The inn at which we alighted was large and comfortable: in the drawing-room I found a very tolerable piano-forte, to which I instantly betook myself. By the time we had seen our bed-rooms, and ordered dinner, we found we should have leisure, before it was ready, to walk to the falls of the Genesee (the river on which Rochester stands), which have some celebrity for their beauty. A man from the hotel volunteered to be our guide, and joined our party. We walked up the main street, which was crowded and full of business. From this, presently turning off, we followed a wider road, with houses and pretty flower gardens on each side, and reached, after half a mile's walk, a meadow skirted by a deep ravine, through which the river ran; from whence we looked immediately upon the falls. They would be, and were, I doubt not, once beautiful; for the barrier of rock, over which the river throws itself into the valley below, is of considerable breadth and height; but, alas! the waters have been turned off to turn mills, and a thin curtain, which falls over the rocks like a vapoury sheet of blue smoke, is all that remains of the Genesee falls; whilst, from a thousand dingy-looking mills and manufactories, the poor little rivulets of labouring water come rushing through narrow dirty channels, all stained and foaming and hot from their work, to throw themselves into the thin bosom of their parent stream. Truly, mills and steam-engines are wonderful things, and I know that men must live; but I wish it were not expedient to destroy what God has made so very beautiful, in order to make it useful. Our guide perceiving our admiration was a good deal excited by the picturesque beauty of the scene, fell into a species of rhapsody, which terminated thus: "Yes, sir, when I see the waters thus falling from the bottom to the top; I say, sir, when I look at the water falling from the bottom to the top, I can compare it to nothing—but—but—but—wool out of a cotton-mill!" This was an unlooked-for climax, and gave us all a violent inclination to laugh in the face of the orator; which, however, would have been exceedingly wrong; for so sincere was the good man in his enthusiasm, that he was not in the least aware of the miraculous proceeding which he twice, with much emphasis, ascribed to the upward falling water.[107]
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We waited in this meadow for the passing of a train of rail-road carriages, which run between Rochester and a small village about three miles distant, where the river was said to be very beautiful. We hailed them as they went by, and proceeded in them to their destination. The view itself, from this point, though romantic and pretty, was scarce worth going out of the way for; the walk back, however, was delightful. The river runs here through a deep gully, the banks rising precipitously above a hundred feet on each side of it. On one side they are beautifully and thickly wooded; the other presents a bare wall of reddish rock lying in very regular strata. About a mile and a half below the falls, the channel of the river contracts itself, and the water, forcing its way through some irregular rocky projections, forms a very pretty miniature cataract. We walked along the high margin of the glen, upon some very thick soft turf, looking down upon the deep bed of the water, and enjoying a delicious fresh breeze. 'Tis curious enough, that upon this strip of turf, close to the high road, under the shelter of a group of trees, we found a couple of tomb-stones. They were carefully railed round, and bore the names of a man and his wife, without, however, assigning any cause for their choice of a burial-place so public and unhallowed. The last mile of our walk was by no means so agreeable as the previous part had been. Nearing the town, we had to leave the brink of the river and follow the dusty track of the rail-road. When we reached Rochester, we dined; after which I went and lay down, and slept till tea-time. When I came down to tea, found the gentlemen profoundly busied: —— writing home, Mr. —— journalising, my father poring over maps and road-books, to find out if we could not possibly get as far as Niagara to-morrow.
Tuesday, 16th.
