JOURNEY THROUGH THE WOODS, 31 ? 
Chin a- hr east-plate, standing’ on the brink of the 
precipice, began to tell us a long story, and 
pointing to a distant place beyond it, fre¬ 
quently mentioned the word Niagara. Whe¬ 
ther, however, the story related to the pit, or 
whether it related to the Falls of Niagara, the 
smoke arising from which it is by no means 
improbable might be seen, at times, from the 
elevated spot where we stood, or whether the 
story related to both, we could in noway learn, 
as we were totally unacquainted with the Se~ 
neka language, and he was nearly equally ig¬ 
norant of the English. I never met with any 
person afterwards who had seen this place, 
or who knew any thing relating to it. Though 
we made repeated signs to China-breast-plate, 
that we did not understand his story, he still 
went on with it for near a, quarter of an hour ; 
the other Indians listened to it with great at¬ 
tention, and seemed to take no small interest 
in what he said. 
I should have mentioned to you before, that 
both the Indians and the white Americans 
pronounce the word Niagara differently from 
what we do. The former lay the accent on 
the second syllable, and pronounce the word 
full and broad as if written Nee-awg-ara. 
The Americans likewise lay the accent on the 
second syllable; but pronounce it short, and 
give the same found to the letters I and A as 
