NIAGARA PALLS. 
1 27 
has crumbled down,, huge mounds of earth* 
rocks, and trees, reaching to the water's edge* 
oppose jour course; it seems impossible to 
pass them ; and, indeed, without a guide, a 
stranger would never find his way to the op¬ 
posite side; for to get there it is necessary to 
mount nearly to their top, and then to crawl 
on your hands and knees through long dark 
holes, where passages are left open between the 
torjn up rocks and trees. After passing these 
mounds, you have to climb from rock to rock 
close under the cliff, for there is but little space 
here between the cliif and the river, and these 
rocks are so slippery, owing to the continual 
moisture from the spray, which descends very 
heavily, that without the utmost precaution it 
is scarcely possible to escape a fall. At the 
distance of a quarter of a mile from the Great 
Fall we were as wet, owing to the spray, as if 
each of us had been thrown into the river. 
There is nothing whatsoever to prevent you 
from passing to the very foot of the G reat Fall; 
and you might even proceed behind the pro¬ 
digious sheet of water that comes pouring down 
from the top of the precipice, for the water 
falls from the edge of a projecting rock: and, 
moreover, caverns of a very considerable size 
have been hollowed out of the rocks at the 
bottom pf the precipice, owing to the violent 
