part I conceived that this rough discipline would be equally

comfortable in other respects and not more embarrassing to the lungs than the action of the blast and falling water behind this amazing cataract."

It is almost impossible to conceive of the immense mass of water tumbling over this precipice. It has been estimated in tons, cubic feet, and horse-power, but the figures are so large as to stagger the human mind. Out there at the apex of the angle, the water, over twenty feet deep, is drawn from almost half a continent, forming a picture to make one's nerves thrill with awe and delight, where the international boundary line swings back and forth as the apex of the angle formed sways from side to side.

Just off the shore of the island are seen Terrapin Rocks. Why this name was applied is uncertain. These rocks are scattered in the flood to the very brink of the fall and in the titanic struggle with the rush of waters seem hardly able to maintain their position. Upon these rocks on the very brink of the Falls in 1833 was erected, by Judge Porter, Terrapin Tower, for many years one of the centres visited by every person journeying to the Falls. From its summit could be seen the wild rapids rushing on toward the precipice; below shimmering green of the fall. Down, far down, in the depths beneath was the boiling, seething caldron, from which arose beautiful columns of spray. From this position, forty-five feet above the surface of the water, probably a more comprehensive view of the many features of Niagara could be obtained than from any other point. Forty years later it was blown up, not because it was unsafe, as alleged, but that it might not prove a rival attraction to Prospect Point. Recently suggestions have been made looking toward the restoration of this ancient landmark, but no definite action has been taken.

Over a half-century ago, almost opposite this tower on the Canadian side, was to be seen the immense Table Rock hanging far out over the current below. On the 25th of June, 1850, this large mass of rock fell. Fortunately the fall occurred at noon with no loss of life; it was one of the greatest falls of rock known to have taken place at the cataract, for the dimensions of the rock were two hundred feet long, sixty feet wide, and a hundred feet deep. Like the roar of muffled thunder the crash was heard for miles around.

It was from the Terrapin Rocks to the Canadian side that Blondin wished to stretch his rope, elsewhere described, and it was over the very centre of Niagara's warring powers he desired to perform his daring feat, looking down upon that shimmering guarded secret of the "Heart of Niagara." The Porters, who owned Goat Island, however, refused to become parties to what they considered an improper exposure of life and Blondin stretched his cable farther down the river, near the site of the crescent steel arch bridge.

Standing upon these rocks and looking out over that hurrying mass of waters, it seems almost impossible to imagine any power being able to stop them; but on the 29th of March, 1848, the impossible happened, the Niagara ran dry. From the American shore across the rapids to Goat Island one could walk dry-shod. From Goat Island and the Canadian shore the waters were contracted to a small stream flowing over the centre of what was then the Horseshoe; only a few tiny rivulets remained falling over the precipice at other points. The cause of this unnatural phenomenon was wind and ice. Lake Erie was full of floating ice. The day previous the winds had blown this ice out into the lake. In the evening the wind suddenly changed and blew a sharp gale from exactly the opposite direction, driving the mass of ice into the river and gorging it there, thus cutting off almost the whole water supply, and in the morning people awoke to find that the Niagara had departed. The American Fall was no more, the Horseshoe was hardly a ghost of its former self. Gone were the rapids, the fighting, struggling waters. Niagara's majestic roar was reduced to a moan. All day people walked on the rock bed of the river, although fearful lest the dam formed at its head should give way at any moment. By night, the warmth of the sun and the waters of the lake had begun to make inroads on the barrier and by the morning of the next day Niagara had returned in all its grandeur.

However cold Niagara's winter may be, the moan of falling water here can always be heard, though at times the volume is very small. The winter scenes here often take rank in point of wonder and beauty with the cataract itself. When the river is frozen over below the Falls the phenomenon is called an "Ice Bridge," the blowing spray sometimes building a gigantic sparkling mound of wonderful beauty. The island trees above the Falls, covered by the same spray, assume curiously beautiful forms which, as they glitter in the sun, turn an already wonder-land into a strange fairyland of incomparable whiteness and glory.

