UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 3&1 



The beautiful appearance produced by the Fire-Jly has excited the 

 admiration of all the travellers in America. On a summer's evening 

 they are seen in myriads among the meadows and woods. The light 

 they produce is very brilliant, varying in magnitude according to the 

 state of the atmosphere. It is produced and vanishes suddenly like 

 the flash of a pistol. Glow-worms are also very numerous in the 

 summer aiid autumn. 



One of the most troublesome of the American insects is the Mos- 

 quito ; they are very numerous in swamps, on the low banks of creeks 

 and rivers, and on the sea shore. From these places however they 

 make excursions into all parts of the country, and are frequently very 

 troublesome in the cities. On the Mississippi they are innumerable. 

 Their bite is very irritating, and is followed by inflammation and 

 swelling. Many species of flies, spiders, beetles, grasshoppers, 

 crickets, butterflies, wasps, hornets, bees, ants, Sec. abound in the 

 United States. 



Natural Curiosities. ...The Falls of Niagara stand first in the list 

 of the natural curiosities of North America. They are on the river 

 Niagara, nearly equidistant from lakes Erie and Ontario. Those wh© 

 have seen them consider them as one of the most stupendous won- 

 ders of the world. Lake Ontario, north of the Falls, is situated on a 

 plain extending nearly east and west, and lying 330 feet below the 

 level of Lake Erie. On the north, this plain is bounded by a high 

 ledge of rocks, which commences in Upper Canada east of Lake 

 Ontario. This ledge follows the direction of the lake, and circling 

 its western end, turns to the east, and intersects the Niagara river at 

 Lewistown ; which place appears to have been the original situation 

 of the falls. South of this ledge is a plain, extending in the same 

 direction as the lormer, twelve or fifteen miles wide, and backed on 

 the south by another ledge of rocks, intersecting the river at Black 

 Rock. Back of this last ledge of rocks lies that elevated, extensive, 

 level plain, extending on the east nearly to Hudson river, on the south 

 to the Allegany mountains in the vicinity of Pittsburg, and on the 

 west and north-west, with little or no interruption, to the sources of 

 the Mississippi. On this plain are situated the lakes Erie, Huron, 

 Michigan and Superiour, whose immense mass of waters enters the 

 Niagara river, whose current at first scarcely move three miles an 

 hour. As you approach the falls, its rapidity increases, till at last, 

 with most astonishing grandeur, the waters rush impetuously down a 

 stupendous perpendicular precipice 150 feet high, into the gulf below, 

 whose depth is unknown. Thence to Lewistown, eight miles, the 

 channel of the river is narrow, the current rapid, and the banks high 

 and precipitous. During this distance the river descends 120 feet, 

 which added to the nils, and the descent above them, estimated at 

 90 feet, makes a whole descent of about 360 feet. As you approach 

 the Falls from Lake Oniario, they present to your view the concave 

 of an irregular semicircle, whose longest line is on the American 

 side of the grand central stream. Between this stream, which re- 

 sembles a horse -shoe, and the sheet of water on the American side, 

 is Goat Island, 990 feet broad. The curve of the Horse-shoe is 2100 

 feet; and the width of the sheet of water, on the American side, in 

 which there is a small island, 1 140 feet. According to this estimate, 

 the circumference of the falls is 4230 feet. Their height on the New- 

 York side is 154 feet; on the Canada 150. The water dashing vio- 

 lently against the bottom, occasions the spray to rise to a great 



