NIAGARA FALLS. 131 
Queenstown, there is a tremendous whirlpool, 
owing' to a deep hole in the bed; this hole 
was probably also formed by the waters falling 
for a great length of time on the same spot, in 
consequence of the rocks which composed the 
then precipice having remained firmer than 
those at any other place did. Tradition tells us, 
that the great fall, instead of having been in 
the form of a horse shoe, once projected in the 
middle. For a century past, however, it has 
remained nearly in the present form; apd as 
the ebullition of the water at the bottom of 
the cataract is so much greater at the center 
of this fall than in any other part, and as the 
water consequently acts with more force there 
in undermining the precipice than at any other 
part, it is not unlikely that it may remain nearly 
in the same form for ages to come. 
At the bottom of the Horse-shoe Fall is 
found a kind of white concrete substance, 
by the people of the country called Spray. 
Some persons have supposed that it is formed 
from the earthy particles of the water, which 
descending, owing to their great specific gra¬ 
vity, quicker than the oilier particles, adhere 
to the rocks, and are 'there formed into a mass. 
This concrete substance has precisely the ap¬ 
pearance of # pefrified froth; and it is remark¬ 
able, that’ it is found adhering' to those rocks 
against which the greatest quantities of tb« 
r 2 