A short distance up the river along the shore a position just opposite the apex of the Falls is reached. Here, along the shore of the island, the waters are comparatively shallow, but toward the Canadian shore races the current which carries fully three fourths of Niagara's volume. Out in the very midst of the current is a small speck of land, all that is now left of what was once Gull Island, so named from its having been a favourite resting place for these birds, which can hardly find a footing now on its contracted shores. From what can be learned of the past history of this island, it must have occupied about two acres three quarters of a century ago. Its gradual disappearance shows to what degree the mighty forces of Niagara are removing all obstacles placed in their path. Goat Island is gradually suffering the same fate. At points the shore line has encroached upon the island to a distance of twenty feet in a half-century. At this point the carriage road used to run out beyond the present edge of the bluff.

Passing on along the shore of the island, Niagara's scenery is present everywhere. At quite a distance up stream the Three Sister Islands are reached. These islands were named from the three daughters of General P. Whitney, they being the first women to visit them, probably in winter when the waters were low.

To the first Sister Island leads a massive stone bridge. From this bridge is to be obtained a fine view of the Hermit's Cascade beneath. This little fall receives its name from having been the favourite bathing place of the Hermit of Niagara, a strange half-witted young Englishman by the name of Francis Abbott who lived in solitude here for two years preceding his death by drowning in 1831, during his sojourn at the Falls.

These three islands are replete with small bits of scenery and overflowing with beauty. In them are to be found the smaller attractions of Niagara; not so much of the stern majesty and awful grandeur, but smaller and more comprehensible features come before the view following each other in rapid succession. On the second Sister Island is one point which should be visited by every one. Just before reaching the bridge to third Sister Island, by turning to the right and proceeding along a somewhat difficult path for a short distance one comes to a point at the water's edge and finds lying right below him the boiling waters with their white, feathery spray; here also is the small cataract between the second and third islands fed by the most rapid although small stream of Niagara. From this point is to be obtained one of the most varied of scenic effects of any point at the Falls. The scenery from the third Sister must be seen to be appreciated. From its upper end one looks directly at the low cliff which forms the first descent of the Rapids. Here the waters start from the peaceful stream above on their maddening race for the Falls. Out along the line of the cliff the waters deepen and increase in rapidity toward the Canadian shore. Just below this ledge, probably three hundred feet from the head of the island, the current is directed against some obstruction which causes it to spout up into the air, causing what is called the Spouting Rock.

Many have been the changes wrought by the waters themselves since white men knew the Falls; but a thousand years hence the visitor to Niagara will behold the main fall not from Terrapin Rocks or Porter's Bluff, but from this third Sister Island. The Rapids then shall have almost entirely disappeared, but their beauty will be compensated for by the additional grandeur of the fall itself. The gorge will have widened and the fall itself shall have added fifty feet to its height, making it two hundred feet high. Third Sister Island should be gone over thoroughly, for it offers some of the finest views, especially of colouring, above the Falls, and many of them.

Niagara owes its sublime array of colour to the purity of its water. Nothing finer has been written on this subject than the words of the artist Mrs. Van Rensselaer, whom we quote:

To this purity Niagara owes its exquisite variety of colour. To find the blues we must look, of course, above Goat Island, where the sky is reflected in smooth if quickly flowing currents. But every other tint and tone that water can take is visible in or near the Falls themselves. In the quieter parts of the gorge we find a very dark, strong green, while in its rapids all shades of green and grey and white are blended. The shallower rapids above the Falls are less strongly coloured, a beautiful light green predominating between the pale-grey swirls and the snowy crests of foam--semi-opaque, like the stone called aquamarine, because infused with countless air-bubbles, yet deliciously fresh and bright. The tense, smooth slant of water at the margin of the American fall is not deep enough to be green. In the sunshine it is a clear amber, and when shadowed, a brown that is darker, yet just as pure. But wherever the Canadian fall is visible its green crest is conspicuous. Far down-stream, nearly two miles away, where the railroad-bridge crosses the gorge, it shows like a little emerald strung on a narrow band of pearl. Its colour is not quite like that of an emerald, although the term must be used because no other is more accurate. It is a purer colour, and cooler, with less of yellow in it--more pure, more cool, and at the same time more brilliant than any colour that sea-water takes even in a breaking wave, or that man has produced in any substance whatsoever. At this place, we are told, the current must be twenty feet deep; and its colour is so intense and so clear because, while the light is reflected from its curving surface, it also filters through so great a mass of absolutely limpid water. It always quivers, this bright-green stretch, yet somehow it always seems as solid as stone, smoothly polished for the most part, but, when a low sun strikes across it, a little roughened, fretted. That this is water and that the thinnest smoke above it is water also, who can believe? In other places at Niagara we ask the same question again.

