NEW YORK. 



235 



JYiairara Falls. 



experienced a change, but because it did 

 not. The lightning gleamed, the thundei 

 pealed, the rain fell in tori ents ; the storms 

 were grand ; but the fall, if I may give 

 its expression a language, did not heed 

 them at all ; the rapids above raged no 

 more and no less than before, and the fall 

 poured on with the same quiet solemnity, 

 with the same equable intentness, undis- 

 turbed by the lightning and rain, and lis- 

 tening not to the loud thunder. 



" About half a mile below the Horse- 

 shoe fall, a commodious road has lately 

 been cut in a slanting direction, down the 

 side of the perpendicular clilTand through 

 the solid rock, to the river. Here we 

 find a regular ferry, and are conveyed in a small boat across the stream, which is now narrowed 

 to a breadth of about 1,200 feet, to the American side. The passage is perfectly safe, and 

 though short, delightful, as it affords a superb view of both the falls above, and of the dark river 

 below. The current is not very rapid, and near the American side actually sets up toward the 

 falls ; by the help of which eddy the boat regains what it had lost in the middle of the stream 

 We land almost directly at the feet of the American fall, and by walking a little way to the 

 right, may place ourselves in its spray. Now look up, and the height will not disappoint you. 

 Now attend to the voice of the cataract, and it will fill your soul with awe. It seems as if the 

 ' waters which are above the firmament ' were descending from the heights of heaven, and as 

 if ' the fountains of the great deej) were broken up ' from below. The noise, which permits 

 free conversation to those who are on the bank, is here imperative and deafening. It resembles 

 the perpetual rolling of near thunder, or the uninterrupted discharge of a battery of heavy ord- 

 nance, mingled with a strange crashing and breaking sound. This resemblance to the roar of 

 artillery is heightened by the sight of the large bodies of spray, which are continually and with 

 immense force exploded from the abyss. The impression of superior height is gained, not so 

 much from the fact, that the American fall is actually ten or twelve feet higher than the British, 

 as from your having a complete profile view of the one, from brink to base, which you cannot 

 well obtain of the other. 



" Flights of secure wooden steps bring us to the top of the bank,* where we again stand on 

 a level with the descending falls. We soon found, that the greatest variety of interest was on 

 this, the American side. The village of Manchester is situated on the rapid just above the 

 fall. A bridge is thrown boldly over the rushing and 'arrowy' rapid to a small island, called 

 Bath Island, where there are one or two dwellings and a paper-mill ; and from this spot another 

 bridge runs with equal boldness to Goat Island. The whole breadth of the space thus traversed 

 is 1072 feet. 



" Goat Island is a paradise. I do not believe that there is a spot in the world which, within 

 the same space comprises so much grandeur and beauty. It is but about a mile in circumfe- 

 rence, and in that mile you have a forest of tall old trees, many of them draperied with climbing 

 and cleaving ivy ; a rich variety of wild shrubs and plants ; several views of the rapids ; an op- 

 portunity to pass without discomfort under the smaller American fall, and the very finest view, 

 I will venture to say, of the great Crescent or Horseshoe fall. Turn to the left, as you enter 

 this Eden, and you come out into a cleared and open spot, on which you discern a log -hut, with 

 vines round its door and windows, and a little garden in front of it, running down to the water's 

 edge ; a flock of sheep, feeding quietly or reposing pleasantly, under scattered clumps of grace- 

 ful trees ; while beyond this scene of rural repose, you see the whole field of the rapids, bear- 

 ing down in full force upon this point of their division, as if determined to sweep it away. Or 

 turn to the right, and threading the shady forest, step aside to the margin of the smaller Ameri- 



' " On this bank, near the ferry-house, there is a stone 

 embedded in the ground, rudely carved, on which there 

 has lately been discovered, by removing the moss which 

 had grown over it, the following inscription ; — I. V. 1747. 

 This is by far the most ancient date to be found in the vi- 



cinity. 1. v., whoever he was, when he looked upon the 

 falls, must have been surrounded by a perfect wilderness 

 What poet will speak in his name, and describe his feel- 

 ings, and record his thoughts, as he stood here alone with 

 God'" 



