NEW YORK. 



233 



over, and from which we commenced our ride down the river, which runs north into Lake 

 Ontario. There is also a road on the American side, from Buffalo to the falls, a distance, 

 either way, of about fifteen miies. 



"From Waterloo we pass on by a level road, immediately on the western bank of the Ni- 

 agara, and observe that the river continually becomes wider, till at length it divides into two 

 streams which sweep round an island several miles in length. They then unite again, forming 

 one stream as before, only that it is increased in breadth and swiftness. And now the interest 

 thickens, and begins to grow intense. Hitlierto we had been traveling on the side of a large 

 river, it is true, but one not much distinguished otherwise, either by its motion, its shape, or 

 the beauty of its borders. We are obliged to call on ourselves to consider where we are, and 

 whither we are going ; for Niagara itself seems unconscious of the grand associations with 

 which it is freighted. It moves as if unmindful, or as not caring to put the traveler in mind, that 

 its waters have come down through the whole length of Erie from the far away Huron, Michigan, 

 Superior ; that they are just about to rush over the wondrous precipice below, and then are to 

 hasten forward into another majestic lake, and from it are to pass through the portals of a thou- 

 sand islands, and the alternate rapids and lakes of a noble and romantic river, washing the feet 

 of cities,* and so to flow on into the all-receiving sea. We are obliged to remember this, I 

 say ; for the unpretending waters, though pressing forward continually and intently, have thus 

 far told us nothing, themselves, of their long pilgrimage behind, or the yet more eventful jour- 

 ney before them. But here, as they are meeting round Grand Island, they break their silence 

 and speak, and the whole scene becomes full of spirit and meaning. Here, about three miles 

 from the falls, you see the white-crested rapids tossing in the distance before you. Here, even 



in the most unfavorable state of the 

 weather, you hear the voice of the 

 cataract, pervading the air with its 

 low, monotonous, continuous roar. 

 And here you see a column of 

 mist rising up, like a smoke in dis- 

 tantly burning woods, and desig- 

 nating the sublime scene over 

 which it is immediately hanging. I 

 know not that I was afterward more 

 strongly affected, even by the falls 

 themselves, than I was by the sight 

 of this ever changing and yet nev- 

 er absent guide, this cloudy pillar, 

 this floating, evanescent, and yet 

 eternal testimony, which pointed 

 out to me the exact spot which had 

 been for so many years as a shrine 

 to thousands, which I had heard of 

 and read of so long, and which I had 

 myself so often visited, though not 

 Childhood 

 maps were un- 



Rapids of the JViagara. 



with my reverential wishes, yet with my mind, and with my heart 



m person, yet 



came back to me, with its indistinct, but highly wrought and passionate images 

 rolled ; books v/ere opened ; paintings were spread ; measurements were recalled ; all the efiorts 

 which the art of man had made, all the tributes which his spirit had offered, at the call of the 

 great cataract ; all these associations, with other dreamlike thoughts of the wilderness, the 

 lake, and the stream, rose up unbidden and with power within me, as I steadfastly regarded that 

 significant, far-off mist, and knew that I, too, was soon to stand on the consecrated spot, and 

 see, and feel. 



" A mile or two is soon passed, and now we tiun a little from the road to the right, in order 

 to liave a near view of the rapids. These occupy the whole breadth of the river, from shore 

 to shore, and extend half a mile back from the fails, and are formed by the rush of the entire 

 body of waters down a rough bed, the descent of which in the course of this half mile is fifty 

 (eet. Here all is tumult and impetuous haste. The view is something like that of the sea in 

 a violent gale. Thousands of waves dash eagerly forward, and indicate the interruptions which 



' !\!ontieal and Quebec arp both on (he St. Lawrencp. 



30 