Had to get up before I'd half done my sleep. At six, started from Rochester for Murray, where we purposed breakfasting. Just as we were nearing the inn, at this same place, our driver took it into his head to give us a taste of his quality. We were all earnestly engaged in a discussion, when suddenly I felt a tremendous sort of stunning blow, and as soon as I opened my eyes, found that the coach was overturned, lying completely on its side. I was very comfortably curled up under my father, who, by Heaven's mercy, did not suffocate me; opposite sat D——, as white as a ghost, with her forehead cut open, and an awful-looking stream of blood falling from it; by her stood Mr. ——, also as pale as ashes: —— was perched like a bird above us all, on the edge of the doorway, which was open. The first thing I did, was to cry as loud as ever I could, "I'm not hurt, I'm not hurt!" which assurance I shouted sufficiently lustily to remove all anxiety from their minds. The next thing was to get my father up; in accomplishing which, he trampled upon me most cruelly. As soon as I was relieved from his mountainous pressure, I got up, and saw, to my dismay, two men carrying Mr. —— into the house. We were all convinced that some of his limbs were broken: I ran after as quickly as I could, and presently the house was like an hospital. They carried him into an upper room, and laid him on a bed; here, too, they brought D——, all white and bleeding. Our hand-baskets and bags were ransacked for salts and eau de Cologne. Cold water, hot water, towels, and pocket handkerchiefs, were called into requisition; and I, with my clothes all torn, and one shoulder all bruised and cut, went from the one to the other in utter dismay. Presently, to my great relief, Mr. —— revived; and gave ample testimony of having the use of his limbs, by getting up, and, in the most skilful manner, plastering poor D——'s broken brow up. —— went in quest of my father, who had received a violent blow on his leg, and was halting about, looking after the baggage and the driver, who had escaped unhurt.[108] The chief cause of our misfortune was the economy with which the stage-coaches are constructed in this thrifty land; that is, they have but one door, and, of course, are obliged to be turned round much oftener than if they had two: in wheeling us, therefore, rapidly up to the inn, and turning the coach with the side that had a door towards the house, we swung over, and fell. While the coach was being repaired, and the horses changed, we, bound up, bruised, and aching, but still very merry, sat down to breakfast. Mr. ——, who had been merely stunned, seized on the milk and honey, and stuffed away with great zeal: poor D—— was the most deplorable of the party, with a bloody handkerchief bound over one half her face; I only ached a little, and I believe —— escaped with a scratch on his finger; so, seeing it was no worse, we thanked God, and devoured. After breakfast, we packed ourselves again in our vehicle, and progressed. Mr. —— had procured for me a bunch of flowers; and I amused myself with making a wreath of them. Our route lay over what is called the Ridge road; a very remarkable tract, pursuing a high embankment, which was once the boundary of Lake Ontario; though the waters are now distant from it upwards of seven miles. The theories of the geologists respecting the former position of the lake are very singular; though borne out by similar instances of natural convulsions, and also by the very features of the land. The country through which we journeyed to-day was wilder and less cultivated than any we have yet seen. A great deal of forest land, consisting of close, thin, tall, second-growth, springing around the stump of many a huge tree; thick tangled underwood; marsh and damp green wilderness, where the grass and bushes trailed about in rank luxuriance; and piles of felled timber, with here and there a root yet smoking, bore witness to the first inroads of human cultivation. None of the trees that were standing were of any girth, or comparable in size and beauty to our park trees; but some of the stumps were of large size, and must have been the foundations of noble forest pillars. Our road, after leaving the Ridge road, was horrible: for some length of time before we reached Lockport, we were dragged over what is called a corduroy road; which consists merely of logs of wood laid close to each other, the natural inequalities of which produce a species of jolting incomparably superior to any other I ever felt, and administering but little comfort either to our bruised bones or apprehensive nerves.
We reached Lockport at about four o'clock. There had been rain in the course of the morning, but the evening was clear, though very cold. The appearance of Lockport is very singular: a collection of new white houses, that look as though they were but this instant finished, standing in a half-cleared wilderness. All round the town, if such it may be called, stretch the remains of the once pathless woods, half cleared, half savage-looking yet; and, as far as the eye can reach, the country presents a series of dreary slopes, covered with prostrate trees, heaps of hewn timber, smoking stumps, and blackened trunks—a sort of forest stubble-land—a very desolate-looking thing indeed. The house where we stopped appeared to be hardly finished. We ordered dinner, and I forthwith began kindling a fire, which was extremely welcome to us all. I was very much bruised with our morning's overturn, and went and lay down in my bed-room, where I presently slept profoundly.
Wednesday, 17th.
At nine o'clock, we started from Lockport: before doing so, however, we went down to the canal side to look at the works, which are here very curious and interesting. —— ran into a bookseller's shop, and got ——'s book for me, which he was going to pounce upon without knowing what it was; and ——, for some reasons best known to himself, snatched it away from him, saying it was a book which he was sure he would not like. The road between Lockport and Lewistown is very pretty; and we got out and walked whenever the horses were changed. At one place where we stopped, I saw a meek-eyed, yellowish-white cart-horse, standing with a man's saddle on his back. The opportunity was irresistible, and the desire too—I had not backed a horse for so long. So I got up upon the amazed quadruped, woman's fashion, and took a gallop through the fields, with infinite risk of falling off, and proportionate satisfaction. We reached Lewistown at about noon, and anxious enquiries were instituted as to how our luggage was to be forwarded, when on the other side; for we were exclusive extras; and for creatures so above common fellowship there is no accommodation in this levelling land. A ferry and a ferry-boat, however, it appeared, there were, and thither we made our way. While we were waiting for the boat, I climbed out on the branches of a huge oak, which grew over the banks of the river, which here rise nearly a hundred feet high. Thus comfortably perched, like a bird, 'twixt heaven and earth, I copied off some verses which I had scrawled just before leaving Lockport. The ferry-boat being at length procured, we got into it. The day was sultry; the heat intolerable.