Washington sentinel., 1854-01-27


NIAGARA IN WINTER.-It is but seldom that
we hear from Niagara in the winter, and there
fore the following from the editorial correspon-
denee of the New York Courier and Enquirer
is decidedly interesting:
Niagara is in all its glory Grand, sub
lime, imposing it always is; but now it is more
lit is radiant with beauty. 1t not only awes
but it fascAates; it is not stupendous, but It is
exquisite. He who has never seen Niagara in
mid-winter has never seen it in all its superb
ness The summer tourist knows it only in its
sternest aspect Except that rainbow, which
ever spans the she'll of waters there is ordi.
nary not one touch of beauty about Niagara
Wiidness there is, rnggedness, vastness; yes,
and an overwhelming sublimity-a sublimity in
comparable. Therein every other natural Gu.
nosty in either hemisphere is tame beside it.
The vastest mountains cannot vie with it in
effect, for it has, what they cannot have,
movement; and magnitude in motion is al
ways more impressive than magnitude at rest
But this unmatched grandeur is now CON-
bined with as matchless beauty The frost
has wrought a fairy work with the grim old
cataract 1t has thrown about it garnture
that outshines the wealth of Ormus or the
lnd;' every rock giitters, and every stone,
every trunk, every branch, every twig, every
gnarled root, and every withered blade Of grass.
The frozen spray has trans6gured everything.
From the edge Of the food to the foot of the
precipice, it has sheeted the banks with the
purest Parian. 1t has hung the crags with
cleaning icicles. 1t has encrusted the trees,
both the leahess and the evergreen, so that
they stand out before you like chiselled emer-
aid. This ncrustation is nearly an inch in
thickness, and yet it maryellously preserves
the form OF every portion of the tree underly-
ing it, even down to the tip of the smallest
twig. And SO with the tangled bushes that
skirt the brow of the rock; nothing can be
more fantastic than their luxuriant, snow-white,
involute tracery. The ground, too, entirely
free from snow, whitened over with this same
cleaning coat of Frost is put in keeping with
the scene. None who did not behold it can
imagine the effect Of the clear rays Of yester-
days setting sun, as they glanced through the
spray which foated off to the Canadian side
and FURNISHED with an unearthly lustre the
landscape that overhung the roaring gorge.
Verify have seen the Towering time Of Nj
agara
There is another winter effect on Niagara
which is worth noticing. The large quantity
Of ice borne down from the lake is completely
pulverized as it plunges down the abyss But,
though disintegrated, it is not dissolved, and the
river short distance below is completely
covered with its floating particles. As it is
hurried along, much of it gradually disappears
in the turbulent torrent, but large portion
reaches the whirl below Lewiston, and there
floats about like thick snowy froth upon the
surface. 1t Itentirely covers the large basin, and
presents a most extraordinary appearance, as
il is swept about at the varying impulses Of a
thousand currents and eddes. Til one has
seen the whirlpool in this state, he does not half
know the conflict of its waters. Every move
ment is made apparent. There is a certain
cohesion in the tfturated ice, but it is so slight
that it readily yields at every impulse of the
water beneath; and you may see field Of it,
perhaps an acre in extent, slowly swinging
around in one direction, while within it, and
forming part of it, are patches borne along
in directions diverse, some even turning in cir
cults directly opposite. This gyrating coating
covers the basin, for it is replenished above as
rapidly as it crumbles off into the current be-
low. s
There are very few strangers here. The
large hotels are all closed the curiosity shops
are locked up; the Indians are ALTERNATING;
the ferry-boats are in winter quarters and not
even the ice-king Jotum would dare venture
behind the cataract now; but still am bound
to say, if you would see Niagara Alright" come
view it in January. The "pale moonlight" I
doubt not, becomes Merose right royalty For
all that Sir Walter, who was so profuse in it's
praise, was never there to see; but as for Nj
agara by winter, can testify yet more posi-
lively Not in long low poetry, but in plain
blunt prose; not by faith, but by sight, can
affirm that Niagara's best days are the shortest
days.
a.r1ta ----<sOeS------- .'.