An Englishman's Travels In America: His Observations Of Life And Manners In The Free And Slave States - 1857 - By J. Benwell.
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My Powers Of Description Will Fall Short Of Conveying To The Mind Of
The Reader The Awful Grandeur Of This Cataract, So Often Commented Upon
By Travellers.
The first impression felt by me was, that the whole
substratum on which I stood, which seemed to tremble, was about to be
swept away by the vast inundation.
It was not the height of the falls,
but the immense body of water, which comprehends, with constant
accumulations from the tributaries on the way, the overflowings of Lakes
Erie, Superior, Michigan, and Huron. The astonishing effect of such a
body of water, dashed abruptly over a precipice of 150 perpendicular
feet, may be conceived; such is the momentum of this immense volume of
fluid, that, when it strikes the rocky bed at the base of the cataract,
it rebounds in a thick cloud of vapour - and when the sun's rays
intercept it, as was the case when I arrived there, a beautiful rainbow
of vivid colours encircles the area of the chasm, and, together with the
natural curiosities and situation of the entire scene, presents to the
amazed beholder, the effect of a highly-executed picture in a frame of
sun-light, although far surpassing the productions of human skill, which
may well be said, in comparison, to sink into utter insignificance.
A large company of visitors were assembled at the time of my arrival,
probably from all parts of the world - so that I found it impossible to
get a bed, unless I penetrated into the interior with a view to obtain
accommodation at some farm-house, or crossed to the Canada side; but,
feeling too tired, after the day's excitement, to pursue either such
course, I took an evening train and returned to Buffalo the same day,
where I arrived at 9 P.M.
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