Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1839-07-11

parts OF the grand panorma /: forests, cliffs,
and islands banks, foam and spray wood
rock, and precipice, dimmed with the ri.
sing fog and mist, and obscurely giIded
by the softening tints of The rainbow
These all belong 10 the picture and the
effect ofthe whole is Unnecessarily heigh-
tened by the noise Of the cataract, now
reminding you Of the reverberations OF
the heavens in a tempest, and then of the
ocean, when angered by the winds!
The concave bed of rock, from which
the water falls some two hundred feet, in
TO the almost boundless reservoir beneath,
is a section of circle, which, at first sight
from Table Rock, presents something like
the geometrical curve of the rainbow /:
and the wonders Of the grand " crescent"
thus advantageously thrown upon the eye
IN combination, and the appropriate sensa.
tons and boom of the waters, render the
sight more surprisingly sublime than any
thing | have looked upon or conceived OF.
AS IL regards my thoughts and feelings at
the time, ! can help you to no conception
OF their character. Overwhelming as.
constituent was the only bond between
thought and thought and wild, and vague
and boundless, were the associations OF
the houri Before me the strength and
~fullness OF the congregated I" lakes oil the
north" were enihroned and concentrated,
within a circumference embraced by u
single glance of the eye.
Here | saw, rolling and dashing at the
rate of twentyJfre hundred millions oftons
per day, nearly one. halfo the fresh wa
ter upon the surface of the Globe! On
the American side | beheld a vast deluge,
nine hundred feet in breadth, with a fall
oil one hundred and eighty or ninety, met
fifty feet above the level OF the gulf, by
a huge projection ofthe rock, which seems
to break Che descent and continuity of the
whelming bound. And turning to the
"cresent," | saw the mingled rush of foam
and tide dashing with fearful strife and
emulatlon-four hundred yards of the
sheet rough and sparry, and the remain.
ing three hundred a deep sea-like mass OF
living green-rolling and heavlng like a
sheet of emerald. Even Imagination fall
ed me. and | could think OF nothing but
Ocean let loose from his bed, and seeking
a deeper gulf below! The fury OF the
water, at the termination Of its fall, COM
bined with the columned strength Of the
cataract, and the %deafening thunder of the
Hood, are at once uncomfortable and in.
describable. No Imagination, however
creative, can correspond with the gran
deur of the reality.
have already mentioned, and it is i'm.
portant that you keep it in view, the ledge
Of the rock, the verge of the cataract, ii
sing like a wall OF equal height, and ex-
tended in seml-clrcular form across the
whole bed OF the river, d distance of more
than two thousand feet, and the impetuous
flood, confirming TO this arrangement, in
making Its plunge, with mountain weight
INTO the great horseshoe basin beneath.
exhibits a spectacle ofthe sublime, in geo.
graphical scenery, without perhaps a par
allel in nature. AS | leaned over the Ia.
BILE Rock. and cast my eye downward up
on the blilowy turbulence of the angry
depth, where the waters, tossing and whirl-
ing, coIling and ~springing, with the ener-
gy oil an earthquake and a rapidlty that
almost shocked my vision, | found the
scene sufficient to appal a sterner spirit
than nine and | was glad TO turn away
and relieve my mind by a sight ofthe sur.
rounding scenery bays. islands, shores
and forests, every where receding in due
perspective. The rainbows of the "cre.
scent" and American side, which are on
y visible from the western bank of the
Niagara and IN the afternoon, seem TO d.
mlnish somewhat from the awlulness of
the scene, and TO give it an aspect of rich
and mellow grandeur, not unlike the bow
OF promise, throwing It's assuring radiance
over the retiring waters Of the deluge.
The" rapids" which commence nearly
a mile above the cataract, and sparkling
IN The sun, spread out like a sea of dla.
monds, seem admirably to give notice of
what awaits below and when examined
from a position Of Goat Island, become ex.
tremely interesting from the dash and foam
OF the broken food, the noise of which,
distinct from that ofthe great fall, would
remind you OF the murmurs of an Alpine
forest, In the rising swell Of the coming
storm. In crossing tho river below the
iaiis you have one of the richest views Of
the whole cascade that can possibly be
imagined, and the rising bank and messy
rock, the lofty trees and luxuriant shrub.
oery on either size, are in fine keeping
with the scene, and are essential to the
unity and completeness of the picture
But what most interested me here was the
tumuliuous tossing and whirllng of the
water, where its depth must be more than
two hundred feet, and its width at least
seven hundred yards. The whole mass
seems to be heaying with infuriate life.-
A thousand counter currents and eddies
meet, break and mingle. in the general