The Hickman courier., 1873-06-28
PROF. TYNDALL AT N1AeAR

For dear lips mine are pre- .Is{@<
An arm is around my neck
i - - --l0ssr,ind 2 ~ 4
PROF. TYNDALL AT NIAGAR-X
From Popular Science AIonthlyl
On the first evening Of my yisit, I
met, at the head of Biddle's stair, the
guide to the cave of the WINDS. He
was in the prime of manhood, large,
well-built, firm and pleasant in mouth
and eye. My interest in the scene
stirred up his, and made him commune
cative Turning to . photograph, he
described, by reference to it, n feat
which he had accomplished, some time
previously, and which had brought him
almost under the green water of the
Horseshoe fall. Can you lead me
there tomorrow I asked. He eyed
me inquiringly, weighing, perhaps the
chances of a man of light build and
with gray in his whiskers in such an
undertaking. 4 wish, I added, 20 to
see as much of the fall as can be seen,
and where you lead 1 viii endeavor to
follow" His scrutiny relaxed into
smile, and he said, every well; I shall
be ready for you, tomorrow.
On the morrow, accordingly, I came
In the hut at the head of Biddle's stair
I stripped wholly, and redrr ssed accord
ing to instructions, drawing on two pairs
of wooden pantaloons, three woolen
jackets, two pairs of socks and pair OF
felt shoes. Even if wet, my guide
urged that the clothes would keep me
from being chilled, and he was right.
A suit and hood of yellow oil-cloth
covered all Most 1audable precautions
were taken by the young assistant of the
guide to keep the water out, but his
devices broke down Immediately when
severely tested.
We descended the stair Z the handle
of pitchfork doing in NY case the duty
of an alpenstock. At the bottom, my
guide inquired whether we should go
first to the cave of the Winds, or to the
Horseshoe, remarking that the latter
would try ma ll,sloat decided 20 c-ot
Ul1e roagness done nrsts asss1 a., s,.r-s..ssa
to the leftover the stones. They We're
sharp apd trying. The base OF the first
portion of the cataract is covered with
huge powders, obviously the ruins of
the limestone ledge above. The water
does not distribute itself uniformly
among these, bat seeks for itself chan
nels through which it pours torrentially.
We passed some of these with wetteF
feet, but without difficulty. At length
we came to the side of more formid-
able current. Ny guide walked along
the edge until ne reached its least tHr-
bulent portion. Hating, he said, "This
is our greatest difficulty; if we can
cross here, we shall get far toward the
Horseshoe.
We waded IN. Tt evidently required
all his strength to steady him. The
water rose above his loins, and it foamed
still higher He had to search for foot
ing amid unseen boulders, against which
the torrents rose violently. He strug-
gled and swayed, but he struggled sue
cessfully, and finally reached the shall
lower water at the other side. Stretch
ing out his arm, he said to me, " Now,
come on" I looked down the torrert
as it rushed to the river below, which
was seething with the tumult of the
cataract. De Saussure recommended
the inspection of Alpine dangers with
the view of making them familiar to the
eye before they are encountered; and it
is a wholesome custom, in places of
difficulty, to put the possibility of an
accident clearly before the mind, and to
decide beforehand what ought to be
done should the accident .occur. Thus
wound up in the present instance, /
entered the water Even where It was
not more than knee-deep ito power was
manifest. As it rose around me, 1
sought to split the torrent by presenting
a side to it but the insecurity of thd
footing enabled it to grasp the loin
twist me fairly round, and bring it's
petus to bear upon my back. .
struggle was impossible; andN
my balance hopelessly gone, L tuT
flung myself toward the bank had ~
quilted, and was instantly swept ins
shallower water \
The oil-cloth covering was a great in
cumbrance it had been made for a
much stouter man, and, standing up
right after my submersion, my legs oc-
cupied the centres of two bags of water.
My guide exhorted me to try again.
Prudence was at my elbow, whispering
dissuasion; but, taking everything into
account, IT appeared more immoral to
retreat than to proceed. Instructed by
the first -misadventure, l once more
entered the stream. Had the alpen-
stock been of iron it might have helped
me but, as it was, the tendency of the
water to sweep it out of my hands
rendered it worse than useless. /, how
ever, clung to it by habit Again the
torrent rose, and again wavered but,
by keeping the left hip well against it,
remained upright, and at length
grasped the hand of my leader at the
other side. He laughed pleasantly.
The first victory was gained, and he en-
ioyed it. - No traveller, he said, Twas
ever here before" Soon afterward, by
trusting to a piece of drift-wood which
seemed firm, l was again taken off my
feet, but was Immediately caught by a
protruding rock.
We clambered over the boulders to-
ward the thickest spray, which soon be-
came so weighty as to cause us to
stagger under its shock. For the most
part nothing could be seen we were in
the midst of bewildering tumult, lashed
by the water, which sounded at times
like the cracking of innumerable whips.
Underneath this was the deep, resonant