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Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont film^s en commenqant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la derniire page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ^ signif ie "A SUIVRE ", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmte ^ des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est film^ A partir de Tangle sup^rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 irfc;^s»fcw«sg<^i., ;''fy^j^>. .« »■*■ R%» 3fei.^ li-S.ta.'V ^jfs. ra. L-J3^/,. ' iKi, '. :x^: !»■ # ''.Jifl^^l^l S v*^^-^^^ ' ■, 4 ^^?e*?>^ 'itSili'i tifS- m -m.oj'' i% " — j\^ :^^?^: --M?!sf-"i^:^4':„i, ■'S'^V lO".^^ VtAJ»ll VM* :%^ K*»s«*<^r4«(! */' fc 00. ,«'•*»•'■- ■,v v<- ''-:ijr'4irf'« ,j^,aiam^f- r-^t V ^■- ■■ ^v•■**^•-•^"**;•:i?^.•;■ ■ •''^ l^r?^ il^ r^ \ •.^^ik. UBRAilY «» ,* ^ ijt >jS^;'*; TABLE ROCK ALBUM AND SKETCHES OF THE FALLS AND S C E N E E, Y A 1) J A C E N T rmnr) kdition — with additions. I'. Vi V V A [. O : STF.AM PHJ:SS of .IllWF.TT, THOMAS .V, CO. 1850. **•« •> • ', Entenul arcordiiig to net of Congress, in tlie year 1?1P, in llie Clerk's Office of the Northern District of tlie 8tate of New-York, hy JEWHTT, ']'HOMAS & CO. u INTRODUCTION. In accordance with patent custom we have christened our book ; but the title by whicli it is hereafter to be distinguished from other pubhcations on the same subject, is, we are bound to confess, something of a misnomer. Tliis is not, strictly speaking, the " Album of the Table Rock," — it is a melange made up of excerpts from a library of Albums. The ab- sence of arrangement and classification of the articles is the result of accident, not of carelessness or design. The ma- terials are selected at random, and the grouping, grotesque as it may be, is in perfecl keeping with any one or all of the books from which the gleanings are made. If seriousness and solemnity are placed in ludicrous juxta-position with levity and lightness — that is the doing of the authors of ii books themselves, and not of the editor of this compilation from these books. Our right to print nonsense is not a jot rnoi'e questionable than ihat of the visitors to the Falls to write it in these public books ; but having the fear of the judgment of an "intelligent public" before our eyes, we have purposely abstained fn ni making any more licentious use of our un- dnuhtrd })rivil('g(! than is necessary for preserving to our book the character of an A/fnini, IV INTRODUCTION. Much tliat is written is not fit to be printed, to be sure; and it is deeply to be regretted that the innumerable host of writers wlio have perpetrated composition in the volumes of manuscript now before us, should have added so little to the general stock of legitimate and permanent literature. But the aciual amount of frivolous nonsense which constitutes so large a portion of the contents of the books from which our selection is made, is not at all to be calculated by the speci- mens now and thus exhibited. We have given the best ; and, when, in any degree, redeemed by wit or humor, we have not been so fastidious, perhaps, as we should have been, in excluding the worst specimens of this gratuitous author- ship — always endeavoring, however, to take care that decency shall not be outraged, nor delicacy shocked ; and in this respect, however improbable it may seem, precaution has been b}'^ no means unnecessary. [n criticising this "Album" — if any body should conde- scend to honor it in that way — it should not be forgotten that the articles of which it is composed, are written, not only by persons who are not recognized or professed authors, but without the care, time, or study, usually bestowed on compo- sition intended for the pres- — generally, it is to be presumed, without any premeditation whatever. In making up the book, we have not unfreij^uently been oblige;! to add and deduct, as the case might be, to lines which their authors evidently meant to be of a certain measure, in order to bring them within the rules of prosody. If, in such cases, we have weakene'd or mistranslated an idea, the best excuse will be to plead guilty ; and we do so, accordingly, with this cojuli- tion, that we be distinctly chargeable, at the same time, with i INTUODIXTION. milking all the alterations wjiicli we hav(3 made — and liiey arc not few — on purpose, and because we ihoug'lit they were amendments. It is likely — very, that there are numerous plagiarisms in this, as in other "Albums." Nay, wo do not know that loc may not, in s)me cases, have made a readable stanza, licre and there, out of another's literary larceny. But, not having read all the printed books in the world, we put in ignorance as our plea in defence of the unintentional error. There is, perhaps, little originality in the book, upon the whole; but the idea of getting up such a work has not hith- erto, to our knowledge, been acted upon; and if the publica- tion of it should be attended with any measure of success, it may have a tendency to elevate and purify the character of these Albums and Registers hereafter; inasmuch as when people find that "there's a chiel amang them takin' notes,'' they will, in all likelihood, be more guarded — perhaps more studious, too, to write well what thev do Avrite; and let us hope that in the next edition we shall be able, not only to add much that may be interesting, but also to furnish the names of our numerous contributors. It has been very annoying to us in compiling the present w^ork, to find such an extreme parsimony of signature ; so much so, that in many cases it is difficult to tell where one article ends and another beains in the oriu-inal. We now send forth our little pioneer, not witliout hope that it will meet with some favor; and at at all events, without any doubt that the itlea thus suggested, will hereafter be successfully followed out, whether failure or success be the recompense of our present undertaking. June, 1851, me of TABLE ROCK ALBUM. PART I. NIAGARA FALLS. There's nothing g rcator bright thou glorious Fall Thou mn^'cst not to the fancy's sense recall, The thunder-riven cloud, tlie lightning's leap, The stirring- of the chambers of the deep, Earth's emerald green, and many tinted dyes, The fleecy whiteness of the upper skies, The tread of armies thickening as they come, The boom of cannon and the beat of drum, The brow of beauty and the form of grace, The passion and the prowess of our race, The song of Homer in its loftiest hour, The unresisted sweep of human power, Brittannia's trident on the azure sea, America's young shout of liberty ! Oh ! may the ^vaves that madden in thy deep, There spend their rage nor climb the encircling steep,- And till the conflict of thy surges cease, The nations on thy banks repose in peace ! MoRPETII. The roaring of thy waters, O Niagara, would have struck me with terror, had I not been long familiar with the roaring of human passion. I should have wondered at thy eternal TAHLE ROCK ALBUM. J/ motion, luid T not fell ni\' n\\ a .-oul to be infinitely more mo- tional ; at thy unchangeable {)orpetuity were there not in niv own soul a voice forever cryinu" — " throu^•h the au;es 1 am the same, and my years end not." My soul has felt a deeper fall than thy waters, Niagara, and ex])erienced a liigher rise than thy sun-penciled steams. Allthat tliou hast, and art, most woiidej't'ul, long ago the unseen engendered in my soul; and I hail thee now, thouixh seeinu,- thee for the first, time, as a taniihar friend. Thou art the actual type of my ideal — and yet, not the highest, for I believe in greater than thou — for is not the Greater present in every conscious, think- ing soul? Hexhy (t, Wkight, June 8, 184;j. /Jam Stiri'i/, Enrjland. The subscriber would respectfully inform the ladies and gentlemen visiting Ts'iagara Falls, that he has taken up his residence in its vicinity, for the jiurpose of aiding those of an ambitious temperament, in their efforts at immortalization. The su scriber has effected arrangements with several artists of reputation aiul science, and will be haj)py, at all times, to supplv those who favor him with their orders. Signs of all descri )tions and sizes, both of board and tin, and in Roman, (xrcek, or (irrrman characters, in blue, red, or green colored letterii.;>', lie would urge upon the public, the superiority of this plan over the old one, of carving the name on the barks of trees. IJy adopting his plan, greater legibility and pub- licity is obtained, as well as greater durability. The sub- scriber has engaged several e.\})ert climbers, who will fasten these signs, if needed, to the tops of the liighest trees, or weld them on the; mo.st remote rocks. But to those j)rofesS" ing to be their own artist.s, he would say that he intends having u full supply of paints and brushes, of the most ap- proved make, as well as an abundant ([uantity of the softest kind uf I'ed ch;dk. Such gentlemen as prefer the time-ho- nored custom of carving their names, can obtain, at tin; sub- scril)i'r's jdacc, the be>t Dailow j'eiduiives of tlu; most approvi.'d patterns, including the celebrated stvle used by the facetious geiitlenian that cut liis way through the pine swamp. A call is respectfully solicited from all. Uiudo lircKTOi', Artist. Cave of the Winds. noro mo- e not ill .ges 1 am a deeper a liiiiJier last, and ed in my the lirst c of my iter than IS, tlnnk- iHT, ^nr/land. lies and 1 up his se of an ilization. \\ artists imes, to IS of all Roman, colored iority of e barks 1 pub- le sub- 1 fasten 'oes, or )rofesS" intends ost ap- S0ft(!St ine-ho sub- l)i'ov«.'d I'elious A call Wfist. Mnda. \( 'y TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 9 I have gazed on nature — here — abroad, 1 have wandered o'er the briny deep; (Jf all thy wuhU)i Irolond. >* J 10 TARLn HOCK AL13UM. " O! not to sing- presumptuous praise, In studied words and measured lays, This scenery survey — Omnipotence is imaged here, Let vainer liomago disaj)pear, And kneel and pray. I have stood in tlie forest, with no one near but God, and mused upon his grandeur, his power, and his grc;'t mercy; while the low winds, sighing among the trees, semeod as if breathing a recpiiem over some departed soul. I have stood upon the banks of Huron, while the waters were lashed into fury, and seemingly striving to discover some helpless obj(!Ct to overwhelm in their rage; then I thought " IJuw wonderful are thy works, O (rod, and thy ways past tinding out." Again, I have stood, Avhen it seemed as if God had said to the waves, '* Peace, be still," and their low, satisfied murmur seemed to reply, ''Thy will, O Lord, and not mine be dune." 1 have stood on the banks of the river as it glided peacefully by, seeming to say, " Thus shall the soul of the just man be — yea, their peace shall ilow as a river." All these have 1 seen; but when 1 saw Niagara, I stood dumb, "lost in won- der, love, and praise." Can it be, that the mighty (Jod who has cleft these rocks with a sti'oke of his power, who has bid these waters roll on to the end of time, foaming, dashing, thundering in their course; can it bo that this mighty Being has said to insignilicant mortals, " I will be Unj God, and thou shalt be iiuj people." O ! Lord, thy mercy as well as thy poiDer enduret forever! Who can go " within the veil" which thine own hand hath spread, and thus separate from the busy world, witli nought but the thunderings of thy power to be heard, say "there is no God?" Roll on! thou great Niagara, roll on! and by thy ceaseless roaring, lead the minds of mortals from Nature's contenipla- tion U)Ti to Nature's (Jod. J. .E IIowaud, 2\ BarnttVs Drawinq Room, ) Detroit Mich. Oct. 17th, 184S. f * I May the mighty waters of the Niagara smother, in tluir eternal vortex, all the animosities and rancours that may ever h^ tl in tr b M f -J TEBLE UOCK ALBUM. 11 t God, and :;'t mercy; mcod as 'if liave stood ashed into less obj(!ct wonderful ling- out." id said to d murmur be dt)ne." peacefully man be — 30 have I St in won- (lod who 10 has bid , dashing", lity Bei no- God, and IS well as the veil" ;'ate from s of thy ceaseless >ntempla- oit Mich. in their nay ever have existed between Great Britain and her fair daughter of the West, and remain, to succeeding generations, an everlast- ing and indestructible monument of the harmony^ which, I trust, will never cease to exist between two nations, (of one blood,) at once the most enterprising and the most enlightened in the world. George Mair. Mufj 2'Sd, 1849. Luego (jue las cataratas vi, luego siis cuidas me dieron, un no se ([ue, (|ue me hicieron, sosprendente kxjue vi. Miguel de Ajukia. Marro 25, de 1850. Al/or Dr. A. X. S. Wn-tlii, Editor de la Cronlca, N, Y. Caro amigo: IJartante enfermo acabo de llegar a las cata- ratas del Niagara, pero las impresiones que en mi han pro- ducido, han hecho desaj)arecer cari complelamente mi mal. Pintar a v. lo que acabo de ver, me es imposible; y u manana vuclvo a leer las descri|)ciones f)ublicadas por varies escritores aduocnados, me veire de ellos y Ids du'e ([ue no se metan a pintar y esplicar la naturaliza. De vd, afmo amigo, J. B. GlIADEVEZ. 7 de. Juk) 1840. Mon o])inion est qu 'un jour ei\ le viendra a tcnre. B. Beguerre. V Jwi^ 1849. On voit srt'vjint des tableaux (pii representent los chutes de Niagara, — mais cet imposible d'en faire la moindre idee, et faut en venir sur le lieu pour en juger. Beoueuue. Shotdd cruel fate, by some son"U! unconqiier'd spell, (^iinsign (tur bas a dc'crieie scs a'uvrcs imnuiable, c'est entreprcndie de de'pas- iser la liniiUi qu 'il a marquee a la capacite dc riiomme ! Oh ! vous tous (|ui visitez ces chutes immortelles, abaissez- vous devaut la main de Dieu! Dieu, parle cette voix si forle, I'homm** doit so taire et adorer! Jeudi Midi, 15 i\oy., 1819. Peteu H. Met. !t Hail to thee! fair rainbow: brioht emblem of hope — as in the mist of Niagara thou welcomest the risinuj sun in liis? res))lendent i^loYy. M. HexNdekson. January 13, '49. ETERxXAL— BEAUTIFUL— SERENE— SUIJLIME. Eternal — prototype of God! When lirst the morning stars did sing, And the all-glorious sun was placed on high; llow didst thou rear thy awful crest At His own bidding, and thy thunders spoko Of the creation boi'n — and ever onward Through successive ages still is thy impetuous course, Bespeaking praise to Him, thy great Creator: Lo, the poor Indian doth bend before tlu-e — And in thy presence feels that (Jod is nigh! And the great spirit near, liim to protect: All recognize in thee — power — greatness — vastness! Beautiful, most beautiful, whether In thy murmuring music — Or thy rrvci'brrating, eclK^mg thunders, And thy feathery spray, ami rainbows, Bespeaking hope and faith, And as thou dashest o'er the kdge, Behold the gorgeous emerald green, 1 Table ruck album. 