The Sun.
London, England, 1827-06-27 00:00:00

FALL OF THE NIAGARA.

(From he Roos' Personal Narrative of Travels in the

United States,l.c.)

4.‘ I .had already seen some of the most celebrated.
works of nature in different parts of the globe ; I.
had seen -Etna and Vesuvius ; I had seen the-Andes
almost at their greatest elevation; Cape Horn,
rugged and bleak, buffetted by the southern tempest
=and, though last not least, I had seen the' long
swell of the Pacific : but nothing I had ever beheld
or imagined, could compare in grandeur with the
falls of the Niagara. My first sensation was that
quisite delight at having before me the greatest

Itirtgeritirwas imi=a7rTeyTheZed bran irre-
sistible melancholy. Had this not continued, it
might perhaps havelYeen attributed to the satiety'
incident to the complete gratification of hope Iting
deferred ;' but so'far from diminishing; the more I
gazed, the stronger and deeper the sentiment
came. Yet this scene of sadness was strangelyH
mingled with a kind of intoxicating fascination.—
Whether the phenomeneui is peculiar to Nia-'
gara, I know not, hilt certain it is, that
the spirits are affected and depressed in a
singular manner by the magic influence of this
stupendous and eternal fall. About five miles above
the cataract the river expands to the dimensions of
a lake, after which it' gradually narrows. The
Rapids commence, at the upper extremity of Goat
Island, which is half a mile in length, and divides
the river, at, the point of 'precipitation into two une.:
pal parts ; 'the largest is distinguished by the several
names of the Horse-shoe, Crescentiand British Fall,
from its semi-circular form and contiguity to the
Canadian shore. The smaller is named the Ame-
riCan Fall: A portion of this fall is divided by a,
rock from Goat Island, and though here insignificant
in appearance, would rank high among European
cascades. *

" The current runs about six miles an hour; but
suppOsing it to be only five miles, the quantity which
passes the falls in an hour is more than 85,000,000
of tons avoirdupois : if we suppose it to be six, it
will be more than: 102,000,000: and in a day would
exceed 2,400,000,000 of tons.
" The next miming, with renewed delight, I be-
held from my window—l may say, indeed, from my
bed—the stupendous vision. The beams of the'
rising sun
.shed over it a variety of tints; a cloud of
spray Was ascending from the crescent; and as 1•
viewed it from above, it appeared like the steam
rising from the boiler of some monstrous engine.
* #* * # * *

" This evening I went down with one of our party
to view the cataract by moonlight. I took my
favourite seat on the projecting rock, at a little dis-
tance from the brink of the fall; and gazed till every
sense seemed absorbed in contemplation. Although
the shades of night increased the sublimity of th 4
prospect, and `'deepened the murmur of the falling
floods,' the moon in placid beauty shed her sat in-
fluence upon the mind, and mitigated the horrots-of
the scene. The thunders which bellowed from the
,
abyss, and the loVeliness of the falling eletnent, which
glittered like molten silver in the moonlight, seemed
to complete in absolute perfection the rare union of
the beautiful with the sublime. * * *

" While reflecting upon the inadequacy of language
to express the feelings I experienced, or to describe
the wonders which I surveyed, an American gen-
tleman, to my great amusement, tapped me on
the shoulder, and guessed' that it was Fetty
droll!' It was difficult to 'avoid laughing in his
face; yet I could not help envying him his voca-
bulary, which had so eloquently released me from
my !dilemma.,
" Though earnestly dissuaded from
the under-
taking, had determined to. employ the first fine
morning in visiting the cavern beneath the fall. The
.. .
guide recommended my 'companion and myself to
set out as early as six o'clock, that we might have
the advantage of the morning sun upon the waters.
We came to the guide's house at the appointed
hour, and disencumbered ourselves of such garments
as we did. 'not care to have wetted : descending the
circular ladder, we followed the course of the path
running along the top of the debris of the precipice,
which I have already described. Having pursued
this track for about eighty yards, in the course of
which we were completely drenched,e found our-
selves close to the cataract. Although enveloped in
a cloud of spray, we could distinguish without diffi-
culty the direction of our path, and the nature of the
cavern we were about to enter. Our guide
,warred
us of the difficulty in respiration which we should
encounter from the spray, and recommended us to
look with exclusive attention to the security of our
footing. Tints warned we pushed forward, blown
about' and `buffeted by the' wind,
stunned by the
noise, and blinded- by the sprayEßA successive
gust penetrated us to the very bones with cold. De-

