The present administration are, no doubt, disposed to promote the respectability and safety of the nation; and the opposition have always been in favour of a considerable military and naval establishment. The experience gained by our last contest with Great-Britain cost us much; and it ought not to be forgotten. Both political parties in this country agree, that in peace we ought to be prepared for war. That I do, however, consider war between nations, seldom necessary, and a practice which places human nature upon the most humiliating ground, will fully appear when I reach, in the course of my tour, those fields of carnage which forcibly speak to the lone traveller.
The rapids of the river Niagara commence at a little distance above the celebrated falls, and terminate near the narrows opposite to Lewiston. Between [77] these two places the distance is about seven miles.
That I might have a full view of the scenery in the vicinity of the falls, I travelled, during the evening of my leaving Fort Niagara, only two miles beyond Lewistown. Early the next morning I moved on, glowing with anticipation. The lofty and rude banks of this part of the river, the deafening clamour of the falls, and the huge clouds of vapour which arose from them, inspired me with a new and indescribable emotion. The day too was dark, windy, and wild. Yet the sun shone bright;—but the darkness did not comprehend it.
Owing, perhaps, to the excitement occasioned by these circumstances, I expected too much. I confess that I was disappointed, both with respect to the height of the falls, and the quantity of water propelled over them in a given time. There is, however, in their eternal roar, a nameless solitude. For ages this roar has been ceaseless; and it seems to speak of perpetual duration.
The rapids just above the falls, excited much interest. Dark, furious, and perplexed, they rush on as though eager for destruction. Here the imagination suddenly becomes aroused, and with a sombre, yet vivid glance, surveys the opposite, and renowned plains of Chippewa and Bridgewater;[[72]]—then returning to the rapids, it hears, in the voice of their fury, the half-drowned vow of the warrior, and sees, in their mist, his falling steed, and brandished falchion. The trees near the falls were all prostrated by the weight of congealed vapour; and seemed to worship, most devoutly, the Great Author of this grand spectacle. A lovely, yet fearful rainbow, arched the river below; and numerous gulls, were obscurely seen sailing through the thick exhalations which filled the whole space to [78] the Canada side.—Charon and his boat only were wanted to complete the scene.
How impressive is the grand in nature! It withdraws the human mind from the trifling concerns of time, and points it to its primeval dignity, and lofty destinies.
There are three divisions of the falls; and they are occasioned by two islands situated in the river. The whole describes a crescent. One of the islands is about four hundred yards wide, and the other about ten yards. Perhaps the whole width of the islands and falls, including the curvatures of the latter, is three quarters of a mile. The height of the principal falls is about one hundred and fifty feet; and the descent of the rapids, above the largest of them, is about sixty feet. One can hardly avoid personifying this rush of water; meeting, as it does, huge rocks and trees lying in every direction, and seeking, with a wild and furious velocity, a passage to the falls. Breaking and foaming, the rapids take a thousand courses, and with a restive spirit, seek the abyss below. The obstructions of the rapids appear to dispute their passage; and the whole scene is fury, uproar and destruction. The vapour, arising from the rapids, adds to the sublimity of the scene, by the obscurity with which it clothes their tremendous concussions.
The icicles, pending from the sides of the banks contiguous to the falls, are, in the winter season, so tinged with the sulphurious particles which are mingled with their strata, as to present, when stricken by the rays of the sun, a scintillating and bluish glare.
A more particular account of the falls is deemed unimportant. I have endeavoured to give such a description as comported with my ideas and feelings, whilst in view of them. These falls are, no doubt, a great natural curiosity; and they will excite in all [79] much admiration and awe. But many of the descriptions which travellers have given of them, are erroneous in point of fact, and ridiculous in point of imagery. An English writer says, that their “noise and vapour would scarcely be equalled by the simultaneous report and smoke of a thousand cannon.” It is true, that the roar of the falls can at times be heard for thirty miles, or perhaps further; and that their exhalations have been seen at the distance of ninety miles; but these circumstances exist only under peculiar states of the atmosphere, and the causes of them produce, upon the spot, a much less comparative effect. The falls, however, are indeed tremendous; and they constitute the only visible discharge of four vast inland seas.
Tradition says, that the falls of Niagara have, for a great length of time, been receding;—that they were originally situated at the foot of the rapids near Lewistown, a distance of seven miles from their present position.[[73]] This idea is no doubt correct. Masses of rock must, from time to time, have been shaken from the top and sides of the falls, by the continual abrasion of the rapids. It is to be presumed, that the falls will continue to move up towards Lake Erie; lessening the waters of the upper lakes, and increasing those of the lower, in proportion as the descent of the bed of the river above the present situation of the falls may be greater, and the obstructions in it less. In the course of many centuries, the falls will, probably, reach Lake Erie itself; in which case the upper lakes may be partially drained, and Lake Ontario be overflown. It has been asserted, that this lake fills once in seven years. As to the time, this must be a whim; but there is reason to believe that the lake occasionally fills, because its sources are numerous and great, its discharge is not very ample, and high north-east winds, which frequently prevail here, retard the [80] progress of the water towards the river St. Lawrence.