13 actes! Ce- ^e ici l)as a de de'pas- mme ! -s, abaissez- 'oix si forio, H. Mi;t. ope — as in sun in his DiiKSON. Woven iliioii^h with silvery thread — And then t)iy milky flood belovv, And eddies and o'ei'lianL!iiiL>' rocks, Call I'ortli the exclamation, " be,autit"ul," Serene — thou art and in thy presence We do feel sweet peace to steal O'er us, and that the soul all lost To earth and all around, doth wing- It- tlioui^hts to other scenes, And "sve do dwell afar 'inonu' tliose I.ong- lost and dwellers in a better land. The mind is lulled to a repose And ^\e feel in a Ready to lean on God and trust in Hiui, ME. urse, ss! Sublime — surpassin.tial beauty, and thy dread mag- nilicence, and ceaseless thunder song — roll on thy course — echoing ever the nothingness ot" man — the boundless majesty of God ! T. T. Waterman. Auffiist 31, 1847. A VOLUNTARY. • One would think that emotions of sublimity, knocked common sense into "pi" and stirred up foaming fancies in the intellect, something like the boiling waters in this double and twisted caldron down here : after lookino- over the Albums around here. Why the — ISIanimoth Cave — don't men know what they are going to write before they begin, and say it so, they and some others know, after it is written. A Kentuckian. FAREWELL ! Thou Lord of water power — in thy Majestic Glory — thou art all and more than all my soul conceived thee, — I never dreamed thy wonders to be so numberless and vast ! beauty in union with grandeur — here fill and elevate, and satisfy my soul. Sept. 1, LS47. ml ihk d. While standing under the horse-shoe Fall, Didn't /t look grand — ani] i/ou feel small ? Thomas A. Dwvn, Duhlin, Ireland. TAnLE ROCK ALKUM. IV h thy own -And you, ibilities. D. Section of '■ead mag- course — !s majesty iJllMAN. knocked -incies in 5 double »ver the —don't begin, ritten. flAN. Majc 'i '■ oi-oatncss sits., Niaiiara, upon thy brow, And ■>'('}• thy rocks in thundering orandeur roll ; — We gaze, in silent wonder wrapped and humbly bow, To thee, () (rod, who thus doth thrill our inmost soul. J». T. ROMAINE AND LadY- xiUmny, K T., Sept. 20th, 1847. This is but tlie breathinos of the great "1 Am !'' What must his anoer be? .Mingled with mercy. Roll on thou dark green flood, roll on, time measurest not thine age — eternity can but express thy end, — Creation's driwn witnessed thy earliest u'ush, — Creation's doom can but extinguish — thy perpetual rush. Oh ! Ood ! ! Great arc thy works ! Oh ! Man ' ! How small aic thine, when placed in the same view. A CoMSTOCK. Juli/ 30/ A, 184:7. Sandwich Islands. —thou never )eauty fy my Tlie Falls of "Niagara " fir surpass any natural curiosity in the known world. No human eye that has not beheM this cataract, can Ibrnt any idea of its greatness. Like all the works of God's creation, ic shows forth to his glory. Wako Cai{pi;ntei{, August 3rd, 1847. Westchester Co., K Y. d. Niagara — Here Nature holds its sway, While man, with both dt'light and awe, doth Gaze and wonder at its magnilicence. Boz. 18 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. Niagara — each hour, each hour — each day, each day, The'^rich, the poor, the gentle pass your way ; The tradesman from his toil released, Seeks beauties that our God decreed To flow from Niagara; mighty as before, You'll live for ages, when ages shall be no more, Made by that power, that power that man can ne'er destroy. Our Lord, our everlasting God, from all eternity. Steadfastly you stand as ever seen by those, That thus appreciate the works which God bestows; Great, beautiful h'alls ! you'll continue great, And live in grandeur, when diClerent is our state, When old age comes, or sad despair, 'Tis thus to thee, oh ! God we'll pour our prayer, Falls, mighty Falls, aloft with moistened eyes, I send my humble gratitude with tearful sighs, To God who ever sends us hope and trust, Though we are sinful he is just, If we ask pardon, our mighty God is kind. And gives us hope in prayer, in peace of mind, Niagara Falls! the mighty wo:k of God, 1 feel how great, how wondrous is our Lord. Charlotte B . August 15, 184-7. No man should ever leave this great display of God's works, without entering under the Falls, where is afforded the most sublime of the grand scenes here abounding. There he can sit and calmly meditate, shut out from every thing* but God and his most grand work An Observer. Let not vanity and presumption attempt a task too great for inspiration. B, 'Twas great to speak a world from naught, Tvvas greater to redeem. T. H. Dashiell, Baltimore. ^^^ TADLE llOVli ALIJUM. 19 *ch dc 'y> "e'er destroy, 7: iows ; B- of God's afforded !"• There great B. ^/•e. Mr. AND Mks. Stephrn [>. Sukhvvood, and company, of Jamesville, Onondaga County, N. V., say : — " We have visited the 'niiolily cataract'' on llie American and Cana- dian shore, and (ivery spot of interest connected witli both — but this Mnsewa and Camera Obscura is truly the most interesting of a!I; situated, as it is, with such a fine view of the Falls, I trust no American will leave without calling here, or spendino- a day at least on British >S'(>i7." Sept. 24, 1847. King-s of the earth and all people; princes and all judges of the earth; both young men and maidens ; can ye stand and gaze upon the mighty Hood that rolls its torrents to the dee]) and not " Praise the" Lord."' E. E. B. It is utterly impossible for «??y Jiian to give expression to the ov(M-wholniing feeling he experiences on beholding this display of the Great Creator's works. Here is raaniiested on no rainu'e scale, the glory of "him who holds the sea in the hollow of his luinil." This roar of Niagara is but a song of praise to the Almighty (rod. R. H. Ball, Baltimore, Md. July 24, 1847. * I came from Wall street, To see this w^'iter sheet; Having seen this water sheet, I return to Wall street. Jvlu 24, 1847. Bryant. Ni;igar;i Falls is a stereotype proof sheet of the Omnipo- tence of the Almighty. Jamks T. FiiAZKE, of Glasc/oin, Scotland, noiu of Wouster, Ohio. 20 TAISLK ROCK ALliUM. Iloast not tliy greatness, Yankees tall, Tliy pride and arrogance ma}' catch a fall. To view Niagara Falh one daj', A parson and a tayior took tlieir Avay , The parson cried whilst wrapt in wonder. And listening to the' cataract's thunder, fjord ! how the works amaze our eyes, And iill our hearts with vast sur[)rise; "^riie tailor merely made this note, Lord ! what a place to sponge a coat ! ! \^isitors, when e'er you wish To feast (^n jioultry, flesh and lish, And right good wine, Leave your fare ficross the river, And like a hearty right good liver, At the Pavillion dine. 8ince first I saw thee thundering on, There's nothing of thy beauty gone. And though three years have passed .Away, Thou thunderest on with all thy spray. 1847. Charlotte Blanche Malcolm. Spirit of Homer! Thou whose song has rung From thine own Greece to this su[)reme abode Of nature — this great fane of Nature's God, Breathe on mv heart — oh ! touch the fervid tongue 11*' . ^ Of a fond votaress kneeling on the sod. Sublim.e and beautiful! your shrine is here — Here 'neath the azure df)me of heaven you're wed — Here, on a rock that trembkis o'er your bed. Your blended sorcery claims both pulse and tear, Controls life's source, and reigns o'er heart and head. m TAfiLK HOCK ALBUM. 21 ail. r. Mal COLM. do Terrific, but O! beautiful abyss! If I should trust mj^ fubcinated eye, Or lisfen to thy maddi'iiiiig- melody, Sense, form, WDuld spring to meet thy white foam's kiss — Be lapped in thy soft rainbow once, and die* Color, depth, height, extensive, all unite To chain the spirit by a look intense. The dolphin in his clearest seas, or thence Ta'en by S')me prince to oivc his luve deliuht, Dies not in chang-eful tints more delicately bright.* Look, look! tliere comes o'er yon pale green expanse, Ik^yond the curtain of this altar vast, A glad young swan — the smiling beams that cast Light from her jjluracs, have lured her soft advance — vShe nears the fatal brink — her graceful life is past. Look up; nor her fond foolish fate disdain — An eagle rests upon (he wind's sweet breath: Feels he the charm? woos he the scene beneath? He eyes the sun, nerves his dark wing again, Remembers clouds and storms, an i Hies the lovely d(iath. •Niagara! wonder of this western world, And all the world beside — hail, bi-auteous Queen Of cataracts!" an angel who had been O'er heaven and earth thus said; his bright wings fui'led, And knelt to Nature iirst on this wild cliff unseen. Mauta del Occident!:. ngue e wed — The, Yankees generally Lake, and keep too, whatever they set thrir hearts upon having. OXH: OF TIISM. id head. ^Wlicn tliCHii linos wort' wiittL'i) in tlio Aihniii, tin; foiirtli statr/.i was oniitto;!, lest It iiiiiihl (icrasioii some cunfusinn ul' iiiia.^'cry ; but ilio hoauiil'iil tints rcllortod hy (ho waior uT llic ratarnct arc; oao (jT its [irinripal alirariiniis, ami ho ovartly rosonihli'il those ot tiio ii loil God spake tlie world into being, and it was created. He made all tiie wonders of the oartli, and this the greatest of all. A. P. M. To hear this water roar, To see this water pour, Is certainly much more, Than I've heard or seen before. To hear a jackass bray Is notliing new to-day — You can neither sing nor say; So you may go away. IT. FOOTE. A. Leog. You liad better toddle too, For you're block heads through and througli- 'Pon my honor, it is true — Cock-a-doodle-doo. Francis Ukad. le le. Good morning, how d'ye do? flow miieh wiser, pray are you? Than the other stupid two? Tell me that atid tell me true. Dlrfiam. Roll o!), Niagara, ns tho\i liast ever rolled, Since tliy great Maker called tlu-e into being; 2i TABLE ROCK ALBUM. But wilt thou never stop? O, yes, thou wilt, When the great Archangel souiula the linal trump — One foot upon the sea, and one on shore — And swears that time sluill be no more forever; The thunderino; sound that swells upon (nir ears, Will then be silenced, and the mighty Hood, That pours ifself o'er the tremendous precipice, Will cease to be. — There i-; but Oxn aloxk — The tirst, last, ever-living Thinitv, That can control thee whensoe'er he will. H. B. TuTTLE. Lansiu(/bw(/h, I^. V. nl al ai Mem. — This atmosphere is terribly destructive to starched colhus, and takes the curls out of one's whiskers with amaz- ing celerity. Chaklks Augustus Mandeville. The pretty creature ! — It should have put itself, wduskers and all, into a band box. Sjiould'nt It. Venl, viillt and gave up the vk'i. JuLIUd CyESAU ReDIVIVUS. The mi'^hty cataract of Niagara rushing over the rocks, and the deep waters of the Mi.ssissipj)i roMing onward to the ocean, are everlasting evidiuices of the [Jiowess and etliciency of the ^iiiiericaii MUU'ia! his Anurkw y, Jackson. mark. i*'arewell, O Ni;igaia! lolling in splendor. Thy beauty is matchless, tin power is sn])reme ; And now, ere I leaNe thee, mv homage 1 riMxh'r — To return to the world I must rouse from my dream. TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 25 It, lI trump- ■ curs, i, pice, • i^. TuTTLE. ive to starched ''•s with umaz. AX DEVI LLP:. ;self, wliiskers )L'ld'nt It. UjDlVIVUS. '■ tho roclvs, luard (<) (ho kI <'lliri(jnc.y ^i In a trance I have been, while sublimest emotions Have crowded tlie chambers of soul and of thought But my dreams of delight and my deepest devotions Are faded away — there^s a hole in my coat! Now, I'll tell you what it is — these here water works ain't nothin' what they are cracked up to be — be they? They're a downright imposition — that's a fact. They're amazin* nice and sublime and roarin', sure enough; but what on airth be they good for ? As our schoolmaster, Job Diddler, (he'd aa awful sight of larnin' — had'nt he?) — Well, as Job Diddler used to say, '• Fox eat Peter NichoV* — great cry and little wool. They ain't good for nothin' for manufacturin' ; and they completely spile navigation — that's a*fact Sam Slick, Jun. Hark, hark! 'tis Niagara's mighty roar, As o'er the ledge St. Lawrence' waters pour. Father Omnipotent! in this we see An emblem fit of vast eternitv ; As downwards in their course the waters flow, And then are lost in the abyss below, So haste thy creatures onward to that bourne, From whence no travellers shall e'er return. vf. In- - i»V dream. Roll on, great River, with resistless force. Which, like old Time, stays not for human will ; For who shall stop him in his viewless course. Or who shall bid thy mighty voice be still ? *Vox et prctera nihil. B 2^6 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. None but the power that taught ye both to flee, Thou to thy misty gulf of clouds, while he Rolls likewise onward, changing all but thee — So both shall stop but in eternity. Thy course is onward, downward, free and loud, While his is silent, dim, but no less sure. He creeps along, scarce noticed by the crowd, Whilst thou dost stun the senses with the roar Of thy tremendous cataracts, which call Each to the others, and all ears appal; Leaping in thunder from thy rocky wall, And, like a hero, greatest in thy fall. HENiiy Lindsay, ■^m NIAGARA TO ITS VISITORS. ye, who come from distant climes, To visit me and read my rhymes, Ere you condemn my noise and vapor, Read what 1 have to say on paper. Through Lake Superior, it true is, 1 descend from old St. Louis. I'm a wise child, you see, and rather Proud to know and own my father. Michigan nurses me in her lap; Huron feeds with S\ginaw pap; St. Clair then undertakes to teach, And tries to modulate my speech. Through EiiiE next I guide my stream, And learn the power and use of steam. I'm christened next, but losing my humble- Ness, I get an awkward tumble. And though musicians all agree, I pitci) my outcry loud on E, Sure two such tumbles w«ll may vex, And make mc fr<.'llj up Double X. Ti n . th to flee, lile he I thee — and loud, ure. irowd, I the roar uy Lindsay, IS. )le. TABLE ROCK ALBUM. Although tlie Kapids rather flurry me, And into wheeUng- whirlpools hurry me. The Devil's Bole does most me scare, I oh/ And makes me glad to reach Ontario. Travelled so far, 'tis thought of vital Importance I should change my title; And though it should be his abhorence, They make my sponsor old St. Lawrence. The course I steer is rather critical ; For, not much liking rows political, 'Tvvixt both mv favors I divide — Yankee and British, on each side. Thus equally I share my smiles. And wandering 'mongst the " Thousand Isles," With equable and constant motion, I gladly run to meet the ocean. Once my deep cavern was a mystery. But now 'tis known like Tom Tiiumb's history, By ladies, gents, natives and strangers; Led on by Barnett through my dangers, They bid adieu to fear and doubt, And come to try my "cold without;" While those who like it best, can get A good supply of " heavy wet." I fear no money-brokers' pranks — They're welcome to run on my hanlcs. I pay no money nor *' mint drop," Yet dare them all to make me stop, I'm proof against malignant shafts; Am ready still to honor drafts; Have a large capital afloat, More current than a U. S. note ; And I can liqrndate all debt, Though much is deio from me; and yet. About my self I often vapor — But nc^'er before have issued paper. You may think this is a brag or a Boast of Truly Yours, Niagara. FalU Hall Cave, /lal/pcuit 11, > July 25, 18;{7. i H.Lindsay. '27 M. 28 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. These are the great Niagara Falls, Down which Sam Patch did jump; The people said he'd break his neck — He only hurt his rump ! The General. Fair Albion, smiling, sees her sons depart To trace the birth and nursery of art. Noble their object, glorious are their aims, They go behind the Falls — and write their names! a I I written directly after going " WITHIN THE VEIL" OF MAGARA. By Qrenville Mcllen. O God ! — my prayer is to Thee, amid sounds That rock the world — I've seen Thy majesty Within the veil— I've heard the anthem-shout Of a great ocean, as it leapt in mist About my thunder-shaken path — Thy voice, As ceuturies have heard it, in the rush And roar of waters. I have bent my brow Beneath Thy rainbow, and Iiave lifted up My shriek 'midst these vast cadences — I've seen What is the wonder of Eternity, And what this visioned nothingness of man. Table Rock, August 22, 1838. Can man stop yonder cataract in its course ? Can man trace up the Almighty to his source.* And cannot man in yonder torrent see A striking emblem of eternity? *ThiB line is unmitigated noneenBe. if. v1 TABLE ROCK ALRUM. 