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Show , JlO TRAVELS THROUGII UPPER CANADA: rcm:-tins in its natural fbtc, covered ,,..·i th one continue 1 forcf1:; but on the oppoCite fide the ~ountry is intcrfpcrfcd with cultivatccl fidds and nc.tt f.1rm hou(cs d'> vn to the water's edge. 1 he C>Utltry beyond the l ills is muc.h lc(s clcan.:d than that wb;c lies towards the town of Niagan·., on the navi ;~a.b k part of the river. From the (uddcn change of the f!Cc of the country in the neighbourhood of ~·en fLown, and the equa:ly fuddcn ch, nge in the river with rcljn:t to its breadth, depth, and curront, conjeCture. have bclll formed, that the arcat f<llls of the river mul1: or ginally h ve bcln fitu:vcd at the i}}ot hc.:rc the wat rs are fo abruptly contrJcted ht\ 'CCI I the hi iis ; and incked it i highly probablt: th, t thi · was the catc, f(Jr it is a f. d \Ve1l a~·crtaincd, that the fa][:., have receded v '~'Y onil..lnably fin ''c they \Vcre firfl: viiited by Europenn ·, and thJt they :we Hill reced ing every year; but of this I ihtll hav<; occali n to fpcak morc particn!. uly prdl:ntly. It was at an early hour of the day that w . left the town of Nin;ara or Newat k, a cotl1paniccl by the attorney gcn ral and an oflicer of the Britifh engin ers, in ord r to vdit thefc Hupcndous falls. Every fl:cp th ~ t we advanced toward them, om expectation' 10fc to a higher pitch; our eyes were continually on the look out for the column of white mill: whi' h hovers ov-.r them; and an hundred times, I believe, dill \ e flop our carri~'ge in hopes of hc·11ing their tnundcring .(( und; n~iLh r, howt: VLr, was tl c mil1: to be le"n , nor the found to be h ·ar I, when we came to the foot of the hills; nor after havin" croffcd over them, \Vcrc our eyes or cars more gratifH~d. This ccauon d no inconfidcrablc difa ppoilltment, ~md we could not but cxprefs our doubts to each other, that the wondrous accounts we haJ fo frC(lll ·nlly heard cf the fall w Te without foundation, and calculatu.i merely to impol on the minJs of crcdu oas peopk that inhabited a dillant part of the world. Thd~ doubts wcr nearly confirmed, when v.r. .. found that, after h:winrr approachc i within half a mile of the 1lacc, the mill w,\S but juil: d.i( <.:t JJJblt:, and tba t the found c' c n then w JS not to he 1 card ; yet it is mvcrthdct ~ !hiClly true, t\.at the tn.:mcndous noifc of the f,d l& may be diilincll y heard, at times, at the di (lance of forty miles ; and the cloud • T An L E R 0 C K. jll cloud formed from the fpray m:-ty b~ ev~n fecn l1:ill fartha o.f·:*; but it is only when the air js very clc,tr, and thcr~ is a fine bl1tc fky, which however arc very common ccutTCn ,.:c in t 1is country, that the cloud can be feen at fuch a great clifl:ance. Th(.; hearing of th.; found of the f:tlls afiu· off alio depend upon the fl:atc of the atmofphcre ; it is obferved, that the found can be he.ml at the gre:1tefl: difl:,wce, jull: before a h avy fall of rain, and when the wind is in a f.lvourablc point to conv<:>y the found to war the liften r : the day on which w~ fi r!l: approach ' I the :f1lls was thick and cloudy. On th ~ t part of the road leading to Lak'- Et ie which draw:; n ar ·l1: to the falls, there is a fma1l vilhbae, con!ll1i r· of al)out half· a dozen il:rag e- lin tr u ~ ' hou cs : here we alig ht~ d, and l:aving clifpolccl of our horfc~, and nwde a flight repafi, in orckr to prcp.1rc u for the f.ttigu we had to gc through, we croflcd over fume field toward a deep hollow place (urroundlli with br ,e trees, from the bottom of which ifr11C'd thi 'k volume of whiti01 mil1:, that had mu h the appearance of 11nol-c rilJt g fr m largL! heaps of burning we ds. Tfavitw come to the edge of this lvJilow pLtc ·, we defccnded a fi ep bank of about fifty yards, and then w. lki i'r for · fome diDance ov r a wet marfhy p'ccc f ground, covered with thick bufhes, at la{l: came to the Table Rock, fo callc~l from the r.:::mark: lblc flatnefs of its furfacc, and its bearing i()I11C ii1 ilitudc to ;t table. This roc!· is fituatcd a little to the front of the great fttll, :thovl. the .top of which .it i elevated a )Ont furty feet. The view from it i'i truly fublit 1e; lut before I attempt to give any iJca f the nature of this view, it will be neccf1:1.ry to take a more gcner.tl furvcy of the river and falls. '" We ourfclvcs, [omc time afterwnrdr, beheld the clond with the naktd eye, at no lcfs n J iihncc tLanliri y- four miles, when f.1il in tr 011 L.1kc Eric, ~· on hoJ r,l one of the king's 01ip ~ . Th~.; day on which 1., e f:nv it was uncommonly clear and calm, and we were fcatcc\ on the poop of the vdfcl, admiring the hoJJ fccnrty of the fotlthcrn th0re of the lake, when the com11andt r, who haJ Ill: n aloft to mal:e fame ollcn Jtions, came to us, and pointing 10 a fiwlll white clou lin th horizon, told us, that that was the clouJ overhanljing Ni:tg:tra. At firfl it n;-pcarrd to us that this muflltavc brcn a mL"rC <:0 1jedurc, inlt on minute oofcrv.ttion it wa vidl't t th:n the CO•IliO;~ndcr ' info rmation was jull. All the ot ucr II;: 1t t!ouJs, in a few minutes, Jl1ttrd :tway to anotitL'I pnrt of the horizon, ' hen· ~ thi ; on rcmaiue l tl adily fixed in the f1m~ f[.JOt; nt.tl on loo',ing at it through a.., II., it 'as plain t ,l fee thnt the fh.tpc of the d ou tl v.1m· l \cry inil:tnt, 01' ing t t 'tc continued 1ili 1:; o d1.: mill from the C.1tJnd: beneath. |
