and the Reasonings of some Authors respecting them, 285 



he will at once discover, that the gorge through which the Nia- 

 gara flows approaches much nearer to the form of a parallelo- 

 gram, than to the irregular triangular figure which he supposes. 

 His desire to reduce the solid dimensions of this valley, has led 

 him to represent it with an outline very different from that 

 which belongs to it ; and his correction is almost as wide of na- 

 ture as his first imaginary section. 



But suppose, for a moment, that the cataract has been at 

 Queenstown Heights, and of a minor elevation, it by no means 

 follows that the erosion of its bed would on that account be ef- 

 fected more rapidly. 



The action of the torrent is not expended in wearing away 

 the whole surface of the wall of rock, but in undermining it, by 

 the enormous momentum of the ever-falling mass of waters, 

 which are continually wearing, and removing the loose materials 

 at its base. It is reasonable to infer, that a certain height of 

 fall is necessary to this result. 



Having thus shewn the inadequacy of the data upon which 

 the computations of the age of this cataract have been made to 

 rest, I shall proceed to develope some features of the neigh- 

 bouring district, which render it very doubtful whether the 

 Falls of Niagara ever have been at Queenstown. 



It is a very generally received opinion, and may, so far as 

 present evidence extends, be taken for granted, that the country 

 adjacent to Niagara and the lakes was originally covered with a 

 vast lake, or rather inland sea, which some change in the con- 

 figuration of the region contracted to the still very extensive 

 masses of fresh water now remaining. The passage of such a 

 body of water over the surface would deeply indent all the ex- 

 posed positions of the land. Rushing, in its descent, from Lake 

 Erie to Lake Ontario, from a higher to a lower plain, and across 

 a slope like that at Queenstown, it would inevitably leave a deep 

 and long ravine. But, further, the whole of this region has 

 been grooved and scarified by the same far-sweeping currents 

 which denuded the entire surface of North America, and strew- 

 ed its plains and mountains with boulders, gravel, and soil from 

 the north. Such a diluvial valley of greater or less length and 



VOL. XIX. NO. XXXVIII. OCTOBER 1835. U 