29 IE General. names! THE VEIL" OF nds -Sty ihout * ce, IV 3 seen I. Streams, rivers, lakes, are buried in thy flood, And thy green waters have been tinged with blood, Yet comes the day when swallowed thou wilt be In the vast ocean of eternity. With colors brilliant, arch — so bright its rays, Thy beauteous Rainbow to frail man displays — ' That wondrous bow which at God's word appeared, When Noah, worshipping, rejoiced and feared, And saw, by faith, it was the covenant given, That man should be restored — the heir of heaven. Then roll, thou mighty torrent; sound thy thunder. Dash down thy floods to wondering man a wonder. Till forth shall sound than theirs a louder voice. To bid creation tremble or rejoice — Then, shall thy thunderings and thy rolling end, And God descend, man's angry Judge or friend — Then shall evaporate thy mighty Fall, Midst burning worlds, and God be all in all. J. E. Sandwich^ IT. C. This is ihe cataract whose deathless name Lives in itself — it haih no need of fame. It is itself eternal. Look and trace '•Dar'st thou forget me," written in his face. 'Tis its own record — 'tis the livinir throne Of independence, rolling, rolling on — Spurning alike resistance and control, And breathing terror on the human soul. G. J. K. ce. If a feller should slide down from ofl' a slippery stick, 'Twould be worse nor any Cat-a-lip-tic A.nd if he should go blind, 'tis a plain fact 'twould be a Cataract. From view-ino- 30 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. "Pro di-gious"! as Mr. Shaw says, (quoting from Domi- nie Sampson.) Sublime! says Mr. Taylor, the second of our party. The grandeur is inexpressible, according to Mr. Hastings. Mr. Harmon observed, that it exceeded his most sanguine expectations. K G. D. thinks it the best " got up" thing he ever saw. Very queer ! as the apostle elegantly remarks in the origi- nal tongue. O. P. Q. Fearful in majesty and glory thou ! — Mutely we stand and gaze upon thy flood, As erst the red man gazed, ere yet the foot Of our pale fathers trod these solitudes. Still rings far up to heaven thy mighty hymn, Which rose to hail the first glad morn of earth, Nor will it cease till time shall be no more. Josephine. " On to the curtained shrine — ay, pass within Into that trembling temple of the Avorld ; And there stoop mid the slorm. 'Twill visit you In robes of darkness that will seem like night Fallen on mid- day. 'Twill come on you in song Gigantic, but melodious — chorused still, Like a mad ocean heaved on iron shores By tempests that stir earth's foundations. — Go stand Up amid the roar — 'Twill visit you if yet A ray gleam through the twilight of your soul." TO NIAGARA. Now take, Great Spirit, this my prayer on high. Quick as the lightning through yon dark blue sky — Go, tell my wants, my wishes and my love- Go, waft my praises to the God above. oting from Domi- *'ie second of our I ^^''^'ng to Mr. <^eeded his most he ever saw. kts in the orioi. 0. P. Q.^ TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 81 bot jmn, earth, e. JOSBPHINB. you )ng stand H 7- Niagara in winter surpas'ses description. The most lively imagination, in its dreams of fairy land, could not picture a scene more enchantingly beautiful. Every tree, every shrub, every rock appears encased in an outer robe of glit- tering silver; and the refraction of the sun's rays lhrouo;h t^ icicles pendant from the trees, presents the most imposing Tiew which it is possible to conceive. Descending by Barnett's Staircase, and passin^* under the Sheet of Heater, on are surrounded by objects which baffle description, ^he inverted pillars of ice suspended from the projected Te'ipice, the immense icicles which threaten to crush the leholder by their fiill, the cataract darting over head with the rapidity of hghtning, the sulphurous smell, and the boiling and writhing of the gulf below — all tend to make us fancy that we are in one of those enchanted mansions of which we have read in our childhood, and to which the imagination of our mature years has often returned with pleasing regret. J. IS. Roll on, Niagara! — amid thy roar, There is a voice that whispers me; And breathes into my startled ear One lone, wild word — Eternity. To the host of poetasters, who write in these books, I would say in the words of some '* Great Unknown :" — " Chop wood, ye boobies, make the anvil ring, Dig mud, pick oakum — any thing but sing, G. S. G. S. is wise, and shows himself One of that precious clan; Turn round, G. S., and show thvself — Let's see if you're a man. I douht it; then still, " Booby," be Thy name enwrapped in mystery. Zip Coon. h \'i 32 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. Not in the forest vast, when winds awake, With giant energies and mighty power — Not on the boundless deep when storms arise, And tempests loudly roar, is nature seen In grandest garb arrayed — but where Niagara's Thundering voice is heard, and where her wa/es, In angry majesty are seen to pour; Then doth she wear a garb that wins from man The incense of his wonder, awe and praise. E. S. Smith. I have looked on thee, thou mighty Cataract, and think thou art the greatest coffee-pot in these here parts. J. E. Wharton. I guess all natur' is going to wpsh out to-day ; for how John Downing, that 'ere big kettle biles. i Yes, traveller, go under ; And amidst the wild thunder. The spray and the dashing, The stones and the crashing, Turn not on one side. But cling to the guide — He's safe though he's black. N. B. Pay when you come back. Zaney. A* N. B. On the 27th of August, 1836, a large green pea went over the Falls, and made a great noise in falling. I saw it. ■»*'•«' ake, IS arise, en ^iaf»-ara's ler wa/es, om man aise. S. Smith. 't, and think ts. Wharton. y; for how ^OWNING. ^ TABLE ROCK ALBUM. B. D. Jones has this day done — What can't be said by every one, Has gone as far as man can go, As liis certificate will show — And counsels all who value fame, Immediately to do the same. 98 In after years when memory comes, To cheer us in our happy homes, A voice, amid the social cheer, Shall speak of what we witnessed here. Those that we love are with us now, With happy heart and youthful brow. Heaven grant their lot in life may be An all unclouded destiny. When fancy brings us back this day, Perchance we'll think, where, where are they? No time, no change nor change can sever, The hnks that bind our hearts forever. Robert. Well now, I du calculate them Falls is a decided failure. They ort to run up stream. Joel. 2a]vky. ■een pea W IT. " What a sight of water is here, Sammy," said the elder Mr. Weller, as, leaning against the rail, he looked hard at the rushing cataract. " 1 think it must soon run itself out of breath — must soon pull up, Sammy.'' " Why, yes, father," re|)lied the junior, taking off his white tile, and stroking down his smooth hair, "it runs a'most as hard and as loud as moth er-iii-law's tongue." " True, Samivel," rejoined the elder, and turning lo Mr. Pickwick, continued, " you know sir, as 34 TABLE UOClv ALBUM. how I married a viddy." That benevolent gentleman nod- ded his head acquiescingly, and after looking significantly around, said, " Come, dinner's ready!" VERSES, WRITTEN AT THE TABLE ROCK DURING A THUNDER STORM. Niagara, Niagara, careering in its might. The fierce and free Niagara shall be my theme to-night. A glorious theme, a glorious hour, Niagara, are mine — Heaven's fire is on thy flashing wave, its thunder blends with thine. The clouds are bursting fearfully, the rocks beneath me quiver, But thou, unscathed, art hurrying on forever and forever. Years touch thee not, Niagara — thou art a changeless thing, And still the same deep roundelay thy solemn waters sing. There is a chainless spirit here whose throne no eye may reach. Awakening thoughts in human hearts too deep for human speech. This is the shrine at which the soul is tutored to forget Us earthly joys, its earthly hopes, its sorrow and regret; For who that ever lingered here one little hour or twain, Can think as he hatli thought, or be what he hath been again? Where'er the wanderer's foot may roam, whate'er his lot may be, 'Tis deeply written on his heart that he hath been with thee. Groiige Menzies. Chippewa, August, 1834. The man that's just from behind the sheet. Says "The Elephant is thar," But 1 rather guess, if I may speak, That it is a monstrous big white ''Bar." South West. entleraan nod- S significantly VDER STORM. TABLB ROCK ALBUM. 35 Nature is all changeless. We are but shadows. H. J. Much, New York. Changeless people are no use liere ; and if you are only shadows, so much the worse fur your baker and butcher — you can live on vaj)or. This is just the place for such as you. K, L. to-night, mine — . ■ blends with beneath me forever, ■eless thing, ^ters sing.' ^ eye may for human s» O! the wonderful Falls of Niagara — Hop, skip and jump, and here we are plump, At the wonderful Falls of Niagara Of a^l stupid asses, 1 call you the trump, In cli(nbinJ, \ Why are the Falls of Niagara in sunshine like a coquette? Because they have more bows (beaux) than one. Why is a whale like a brick-bat ? Because he can't climb a tree. What makes Nature's works wonderful to man is man's ignorance of them. Nature never created any thing — that pctwer belongs to God alone. T. A. H. TABLE ROCK ALRUM. 61 ys; ibJe, A tumble. If you wish to immortalize yourself, don't write in any of these books — ^jump over the Falls. Never mind the weather, il' the wind don't blow. Next to the bliss of seeing Sarah, Is that of seeing Niagara. ;k— In foam these Falls resemble ffinger pop — In force a comet; for they never stop. Solomon Swop. this h'ttle ' can't go E Sam. oquette ? I't chmb njan's lU's to II. f ! if I were a little fish, and had a little fin To keep my little self afloat, I swear 1 would jump in ; And having seen the mighty Falls, and heard their mighty roar, iMyself Avould be a mighty fish, henceforth, for ever more. Chij)pewa. G. M. 0! if I were a little bird, and had a little wing, I'd perch upon the highest rock, and sweetly would I sing. Thence would I wing my hasty llight, and scud across the foam, And having seen the wondrous sight, I straightway would go home. ' K. C. Somebody, fipparrntly under the impression that the above vcrr/jG ♦vt-re wiitten by the same person, inserted below them the following jeu d'esprit: — If that you were a little /?.; waters of His love. Mauy Keele. I came to see Niagara too late. Five years ago, I was a creature of enthusiasm, poetry and devotion. Now I am feelingless;, heartless, soul-less. The once gushing founts of youthful emotion have been broken up by the withering blast of adversity. The llowers of my life are blighted; and all is dull — all tame. 1 laugh at Niagara, and what care I for thunder? (ireat God! how I should have enjoyed this sight once. 13lT. Bit with affectation — that is all. Any man so blighted in prospt'ct and brokt-n in spirit would not think of remem- bering the enjoyment whicii he would have had here, or TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 53 n ass. S. B or. -o look no M. N. any where else. One who is what this scribbler affects to be thinks not ot Lis past capacity of enjoyment, but of his present sense of misery. Oee who knows now. Go to prayer to heal your sorrow, And it will not be to-morow. One who has known. Boast not thyself, Niagara, That thy deep song shall ne'er be o'er — The archangel's voice shall yet proclaim That thou and time shall be no more. KELK. was a ' I am founts Jiorini^ 1; and t care 'd this lilT. jilted uem- e, or Boast not thyself, though God hath set His seal of glory on thee now; EoiHe shall veil thy glory yet, And L. ":e the rainbow from thy brow. Thoug' I may'st sing a requiem o'er The grave of millions yet unborn ; Thy sun of glory too shall set — The universe for thee shall mourn. T. S. L. Light dawned upon the waters ; and the Creator called rock and mountain and vale out of the immensity of ocean, and stamped upon all the impress of grandeur or of loveli- ness. Then he looked abroad over the many beautiful things he had called into being, and said, "Yet will 1 fashion one more wonder of nature, more instructive to the soul of man than all others — one that shall be an enduring monu- ment of my greatness, arid that shall speak in a voice of thunder until the end of time, proclaiming to mortals the immensity of my power." This was Niagara. E. E. Smith. 54 TABLE nOCiv AubvM. I have just returned from under the great sheet of water; and here record it as my deliberate opinion — and opinion is every thinj^ — that there is not a finer shower bath in the world ; and what is more, a man must hold his head down whether he will or no; of course it is a good school for "stiff- necked" people. W. C. B. Lost in amazement — that is, in plain English — drunk with brandy and water. Bacchus. Grand spectacle this Fall is! R. Grand pair of spectacles these Falls are ! S. The voice of the Almiohty is heard rebuking the vain and frivolous ribaldry so often uttf^'ed here. Bow thys(;lf, O son of man, before Mim whose wisdom ordained, and whose provi- dence sustains the wonders which surround thee. Yea, bow thyself to the dr.st, and whilst thou admirest the creature, adore the Creator. Eliza. ^1 * > Could I feel secure that my life would endure, Jlight over the Falls I would go. L* Of this 1 feel sure, tliat the journey woul cure Any pain you might have in your toe, O. of water; opinion is ih in the !?acl down for "stiff- C. B. TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 55 Went five hundred miles to see Niagara, dined heartily within hearing, and then played a game at bowls before look- ing- at the Falls! So much for enthusiasm, poetry, sublimity, and all that sort of thing. Went to the Table Rock, said it would do, and meditated on the sublime genius and melan- clioly fate of Sam Patch ! Q. ^nk with CHUS. I love to roam o'er the swelling foam Of the dark blue ocean's waves ; When the bursting storm in its wildest form With the fierce wind madly raves, W^hen the writhing shark, by his form so di , Is seen mid the rushing spray, So I like the sleet of the water sheet Of the grand Niagaray! John B. Schunk. in and O son provi- , bo\T iture, 5A. It is only a step from the sublime to the ridiculous. J. T. The Falls the one, and the other you. W. J. With regard to yourself (W. J.) there can be no step, as you have nothing that is not ridiculous in your composition. Annotator. O, but you have something very sublime in yours, so you may go up to the head. Dominie. ■• This is a great fshing place; but there are more Sharks than mackerel. AvA naore gudgeons than cither. J. B. 8. G. M. 56 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. Niagara, we see thee — God we cannot see. Which shall •we worship ? Pashaw. Any man so unutterably ignorant is not likely to be much at a loss Oil that point, as he cannot understand what is meant by worship at all. The very fact of the Falls being visible, sufficiently shows that they are not an object of rational worship. One of the reasons for worshiping God is his being invisible. X. wall ing,| Loud roars the water, 0. Loud roars the water, O, When I come to the Falls again, I hope they will not spatter so. S. B. How lonely and desolate would the life of man be without Woman. What has woman to do with the Falls? Quip. If woman has not to do with the Falls, I should like to know who has — she made the first /a// herself. Crank. what Vifall was there my countrymen ! — Shalspeare. Clink. Who that has heard this thundering roar Can be elsewhere a thundering horeJ IVl C. TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 57 A SHAW. o be much id what is alls beino- - object of iDg God is X. Frivolity and lightness appear to me altogether out of place — totally uncongenial to this scene of a^vful grandeur. While the voice of the great Creator of the universe is pro- claiming his matchless power, while Niagara is giving testi- mony to his omnipotence, let us be silent and adore. God is love; but he is also a God of justice, to be held in reverence by all His creatures. Let us, not, then, provoke the anger and just punishment of Him at whose bidding these mighty waters flow — at whose command they will cease their roar- ing, and at whose will we also move and live. Man — weak, iinite man, may laugh and trifle ; but the day of retribution will surely come. Let it not be ''aid that we have seen Niagara in vain. Philadelphia, 1th mo.