of molten silver, that ran along the whole mighty 

 flood of the waters as they rushed over, that was a thing of 

 inconceivable brilliancy. . . . 



SULLIVAN, Sir EDWARD ROBERT. Rambles and scrambles in North 

 and South America. Lond.: Bentley. 1852. Pp. 42-45. 



Nothing but actual seeing and hearing can impress upon the 

 imagination the mysterious bewilderment caused by the thunder- 

 ing roar of the enormous body of falling water. 

 • • • • • 



It is as impossible to describe Niagara as to describe an 

 avalanche, or anything else where you have to give the idea 

 noise and motion besides its other glories. 



I am never giddy on precipices, and even whilst chamois 

 hunting in Switzerland, where I had to cross the most ticklish 

 passes, never felt disposed to try an aeronautic leap; but sitting 

 with my feet dangling from the Table Rock, and gazing into 

 the abyss below, I more than once, like Lear, felt, — 



" I'll look no more, 

 Lest my brain turn, and the deficient sight 

 Topple down headlong." 



1852 PATTEN, Edmund. A glimpse at the United States and the northern 



Patten states of America, with the Canadas, comprising their rivers, lakes and 



262 



