The New York herald., 1851-10-14

sao.ding view Of Navy Islsnd. vhsr. lxsrs a.
they were disloged by the British forces. Indeed,
the entire route from Buffalo to Lewiston, on the
American side, and from Fort Erie to QueenstoWn.
on the British, lies through sections Of country
where, during the last short war with England the
armies oftwo rival alnations for the nastsry
and alternately triumphed or experienced defssk,
laid in ashes, in retaliatisn for the dssructo
ofthe village Of Niagara, then called Newark, bD
the American forces under Gen. Mcclure.
There is . fine view Of both falls from the point
where the suspension bridge touches the American
shore, previous to our reaching which large pro-
portion Of the passengers in the had left, TO
contemplate at leisure the justly styled "wondsr Of
the World"
single visit, however, does not enable the de-
lighted beholder fully to contemplate the majesty
and magnifcence Of the scene, which excites fresh
amazement every time it is contemplated; and how
few, then realize all that . view of the Nsgs-
is calculated to inspire! They behold it Is true,
an immense volume OF water, on the British side
some six hundred yards in breadth, flowing over
arocky ledge, and precipitating itself from height
of one hundred aad fty-eigdt feet into the basin
below, sending up clouds OF spray, and afterwards
dashipg and foamng through the ravin, by which il
hnds its way to the Ontario.
But they do not reflect upon the changein posi-
tion the falls have undergone since they shifted
their locality, as geologiss suppose, from Queens
town, some six or seven miles Distant and their
minds are rarely carried back to that period when
the waves OF the ocean covered the shores Of Lake
Ontario; nor do they reflect upon the magnitude
OF those vast inland seas of fresh water, one Of
which, Lake Superior, is three hundred and eighty
miles In length, by one hundred and thirty
in breadth, situated six hundred and twenty-five
feet above the level of the present ocean, With a
medium depth Of nine hundred feet, whose over
flowing waters are psecpitated through tho
The first account of the Falls was published in
1897 by Father Hennepin, who describes their dis
NAL roaring as being heard fifteen leagues off, and
n o1o "a line from 10
east, but smaller than the other two. Danish
naturalist who visited Canada in l73O, agrees in
the main with Father Hennepin; and although
there was at that time no third cascade, yet he
marks the place where it once existed; and which
he says, was formed by an immense rock, which
turned the stream and made 1t to descent across
the Falls, and which had fallen few years efore,
long known as the Table Rock, from which
vsiters viewed the Niagara, and which last
year made another semerset, AID now lies in scst-
tered fragments at the foot Of the clh
II is has been estimated that the Falls reeede at
the rate Of foo. annually, at which rate 1t would
require upwards Of thirty thousand years, to trat
verse the distance between Queenstown heights
and their present position. But it is probable that
. much more moderate computation would embrace
the supposed change of locality; and, although the
Falls are evidently working higher up the river, a.
the continued dashing Of water wears away tho
rock beneath, yet there may not have been con-
tinuous abstructien from their present site to
Queenstown, or the ravine between those points,
may have been created by some operation of ma
ture.
In the Jesuits college at Quebec, there is ma
nuscript giving an account of an earthquake which
commenced on the fifth of February, 1868, snd con-
tnued with any interruption till August fol-
loving, by which one hundre and eighty thousand
miles was convulsed on the same day. At Trois
Rivieres on the St Lawrence, the hills which bor-
dered the river either side, torn from their
foundations and precipitated into the stream, csus-
ing it to change its course During this convu!sioa
of nature, lakes appeared where mono existed be-
fore, and mountains were overt hro and swallow
ed up, leaving in their places frightful chasms.
1t Is not improbable, therefore, that rent below
the falls, through which flows the Niagara river,
may have been then effected, and whish tho great
depth Of the river would seem to indicate.
The shore on both sides the Niagara river, Is
high and steep, and composed Of strata OF clay and
shale, alternately occurring in a horizontal position;
that on the north of Lake Oataro has = similar
elevation and in its pre- sipitous sides found
bedded fsesh water shells, and other indications Of
its formation, proving former higher level Of the
lake, while the range Of highlands, which extend
from the Falls to Queenstown heights, and thence
ultin atey to Qvebec, are considered by Professor
Lyell, to have been the boundary of an ancient
| ocean. AmERIcASus.