108 TRAVELS THROUGH LOWER CANADA: 
LETTER XXXI. 
Description of the River and Falls o f Niagara, 
and the Co untry hordering upon the Navigable 
Fart of the River below the Falls . 
Fort Chippeway, September. 
AT the distance of eighteen miles from 
the town of Niagara or Newark; are those re¬ 
markable Falls in Niagara River, which may 
justly be ranked amongst the greatest natural 
curiosities in the known world. The road 
leading from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie runs 
within a few hundred yards of them. This 
road, which is within the British dominions, is 
carried along the top of the lofty steep banks 
of the river; for a considerable way it runs 
close to their very edge, and in passing along it 
the eye of the traveller is entertained with a 
variety of the most grand and beautiful pro¬ 
spects. The river, instead of growing narrow 
as you proceed upwards, widens considerably; 
at the end of nine or ten miles it expands to 
the breadth of a mile, and here it assumes 
much the appearance of a lake ; it is enclosed, 
seemingly on all sides, by high hills, and the 
current, owing to the great depth of the water, 
is so gentle as to be scarcely perceptible from 
the top of the banks. It continues thus broad 