^ 31, 1«38. '>l!i S. B. ' without OMAN. Quip. h'ke to tANK. eare. INK. j( Here, when thy feet all other climes have trod, bee nature's glory show the power of God ; And if thy soul ascending with the spray, In rainbow light seeks God's eternal day, Turn homeward — prayer- ward all thy thoughts and looks, Nor lose the charm by drivelling through these books. Long Island. Niagara, July 1.5, 1838. C. Once on a time, with nought to do at home, My wife and I determined we would roam ; But to agree upon the route Admitted much domestic doubt. If I said East, she said 'twas best, She thought, to travel to the West; So after many arguments and brawls She brought nie, nolens, volens, to the Falls. "A mail convinced against his will. Is of the same opinion still;" As Butler says — though 'lis the wit More than the sense that I admit, c* 58 TABLE UOCK ALBUM. For I came hero to ciul the strife Between myself and my good wife. Well, after staying licre a week, I took a rather curious freak; For after having often been At every celebrated scene, I thought I'd study the effect they made On men of different country — of different trane. The first, he was an Irishman ; The second was a Scot; The third was an American; Tlie fourth I know not Avhat; The lilth was a Canadian — Their names I will not tell : But their remarks upon tlie Falls I still remember well: ** O Vanagher, you're surely hale, For on my soul they're mighty nate.^' — (Pat.) "I'm no that sorry I cam' here, But by my sooth that pulUc's dear; So when I've written doon my name, I'll tak' my boondle an' gang hame." — (Sawney.) " Them Falls I've seen from cAcry quarter, And judge them hut a waste of water." — (Jonathan.) "Cc'st grande, superbe, ma foi, Magnilique — O, by Gar! ver pretty! — (Jean Baptiste.) fo h fj O God! David has said, of thee, " Qui rcftpicit in ierram et facit cam iremere, qui tangit motites et fumi(/anf.'' Here thy mighty power shakes tlie rocks themselves, and the very depths of the waters smoke;. — O, THOU art mighty every where, but terribly so at Niagara. I I TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 59 le. At morn the rising God of day Unveils this temple to our eyes — Incense ascending- to the skies Bids man liis grateful homage pay To God, at whose su])reme command The waters war, and dash, and leap, And, thundering down this awful steep, Whirl furiously along the strand iielow — before three altars now. We bend the knee — three mighty Falls- Faint type of Him who on us calls Before the Three in One to bow! P. Roll on Niagara, — for ever roll — You look so GRAND and yet so droll ! Emphatic. ■) than.) ptiste.) I can compare these Falls to nothing in this world ; there- fore as I have never seen the world to comCy and have no language to express my feelings, 1 leave the subject in the hands of Eternity. Robert Wallace, Keniuclcy. rrom ileje Very very f Fall on, fall on. ye mighty Falls — I'm going now to make my calls. When 1 come back I hope I will Just tind you falling, falling still. S. But lest you loosj your chance, my friend, You'd better stay and see the end; Lake Erie's " packing up her awls " — Perhat)s she mav dlscharqe the Falls. M. 1 ¥ ^ 60 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. The Falls make a noise — O ! nothing is louder, And their spray sparkles so — like a good soda powder ! Squire Jones, m Reminds me of daddy's mill pond, when the gates are hoisted. Jonas. Went under the sheet. Good gracious how we looked at it. I AND Aunt Mary. Are those who try to express their feelings, the most awed by the sublimity of the scene ? Don't know. Much may be said on both sides of the sheet. TO THE ATHEIST Almighty God ! The waters sing to Thee in awful praise ; Their mighty voice, in bursting thunder says, " Believe in God." TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 61 Eternal God ! *The sun was dark — earth paled at its eclipse A still awe said, as if from Angel's lips, " Believe in God! " ** Believe in God!" Myriads of Worlds in their eternal speed Hymn to their spheres the soul-exalting creed- " Believe in God." Blind belief is sure to err And scan this work in vain ; God is his own interpreter, And he will make it plain. John Smyth, Land Agent. L. L. D. ard P. L. Poetic Smyth, the Muse's favored child, Thou prince of rail-roads, sellers of lands wild ! Idol of women — handsomest of men — 'Tis nature speaks by thy poetic pen. Canadians, round his brow the laurels twine, And wreath a chaplet worthy of his shrine. A few short years, when Smyth will be no more — His fame will reach the transatlantic shore, f Mary. *Tiie writer of the above says the scene at the Falls reminded him of a total eclipse of the sun which he had seen in Georgia. Though the links of the chain of assuriation are certainly not very perceptiiilc, tlic Editor of this compilation, having no sympathy with the riliald jester who attempts to turn his seriousness into ridicule, has purposely left the witticism on his senses whicli is played oti' in the Album, un- der u " total eclipse." tThe latter part of Mary's prophesy has been already fulfilled, as may be seen by consulting Cajjtain Marryalt's book on America. 62 TABLK liOCfC ALBUM. Of all the roaring, pouring, Spraying siniams that dash, Niagara is number one — Ad to imnwrtal smash/ Jeffeuson Bagg. If Lover's leaps were now tlie fashion As they were in days of yore, Oh what a place to drown the passion In Niagara's foaming roar. W. A. Stei'hens. ORIGIN OF THE FALLS. Once upon a time (the date of which is not recorded) the three rival Deities, Jupiter, Pluto, and Neptune, were each desirous of evincing their suj)erioi power in the work of creation; wl^en Jupiter built Olympus to frighten the world with his thunder! Pluto set lire to Mount Etna! and Nep- tune with a dash of his Trident made the Cataract of Niagara!! W. A. Stephens, JUsquesinr/, U. C. These are thy works, O (lod! Let man approach With cautious reverence, and behold, and w^onder, And with profoundest awe adore and worship Thee. Ten thousand thunders in the rolling Hood Send forth their peal in deep-toned harmony, Sounding their antliem of eternal praise To thee, thou great First Cause. Man hears thy voice From out the deep abyss, — and overwhelmed With sense of thy dread presence manifest, Amazed and struck with speechless awe, he shrinks Appalled away. M. F. D., mw York. TAHLE HOCK ALHUM. 63 Rush on and on, Niagara, rush Till the Archans^-cl's trump shall knell the world; And join to chant earth's funeral dirge With tliy last dash, when the last earthquake Shakes the pillarM ulobe. M. C. See Niagara's torrent pour over the height, How rapid the stream! how majestic the flood Rolls on, and descends in the str<.'ngth of his might, As a monstrous (jrcatfrog leaps into the mud! Then, sec, o'er the waters in beauty divine, The rainbow arising, to gild the profound — The Iris, in which all the colors combined, Like the yeUoiv and red hi a calico ^'r/otvud/''' How splendid that rainbow ! how n-rand is the u'lare Of the sun through the mist, as it fervently glows, When the sjjray with its moisture besprinkles the air As cm old luashertvoman besprinkles her clothes! Then sec, at the depth of the awful abyss, The whirlpool careering with limitless power, Where the waters revolve perpetually round, As a cooper revolves round a barrel of Jlourl The roar of the waters! sublime is the sound Which forever is heard from the cataract's .icr. p ! How grand! how majestic! how vast! how profound ! Like the snore of a pig when he's buried in sleep! The strong mountain oak and the tal; towering pine, When plunged o'er the steep with a crack and a roar, Are dashed into atoms — to f:«gracnts as tine As a 2)ipe when 'tis Ihroimi on a hard marble floor ! 64 TAULB l.OCK ALBUM. And 0! should some mortal — how dreadful the doom! — Descend to the spot where the whirlpool carouses, Alas ! he would find there a rocky tomb, Or, at least, he'd he likely to fracture his " trowsersf" John G. Saxe. Niagara's tide is pouring, tSwit't down the mighty steep; Loud as the thunder roaring, The bounding waters leap. A sheet of foam descending, In boiling surf below — The white spray high ascending, Pure as the driven snow. reg Rare beauty there is glowing, When glittering sunbeams play, The rainbow tints bostowinu' Upon the rising is])ray. Niagara, it has been sung, Can speak so loud without a tongue, Yuu hear its voice a mile hence; Out J a greater wonder know — A pretty wunian, who although She has a tongue, keeps Silence/ E. J. II. m; a is Not in the mighty thunder, Not in the whirljjoctl's sound, Not in tiif cataract's foaming fall, \Vill (jiod be always found: TABLE KOCK ALBUM. But in the still small voice That speaks to man for aye, In silence and in solitude, And in the ranibow's ray. And here where Niagara roars This beauteous bow is ])laced— Here may the tinger of our (rod, In loveliness be traced. 65 1 t i Liz. "In the year 183G the names of J30,000 persons were registered on the two shores at the Falls of Niagara." All came to see whate'er was to be seen; All saw, because they had their eyes I ween ; Some pondered, some wondered; all went away; Whether they went wiser — can't pretend to say. Jon TiioDNBURY, Enyland. *' This world is all a lleotinn- show. Kor man's illusion given;" But all who visit here must know, Niagara is of heaven. J. R. II, We read that in heaven there ia no material sun and no material moon; but J. U. H. seoms to intimate that there is a material water-fall! Verily, the " wisdom of the world " is now confounding the " things that are mighty." 'Tis tlrsta little disappointment, And next a litth; wonder; Then ph'nty of acjualic ointment, /Vnd awful lots of thunder! Oh!! 66 TABLE KOCK ALBUM. As ive see it no z^, can wo describe our feelings? What then must have b(U'n the emotions with which the wild unci vilized Indian viewed it as his own ? In unbroken solitude, ■with nought to be heard saving the deep roaring of the resist- less torrent, it must have been to him a place of prayer, at which to pour out his untutored homage to the great Manitou. It look^ like mockery to see the houses, and the green para- sols of fashionable ladies, among tliese primeval rocks. Yot even these do not entirely break the enchantment, nor dissi- pate the consciousness that here you are nearer to God than in the crowded citv. Stupendous river — mighty cataract! You excite my wonder — that's a fact. I love the music of thy roaring In awful torrents ever pouring. Crack Bard. Both truth and poetry — ''that's a fact "- 'Tis truth indeed that you are crack'd ; That you're a I^ard is poetry, Or in plain prose, an arrant lie. No Bard. This spot was not created: it was left by the Creator when ho called other things to order, to show men of what rude materials he lurQU'.d our fair world. D. \i. "Tlir; hell of » iKtm ' —lli/rnn. Roar, rage ;uid foam, Niagiira, We marii thy waters hurled From otf thy giddy summit — 'J'hou wonder of tin? world. TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 67 ? What wild unci solitude, 'lie resi.st- pniyer, at Manitou. oen para. ks. Yet nor dissi- (rod than B VRD. Let sceptics doubt a Ooity, But in their j)roud career, They'll own that more than mortal hand Hath left its signet here. J. E. M. I will not woo the heavenly nine to sing tliy matchless liiury, Niagara! For should they strike the harp, and tune the lyre to notes of sweetest music, they cuuld not M-eavc a sono-of numbers true as those which thou hast sunir ever since darkness was dispelled from off the face of the waters. One ceaseless hynm to nature's God, since earth first owned his power, hast tliou b(^en singing — not in lan- t;iiage such as mortals frame, but in a voice that speaks luiuier than thunder from the angry sky, telling to all that nature haa a God — to whom in presence of this his grandest work, in humble reverence I submissively bow. .1. M. Smith, Jr. m ill B ARD. tor when Lit rude D. R. ( 1-aiul of my birth! land of the " Rtrijx's and stars!" Studious of peace, victorious in tliy wars! How has my bosom swelled with patriot j)ride, To think no rival could thv fame divide. (M't as I've cliinb'd thy summit's loftiest mounts, And traced tliy mightiest rivers to their founts, (Jr braved tlie fury of thy uiland waves, Or sought the depths of thy capacious caves — How lias my heart exclaimed, " Land of the free, Wliat uL'itchless wonders centre all in i\\w. !" With thoughts like these I sought these Western shores, Wlit're Nia;j;ara's stream its current j)ours. I passed the ranids to the isle of (Joats,* (Hut saw no creatures save the cows and shnats;^ ' riK« (jl a CfTlaiii njic. 68 TABLE BOCK ALBUM. Toiled up the turret, walked beneath the clift^ And crossed the foaming waters in a skiff, Rode up the bank, and stood on Table Rock, Felt the earth's tremor at the wondrous shock ! But here for thee I felt a thrill of shame — No conscious triumph warmed my drizzled frame. My pride was humbled, and my boast was small ; For England's King has got the fiercest Fall! .^ A. U. Z. United States, June 1, 1836. Now, if I try to write, I guess You'll lind it but an awkward mess. When I do write there is nwic such; Therefore, I never do write much. All creation's sons and daughters, When they come to view these waters, Think they must scribble poetry — And, if 1 can, why should not 1 ? But tea is ready now, they say, And I must put it off to day; And if I can't write well to-morrow, I'll do as others do — I'll borrow. My wife and 1 wont round the Falls ; My wife and T came back again ; My wife and I went up the hill ; And only think — we fell no pain! L. B. .4' The Fall aro all T fancied them. But O, they are not mine ; And if they were I'd wish tiiem tlien, Not what they are — but winu. ni\< r;H but ,1 f TABLE ROCK ALBUM. Sit by this roaring surge, Thou whom scorn wtisteth ; And let thy musing be Where the Flood haste th. Mark, on its troubled breast, Rolls the white billows crest: So deem his thoughts unrest, Who of love tasteth. Smile thou,0 greatly wise ; And if fate sever Bonds which thy heart doth prize, So was it ever. Deep as the rolling seas, Soft as the twilight breeze ; But of more truth than these, Boast could love never. 