The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1885-04-23
sTAUNToN. VIRGINIA. APRIL %. 1885.
Notes on America.

s., f. G. S., late of H. NJ. 60 Regiment.
Last summer the British association for
the advancement of science, &C., met in
Canada. and among the distinguished
scientists who attended was J. E. Hunter
Peyton, Esq. President fthe Philosophi-
cal Society Of Hastings and st. Leonards,
England, etc. During his sojourn in
America Mr.. Peyton visited the leading
points Of interest in Canada extending
his journey as far west as Winnipeg, in
the Province of Manitoba. He then came
into the L 5. by way Of Lake Champlain
and the Hudson River, and as far South as
Washington. On his return to England in
the Autumn he communicated to the pub
lie his impressions of the New World in
the above work. which we have read with
inc small interest. 1t is graphic, Clear and
foreible i'll style. sparkles now and again
with humor. and is entirely free from the
criticising, carping spirit of the coelney
tourists who have, from time to time,
made our country and people the butt of
their fatuous wit and clumsy malice
such writer's as Marryat, Harriet Marti-
neau and Chas. Dickens. On the contrary
SO far from this Mr.. Peyton sees much in
our people and country to admire, and
writes always in q spirit of kindness and
of generous appreciation. The spirit in
which he writes may be gathered from a
few extracts from the work. He thus
speaks of shooting the rapids of Sault St.
Marie I'VE engaged two Indians and
canoe, and shot the rapids. The view
down the immense slope of raging waters,
asswe entered the rapids, was very grand
and extraordinary, unlike anything we
had ever seen before. We, of course, got
wet but the way the men managed their
paddles, and guided the canoe from the
various dangers, was very clever The
canoe jumped about like a cork, and some
times seemed to be smothered in the
waves, which broke round us in every di-
rectlon but we emerged safe and sound at
the end of the rapids having thoroughly
enjoyed our noveland exciting adventure. -
At another point he says. L got my
first view of Niagara, August Dist. 1t is
quite impt ssibe, of course, for me to dis
cribe them but they are very much finer
than | expected. | knew they were only |
100 feet high, so was not disappointed, as |
so many people are at first. They are |
much broader and further apart, and alto |
gether grander than l had imagined them |
to be, and the surrounding scenery is SO |
lovely that | was delighted. The three |
days l spent there were indeed treat |
never to be forgotten. Most people make |
mistake in rushing the FalIs-'doing' |
them in 4 day, or even sometimes in a |
couple CT hours cheap tripping. They |
must carry away quite u wrong impress
sion; it was only on the third day of my |
visit that l saw the Horseshoe Fall prop
erly. 1t depends so much on the wind, |
which only clears off the spray occasion |
| ally. The American Fall, which was just |
in front Of our windows at the Clifton |
House, is white and feathery and looks |
very like a steep glacier or snow slope. |
The Horseshoe Fall, which / like most, is /
a glorious emerald green, solid wall of |
water, and is supposed to be twenty feet |
deep at the edge. where it goes laundering |
down into the raging turmoil of waters in
q fearful looking abyss of foam and spray.
One of the best views Of the Falls is from |
the ferry just above the new suspension |
bridge, and near the American Falls. |
The whirlpool rapids are very grand and |
fearful looking, much wilder than the first |
cataract on the Nile. down which 1 have |
seen the Arabs swim on logs of wood
l was delighted to find some beautiful |
ice marks on the cliff above the gorge near |
the rapids, and there are glacial, river and |
lake deposits on Goat Island, and on the !
| top of the cliff opposite the Horseshoe |
Fall, on the Canadian shore. The gorge |
| itself is cut in the Niagara limestone and |
| its associated shales. which correspond to |
the Wenlock beds of our upper salurian,
| and it has been computed by Sir Charles |
Lyell that it must have taken $4,000 years
| to wear its way from Lewiston to its pres |
ent position, about seven miles. In the |
somewhat hasty view had of the country |
! it seemed to me that there was evidence |
of the Lake (Ontario) having formerly ex-
| tended to the foot of the cliffs at Lewis |
ton, near the entrance to the gorge. If |
this were so, and the land has since risen, |
the rate of erosion in former times may |
have been much more rapid than it is at |
present
In the following lines he speaks of his |
entrance into the q. States: ''On Sept. |
loft in o;o1+ 70,
the American Association at Philadelphia. |
Two of the directors Of the Grand Trunk |
| Railway travelled with us, and told us how !
disappointed they were at not being able |
to six us up properly with Pullmans.
Our route was across the Victoria Bridge,
in the centre of which you can see the
| gold riuet driven by the Prince Of Wales
when he opened the bridge in 1860. Near
| Rouse s Point at the head of Lake Cham
| plain. is the frontier line between Canada
and the o.. S. Through the kindness of |
the American authorities, our baggage
was passed free thro' the Custom House
great boon as all travellers will know. |
| We ran along the west shore Of Lake |
Champlain, where the scenery is beautiful, |
past Fort Ticonderoga, where we got beaten
by the French in 1857. We passed thro'
Saratoga, the most fashionable inland
watering place in America, and towards
evening reached the west shore of the |
famous Hudson River. The scenery is
very lovely, and especially at one noble |
curve Of the river near West Point, |
where we got a charming moonlight |
view of st. Anthony's Nose, which |
reminded me of the Lurline Rock on the
Rhine. Mr.. Peyton alludes thus to an
excursion arranged for them to the an
thracite coal regions Of Pennsylvania
I'VE had train Of - cars and were each
lowered one by one, down the Mahoney
Plane, by huge wire rope. 1t was q very ,
interesting experience, as it is generally
used for coal-wagons only. We were
much amused whilst lot Of us were
watching one Of the cars being lowered to
| find we were all standing under notice
| board on which was written II oafprs |