Alexandria gazette & advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1822-1824, 1824-06-15
From the U. s Literary Gasetts.
NIAGARA.
The first thing


-- The first thing to be done
after descending the tower OF steps,
is to strip ourselves OF all clothing,
except a single covering of linen,
aud q silk handkerchief tied tight o.
yer the ears. This Costume. with
the addition Of a pair OF pumps, IS
the court dress Of the palace Ut Nj,
aga a.
W. passed about so rods under
the table rock. beneath whose brow
aad crumbiins sides we could not
stop t. shuddrr. our minds were at
one, so excited aud oppressed. as we
approached thar eternal gateway, that
mature bad built of the motionles>
roth aud the rushing torrent, as a
fitting entrance to her most awful
maynifcencr. We turned Jutting
Corner of the rock, and tie Chasm
yawned upon US. The noise Of the
cataract WAS most deafening; its
headlong grandeur rallied from the
very skies: we were drenched by the
owe flowlngs of the steam; our bre h
was checked by the violence OF The
Wind. which for d moment scattered
away tho clouds of spray. when full
view uf the torrent, raining down its
diamonds in infinite profusion, open
ed upon us. Nothing could equal
the flashing brittany of the specta-
Gle. The weight Vi the falling wa
ters made the very rock beneath Us
tremble, and from the cavern that re-
ceived them, issued roar, as if the
confined spirits of all who had ever
been drowned, joined in a united
scream for help. Here we Stood
in the very jaws of Nlagara-deafen-
ed by an uproar, whose tremendous
din seemed to fail upon the ear in
tangible and ceasele,s strokes, and
surrounded by an unimaginable aud
oppressive grandeur. NJ. mind re,
coiled from the immensely of the tum
bl,ng tide; and thought of time aud
of eternity. and fell that nothing but
its owl immortality could rise against
the force of snch an element.
The guide now stopped to take
breath. He told US, by hallooing in
our ears at the top of his voice. ..thst
We must turn tur heads away from
the spray when it blew against Us,
draw our hand DOWN. ards over the
face, it We felt g,ddy. aud not rely
too much on the loose pieces of rock. "
With these instructions he began
10 conduct US one BY one, beneath
the sheet. A few steps farther.
and the light OF the sun no longer
shone on us. There was grave
like twilight, win b enabled us to
ace our way, when the irregular
hast of wind drove the water from
Ms: but most of the time il vas blow n
upnn us from the sheet with such fu-
nv, that every drop seemed a sting,
g. in such quantities. that the weight
was almost insuppurtable. My ST.
tuaiion was distracting. it grew dark
er at every step. and in addition to
the general trfmor with which every
thing in the neighborh"od of Niaga
ia is shuddering, ! could feel the
sh,eds and splinters of the rock yield
as 1 seized them for support, and my
feet were continually slipping upou
the Shiny stones. was Obliged
more than once, to have recourse to
the prescription of the guide to cure
my gidd,ness, and though ] would
have given the world to retrace my
steps, I felt myself following bis
darkened figure, vanishing before
me, as the maniac, faithful to the
phantoms of his illusion. pursues it
to his doom. AL my faculties OF
terror seemed strained to their ex-
IRENE, and my mind lost all sensa
ton, except the sole idea OF a UNIV
sal. prodigious, aud anbroken mo-