69 A. II. Here may each traveller behold The names of friends belov'd of old. Whate'er the clime from which he came, Still will he lind some well-known name, To call to mind departtul hours, When l'ri(Midship strewed his way with Howers, Or youthfid love with sun-lit eye, Look'd down to bh^ss him with a siLch : And fancy, lired, will plume her wings, For eagle flight to I'airy sph('ro?J, While memory pleased — enraptured, clings To each loved name, ^vitll smiles an(t tear^^. D. C. M. The effect produced upon the mind by gazing on thi. mi;^hty avalanciie of waters is tl:e reverse of those exhilas rating emotions which we experience in studying the (piiet beauties of a sparkling cascade, which charms the ear and 10 TABLE HOCK ALBUM. soothes tlio heart with its light tones of music, Our feelings partake of grandeur and sublimity, as we behold these mad- dened waters take their tremendous plunge into the abyss below. Let proud man look on in silence, and feel his own nothingness. Old Ocean herself might stand rebuked in the presence of this untamed giant of Eternity. Harrison T. Beardsley. There's grandeur in the lightning stroke, That rives the mountain ash ; There's grandeur in the giant oak, And rainbow-beauty in the smoke, Where crystal waters dash. Alethks, Away, ye blockheads, to a grammar school, And learn to write, spell, scan and parse by rule; Scrrttch then your heads, and scratch your doggerel verse- It may perhaps be better — can't be worse. You'd better close your cf/cs — not ef/c your clothes. If I A\ ore annoyed with a termaixant wife. Whose tongue was the bar-e of my every-day life. To try to get rid of her pestilent clatter, I'd live on the brink of this great fall of water. SOCRATKS. TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 71 1 came a long, long way to see This mighty sheet of water; And wished that I could only be At home with wife and daughter. Tiios. P. Hunt, M. D., iV. Carolina. Well now, 1 swow, if Niagara aint a little bit the darnd- est place that ever 1 seen. Perhaps, stranger, you've never heen to old Kentuck. If you liaint, just allow me to tell you in the most delicate way in the world, that that ere place beats all natur for steaui boats and ilIi<;ators: but I'll be te- tutall'd if it would'nt be rather a skittish aft'air to go down this here water in a "broad horn." E. S. B. I can only say that the sublimity of the scenery around Niagara Falls, with that of the Fall itself, exceeds my most sanguine expectations. The lofty precipice over which the wateis of Erie tumble into Lake Ontario, raioht convince any philosophical mind that this is an excellent place for Cardiny Machinery! Zindkndouf. if if 'Ia Thank you most to death, sir; Pve got my money's worth of cold water. 1 rather o-uess it would take a ''considerable'' lung winded chap to stand twenty-four hours on Tehmina- iiON Rock. S. ■i Roll on Niagara, thou mighty cataract, Magniticent memento of thi; power of God! Thy changeless song of praise commenced with time, And will continue to eternity. 72 TABLE UOCK ALBUM. On this — ilie morning that Commemorates The resurection of the Son of God — The hour when christians meet to worship Him — I hail thee with astonishment and awe. Francis Duncan. I stood on the clitF, and astonished, gazed round, Saw the waters rush o'er, and heard them rebound ; And 1 thought if my love sliould slip and fall so, She might tumble alone, for /wouldn't go. July 'ZO, 1837. 0-. I stare with wonder, and alas ! How bad a body feels. To think how difficult this pass For emigrating eels ! My thoughts are strange, sublime and deep As I look up to thee — What a glorious place for loashing sheep Niagara would be! Beauty and sublimity — twin sisters, rocked on the bosom of terror! Tell them I AM, Jehovah said ; Niagara's waters heard with dread, And smitten to the heart, At once, above, beneath, around. The Cataract, in thundering sound, Replied—" O Lord, Thou Akt ! " New York, Jos. H. Patten. TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 73 ON THE DEATH OF A MAN WHO FELL OVER THE FALLS. What can more awful be, perhaps you say, Than to meet death in such a sudden way ? What can more awful be .^ Have you not heard ? I'll tell you then — to meet it unprepared. J. Hall. Weymouthy England. Look up to where the mist arises, And see where God himself baptizes ! Let no one think 'tis loaste of time To view this waste of waters — The scene is all alike sublime To Poets and " Bo<)trolters." Lydia A. B. All ye perturbed souls that go, With restless fnotsteps to and fro, Riinninu- here and scuddiny; there. Backward, forward, every where — Ve who haste, in double time. From every region, every clime, Hold, one moment, pray ye stay, And hearken what I've got to say ; EU'stless spirits, tranquil sleep. Invade not ye my sacred keep ; Come not to Niagara Fall, To scribble nonsense, scratch and scrawl. Go, your footsteps trespass, rudt.', On my awful solitude — Go, ye little reptiles vain, Go, and get ye home again. Thk Spirit of the Waters. h\ ••♦ m. 74 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 1 am tliankful that I have been permitted to view from this spot tii»' ()!ace where it has been truly and beautifully said. " the Almighty notches his centuries in the eternal rocks." W. F. D. Hoy. A name! a bubble! — Whence came it? Whither gone? Like the rush of water which hurrieth to the precipiciV. edge — 'tis forever gone — ftrgolten! Thus it is with man — .1 worm, an atom of life's nothingness. If you should deem sublimity in water, .lust take a view from here and spend a quarter. Hak Tkndkr. 'y, Built by the golden sun, by day. And by the silvery moon, at night, Is seen amid the torrent's spray, An everlasting rninbow's light, JSerene above th(^ cataract's rage, Cheerino" the storm it can't assuaae. Why are the Falls like a woman always making a noise. -Because they are Silent Man. What would have been the effect upon the eloquence of Demosthenes, had he climbed the rugged steep of NingfiM, gathered peebh'S from its torrent-washed shores, and iiiedto raise l)is voice above the roar of the cataract? Zeno 1 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 76 In all likelihood he would have torn his pantaloons, and taken a devlish cold. Vell, vox of it. Ages on ages Niagara has been pouring Its deep green waters o'er the ledge's brink ; Ages on ages more it may keep roaring — A measureless and mighty mass of drink ! Beautiful, sublime and glorious, Wild, majestic, foaming, Tree — Over time itself victorious — image of eternity. J. F. C. Lo ! dey come — do peoples much De French, de Anglais, Ya\ikee, Dutch — Lo ! dey come, and liore dey view De vorld of vaters — not a {k^^n. De peoples come, and den dey tell De verse dey know not how to spell ; And what is very much absurd, Dey ignorant of Anglais word. Ma foi, indeed, I tink my verse De best — I'm sure 'tis not de worae. Francois. *• Free ! ay, as air,* Or as the stream that leaps the cataract, And in eternal thunder shouts to heaven That it is free, and will be free forever ! Quiz. * Not fre'e from rlicuiiiatitiu ihouirh. H^ TAfiL£ ROCK ALBUM, The morn was fair, the skies were clear, as we stj x* ipon the Rock — four dis/inguished houlil drop their pens — Their verse will be a bore. I stand upon Niagara's dizzy lieighls, Gazing far down into the fearful gulf, Ami listt'ning to th«^ sleepless meNidy, That never tires, but stili keeps booming on. Deep ( rhoing to the eternal praise of (Jod. Tremblingly beliind the flowing drapery Of n)ist, I stoop, and list nn«'art]dy sounds Ringing all rouiul, above me and beneatli. (lod, thou art present with m •, and the voice Ts tliine that winspers me — *' Heware." Xia(/(rra, Oct., IHW. G. M. TABLU KOCK ALBUM. I '11 climb the mountnin tops, And there I'll guage the weather ; I Ml wrench the rainbow from the clouds, And tie both ends toirether. 79 C. 0. B. H. Hoch, sirs, but its an awfu' plarc this — its waur and wilder than the Clauchan of Abufayle, only there are nae breekless hielanders about it. Ma conscience ! If Helen McCJreoor Wduld na' hae gi'en up the reversion o' her revenge on the lowlanders to have had sic a linn as this to throw puir Morris over. (Jude, safe us! but it uars me f>rue to think o' that fearsome limrner in connection wi' tiiis fearsome oulf. If she had the hale race o' the sassenach, as she ca's them in her outlandish gibberish, on the brink o' this awfu' howf, f dinna mak the least doot that she could wi' a crook o' her mou' rv'*t up a hale army o' hieland savages to rise up out o' thae wuds to drive them ower. What would my faither, the DcaciMi, ha'e thocht if ho ever could ha'e jaloused that I should (lum'er sae far frae the saut market, and come amang wild Indians, waur even than hielanders, onlv that their claes come farther down ower their hurdics, and in especial, amani^ fouk ca'in' themsel's civileezed, whae chairge sae muckle for their victual and drink. NicoL Jarvik. Here speaks the voice of (Jod — let man be dumb, Nor with his vain aspirings hither come. Tiiat voice impels the hollow-sounding- llv)ods, And like a Presence, fills the distant woods. Thc.se groaning rocks tiu* Almighty's linger piled; l''()r aucs iu'rc his painted l)o\v has smih'd. Mocking the changes and the chance (tf time — J'^ternal, beautiful, serene, bublinu-! Willis Gavlord Olauk. 80 TABLK KOCK ALBUM. Down Iho Steep an ocean pours, Loud the rushing water roars. Oh, how shadowy were the way. It' no rainbow lit the spray ! Here a love-sick swain may find Speedy cure for anguished mind. Take one plunge, and every wo Down the gulf will quickly go. J. Austin, Texas. Here fools from all lands take of irazino- their fill, In wonder that water will run down a hill. Cyrus. The wealth of Croesus mioht have built A thousand Congress Halls ; But what a sight it must have cost To build Niagara Falls ! I should have surely written a poem here ; but my muse has got water logged. John Smyth, Land Agent, L. L. D, and P. L. " Water-logged," Mister Smyth, are you sure that the log In the way of yonr muse is not swimming in grog? Sir Walter Scott. He's a gomeril, that Smyth — n pure feckh'ss body — Wha tlu' «Ie'iI can write poetry wha canna drink toddy ?- What a pour o' (Jlenlivet — an ocean and niair — It would tak' to mix up that cauld water down there ! KtTRICK SlIErUERD. TAHLE HOCK ALBUM. Look, look up ; the spray is dashing, Roaring waters foam and sweep, O'er 3'oiir head the t<»rrent dashing, Hurls its grandeur down the steep. O, mortal man, beneath such spU-ndors, How trilling, mean, and vain and poor ! Prepare, then, sinner, to surrender All thoughts unhallowed and irapur.i. Terrilic is the scene around you — Mark ye how wild the waters ring ; Columns of wreathing cloud surround you- This is thy work, () God, our King! 61 Niayara Falh, September 21, 1839. My Dear Motiikr; 1 guv'ss this river is tlie wrathiist, go-ahead, hand over- hand, frothiest hit of water 1 ever s(!en. The waves comes streakin, one artcr another, like galls out of n. meetin house, when the picachin'sover ; and keeps churnin about till they liker turns to milk, but somp* how the milk worr Mrn to but- ter in summer, though it du look creamish. fc- jnive Harnett, who lives here, ses he gits it up in winier, aud sells it out in purspirin times for ice-cream ; but may I ? wallow a hookm ox if 1 believe him. Sich a nise as it u.nkes i never iieerd tell on. It beats high preshure ingines tmrsting their bilers. [ ciin't kalkilate how maey hos-power tliis stream is ; but I rayther think, that if Ohio was hitched to one eend of an everlastin tull" chain, and this here Niagara to tolher' that the state would come over the Fal's as easy as a ni;';htcHp over ti walking sti<'k. And then what fhey call sprai/. (we H2 TABLE laJCK a:-uim. sjiv laiti on our side) keeps on fallin aad fallin till a feller j^ebi as wft as tlic inside of a wiiiskcy barl. Folks think nolhin of it here — 1 spnsu it saves wasliin; it don't save irnin tliough. tlic starcaso wiLh gonwnds as stitf and when they keni back a-in I'uf 1 seen tu i>als !;o ciow and pussy as a turkey rooster you couldn't liave teld 'era from marmaid There is a place under the water called " Tarmin.ilion Rock," which they Wc».^ted me to see ; but as the ticket for (1 Patch, 1 uuv a Uive w( n^ a (ioliar, and mv name N.asn'i ttam ratch, Jim Lane 50 cents to take the job olf my liands. Well, he went into a leetle room while 1 was a luokin at some puterfac- tions, kristals, and other scientilic things a i^al was explainin to me, when a feller comes behind me, and guv me a bump (jn the hack as hard as a calf suckin a dry cow, and hollers (jut, *' Here I ure, b(joked for Tarmiiiation ;" and there was ,lim, sure enuf, witli such an out of the land coat and hat on. that I'd a taken him for a rielar built furrener. Uut Jim fcdt as tine as a pig' with a sweet apple in his mouth, and went a turnin round and round, with his coat tails thippin round his head till 1 felt red all o*'er lest the gall should see him. I thonL;ht Jim didn't know his trowses was wore out from settin on stones, or sich like: so ses 1, ''Jim, you'd better go under at oncet, and kiver }ourself up from the peak eend of your nose to the hole in y( ur under kiverins." With that Jim claps his hands behind him, and warlcet himself down the star- casi", as strat'' as a cork-skrew inte a cider bottle — lie follerin on a gui(h', and I a fj lerin on him. IJut we'd not u;oiie fur, when it blue so screechin hard, and rain<'d so slanlindiklarly, that I made tracks up stairs a-^in, and found a hull conorena- tion i.f men and weemin'*; riiin thar names in book> and making poetry on th" fdl. They was all snigoerin when I fust went in ; but artei' a leeth*, one c»n 'em comes up to me, as smiling as a niunk»*y when its done scratc hing, and ses she, **\u's up, the miserablest critter that ever got out of a mill-pond, lie sed he'd been skeert eeny most to death, and thought !us pipe was put out for etarnity. The weemin ha.v hawd at him till he elij)ped away to change his- sed f ; and arter that we went to the hotel whar 1 am writin this ; whicii Stpiire liiirnett will forrerd by fust passenger for our place, ill i.e to hum soon, and iitch some curositys along with -iit;. Y'our dutiful Son, ,Iakk Slickekshin. Mrs Sli(dversliin, S/ickf'rshin Holler, Oh tin. s fpiire Harnett will nbleege .lake Slickershin, wiiot hot a puteil'aclion of him. if he'll give this here to the fust pass^-n- ger to Slickershin Holh-r; and if none offer but Quakers, he'd best keep a k(»ppy to serid by other conveyance. 8i TABLE ROCK ALBUM. I would recommend every visiter to go behind the " Great Sheet of water" to " Termination Rock." 1 have not been there myself; but from all accounts, it must be a "tarnation cute" place. T. C. TuFPEP, Mississippi. October 26, 1830. At ♦his season of the year, I should advise the visiters to go under the blankets; which would be quite as likely away to show their "culeness." >. ;!l ! Sovereign of the World of Floods, whose niMJesty and might, First dazzles, then enraptures, then o'eraws the acliing sight. The pomp of Kings and Emperors, in every clime and Zone, Gjows dim beneath the splendorti of thy gluiious watery Throne. No fleets can stop thy progress — no armies bid tliee stay; But onward, onward, onward, thy march still holds its way; The rising mist that veils thee, as thire herald, goes before. And the music that proclaims thee, is the thunderinj^- cata- ract's roar. Thy diadem is an emerald green, of the clearest, purest hue, Set round with waves of snow white foam, and spray of feath.ry dew; While tresses of the brightest pearls float o'er thine airiple sheet, And the rainbow lays ts o geous gems, in tribute at thy feet. Thy reign is of the ancient days, thy sceptre from on high. Thy birth was when the morning stars together sang with joy: TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 85 k been [rnation vppi. liters (o a way The sun, the moon, and all the orbs that shine upon thee now. Saw the first wreath of t'lorv that entwined thine infont br(jw. And from that hour to this, in wlwcli I gaze upon tliy stream, From age to age, in winter's frost, or summer's sultry beam; By day, by night — without a pause — tliy waves with loud acclaim, In ceaseless sounds have still proclaimed the Great Eternal's name. For wliether on thy forest-bank, the Indian of the wood, (>r since his days the Red Man's foe, on his father-land have stood ; Whoe'er has seen thy incense rise, or heard thy torrents roar, Must liave bent before the God of Ail, to worship and adore. Accept, then, O Supremely Great! O Infinite! O God! From this primeval altar — the green and virgin sod — The humble homage tliat my soul in gratitude would pay To Tiiee, whose shield has guarded me through all my wan- dering way. For, if the ocean be as nauglit in the hollow of thine hand. And the stars of the bright firmament, in thy balance, grains of sand ; If Niagara's rolling Hood seems great, to us, who lowly bow, 0! Great Creator of the Whole ! how passing great art Thou ! Yet, thougli thy power is far more vast than finite man can scan. More boundless la thy mercy shown to weak dependi^nt man: HG T.