Niagara Falls 



1913 " Please walk this way," said our guide, and into a long, dark 



passage, with a tiny gleam of light at the end, we went. 



So great is the force of the fall that it flows outwards many 

 feet from the rocks themselves, and enables people actually to 

 stand under the arch of water in comparative comfort. On 

 looking up there seems a veritable roof of water through which 

 the sun shines; on our right was the grey rock over which the 

 water rushes, while on our left was a wall of water, falling into 

 the seething pool far away below. 



Niagara is worth travelling many hundreds of miles to see; 

 its power, its strength, its force, teach a sermon far deeper and 

 more lasting than the best of sermons, or the finest books of 

 man. Even the most frivolous must pause and think before 

 such a masterpiece of majestic Beauty and Power. It is devoutly 

 to be hoped that the material gain to the industrial undertakings 

 in the neighbourhood will not be allowed to destroy one of the 

 greatest, most forceful, and most awe-inspiring sights of the 

 world. 



Summary 



After 1840 there was a marked decrease in the annual pro- 

 duction of Niagara description of the sort quoted thus far. The 

 Civil War no doubt had an effect, but this temporary disturbance 

 does not explain the continued decline in the number of old-line 

 travelers' accounts. The fact is that though the number of 

 books is fewer, the tide of tourist travel to Niagara is constantly 

 increasing. Whereas in former times visitors came by hundreds 

 and thousands, now they come by the million. Writers come 

 also no doubt and in greater numbers than ever before, but they 

 do not write, or at least not in the same way. A visit to Niagara 

 in these days is no longer the event of a lifetime to be duly 

 chronicled with a careful description of all the points of interest 

 and accompanied by a minute analysis of the reflections and 

 emotions which it inspires. There are many other wonders in 

 these times. Moreover Niagara is now so well known and guide 



364 



