216 



LAKES OF AMERICA. FALLS OF NIAGARA. 



are not so distinctly marked. When the first edition of this work 

 was published, viz. early in 1813, the name of freshwater forma- 

 tions was scarcely known in England, but the author ventured to of- 

 fer an explanation of their formation, from what is now taking place 

 in extensive lakes ; a similar explanation has since been generally 

 adopted. " The lakes of North America, are seas of fresh water, 

 more than 1500 miles in circuit; they are placed at a considerable 

 elevation above the Atlantic, and at different levels. They unite by 

 small straits or rivers, which have a rapid descent. On some of the 

 rivers are prodigious waterfalls, which are continually enlarging and 

 deepening the passage from one to the other ; and will ultimately 

 effect the drainage of the upper lakes. The falls of Niagara, are 

 well known ; the water is divided by a small island, which separates 

 the river into two cataracts, one of which is 600 yards, and the other 

 350 yards wide : the height of the fall is from 140 to 160 feet. It 

 is estimated that 670,000 tons of water are dashed every minute 

 with inconceivable force, against the bottom, and are thus wearing 

 down the adjacent rocks. Since the banks of the cataract were in- 

 habited by Europeans, they have observed that it is progressively 

 shortening the distance of the falls from Lake Erie. When it has 

 worn down the intervening calcareous rocks, the upper lake will be- 

 come dry land, and form an extensive plain or valley, surrounded 

 by rising ground, and watered by a river or smaller lake, which will 

 occupy the lowest part. In this plain future geologists may trace 

 syccessive strata of fresh water formation, covering the subjacent an- 

 dent limestone. The gradual deposition of minute earthy particles^ 

 or the more rapid subsidence of mud from sudden inundations, will 

 form distinct beds, in which will be found the remains of freshwater 

 fish, vegetables and quadrupeds. — 1st edition, 1813, pp. 182, 183. 



In the frontispiece to the present volume will be seen a bird's-eye 

 view, or map of the country round Niagara, drawn by my eldest son, 

 who passed several days at the falls of Niagara in 1830. In this 

 drawing the accurate proportion of distance is disregarded, in order 

 to bring the several objects into one point of view. The deep chasm 

 formed by the cataract is seen in front, from which the water is issu- 

 ing into a lower country at Lewiston, nearly on a level with Lake 

 Ontario, into which the river flows. Mr. Joseph Henry, in a topo- 

 graphic^^ ske]ch of the state of New York, says, " The descent of 

 the country' from Lake Erie to Ontario is principally by a step, not 

 at the falls, but at Lewiston, several miles below:" this is the po- 

 sition from which the drawing in the frontispiece was taken. Mr. 

 H. adds, "In viewing the position of the falls, and the features of 

 the country round, it is impossible not to be impressed with the idea, 

 that this great natural race-way has been formed by the continued 

 action of the irresistible current of the Niagara, and that the falls, 

 beginning at Lewiston, have, in the course of ages, worn back 

 the rocky strata to their present site. The deep chasm through 