\HI-1<: HOCK ALHLM, For liim Thou cloth'st the fertile liekls, witli herb, and fruil, and seed ; For him the woodi-:, the h-dves, tlie sea, supply his hourly need. Around, on hii;h, or far or neai-, the Universal Whole Proclaims thy ^lory, as the tnbs in their fixed c()Urses roll ; And from Creation's grati'lul voiee, the liynin ascends above, While Heaven re-echo,'S back to earth, the cliorus — " Oijd is Love !" J, S. Rrc.KlNOHAM. Cliff nn Hotel, Niaoara, July 2:1, ]84r>. He would immortalize his name. — Jump from the Falls, mix with its thundering roar; And his would be hiuh on the list of fame As any that would wish to soar. J. BniKF*;. Oh, Mr. "J. l^urke," tlnju art a sad wai>;, T ween, Suppose 3'ou try tln^ t»i<;k yourself, and let posterity Jvnow how you felt afterwards. Sliould the Ihitish Lion ever come to the Fa'ls of Niagara, he will there see the proud eaLiIe of American Liberty sitting in his maj.T. i '• Thy palli is on the deep waters." Thou ot" the iinivcrsi', vvliosc sov(ireig'n sway Call'tl light from (larlflier, I know, Than that uhich erst the "gloomy Harold " lired, When sinoino- df thv cataract, V'elino! Alas, my verses halt and blindly stagger, a- liong 'neath their load, Oh, most sublime Niagara ! 1 am unequal to my task, yet feel That I owe generous Mr. Parnett something, For his kind cognizance of traveler's weal. And tlu»' this way of paying is a rum thing, J do it cheeruil!y, and hope this sam])le, \\ 111 make all poets follow my example. 1 love to read these books of turgid verses. They help me to appreciate the sublime ; And it is pleasant to see witless Scratching their pates ami conjuring up rhyme ; While gaping crowds stand by in stupid wonder To see them almost split ;heir skulls asunder. FoMr stanzas are, 1 think, a dose sufticient ; Read these, ye would-be bards, and let me tell ye. If you would like to be in verse proticient, 1 have the secret which I '11 clieaply sell ye ; My price is fixed. I cannot from it vary, Two shillings tor my rhyming dictionary. Jub/ 4, 1841. SKETCHES OF NLVGARA EAELS AND THE SCENERY ADJACENT. INTRODUCTION. N. M M. n-(l, L-ara ivme id er tell y^' It is not the purpose of this publication to furnish the tourist with a guide to tlie Fails of N -^ara. B.xjks with this object are already as numerous as 'iie routes which they describe : besides, in these days when ^^ mboats and railroad cars are every where so abundant, the fler can liave no difficulty in reachinsr his destination, without the aid of a " Guide Book," provided he can make himsvlf intellinible to the people whom he encounters on his journey, and have money enough to pay for his passage. We intend to accom- pany him only while he is at and around the Falls, and to point out to him, in as concise and explicit terms as possible, the difierent objects which are usually deemed most worthy of the stranger's observation ; at the same time giving a brief outline of the peculiar features of the more remarkable of these objects. Description, properly so called, will not be attempted ; b^'cnuse, at best, it would only be an unsuccess- ful attempt. It might be easy enouiih to write a voluranious essay in "prose run mad ;" or indite a poem — if we possessed that gift — about the Falls ; but neither the one nor the other would be at all descriptive of the scene. Niagara is itself a poe?ji of God's own making ; and written comment on its characteristics can convey no idea whatever of them to those who have not traced, with their own eyes, the finger of the Almighty Author in this stupendous work of His creative power. It is beyond th<; reach alike of delineation nnd ana- lysis ; and he who reads all the other books, and ours into the bargain, which profess to describe the Falls, will know as little about them, after all, as it he had never read a word on the subject — let him co7}ie and see / IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) h A {< % ^ 1.0 I.I 2.8 I — •- !■■ 11:25 II 1.4 M 2.2 2.0 111^ 1.6 <^. V] ^ v^ / > / o /A '■'W 7 Photographic Sciences Corporation S •s^ V ^^ \ :\ ..<^ *» O^ ^.'5> 33 WIST MAIN STRUT WEBSTiR.N.Y MSSO (716) 873 4303 fc %■ < 6^ 90 dKETCHES OF NIAGARA FALLS. THE CRESCEx^^T, OR BRITISH FALL. We shall so fur depart from established custom in treatini^- on this subject, as to plunge at once in medlas res — not a-Ia Sam Patch, however ; but, in plain English, we shall com- mence with our remarks at the Falls themselves — the oTeat centre of attraction, and diverge, as fancy or caprice may suggest, to the objects of subordinate interest around. It matters little from what quarter or by what route the tourist may come, he must, either in the first place, or subse- quently, perch himself on the Table Rock ; and notwithstand- ing all the rules — differing from each other, according to the varying tastes of individuals — w'hich have been laid down as to the best point from which to lake a tirst view, it will, in general, be found to be of little or no consequence whether he take up his position now or afterwards at this, that, or the other place. Whoever comes to the Falls in search of a startling first impression, will undoubtedly make the nearest approach to the object of his search by giving the preference to the view from the Table Rock ; but generally, if not inva- riably, the first impression is one of partial disappointment. Many a garnered stock of poetry and anticipated enthusiasm has the first view of the Falls swept away ; and though af- fectation may crack its jaws in giving utterance to all the rum- bling polysyllables expressive of amazement in the dictionary, it is afFe.ctation nevertheless. Let the man who gives vent to such exclamations as "how grand !" "how terrible!" &c., when he first plants his foot on the Table Rock, go home at once, and attend to the business of measuring pennyworths of tape, or any other equally prosaic occupation, to which he may have an especial calling. He has evidently anticipated nothing — there is none of the enthusiasm which he affects in his composition — he has come to see the sight, because it is the fashion. " Home, home, I say ! " Now there is no paradox in this at all, because if antici- pation has been busy previously to arriving' here, the very process of demolition which the fancy picture of thn Falls must necessarily undergo in the presence of the dread reali- SKETCHES OF NIAGARA FALLS, 91 Ireatina" Inot a-la pll com- jie great lice may ute the Jr subse- :hstand- ( to tlie iown as will, in ivhether t, or the ch of a nearest ference ot inva- ntment. lusiasra >ugh af- le rurn- tionary, es vent !" &c., ome at worths lich he •ipated ects in se it is fintici- ' Very Falls reali- ty, will occupy the mind to the exclu^^ion of those feelings of amazement and terror which the scene is so well calculated to inspire. Ii may be argued that this cannot be the case, inasmuch as tlu; reality far surpasses all that could have been anticipated ; but it should be remembered that the mind cannot easily, and at once, forego its own long indulged conceptions — they have become part and parcel of itself ; and the act of dissipating cherislied visions must in some degree unhinge the mind for a momtait, and incapacitate it for com- prehending at once the full measure of a new and magniticetit idea. The wonder is so grefit tliat our anticipation should have been so difi'erent in kind from the reality, that we only partially realize at first the difference in degree of magnifi- cence ; and it is not until, by protracted contemplation of the reality the picture sketched by fancy is fo? gotten, that the full glory of this sleepless concentration of might and majesty bursts on our astonished sense.^. Thus it is, that disappoint- ment is in most cases, tlie feeling with which the Falls are first beheld by the stranger — his attention is distracted and bewildered between his own receding dreams of Niagara, and the unimagined sublimities of t!ie actual scene itself, gradually developing themselves before him. We should hold it as being generally true that he who is not more or less disappointed with the Fall?- when they strike his eye for the first time, from whatever point he views them, is incapa- ble of appreciating the glories of the scene, which only gradu- ally appear to the eye of contemplation. He has seen all that he can see of the sight ; therefore, after having uttered all the unmeaning exclamations which arc patent at this place, let him refresh himself with ". glass of brandy and water at the bar — if indeed his poetical ejaculations have not already sprung from that source, rather than from surveying the wonders of nature — and then hie him home with all con- venient speed, to his shop ; and let him never come back, unless he has a wife and children to bring with him the next time. If it were possible in these days, when the "school-master is abroad," for a })ers()n to light accidentfilly on the Table Hock, without having previously read or heard of the Falls of Niagara, he might legitimately indulge in the tropes and '1 I 02 SKETCHES OF NIAGARA FALLS. figures of astonishment ; because he would not experience the feeling of disappointment to which allusion has been made. But would he do so? Assuredly no. His emotions would be those of intense, unutterable terror, and amaze- ment ; and the idea of expressing them by words would not for a moment, occur to his imamnation. The " how beauti- ful !" of this boarding-school miss, the "how sublime !" of that unfledged poetical law or divinity-student, and the "Oh ray God !" of Mrs. Fanny Butler, are all "leather and pru- nella" — the quintessence of absurdity and affectation. But this is a long digression, besides, perhaps, a violation of the rules laid down in the Introduction. Well, you ..re on the Table Rock — say for the first time. There is a view before you, such as has no parallel in the world. At first, if you have been dreaming of the Falls before your arrival, you will probably say hah ! to this ; but don't be in a hurry. Wait till your dream has vanished — evaporated in thin air ; and then say, if you can, how im- measurably beneath the truth your highest imaginations were. The vastncss of the volume of water — its great breadth especially — and the impenetrable clouds of foam, which, rising from the fathomless gulf below, envelope and conceal from your view, perhaps, nearly half the altitude of the cataract, detract materially from the apparent altitude. It is, by the Avay, in regard to this deterioration of the appa rent height, or rather depth — for it is at the bottom where the concealment is — that the feeling of disappointment spoken of is in the greatest degree experienced. But look again and again. Perhaps the best way, if you have nerve enough, is to prostrate yourself flat on the edge of the preci- pice, and look down, aid down, till you arc giddy with ter- ror — nay, not terror either, but some undefinable feeling for which language has no appropriute name. But in this case, be sure that you have some person to hold you by the feet. It is otherwise a dangerous experiment, especially if you are of an excitable temperament. In such circumstances a mys- terious fascination will come over you, if }ou gaze too long, and you will feel an irresistible impulse to spring into the dread abyss — there to sport amid the rainbow glories, and •II SnETCHES OF NIAGARA FALLS. 93 lerience Is been lotions jamaze- luld not Ibeauti- !" (.f 16 "Oh id pru- liolation t time, in tiie e Falls s ; but shed — low im- i nations great f foam, >pe and tude of Ititude. e appa where ntment it look nerve I preci- th tcr- ing for s case, e feet. ou are I mys- > lono-, to the i, and wrestle witii the iii('orapro]i(?nsible terrors of the "secret deej makino- Tl till leal lis IS no u s expei'imerrt. exposition o f th e sensations felt Th e Avriter, m company wi m ith others, has tried it aiiain and ao-ain ; and the result has inva- riably been as above described. But even standing erect, you will iind the scene, if you keep your eye steadily Hxed on any one feature of it. growing in beauty and grandeur as you gaze. The cataract in general presents one expansive sheet of foam rushing on and on, for ever and ever, except where the water is deepest, and there the mighty torrent, im- bued with vermilion a?i intense as it is unvarying, pours it- ity, ■If di di st'ir down witli a calmer, but lar more impressive majest conveying the ich a that tfie [luwer which shakes the solid rocks under your feet, hath its throne and its sanctuary tliere, and there alone. There may be beauty " unspeakable and full of glory ■' in the prismatic arch which spans the restless ocean beneath, and fancied mysteriousness in the clouds of spray that are (;ver and anon rising in spiral columns, and rolling away and away over th<^ otherwise cloudless exj)anse of the azure heaven, but it is in that ever living rush of deep green waters that the omnipotence of liiin who holds them in the hollow of his hand, is most vividly typiHcd Pshaw! — We, too, are getting poetical, notwithstanding oar recorded determination to the contrary; but, situated as we are, on a chair which is rocking under us, with the table on which we write trembling visibly before us, and the ceaso less thunder of Niagara booming at the lone hour of midnight in our ears, how can we help 't? In such circumstances even Tin oyster would be a jioet ' Wait till daylight, and then we will come down from the clouds, and talk of matters of fact. Well, then, the great cataract, called the " Morse Shoe Fall," though the name is not now descriptive of its form, is before you. The idea of altitude is completely lost in that of velocity and power. The tremendous force of this mighty to: rent is especially manilesti'd in the quivering of the pillared rocks beneath your feet, and the perceptible vibration of the earth for miles around. But, in the absence of any power of description of our own, we subjoin an article, which contains some utatintidal information resL.pecting i ! 