Peter Parley's Wonders of the Earth, Sea, and Sky

CHAPTER X.

PARLEY DESCRIBES THE FALLS OF NIAGARA.

The river Niagara runs out of Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, and you may see the direction it takes if you look in the map of North America. You may likewise observe that Lake Erie is connected with three other vast Lakes, and as its level is lower than theirs, the whole of their waters pass through it into the Niagara.

Nearly half way between the Lakes Erie and Ontario, where the river is about three quarters of a mile wide, it tumbles over a precipice of 160 feet in height. I shall try to describe to you what I saw when I visited this place; but I am quite certain I shall not be able to do justice to the scene. You must form your conceptions of it rather from the bare facts I tell you respecting the mass of water and the height of the rocky ledge over which it falls.

As we travelled along from the town of Waterloo on a level road on the west bank, we saw the river gradually become wider till it was cut into two streams by a long narrow island some miles in length. The streams after passing the island, unite into one again, which continues its course as before.

There is a sullen unpretending majesty about this part of the river, as if it did not think it worth while to remind the traveller of the vast distance which its mighty waters have come, or of the stupendous scene to which they are travelling onward. There is nothing remarkable in its appearance, and that very circumstance, coupled with what we knew and what we shortly expected to see, made us full of intense feeling; and often and often did we put our ears to the ground to hear whether the sound of the falls could reach us, and then remount and impatiently spur on our horses.

They say that the roar of the falls may be heard fifteen miles off when the wind is favourable. But the day we went, there was hardly any wind, and we were within six miles of the spot before we heard the sound.

At the distance of three miles the waters seemed fretful and discontented, as they approached what are called the rapids; we could see afar off "a silver cloud rising slowly into the sky—the everlasting incense of the waters," consisting of vapour, or rather fine spray, which is dashed out by the violence of the fall; and the roar seemed deeper and more tumultuous.

Within half a mile the rapids commence in good earnest. A rapid means the descent of a river down an inclined bed less sudden than a fall. The descent here in half a mile, is fifty feet. The bed is rocky, and the waters in rushing over it foam, and eddy, and tear along in all directions in which they can possibly approach the awful precipice. The unity of the stream is broken by thousands of rocks and stones, and every part of its broad surface seems earnestly taken up with driving forward to the falls.

After we had enjoyed this scene awhile, we turned into the road again, and lost sight of the river till we reached a public-house, where we took refreshment and put up our horses.

The precipice which here breaks the course of the river, is divided into three parts by two large islands, and thus are formed three distinct falls. One of these is called the Great, or Horse Shoe Fall, from its peculiar shape, which you will see represented in the picture. This is by far the most extensive waterfall in the world, and is considered to be above a quarter of a mile in length. Then comes an island a thousand feet in width, called Goat Island, which has a great deal of wood growing on it. After that the Second Fall, not more than twenty feet in width, then an island considerably smaller than the first; and lastly, Fort Scloper Fall, about a thousand feet wide, which joins the opposite bank of the river.

The quantity of water which descends every minute in the three falls, has been estimated to be about 700,000 tons.

Well, a path through the garden of the Inn at which we were, led us down a steep and thickly wooded bank, to a complete shelf of rock, about a foot in thickness, called the Table Rock, which stands out over the river.[A] Since I was there this piece of rock has broken away and fallen into the stream. I was not at all surprised when I heard this intelligence, for I can assure you that though I am no coward, it did not seem very secure when I was standing on it, and if I had not been quite taken up with what I was looking at, I should not have staid there long. Here the whole scene on a sudden broke upon us. We were on a level with the top of the precipice, with the Horse Shoe Fall just opposite, and to our left, the Second, and Fort Scloper Falls.

[A] The print is copied by the kind permission of Messrs. Ackermann, from one of the elegant series of engravings of the Falls of Niagara, published by them.

In spite of the loud roar and the violent rushing of the waters, the scene altogether produced on us feelings of deep tranquillity and beauty. The portion of the river that falls over the Horse Shoe Fall, comes on in such an unbroken mass, as if nothing dared to oppose the progress of a single drop of its water. Then the deep transparent green of the middle stream, showing at a little depth beneath its surface, shreds of milky foam, the beautiful cloud of fine spray ever decorated with a rich rainbow when the sun shines, and the thick woods of Goat Island, (the island that limits the Horse Shoe Fall,) are in such lovely harmony. Altogether, I should say that the scene from the Table Rock, is more remarkable for its beauty than its grandeur, though its grandeur is quite equal to that of anything I ever looked upon in my life.

We got down to the bottom of the falls by means of some rough steps which have been cut in the rock. As we stood on some large fragments which have fallen down from the cliff above, the roar fell with overpowering heaviness upon our ears, the fall was nearly hid from our eyes by the spray, and the river rushed past our feet in a terrible tumult of white foam. By getting along on the stones under the cliff, we went in under the fall so as actually to be between the rock and the descending sheet of water. Your imagination must tell you better than I can, the character of what we then saw by the broken light that made its way through the descending mass of waters. We stopped there, overpowered by indescribable feelings, till we got wet through by the spray, and then went back to the inn, stored with recollections, which will be a feast for us as long as we live.

A traveller who visited the Falls in winter, adds some particulars which will be interesting to you.

"At the time of my visit," says he, "the wind drove the floating ice out of Lake Erie, with the drift wood of its tributary rivers, and these were constantly precipitated over the Falls, but we were not able to discover any vestiges of them in the eddies below. Immediately in front of the sheet of falling water, on the American side, there was also an enormous bank of snow, of nearly a hundred feet in height, which the power of the sun had not been fierce enough to dissolve, and which, by giving an Icelandic character to the landscape, produced a fine effect. It appeared to me to owe its accumulation to the fallen particles of frozen spray.

"What has been said by Goldsmith, and repeated by others, respecting the destructive influence of the rapids above, to ducks and other water-fowl, is only an effect of the imagination. So far from being the case, the wild duck is often seen to swim down the rapid to the brink of the Falls, and then fly out, and repeat the descent, seeming to take a delight in the exercise. Neither are small land-birds affected on flying over the Falls, in the manner that has been stated. I observed the blue bird and the wren, which had already made their annual visit to the banks of the Niagara, frequently fly within one or two feet of the brink, apparently delighted with the gift of their wings, which enabled them to sport over such frightful precipices, without danger."

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