NIAGARA, 
43 
of the United States. The projected change, however, 
was not relifhed by the people at large, as Niagara is a 
much more convenient place of refort to moft of them 
than Torento. This change, however, was merely pre¬ 
paratory to another, which was the fettlement of the feat 
of government in a new city, under the name of London, 
which was to have been built on the river formerly called 
La Trenche, but now denominated the Thames, that runs 
into Lake St. Clair. The fort was built by the French in 
the year 1725 ; but was taken by the Englifh, under fir 
William Johnfon, in 1759 ; and furrendered to the United 
States, according to the treaty of 1796, by the Britifh. 
The town of Niagara hands on the fumrnit of the weft- 
ern bank of the river, about fifty miles from the water’s 
edge;and contains a court-houfe, gaol, and a building in¬ 
tended for the accommodation of the legiflative bodies. 
The houfes,with few exceptions, are built of wood ; thofe 
next the lake are poor, but at the upper end of the town 
are feveral excellent buildings, inhabited by the principal 
officers of government. Few places in North America 
have rilen more rapidly than Niagara ; and, after acquir¬ 
ing the addition of almoft all its houfes in five years, it is 
hill enlarging in fize, on account partly of the increafe of 
the back-country trade along the fhores of the lakes, and 
partly of the furprifing emigrations of people from the 
hates. The quantity of furs collected at Niagara is con- 
fiderable; and, the neighbourhood being populous, it is of 
courfe a place of no fmall trade ; but, the town in which 
this trade is carried on being on the Britifh fide of the 
line, the few merchants that lived within the limits of 
the fort immediately crofted over to the other fide, as foon 
as it was rumoured that the fort was to be given up. On 
the margin of Niagara-river, about three-quarters of a 
mile from the town, hands a building called Navy-hall, 
creeled for the accommodation of the naval-officers on the 
lake during the winter-feafon, when their veflels are laid 
up. Oppolite to it there is a fpacious wharf to proteCt the 
veflels from the fea during the winter, and -alfo to facili¬ 
tate the landing of merchandife when the navigation is 
open. All cargoes brought up the lake, that are deftined 
for Niagara, are landed here. Adjoining the wharf are 
extenfive ftores belonging to the crown, and alfo to pri¬ 
vate perfons. 
The fort of Niagara hands immediately at the mouth 
of the river, on a point of land, one fide of which is 
waflied by the river, and the other by the lake. Towards 
the water it is hockaded ; and behind the hockade, on the 
river-.fide, a large mound of earth rifes up, at the top of 
which are embrafures for guns; on the land-fide it is fe- 
cured by feveral batteries and redoubts, and by parallel 
lines of fafcines. At the gates, and in different parts, 
there are hrong blockhoufes ; and facing the lake, within 
the hockade, hands a large fortified hone houfe. The 
> fort and outworks occupy about five acres of ground; and 
a garrifon of 500 men, and 30 or 40 pieces of ordnance,’ 
would be neceflary to defend it properly. The federal gar¬ 
rifon, however, confihs only of 50 men. From its fituu- 
tion the town commands a fine view of the lake and dif- 
tant Ihores; and, as it is fo much elevated above the level 
of the water, one might imagine that it muh be a remark¬ 
ably healthy place, but it is, in faCV, lamentably the re¬ 
verie, the inhabitants being very fubjeCt to the ague. In¬ 
deed, not only the town of Niagara and its vicinity are 
unhealthy places, but almoft every part of Upper Canada, 
and of the territory of the hates bordering upon the lake, 
is likewife unhealthy. The fickly feafon commences about 
the middle of July, and terminates about the firh week 
in September, as foon as the nights become cold. The 
moh common diforders are intermittent fevers. Lat. 43. 
14. N. Ion. 79. 1. W, 
NIAGA'RA RIV'ER, a river of Canada, which iffues 
from the eahern extremity of Lake Erie, and after a courfe 
of thirty-fix miles djfcharges itfelf into Lake Ontario. 