ter mined to proceed, we toiled and struggled f3n, And
having, followed,the footsteps of th e guide as far as was
poisible Consistently if4tll safety, we set down, and
baying collected our senses by degree's, the wonders
of the cavern slowly developed themselves. It is
impossible to describe the strange unnatural light
reflected through its crystal wall, the roar of the
waters, and the blasts of the.hurried hurricane which
perpetually rages in its recesses. .We endured its
fury a sufficient time to: form a notion of the shape
and dimensions of this dreadful place. The cavern
was tolekably light, thoiigh the stin was unfortu-
nately enveloped in clouds. HiS disc was invisible,
but we could dearly distinguish hissituation through
the watery barrier. The fall of the cataract is
nearly perpendicular. The , bank over which it is
precipitated is of concave form, owing to its upper
stratum being composed of lime-stone, and its base
of soft slate-stone, which has been eaten away,by the
constant attrition of the recoiling waters. The ca-
vern is about 120 feet in height, 50 in breadth, and
300 in length. The entrance was completely invi-
sible. By screaming in our ears, the' guide con-
trived to explain to us that there was one more point
which we might have reached had the wind been in
any other direction. Unluckily it blew full upon
the sheet of the cataract, and drove it in so as to
dash upon the rock over which we must have passed.
A tew yards beyond this, the precipice becomes
perpendicular, and, blending with the water, forms
the extremity of the cave. After a stay of nearly
10 minutes in this most horrible purgatory, we
gladly left it to its loathsome: inhabitants, the eel
and the water-snake, who crawl about its,recesses
in considerable numbers—and returned to the inn."

SECOND EDITI()N.
SUN OFFICE, Seven o'clock•

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT

HOUSE OF LORDS.

. .
Lord FAIIN'HAVI presentod a petition' from the
county and city of Cork, complaining of the state of
the elective franchise in; ,Ireland. The Noble Lord
said, ,that the present, disgraceful
,system was op-
posed to the popular part of the representation, as
the 40s. freeholders were, in almoet every instance,
Under the influence.of the large landed proprietor,
or were guided by demagogues- and their Clergy.
The Noble Lord thought that Soinething should be
don'e in the course of the next Session to remedy
such a state of things.
The_ Noble. Lord presented a, ,petition :from certain
Protestants, Catholics, and Protestant Dissenters of
the County of Kerry, complaining of the interfer-
ence of the Catholic Clergy, in' preventing parents
froM eduCating their children in the manner which
they themselves thought fit. The petition prayed
that the system of education in Ireland might be
reformed.

The Noble Lord also presented a petition from
the Protestant. Shopkeepers of Mount-Mellick, in
the Queen's County, stating, that the Roman Ca-
tholics in that neighbourhood had entered into a r -
solution not to deal with such Protestants as were
not faVourable to their claims. This the Noble Lord
said, had been a standing regulation with the Order
of Liberals established in Dublin.
The Earl of DARNLEY observed, that in the
town of Mount Mellick, there was art Orange
Lodge, and that Orange procession took place there
from tune, to time.. When a party spirit was thus
engendered, was it to be wondered that the Ca-
tholies,could remain quiet. _ .

Lord FARNHAM admitted that there existed
great excitement in that town, and that both parties
were in some measure to be blamed.—The Noble
Lord presented several petition§ against further con-
cessions to the Catholics.
The petitions were laid on the table.

.Sax-Munday, praying for protection to agriculture.
The Noble Lord also presented a petition from Suf-
folk against the warehoused Corn Bill.
The Arrest Process Bill went through a Com-
mittee, and was ordered to be read a third time to-
morrow.