94 SKETCHES OF NIAGARA FALLB. this " wonder of nature," copied from the Album kept at the Table Rock. "Never shall I forget the intense anxiety with which I anticipated the sight of Niagara Falls, and still less the awful moment when I first beheld the mighty cataract displayed before me. "To enjoy this moment I had made great sacrifices, and encountered some difficullies. I had not only protracted my absence from home, but increased my distance from it some hundred of miles. Ample, however, was my recompense. I had, in the course of my life, beheld some of the most celebrated scenes of nature — Etna and Vesuvius, the Andes, almost at tie highest point of elevation, Cape Horn, rugged and bleak, buffeted by the southern tempest, and last, though not least, the long heavy swell of the Pacific ; but nothing I have ever seen or imagined can compare with the Falls of Niagara. " M) first sensation was that of exquisite delight at having before me the greatest wonder of the world. Strange as it may appear, this feeUng \\i\§ immediately succeeded by an irresistible sensation of melancholj'. Had this not continued, it minhl have been attributed to the satiety incident to the complete gratification of "hope deferred ;" but so far from diminishing, the more I gazed, the stronger and deeper the feeling became. Yet this sense of sadness was strangely mino'led with a kind of intoxicatino- fascination. Whether the production of such a feeling is peculiar to Niagara I know not ; but certainly it has been generally observed that the spirits are afl^cted and depressed in a singular manner by tiie magic influence of this stupendous cataract. *' About five miles above the V'alls, the river expands to the dimensions of a lake ; after which it gradually narrows. The Rapids commence at the upper end of Goat Ishmd, which is iialf a mile in Kr-ngt'., and divides the river at the point of precipitation into two unequal pjirts ; the larger of which is distinguished by the several names of " Horse feihoe," "Ciescent," and '-British Fall," from its semi- circular form and contiguity to the Canadian shore. The sm dler is named the ''American Fall." A portion of this Fall is divided by a rock from Goat Island ; and though SKETCHES OF NIAGAIIA FALLS. 96 here insigiiiiicant comparatively, this portion would rank hioh among- European water-falls. Tb.e height of the Brit- ish Fall is 175 feet, and its brearith, in one unbroken stream, is 700 yards. Tlx; e'xtremity of Goat Island, which sepa- rates the cataracts, is 320 yards in breadth. The American Fall is 370 yards in breadth, and 160 feet high — making the total breadth nearly 1,400 yards. I must not omit men- tioning that, though the bed of the river sinks to so great a depth, the level of the circumjacent land continues nearly the same as above the Falls. *• The quantity of water which rushes over at the cata- racts is thus computed by an American traveler : — 'The river, at the ferry below the Falls, is seven furlongs wide, and, on an average, 'J50 feet deep. The current runs about six miles an hour; but, supposing its velocity to be only five miles an hour, the (quantity of water which passes the Falls in that space of time, would be more than 85,000,000 of tons avoirdupois. If we estimate it at six miles an hour, the quantity will be more than 102,000,000, and in a day would exceed 2,400,000,000 tons.' *' My object being to approach as close to the cataract as possible, 1 descended the bank by a steep winding path, to a narrow slip which foims the immediate margin of the river. Along this i advanced about a hundred yards, till I arrived at the very edge of precipitation. A. person may at this point place himself within an inch of the Cataract, and dip his hand into the water. Proceeding a little farther in the direction of the stream, 1 came to a kind of cork- screw ladder, constructed round a column, to enable travel- ers to descend to a path by which they gain the lower part of the Cataract, and have a magnificent view upwards. " In the eveninu" 1 aeain visited the Cataract to behold it by moonlight. Taking mv seat on a projecting rock, at a little di-tance from the Falls I gazed till my senses were almost entirely absorbed in the contempl tion of this most mao-niticent scene. Allhoueh the shades of night increased the sublimity of the prospect, and 'd<'epened the murmur of the falhng flood,' the mijon, in placid beauty, shed her soft influence ujjon the mind, and mitigated the terror of the Bcenie. The thunders which bellowed from the abyss, and 96 SKETCHES OF NIAGARA FALLS. the brilliancy of the falling waters^ which glistened like molten silver in the moon!io-ht, seemed to exhibit in abso- lute perfection the rare union of the beautiful ana sublime. '♦Thomas Day." TERMINATION ROCK. You have looked down ; but the half has not yet been seen — you must go down ; not indeed into the gulf unless you are " Gazed with care, or cross'd in hopeless love," but under the "great falling sheet of water," as the hand- bill expresses it. To have stood and gazed on a mighty ocean of water rushing innocuously over your head, will be somt^thinij to talk of in all your after days ; and if you per- form the feat, you will be furnished with a ce titicate to that effect, under the hand of Mr. Barnett, the guide, assuring all and sundry whom it may concern, of the fact. Before going on tliis voyage of discovery, however, you have a metamorphosis to undergo. You must strip " in pi/ris naturaUbus ;" but don't be startled — vou do not go down into the great deep in this state of primitive nudity. Bar- nett has an ample, though grotesque wardrobe for your especial use, from which you may select litting equipment for the occasion. There are dressino'-rooms too, as well as dresses ; and if you are a lady, you will have one of your own sex to Avait upon you at your toilette You will look rather odd, to be sure, in your oil-cloth habiliments and straw hat ; but never mind — 'beauty is, when unadorne l adorned the most.' You will also have an experienced guide to accompany you "within the veil." Y'our path is somewhat circuitous certainly ; but is is a good and safe path nevertheless, providing your guide is an experienced one. From the bottom of the stairs is a shelv- ing declivity over immense rocks and fragments of lime- stone down to the river. After you get down, there is a foot-path, by which you can reach with perfect safety, the end of your journey, appropriately named "Termination Ro'ck." Never mind the projecting cliffs, /rowning in tisr- I SKETCIIE8 OF NIAGARA FALLS. 97 d like abso- lime. it been unless rible grandeur high over head, on the one side, nor the fathomless gulf of turbulent waters on the other. You may, of course, and you ouglit, to look and wonder at both ; but you need not be frightened, for if you keep by the gu'de you are perfectly safe, and if you are nervous, he will tak<) care of y )U. Pay no regard to the spray; it makes a good shower-bath for the benefit of your health. Your silk or satin dress, you know, is in no danger of being spoiled. Your curls may get a little discomposed ; but what of that? You will see — but why should we attempt to describe what you will see. There would be just as much sense ir. going out with a land surveyor's chain to measure the extent of the universe, or in professing to compute the cycles of eternity by the vibration of a pendulum, as in trying to describe the scene on Termination Rock. Perhaps we cannot better supply the want of a description of that which is indescribable, than by giving place to the following little bit of autobiography from the pen of one who seems to have exhibited a tenacity to the rock which would do honor to our friend, the oyster, mentioned above : — " Being under the ' Sheet of Water,* a few days ago, with a gentleman, and observing a tolerably smooth surface of rock, I was seized with a desire of cutting my name upon it. My companion endeavored to dissuade me from the attempt, as being one attendee? with much difficulty and some dan- ger — the latter arising from exposure to wet for so long a time as would be necessary to accomplish the task. I determined, however, to persevere ; and having obtained tools this morning, (August 2, 1835,) 1 entered alone, and commenced my work. I did not expect to accomplish the whole at one visit ; and therefore left the initials of my christian names, with the date for another time ; but I suc- ceeded in cutting the other letters legibly three inches long. The depth of them I purpose increasing, as well as adding the date of the year, with the remaining letters — having found it Impossible to accomplish the whole at one visit. I staid a full hour behind the water. I have carefully exam- ined the rocks behind the great * Sheet of Water,' and find no indications of carving. I can, therefore, confidently assert that mine is the first, and, at this date, the only name hjl* 98 SKETCHES OF NIAGAKA FALLS. iieiohborliood of the to be found there ; and Avhile in tl; Falls, every pillar, rail, staircase, seat, ruck and tree is covered with names, mine stands alone/ "Auf/ust 3. — My desire of yesterday is fulfilled : and I have been again under the * Sheet of Water,' to finish cut- ting my name in the rock. 'I'he direction of the wind, though causing me some obstruction, amply repaid me during my momentary periods of rest, by occasionally open- ing in part the silver curtain of the waters, and exhibiting the foaming tide below, as it eddied around the sun-lit rocks. There was the Table Rock above, with people walking on it like mere specks in the light, the cliffs and woods all ar- rayed in the splendor of"a noon-tide sun ; and then the veil was closed, and I was shut out from the world — left in utter solitude. " Fellow-travelers, who, like me, come (o view scenes surpassing all others in grandeur and sublimity, do not leave without going under the 'Sheet of Water.' Take the advice ef one who has endeavored to study nature in all her varying moods. The way is safe ; the entrance only is startling. Danger there is none. If you have any enthu- siasm in your composition, you will be gratified — enchanted ; if you have not, you deserve to be disappointed. **D. T. 'Egertoj^, ^London, England.*^ It is something to have been " within the veil " at any time ; but he who has not penetrated the mystery in Avinter knows it only in part. At that season of the year, you are, of course, not very likely to emulate Mr. Egerton; nor is it at all probable that you will stay long enough to make a poem on the scene around you. It is cold exceedingly : still a winter view of the Falls from " I'ermination Rock," is perhaps the most inconceivably luapnificent of any in the whole compass of creation. All thai the most exuberant fancy ever imagined of beauty and of grandeur falls immea- surably short of the reality that presents iiself to your view, while standing on "Termination Rock" in winter. On one hand there is the same dark wall of solid rock which you see in summer, beautifully festooned with icicles of a thousand various shapes, and of immense magnitude ; on the other, there is a massive wall of ice, with, here and i SKETCHES OF NIAGAUA FALLS. 99 f the fee is md I ciit- |wind, me |open- )iting' I'OcliS. on it III ar- veil utter cenes leave the 1 her ly is nthu- nted ; d." f any f'inter I are, • is it ike a Dck," 1 the ?rant tnea- 'iew, On hich )f a on and there, ail aperalure of most ;L;ToLt'squc coiiforniation, through which you can se(3 the rushiiio- torrent and the wreathing foam ; \yhile over head the ever living waters are rolling on and on, intact and unsubdued by the relentless power of°the ice-throned monarch of the season. After wrapping yourself closely up in your cloak — the more fur you have about you the better— -look leisurely around you, if you did not do so previously , and you will see' more than was ever "dreamed of in your philosophy." Everv rock, every tree and shrub — nay, every fragment of rock, every limb of tree and shrub, is pendant with a gorgeousness and glory unparalleled in the poet's dr^'ams of the land of Fairy. Beautiful, exceedingly, is the work- manship of John Frost in this neighborhood"^; but it must not be forgotten that in spite of "pilot cloth," flannel and fur, there is still, as in every human enjoyment, a peg loose — a deduction to be made — "Poor Tom's" a-cold." THE AMERICAN FALL. We have been long enough on one side of the river — let us go to the other. Perhaps the greater number of our friends have been there first ; but no matter for that. Who- ever has seen the Falls on one side, and not on the other, needs not say any thing about them when he goes home — he knows nothing- of the matter at all. It is of no moment whether you are first " caught " on one side of the river or on the other ; there is a ferry, and a safe one, just under the American Fall ; and you either ascend or desct-nd, as the case may be, by a flight of steps, such as has been before mentioned. Perhaps from no point is the American Fall seen to greater advantage than from the river in crossing the Ferry. In a clear day the scene is indescribably beau- tiful ; and if you have just been viewing the British Fall, the prospect of the bright sparkling torrent of water, white as un-sunned snow, and studded with innumerable rainbows, broken into fragments, and vibrating amid the dashing- spray, lias an exdiiliarating effect on your spirits, and con- tributes to dissipate that undelinable sensation of awe which always comes over the mind, while contemplating that mag- 100 SKETCHES OF NIAGARA FALLS, nificent " wonder of the world." Accounts differ as to the comparative height of the two Falls. One has been already copied ; others again make tlie American Fall 104 feet and the " Crescent" only 158 feet high. But it is not a question of any moment whatevei-. That petty national jealousy, or interested rivalry, which is so ludicrously dis- played in the " Guide Books," caimot add a foot to the one Fall, or deduct any thing from the other. There they roll away, side by side, unconscious alike of national distinction and local prejudice, pealing in unison their deep monotonous hymn to the Almiohtv Monarch of the universe. Although it is only from the Canada side, or from the river at the Ferry, that a full front view of both the Falls can b(.' obtained, still for a variety of j)rospect, the palm must be yielded to Goat or Iris Island, which is situated in the midst of the Rapids, and constitutes the wall of partition between the Cataracts. After ascending the stairs from the Ferry to the village of Niagara Falls, where there are several magnificent hotels for public accommodation, you reach the Island by a wooden bridge thrown across the Rapids, for the use of whicli you have to pay 25 cents. The toll-keeper has always on hand a large stock of Indian and other curiosities for sale. The uuides are Messrs. Hooker and Sons, who, with their assistants, will render you prompt and willing service in exploring the beauties of his island paradise. At the lower end of the Island there is a spiral stair-case, by which you can descend to the margin of the river 185 feet, along which there is a pathway leading to the great Crescent, by which, when the wind blows up the river, you can go with great j^afety and pleasure under the sheet of water ; and another leading to one of the most stupen- dous scenes in this interesting locality — the "Cave of the Winds." This cave is situated immediately behind the middle Fall, which we have omitted to notice particularly, on account of its comparative inferiority, though in any other vicinity would of itself be an object of wonder. Mr. Par- sons, the author of the " Book of the Fails," says, " this cave is about 120 feet across, 60 feet wide, and 100 feet high." Thr same writer remarks, that the "astounding- I SKETUHKS OK N'.AGARA FALLS. 