NIAGARA FALLS.' 129 
idea of‘tlie power of that mighty Being who 
commanded the waters to flow. 
Since the Falls of Niagara were first dis¬ 
covered, they have receded very considerably, 
owing to the disruptive of the rocks which 
form the precipice. The rocks at bottom 
are first loosened by- the constant action of 
file water upon them; they are afterwards 
carried away; and those at top being thus un¬ 
dermined, are soon broken by the weight of 
the water rushing over them : even within 
the memory of many cf the present inhabi¬ 
tants of the country, the falls have receded 
several yards. The commodore of the King's 
vessels on Lake Erie, who had been employed 
on that lake for upwards of thirty years, in¬ 
formed me, that when he first came into the 
country, it was a common practice for young 
mem to go to the island in the middle of the 
falls; that after dining there, they used fre¬ 
quently to dare each other to walk into the 
river towards certain large rocks in the midst 
of the rapids, not far from the edge of the 
falls; and sometimes to proceed through the 
water, even‘beyond these rocks. No such 
rocks are to be seen at present; and were a 
man to advance two yards into the river from 
the island, he would be inevitably swept 
away by the torrent. It has been conjectured, 
as I before mentioned, that the Falls of Nia- 