From a distance the American fall looks quite straight. When we stand beside it we see that its line curves inward and outward, throwing the falling sheet into bastion-like sweeps. As we gaze down upon these, every change in the angle of vision and in the strength and direction of the light gives a new effect. The one thing that we never seem to see, below the smooth brink, is water. Very often the whole swift precipice shows as a myriad million inch-thick cubes of clearest glass or ice or solidified light, falling in an envelope of starry spangles. Again, it seems all diamond-like or pearl-like, or like a flood of flaked silver, shivered crystal, or faceted ingots of palest amber. It is never to be exhausted in its variations. It is never to be described. Only, one can always say, it is protean, it is most lovely, and it is not water.

Then, as we look across the precipice, it may be milky in places, or transparent, or translucent. But where its mass falls quickly it is all soft and white--softer then anything else in the world. It does not resemble a flood of fleece or of down, although it suggests such a flood. It is more like a crumbling avalanche, immense and gently blown, of smallest snowflakes; but, again, it is not quite like this. Now we see that, even apart from its main curves, no portion of the swiftly moving wall is flat. It is all delicately fissured and furrowed, by the broken edges of the rock over which it falls, into the suggestion of fluted buttresses, half-columns, pilasters. And the whiteness of these is not quite white. Nor is it consistently iridescent or opalescent. Very faintly, elusively, it is tinged with tremulous stripes and strands of pearly grey, of vaguest straw, shell-pink, lavender, and green--inconceivably ethereal blues, shy ghosts of earthly colours, abashed and deflowered, we feel, by definite naming with earthly names. They seem hardly to tinge the whiteness; rather, to float over it as a misty bloom. We are loath to turn our eyes from them, fearing they may never show again. Yet they are as real as the keen emerald of the Horseshoe.[10]

One should walk through the New York State Reservation, which extends for some distance above the commencement of the Rapids, to get a more complete view of the scenery above the Falls, the wooded shores of Goat Island, the swiftly moving waters, the broad river, the beginning of the Canadian Rapids, and the Canadian shore in the distance. On up the river at a distance are to be seen those forest-clad shores of Navy Island and Grand Island.

On the Canadian side of the river, after crossing the steel arch bridge just below the Falls, beautiful Victoria Park is first reached. From this position a new and entirely different view of the American Fall is obtained from almost directly in front. Turning and going up the river a fine view of the Horseshoe is obtained from a distance. Just opposite the American Fall is Inspiration Point, from which the best view of the Falls is to be obtained. From here one can watch the little _Maid of the Mist_ as she makes her trips through the boiling waters below.

On up the river one wanders, past Goat Island, whose cliff is seen from directly in front. Just before reaching the edge of the Horseshoe the position of old Table Rock is seen. Little is left of this old and once famous point for observing Niagara's wonders. Several different falls of immense masses of rock, one of which has been mentioned, have reduced it to its present state. Here the Indian worshipped the Great Spirit of the Falls, gazing across at his supposed home on Goat Island; and here comes the white man to look upon the wonders of that mighty cataract with a feeling almost akin to that of his red brother. Here one could stand with the maddening waters rushing beneath, the Falls near at hand, its incessant roar assailing the ears while the spray was wafted all round. Little wonder that the red man worshipped, or that the white man looks on with feelings of awe, admiration, and wonder.

Passing on up the river and around the pumping station for the neighbouring village, one reaches the point at the water's edge from which the "Heart of Niagara" can best be seen, where millions of tons of water are continually pouring over the cliff and causing some of the most beautiful effects produced by the spray called the "Darting Lines of Spray" to be seen anywhere at the Falls. From this point one sees up the river over a mile of the Rapids with their madly hurrying waters rushing on as if to engulf everything below.

