NIAGARA FALLS. 
389 
elevated ground just before commencing the descent to St. Davids, upon the estate of the 
late Governor Maitland, a well was dug to the depth of 150 or 1G0 feet, and the whole distance 
in gravel and sand. This proves at least that the limestone has been deeply excavated, and 
leaves no doubt in my mind of the continuity of this ancient gorge. This remarkable fact 
has been cited as an objection to the opinion that the Niagara formed its own channel; but 
still I hope to be able to show that its existence is equally an objection to the opinion that the 
gorge of the Niagara was produced by the action of the sea. 
This ancient ravine appears to be filled with drift, of the period of the oldest drift of the 
district; consequently we infer that it was one of the earliest effects produced by that denuding 
agency which excavated all the great valleys of Western New-York. If this be true, it be¬ 
came filled with drift before we have any evidence of any part of this region being above the 
ocean, or of the Niagara river having an existence ; therefore we have no ground for supposing 
that it was ever the channel of this or any other river. If, on the other hand, we assume that 
the present gorge of the Niagara was excavated by the ocean, and that the river has but cleared 
out the drift, then we are bound to show that it resembles other gorges, which there is every 
reason to believe that the ocean did excavate. The opening of the gorge at St. Davids, to¬ 
wards Lake Ontario, presents a width of two miles where no rock is to be found in the line 
of the escarpment; while that of the Niagara at Lewiston presents a width of fifteen hundred, 
or perhaps two thousand feet. Allowing this ancient gorge to be continuous as far as the 
whirlpool, we find it to have diminished to a width less than the present river channel. In this 
we see no analogy to the present channel of the Niagara, which, though variable in width, is 
scarcely wider at its opening on the north than in some other parts of its course. If we 
suppose that the undermining action of the ocean or an elevated lake aided in excavating this 
channel, then also we must suppose that it would at the same time have removed the drift 
from this ancient one ; and if we suppose them both of the same age, or produced by the same 
cause, then we should expect to find them similar in character, which is not true. The exis¬ 
tence of this ancient ravine, so different in character from the present channel, indicates a 
different origin; and as it corresponds with those gorges or indentations in coast lines, we 
infer that it was due to similar causes ; while that of Niagara, corresponding with all modern 
river channels, or those which we know to have been formed by streams now flowing in them, 
we infer that it, too, had a similar origin. 
It might appear more rational to conclude, that if the Niagara commenced excavating its 
own channel, it would more readily find a way through the drift filling this ancient gorge, than 
through a solid wall of rock ; but this objection can be met by numerous examples, where old 
channels have been closed by modern accumulations, and the stream has excavated a new one 
through rocky strata. Such a case has already been illustrated in the passage of the Genesee 
from Portage to Mount-Morris : in this example, the facts are incontrovertible; and whether 
the Genesee ever occupied the ancient valley which is now filled with drift, does not affect 
the conclusion; we see it leaving an ancient valley, through which it has flowed for many 
miles, and entering a narrow gorge in the rocks of Portage, making a circuit of two or three 
miles, when, by the ancient channel filled with sand and gravel, the same point would have 
