Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1853-09-28
Editorial Correspondence.
Ono, Sept.

cannot better entertain you. or myself, than by
giving some additional information in regard
TO the great wonder of nature-abou which
wrote you in my last letter. Ii will consist
mainly of particulars and statistics-for which
I indebted to one of the many guide-books
that are thrown into the hands of visitors to
Niagara-for here. as generally in the North.
ern States. every possible means of turning a
penny is employed and you cannot quit your
door without encountering some appeal to
charity. or some proposal to trade. Even the
tremendous voice Of the Cataract cannot still
the pitifui propensity Of poor human nature 10
indulge in base and groveling passions
Descending the precipice on the Canada
side, by an oblique road cut along its rocky
face down 10 the river. the visitor seats him.
sell in one of the small ferry-boats which ply
from shore 10 shore, and is borne across the
river, some two or three hundred yards below
the Falls, to the American shore, which he
asceads either by, means of a railroad at an
angle of about Fifty deerees,or by n long fight
of stairs. The passage though seemingly no.
free from peril, affords SO fine a view OF the
Cataract, that it remains among the most pleas
ing recoilections of those who make ii. The
time occupied in crossing Is ten or twelve MIN
utes. The depth of the water here Is $50 feet.
and the height Of the embankments on either
side and for some miles down the riyer, about
the same. The landing 10 very near the
American Fall. and as you approach it,
the estimate of its magnitude and grandeur
formed from the opposite shore is very much
enhanced. You then discover that in some
respects. and especially in height, it is superior
to the great Horse Shoe.
Ascending the liver a short distance, you
come to a bridgs across the rapids, and pass
over 10 Iris Island. This islard. thlckly over
grown with forest trees. is u mile and n quarter
in circumference and separates the TWO falls.
The width OF the American Fall, which does
not vary greatly from a straight line. is three
hundred and twenty yards, and its height one
hundred aud sixty Tour feet. Next, is a
smaller torrent, known as Crescent Fall, OF
the same height-and thirty rhrce yards around.
Then comes the great Horse Shoe Fail shaped
as it name indicates, seven hundred yards a.
round, aud one hundred uud fifty eight feet
high. The amount of water which passes over
the Falls has been computed at three millions
FIVE hundred and thirty thousand six hun
dred and fourteen barrels every minute. I'm.
agine, if you can, this vast volume of water,
compressed thin narrow bounds and accele-
rated by a descent of ninety feet through the
Rapids above, tumbling over a preciplco of a
hundred and sixty feet, and you have such an
idea of the grand spectacle as one may have
without having beheld il.
Many persons express surprise that the
noise produced by the falling waters is not
greater. am inclined to think tha, there S
some illusion in 1.-THE roar So completely
surrounds and invests you--so fills all the av.
enues of hearing that there is nothing like 81
lence, in any direction, to bring out the con
trast and enable you to maze a comparison,
by means of which. unconsciously, the senses
operate. We cannot have a distinctive per
ception Of that which is universal. Along the
coarse Of the river the sound is said to be al.
ways audible to the distance of fourteen miles
and occasionally as far as thirty. The con.
~o'N l'""J p''SNt'c'S pb p"S aNJoiH'ii
shores. The doors and windows of buildings
near by frequently yibrate as If trembling from
an earthquake-and thus, day and night, thro
sunshine and storm, never resting, never hush
ing-do these mighty waters rush and roar,
-v---"R and their authentic voice
Goes up amid the rain-bows an the mist
Their chorus shakes the grouno."
1t Is not an uncommon thing, as you ar,
aware, for visitors to go under ,he immens,
water-i The distance from the base OF the prec.
ipice. and the point to which the water is pro
jected,i in lis fall rendering it safe and easy. Fo,
this purpose dresses of ol.cloth, india-rubber
&c. are provided-for the spray is like a heav,
shower OF rain-and a guide is indispe nsable
The descent is usually made from the Canada
side, by a winding stairway, near the Table
Rock. My curiosity did not carry me so far
but can well conceive how the position, with