This river forms part of the boundary between the United 
States and Upper Canada. For the firh few miles from 
Lake Erie, the breadth of the river is about three hun¬ 
dred yards, and it is deep enough for veflels drawing nine 
or ten feet water; but the current is fo extremely rapid 
and irregular, and the channel fo intricate, on account of 
the numberlefs large rocks in different places, that no 
other veflels befide batteaux ever attempt to pafs along it. 
As you proceed downwards, the river widens ; no rocks 
are to be feen, either along the Ihores or in the channel, 
and the waters glide fmoothly along, though the current 
ftill continues very ftrong. The river runs thus evenly, 
and is navigable with fafety for batteaux as far as Fort 
Chippeway, about three miles above the Falls. 
The Falls of Niagara are ranked among the greateft 
natural curiofities of the known world. They occur at 
the diftance of eighteen miles from the town or Niagara. 
Mr. Weld, in his Travels through Lower Canada, has 
prefented to his readers four engraved views of them 
Falls, taken from different points of obfervation. The 
moft ftupendous of thefe is on the north-weftern (or Bri¬ 
tifh) fide of the Niagara River, commonly called the 
“ Great or Horfe-fltoe Fall,” from its bearing fome re- 
femblance to the fhape of a horfe-fhoe. The height of 
this is only 142 feet, whereas th^ two others (the river 
being divided by iflands into three diftinCt collateral falls) 
are each 160 feet high; but to its inferior height it is 
principally indebted for its grandeur ; the precipice, and 
of courfe the bed of the river above it, being fo much 
lower at one fide than at the other, by far the greater part 
of the water of the river finds its way to the low fide, and 
rufhes down with greater velocity at that fide than it does 
at the other, as the rapids above the precipice are ftrongeffc 
there. From the ce,ntre of the Horfe-fhoe Fall, arifes a 
prodigious cloud or mill:, that may be feeh at the diftance 
of feveral miles, and that exhibits, when the fun fliines 
above it, a beautiful rainbow. The extent of this fall, 
afcertained by the eye, is eftimated at no lefs than 600 
yards in circumference. The ifland which leparates it 
from the next fall is fuppofed to be about 350 yards wide; 
the fecond fall is about five yards wide; the next ifland 
about thirty yards ; and the third, commonly'called the 
“ Fort Schloper Fall,” from its being fituated towards 
the fide of the river on which that fort ftands, is com¬ 
puted at the fame meafure with the large ifland. The 
whole extent of the precipice, therefore, including the 
iflands, is, according to thefe eftimates, 1335 yards. 
Some have fuppofed, that the line of the Falls all together 
exceeds an Englifh mile. The quantity of water, carried 
down the Falls, is prodigious ; being found by a mode-' 
rate calculation to be 670,255 tons per minute. The Fort 
Schloper Fall is fkirted at bottom by milk-white foam,- 
which afcends in thick volumes from the rocks; but it is 
not feen to rife above the fall like a cloud of f'rnoke, as is 
the cafe at the Horfe-fhoe Fall; neverthelefs, the f'pray is 
fo confiderable, that it defcends on the oppolite fide of the 
river like rain. Below thefe Falls, the whirlpools and 
commotions of the waters are fo tremendous, as to render 
navigation impracticable for fix miles; and immediately- 
above them the river is much narrower than it is higher 
up. The river, however, runs evenly, and is navigable 
for batteaux as far as Fort Chippeway, which is about 
ti?ree miles above the falls; but, upon a nearer accefs, 
the waters are fo much agitated, that, unleTs a boat keep 
in the middle of the river, and is dexteroufly managed, 
it mull be dafbed to pieces; however, with fuch manage¬ 
ment it may pafs down to an ifland which divides the 
river at the Falls.' Since the Falls of Niagara were firft 
difcovered, they have very much receded, on account of 
the difrupture of the rocks which form the precipice. It 
is not an improbable conjecture, that they were originally 
fituated at Queenftown. Tradition reports that the Great 
Fall, inftead of having been in the form of a horfe-fhoe, 
once projefted in the middle; but for a century paft it 
has remained nearly in the prefent form. 
The Falls of Niagara are much lefs difficult of accefs 
now than they were fome years ago ; and an -American 
paper 
