Travelers' Original Accounts Since 1840 



— all the coast-scenery of the Mediterranean — all the lochs and 1864 

 moors of the Scotch Highlands — sink into insignificance when 

 compared with the incomparable grandeur of Niagara. It is not 

 the Falls themselves alone that create the magnificence of the 

 scene; but the beauty of the landscape, of which they are the 

 centre, adds a hundred-fold to their intrinsic splendour. The 

 setting is worthy of the gem. But it is useless to tell you how 

 I sat and wondered at the majesty of the view from Table Rock; 

 you must go and stand there yourself, and then you will be 

 amazed, as I was, at the all-absorbing interest of the scene, and 

 ponder, as I did, upon the marvellous force and volume of the 

 waters that every second plunge down the heights before you, 

 and wonder whence comes the inexhaustible supply, and whither 

 it goes, and how many a long roll of countless summers has 

 looked on the same unvaried scene ; and then you will wish, per- 

 haps, to put down on paper some little memento of what you 

 saw and felt, and find, I daresay, as I do, that the attempt is 

 futile. 



But a distant view of the Falls gives but a faint idea of their 

 solemn grandeur. To comprehend them in their awe-inspiring 

 sublimity, you must descend to the base of the cliff, and walk 

 in amongst the spray, and under the curve of their flight down 

 the precipice, and see the terrific power of their waters and the 

 impotence of man beside them; in fact, you must do as I did, 

 make the expedition to the " Cave of the Winds," and then you 

 will have impressed upon your mind, perhaps too forcibly, the 

 detail of the more awful properties of Niagara, which a close 

 acquaintance can alone reveal to you. 



The "Cave" lies underneath the American Fall; the trip 

 is decidedly a perilous one, but it is " the thing," and so, to be 

 fashionable, I did it. The party of adventurers consisted of 

 eight, with a guide, a French Canadian. At a house by the foot 

 of the Fall, we were provided with a dress, or at least an apology 

 for a costume, the very queerest, oddest-looking, scantiest set of 

 garments in which I have ever appeared in public. The suit 



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