101 the l-'ady feet jot a lional dis- ojie roll lotion |nous the [Falls Ipalm id in Lition the are you the roar of tlie waters, uwintj;' to the echoes or reverberations, is apparently a hundred times greater here than any where else;" and another observes, "it is said to be quite an ad- venture to go under the Table Rock ; it is a much greater one to visit this cavern." Such, however, is the vastness, and such the variety of the scenery in this neighborhood, that it is as idle to institute comparisons as to attempt descriptions. Every particular feature is so striking per se, that it displaces in a great degree, the idea suggested by another feature previously contemplated. After liaving winded your toilsome way up the "twiddle stair- case," keep along the foot-path across the Island till you come to the Terrapin Bridge, which leads you to a stone tower forty-live feet high, erected near tlie verge of the pre- cipice. You reach the top of this tower by a flight of winding steps ; and there you behold a scene, which though differing in some respects from that seen from the Table Rock, is yet worthy of all comparison, in so far as comparison is at all admissible. There is the headlona: torrent rushino- impetuou-ly over the precipice, far beneath your feet, and the " hell of waters " boiling, hissing, foaming and thunder- ing in the uafathomed abyss still farther down. There, too, you have a partial, yet striking view of the "American Fall;'* and your eye reaches down the dark vista of waters, veiled in clouds of mist, and rolling away — away, in peaceful and unruffled majesty, as if they never had been touched by a sterner influence than that of the summer breeze. A deep feeling of mystery, not unallied with terror, possesses the mind, and you cling with involuntary and unconscious tenacity to the railing which surrounds the vibrating platform on which you stand. Go round the Island and you w^ill see the adjoining " Moss Islands," and the turbulent water, struggling and rushing with fearful velocity between them, The trees are literally hacked with names and initials — some of them so far up that the trouble of inserting them there, is but poorly com- pe.isated by the vague and evanescent immortality thus obtained. Every seat and every wall — nay, every rail and stray log of timber, is crowded with the same evidences of " this longing after immortality." De ^ustibua nvn est dis- 102 SKKTCHKS OB' NIAGARA FALLS. iJ putandum; but surely the aggregate of the time consumed in this idle and unavailing labor constitutes a large portion of the sum of human existence, and might be more profitably as well as pleasantly spent in some other way. It is easy to write one's name in a Register or an Album, of which there is an abundant store on both sides of the River ; and it will just answer the purpose as well ; for unless you have done something more worthy of note than merely going to see the Falls, the inscription of your name on a tree or rock will not perpetuate your memory. The name may indeed remain ; but who can tell after a i'ew brief years, to whom it belonged ? From the upper end of the Island you have, perhaps, one of the best views of the Rapids that can be obtained — certainly the best on the American side. But it is undoubt- edly in the neighborhood of Mr. Street's house on the British shore that they present the most vivid picture in miniature of the ocean lashed into fury by the tempest. Not that their power and velocity are less obviously resistless here ; but the view is more obstructed and not so extensive. If the grandeur, however, is less impressive, the variety of beauty is much more enchanting. This Island, in short, is one of the most attractive and delicious retreats in the world ; and he who traverses its solitudes on a summer morning, or under the more solemn influence of an autumnal moon, in early life, — ere the withering touch of worldly care and worldly sorrow shall have deadened the perception of glory and of beauty in his bosom, will have one green spot the more whereon memory may repose in all his after years of wanderinji and weariness. Why should we tell you of a paper-mill and a poultry-yard in such a place as this? It is rather an unpoetic blending of the utile cum duke ; but there they are, nevertheless, on this very Island' They are on the outskirts of it, however, and the water-girdled paradise, is, in general, left undese- crated by the beggarly influence of modern ultraism — a fitting shrine for love, poetry, or any other kind of moping madness. " O! that (Am /aiand wore my dwoUing-place, With one fiir »piiit for my minister ; Where I might all forget the human racB, And, hating no one, Idve only her/' f 4! SKETCHES OF MAUAKA FALLS. 103 led \n of lably \y to )iere will lone the not pin ; •ed? But it may not be ; lor to say nothing of th(3 " fair spirit," we are not likely to " f(>rget the human race" here, seeing all the world, wiih his wife and daughters, would visit us every summer. VV^e might swell our book by telling you a thousand things about the Falls, which you have doulitle^s heard and read of before ; of this vessel and the other being sent over the cata- ract, with bears, o-eese, A:e., as passe nuers : of une " startling incident," and another "fri_htful occurrence," such as tSam Patch having leaped into the Fall here, and William Cham- bers being carried over it there, one stormy night in a canoe, and disappearing forever ; and we might make a v?ry pretty romance out of the strange but true story of Francis Abbot, the " hermit," who lived in utter seclusion for two years on the Island, played a guitar, wrote Latin, lived on water mixed with flour, and iinally was drowned when bathing. But all these things have already been chronicled in the " Guide Books." We merely hint at them, and refer you for further information to those whose business it is to furnish it. 1 We close our remarks on this locality with an extract from ^ a M. S. description of the Falls by Mr. Edward Lane : — I " Luna Island is connected with Go it Island by means of f two pieces of timber laid across, and within a few yards of the brow of the Cataract or Centre Fall, which is about 54 feet wide. Looking up between the Islands, this small branch of the river appears to be issuing out of the wood, and coming down a flight of steps, some eight or ten feet distant from each other, forming, if not so sublime, at least as beautiful a view as that of the Falls themselves. From the Island, which is about 30 yards in width, a side view of the American Fall may be obtained. From its edge that which in front appears to be straight, or nearly so, assumes almost as much the shape of a curve as the G^rand Crescent itself. From this point, too, when the sun is shining, and has reached sufficient altitude, a beautiful rainbow may be seen immediately beneath the feet of the spectator ; such as is, indeed, presented at every point of the Falls under similar circumstances. The moon also by night produces the barae phbnomouun, while the white foam of the falling waters, the 104 SKETCHES OF NIAGARA FALLS. ascendino; mist ;iiid agitated bosom of the rivt-r, assume the appearance of Uving liquid crystal." MINOR CURIOSITIES. THE WHIRLPOOL. It is the same with this as with other wonders of the Nia- gara River — personal inspection is the thing. Books are mere transcripts of impressions made on tiie minds of their respective writers. Still it may be well enough, after you have seen with your own eyes, to lisien to what others think and say of what you have thus seen ; but we hold it as a good general rule to look lirst, and read the book, whether it calls itself a " Guide" or not, afterwards. But we are forgetting the Whirlpool. Having no knack at what is called descrip- tion, and being withal "dead sweer," as well as "wretched ill o't," we again borrow as follows from Mr. Lane's manuscript: " Once arrived at the water's edge — no matter by what means — the eye is directed to the Whirlpool, which seems to be a sort of natural basin, or '' half- way house,' where the river may rest and refresh itself after its recent exertions.* It is nearly circular, and, as far as I can judge, about a mile in circumference. " From the appearance of the land upon the hill, I am led to imagine that the Falls were anciently situated here ; and have gradually receded to the place at which we now find them.(?) Unfortunately on my visit, the Whirlpool was about five feet below its usual level ; still it possessed suffi- cient attractions to repay me amply for my trouble. A tree which had either been precipitated over the cataract, or had accidentally fallen into the river below it, continued for two hours — the duration of my visit — most perseveringly per- forming a rotary motion around a circle a furlong in diameter. '*The river at this place turns abruptly round a point, as if with an intention to retrace its course, as part of the cur- rent dashes suddenly round and pursues its onward way, while another portion^ obstructed m its progress by the inter- !*■■■ i t ifcWM I K I I ■ Ml ■■ ■■ - M ^., i H ^iMii. ■ i^. m ^iii ■ ■ — iW ^.iiii ■■■■ ■ - . H M W ^ I.I * This '* halfway hiAiee " ^Wmo to be rather a diflWderly f^tw^-p7Hrce.— 'Ed. H SKKTCHEa OF MAGAKA FALLS. 105 le the Nia- :s are their r you tliink I good t calls *i vening promontory, recoils, and produces the eddying of the waters, called the 'Whirlpool.' Numerous accidents have taken place here. Tlio places of iiiterrnrnt of three individu- als were pointed out to me. (Some 22 years ago, (from 1835,) when the British were stockading Fort George, one Macdonald, in Government employ, was engaged with others in raftino' limber down the Nianara. The crib on which he ha[)pened to be situated broke from its moorings; and for several hours the unfortunate Scot, with no other music but the roaring of the waters and his own oroans, and without the slightest exertions on his part, performed a dance some- what difterent from the 'highland fling,' which, however novel, he found any thing but entertaining. To rescue him from his perilous situation a boat was brought by land from Queenston, with the intention of lowering it down the preci- pice ; but fortunately at the moment of its arrival, Macdonald, by means of a rope, which had been thrown to him, was extricated." In any other vicinity the Whirlpool, and indeed the whole of the scenery on the bank of the river from the Falls to Queenston, would be objects of attracti'»n to sLrrtng(>rs. As It is, all .^iiould be viewed Independently of the natural characteristics of the locality, it abounds with historical asso- ciations of batile and of blood — of death and desolation. From the top of Brock's monument on Queenston mountain, there is a prospect, perhaps unparalleled for beauty and extent in North America. There is the pure pellucid Nia- gara winding its circuitous way beneath your feet, as calmly and peacefully as if its waters had never known the turbu- lence and turmoil of the Falls above ; there is the deep blue Ontario in the distance, with its placid bosom studded with numerous merchant vessels, and the darker, but more rapidly shifting forms of passage shi|)s, pro[)elled by the invisible agency of the great magician, steam; there is thtr rural ham- let embowered' amid ancestral trees, the white-walled village, the rising city, and the interminahio forest stretching far and wide into the dim obscurity of disiaiice. 106 SKETCHES OF ^'IAGAKA FALLS. THE KERRY— CLIFTON HOUSE. After the notice already taken of the Ferry, it wi!' be suffi- cient to state that there is an experienced Ferryman on each side of the river ; there is a little inconvenience arising- from spray for part of the way across when the wind is blowing- down tlie river, but there is not the least danger. The Clifton House adjoining the Ferry on the Canada side, is a large and splendid hotel. The view of the Falls from the galleries is magnificent; and the house within affords ample accommodation for travelers. THE BURNING SPRING. Having called again at Barnett's Museum, where, by the way, there is, besides the creature comforts formerly men- tioned, also an assonraont of mineral specimens, petrifactions, walking canes, &c., for snle, you may pay a visit to the "Burning Spring," which is about a mile South of the Falls, where a well is enclosed in a small wooden building ; and you are here, as at the other points of particular attraction, accommodated with a ffuide, who takes a lii>hted candle with him, on applying which to the orifice of a metal tube fixed in the bottom of an inverted wooden vessel which covers the spring, a bright flame is emitted. A writer. Avho examined the place minutely, says, " There are two other similar springs some distance farther up the river, tiie sites of which are known to but few. Therefore, from the consideration that a large quantity of this sulpluirente hydrogen gas is emitted from a comj^aratively small (luantity of water, it is probable that a sufficient body of gas might be collected to be applica- ble to purposes of utility." There were once grist and saw mills on this spot ; but they were destroyed during the last American war, and have never been rebuilt. There are also sulphur springs oozing from the rocks behind the *' Sheet of Water." ! i! i u SKKTtllES OF KIAGAKA FALLS. PASSAGE BEHIND THE CATARAC^T. 107 It is not perhaps ocnenilly known, that Mr. Teiomas Bar- NETT, the genth-nianiy proprietor of the Museum and Public Garden on the Canada side, lias also for some time past, had the entire charge of the house at the head of tlie stairs lead- ing to the passage behind the great Falls to " Termination Hock." Mr. B. during a residence of more than IG years at the Falls, by his uniform, correct deportment, has won for himself a reputation as enviable as it is deserved. His charges are uniform and moderate, and his guide behind the great sheet is always to be depended upon. We make this mention as an act of justice to Mr. Barnett, the more particu- larly, as in former years the passage behind the sheet was in the charge of a person whose charges and conduct were not of the kind calculated to win conlidence or gain good will ; and many persons have been detei-red from visiting this point, believing the same objections to still exist. — Buffalo Com- mercial Advertiser. CONCLUSION. We might protract our intercourse with you a-e of history. The student of nature can have little gratiticition in contemplating scenes of slaughter and strife; and there needs not the adventitious aid of historical recollection to enkindle the devotion of the pilgrim who comes from afar to worship in this sublime and solitary temple of the Eternal. Our task is now accomplished. " What is writ is writ — would it were worthier !" In parting with our fair and gentle readers, perhaps forever, we wish "To each and all a fair good-night, And rosy dreams and slumbers light." V ' r;i ;'^^- *< he .'. V ■>•- 7«.,.:. ■^n.-*' f. i" M •A iTABXiB <^3P niMTA^^ l< ifeam Oiteb^d to the $$^. «4, If Si»l, *^ I»^ $etra£^lo^a4 Mli| >l tTiBw^ Sivtra^i*^ »tt|IPii$Mi|^, . . . * ♦ .-♦•r:.' i^i^^ ^ 'BiitWtr.i,... %H»^45 Wdlervhmd ;*v^^»...»^ " "j»i...;^*> V » l^JEm, , '.\,,wM Ub,..<..^U i.i^^^Bw^lo,^,.^,*.. .# liC.W 41 270 8tuk....*.i».. ..13 m^ v,^ ,.3d3aot »«."••.> 7 :i»^,liO|»» 7 475 tWODto,.....,^ 60 530 l^«94ft» • ••;• ?•<*< QttMilDtati. 7 57^1 •* P^ikrfelpW*. FaUb of Niagara, 7 580 :r. '" V «• Ogr#,^ 264 •* AlhM»y,.«* .3G 566 «« Ne«Y«#k #0 .54d!J *• vvabiU4lgiwu»* >u«- ■■^^^w'■■^ V ^^ V ^'« ^ '^*Hfc*^ •^g^*^ , "^ DBOBI^CdfS C^ raS FiillUSl. ^i4^«0Hitt of the Creiceut FkH^. 627 yardt $mm^^''-*^- • •'^*-* ^^ '''•*• ,Wid4 tsf««f ftlt ikn American I*!*!!. . . ♦ .^. i+^l*** "*' »«»«J^ J'*'^ ^yiy^«firia.......'f ,. ..,...V.^., .**».... »r,o 164 feet. ■.IViii^il^ Ri*er-«t «*»• «'«W7» ♦'* '^ *^ • • »^» * ^^''^ * • • vn -^8 yanta. , llliSfc.444*.-^ —i^'^ .»., ..175 feet. • j^Wlotf t0mUm hcUm) «ur?«y, tlt»«