Along the water's edge, the journey should be pursued. A short distance farther up stream, a crib work has been built as a protection to the bank. Here is to be gained one of the finest views of the Canadian Rapids, one feature of which can not be seen to so great advantage from any other point. The "Shoreless Sea," as this view has been called, is a grand and inspiring sight. Gazing up the stream the Rapids are seen tumbling on toward one, with no land in sight. The clouds form the sky-line and it is as if the very chambers of heaven had been opened for a second deluge. It is, indeed, a "Shoreless Sea," tumbling on, a grand and awful sight.

Pursuing one's way on up the river, Dufferin Islands are reached. These are formed by a bend in the current. Here is a sylvan retreat, full of lovers' walks and beauties of nature. Here is the burning spring--escaping natural gas from a rift in the rock. Not far from this point, on up the river, was fought the battle of Chippewa. About a mile above these islands, at the mouth of Chippewa Creek, stood Fort Chippewa, built by the British in 1790 to protect this, their most important portage.

To reach the points of interest, just mentioned, on the Canadian side, as well as those down the river, it is best to make the trip from one scenic position to another by electric car. Returning to the Horseshoe one will doubtless have called to his mind that about a mile back to the left occurred the famed battle of Lundy's Lane on July 5, 1814. At the edge of the cliff on the right was the position of the "Old Indian Ladder," by means of which the Indians used to descend to the lower level for the purpose of fishing. This ladder was only a long cedar tree, which had been deprived of its limbs and had been placed almost perpendicularly against the cliff. On down the way a short distance, the road which leads down the face of the cliff, to the _Maid of the Mist's_ landing, is reached. Just beyond this point, at the top of the inclined railway, is to be obtained the best view of the steel arch bridge. Just below the bridge, opposite, on the American shore, a maddened torrent comes pouring from the base of the cliff as if anxious to add its fury to that of the waters round. It is the outlet of the tunnel which disposes of the tail water from the electric power-house over a mile above, mentioned in our chapter on power development at Niagara. The manufacturing plants of the Hydraulic Company, the first to use Niagara's waters to any great extent for power, are situated just opposite.

A short distance on down the stream, and after descending a slight incline, the point where Blondin stretched his rope across the gorge in 1859 is reached.

Next on the journey the cantilever bridge is reached. This bridge was constructed in 1882. Just below this is the steel arch bridge, both being railroad bridges. The second one was first constructed as a suspension bridge by John A. Roebling, being the first railroad bridge of its kind in the country. It has been several times replaced, the present structure having been erected in 1897. Just below the railroad bridges several persons have made the trip across the gorge on ropes.

Soon the Whirlpool is reached, and the madly rushing waters are seen as at no other place on the surface of the earth. Rounding the rapids, the car runs over a trestle work in crossing the old pre-glacial channel of the river referred to in our geologic chapter. Here one can look down on the waters almost directly beneath him, with the forests covering the sloping incline of the ancient bed of the river stretching up to the level above. Just as the car finishes the rounded curve of the Whirlpool, at the point of the cliff at the outlet, one catches the best view of both inlet and outlet at the same time, flowing directly at right angles to each other. The car continues on its course, now near, now farther back from the edge of the gorge. One catches occasional glimpses of the bridge far below, over which the electric line passes back to the American shore. For over three miles the car continues its course along the cliff before the next point of special interest presents itself in Brock's monument.

From this monument one of the finest panoramic views of the surrounding regions can be obtained. The monument stands on Queenston Heights, with the remains of old Fort Drummond just back of it.

All about is historic ground. On the surrounding plain and slopes was fought the battle of Queenston Heights. Every inch of ground has some story to tell of that struggle. The car soon begins to descend the incline which, ages ago, formed the shores of Lake Ontario. Below, at the end of the gorge, the river seems to forget its tumultuous rush, and spreading out pursues a placid and well-behaved course to the lower lake.

