BARN BLUFF, NEAR RED WING, MINNESOTA.
The height of the former is one hundred and four feet, and the latter, owing to a limestone stratum not worn away, is one foot higher, by which it is reasonably concluded that at one time nearly all the flow was towards the American side, because the discharge over the western fall is not now so great as that towards the Canada side. This tremendous flood of waters is from Lake Erie through Niagara River into Lake Ontario, and the retrogression of the cataract, caused by the wearing of the limestone ledge, inclines geologists to the opinion that the flow has continued for a period of not less than thirty-seven thousand years. The width of Niagara River at the falls is forty-five hundred feet, of which American Falls occupies eleven hundred feet, Goat Island fourteen hundred feet, and Horseshoe Falls two thousand feet, though the deep curve in the latter, whence its name is derived, makes the line of fall more than three thousand feet. It has been estimated that the discharge exceeds one billion gallons of water every twelve hours, and that the force thus developed is equal to something more than one million horse-power.
The landscape on either side of the falls has little of the picturesque or tumultuous about it, being generally slightly rolling, and giving no indication of eruptive disturbance; so that scientists are still searching for a plausible theory upon which to base a conclusion as to the cause that produced this sudden dip in the limestone formation.
The astounding power displayed by the river dropping over a wide and lofty ledge is scarcely more bewildering than that exhibited by the Rapids, which extend for half a mile from the point of descent, and meeting a swift current, the flood is lashed into a fury that is frightful to behold, rising in the center like huge beasts in combat, and tossing wave-caps nearly fifty feet above the surface. At times the spray rises in such clouds as to completely obscure the falls, and borne some distance by the winds is condensed, and a long-continued rain follows, which renders a considerable stay in the neighborhood somewhat disagreeable.
VIEW OF FORT SNELLING FROM THE MISSISSIPPI.
HARDING SPRING AND ROCK, EUREKA SPRINGS, ARKANSAS.—The ruggedness and beauty of the scenery in and around Eureka Springs, and their pleasant influence upon the minds of invalids, causing them to dwell upon other things rather than their ailments, no doubt have something to do with the marvelous cures that have been wrought here. Nature, aided by the embellishments of art, has made the place an exceedingly attractive resort, which grows in favor with each passing year. No imaginary picture, be it ever so attractive, could surpass in picturesqueness the scene so beautifully photographed on this page.