ly increased,
and by and by the spray was seen rising in columns above the trees.
A splendid and extensive establishment was soon after recognised as
Forsyth's hotel, and, under feelings far more intense than common
curiosity, I hurried forward to a point, where Niagara in all its glory
came in view. From the increasing facility of migrating now-a-days even
from one end of the world to another, Niagara has lost somewhat of that
mysterious halo with which it was wont to be enveloped; but still it
must ever be Niagara. The most eloquent descriptions, I should think,
must prove inadequate to convey a just conception of the scene. Nor can
the pencil, I imagine, ever do it justice. A cataract may be said, as
regards the painter's art, to differ from all other objects in nature.
The human face and figure, the rich and varied landscape, the animal
and vegetable world, may with sufficient propriety be delineated _at
rest_, but quiescence forms no feature here. The ceaseless roar, the
spray mounting like clouds of smoke from the giant limekiln, and the
enormous sheet of water which rolls into the abyss, can only be felt
and understood by repeated visits to the scene. My attention was for a
time distracted by the rapids which are extremely interesting, and with
any other neighbour than the Falls would excite the highest admiration
and wonder. After some time spent in contemplation, I proceeded to my
friends, where a kind and comfortable home awaited me. Mr. C. possesses
a residence which is certainly one of the most romantic domiciles in the
world. The house stands on a small lawn upon a point overhanging the
rapids, and about half a mile above the Horse-Shoe Fall. The garden is
behind, washed by a fine branch of the river, which encircles a wild and
thickly wooded island, and on every side new and interesting prospects
appear. The river is a mile across, and of great depth, and, for the
same distance above the Falls, is one sheet of foam. We sauntered down
in the evening to the river side, and the rapids lost nothing by a
closer inspection. My bedroom looked directly upon them; I could watch
the smoke of the Fall, as I lay on my pillow; and with the wild roar of
the cataract sounding in my ears, I closed my first day at Niagara. The
following morning proved fine, and we devoted the forenoon, of course,
to the Falls. Lake Erie had just broken up, and the icebergs came
crushing down the rapids, in a way highly interesting. My friend