About half-way down the descent, the point where General Brock fell is reached, which point is marked by a massive stone monument set in place in 1861 by King Edward VII., then Prince of Wales. Just below to the right is seen an old, ruined stone house which was General Brock's shelter after being wounded, and in which was printed, in 1792, the first newspaper of Upper Canada. The bridge is soon reached, in the crossing of which, a fine view of the last mad rush of the waters is gained as they issue from the gorge into the placid stream leading to the lake below. On they come with the waves piled high in the centre, tearing along in a mad fury, until they seem to be pacified by a power stronger even than their own; and they glide smoothly along to the end of their course in the lower lake.

On the American heights stood old Fort Gray, connected with the history of the War of 1812. On the American shore was the head of navigation, and up the cliff all the freight sent over the old portage was hoisted by hand and later by machinery. High up on the American cliffs, half-way between the Whirlpool and Lewiston, is the famous "Devil's Hole," an interesting cave known among the Indians, we are told, as the "Cave of the Evil Spirit." Here, it has been stated, geologists find some of the clearest evidences of the former existence of the presence of the Falls in that far day when the migration had extended thus far up the river from the escarpment at Lewiston.

Much has been said about the rapids of the river below the Falls--the lesser Rapids of Niagara. What of this seething, spouting, tumbling mass that races along below these towering cliffs, maddening, ungovernable, almost horrifying to gaze upon? It is very singular how little is said about this torrent. They illustrate very significantly the fact that mere power has little of charm for the mind of man; it interests, but often it does not please or delight. In our chapter on the foolhardy persons to whom these bounding billows have been a challenge, and who have attempted to navigate or pass through them, are descriptions of their savage fury and wonderful eccentricities. The most interesting fact respecting these great rapids is the unbelievable depth of the channel through which they race, since it sometimes approximates, according to the best sources of information, the height of the towering cliffs that compose the canyon. By government survey we know that the depth of the river between the Falls and the cantilever bridge is two hundred feet. The Whirlpool is estimated as four hundred feet deep, and the rapids above the Whirlpool as forty feet deep; the rapids below the Whirlpool are thought to be about sixty.

The romantic situation of the two ancient towns, Lewiston and Queenston, at the foot of the two escarpments, on opposite sides of the river, is only equalled by the absorbing story of their part in history when they were thriving, bustling frontier outposts. The beauty of the locations of these interesting towns contains in itself sufficient promise of growth and prosperity equal to, or exceeding, that of beautiful Youngstown, near Fort Niagara, or Niagara-on-the-Lake on the Canadian shore. This lower stretch of river teems with historic interest of the French era and especially of the days when the second war with Great Britain was progressing; in our chapters relating to those days will be found references to these points of present-day interest in their relation to the great questions that were being settled by sword and musket, by friend and foe, who met beside the historic river that empties into Lake Ontario between old Fort George and old Fort Niagara.

For ease of access, romantic situation, historic interest, and many of the advantages usually desired during a hot vacation recess, these towns along the lower Niagara offer a varied number of important advantages; if by some magic touch a dam could be raised between Fort Mississauga and the American shore, rendering that marvellously beautiful stretch of river--unmatched in some ways by any American stream--slack water, one of the most lovely boating lakes on the Continent could be created, whereon international regattas in both winter and summer could be held of unusual interest. Is it supposable that this could be effected without great detriment to either the yachting fraternity, whose sails, from the verandah of the Queen's Royal, are always a delight, or the steamboat interests, which could land as well at Fort Niagara, perhaps, as at Lewiston, or at Niagara-on-the-Lake, which could be connected with the Gorge Route. The river's current is all now that keeps the lower Niagara from being as popular a resort of its kind as can be suggested. All the elements of popularity are in fair measure present here, and immensely enjoyed yearly by increasing multitudes.

A little beyond the mouth of the Niagara, just over those blue waves, rise the spires of the queen city of Canada, Toronto. To all practical purposes this beautiful city stands at one end of Niagara River, as Buffalo stands at the other. Historically and commercially this is altogether true, and we elsewhere weave its history into our record.

[Footnote 7: _Scribner's Monthly_, vol. xxi., pp. 583-6.]

[Footnote 8: _The Niagara Book_, p. 15.]

[Footnote 9: _The Century Magazine_, vol. xxxvi., p. 197.]

[Footnote 10: _The Century Magazine_, xxxvi., 198-201.]