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 THE LIBRARY 
 
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 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 TABLE ROCK ALBUM 
 
 SKETCHES OE THE EALLS 
 
 SCENEEY ADJACENT 
 
 BUFFALO: 
 
 STEAM PRESS OF THOMAS A LATHROPS.
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 e Proprietor of the Niagara Falls Museum, most grateful to the traveling 
 public for the liberal support he has received during a residence of twenty-five yean 
 at the Falls, would respectfully announce, that be has just completed a new road, 
 leading down the bank to the foot of Table Rock and the great Horse Shoe Falls, 
 for the accommodation of those wishing to get the grandest view, and pass under 
 the great sheet of water. 
 
 The road is immediately opposite the Museum, near Table Rock. It is perfectly 
 safe of ascent, being cut through the solid rock. The view, in passing down, is 
 one of the finest that can be had. The Proprietor furnishes all the necessary 
 dresses and good guides, who will point out all the interesting localities to those 
 wishing to go under the Great Cataract. 
 
 He would also call the attention of the public to his Museum, so highly spoken 
 of by all scientific men who have visited it Such institutions, in cities, are gener- 
 ally made more a repository of works of Art than those of Nature. He has made 
 a great many improvements and additions to his already large collection, of which 
 particularly the native things are worthy of the attention of the stranger. 
 
 THOMAS BABNETT. 
 
 Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1848, by 
 
 JEWETT, THOMAS & Co., 
 In the Clerk's Office of the Northern District of the State of New York.
 
 INTKODUCTIOK 
 
 IN accordance with patent custom, we have christened our 
 book; but the title by which it is hereafter to be distinguished 
 from other publications on the same subject, is, we are bound 
 to confess, something of a misnomer. This is not, strictly 
 speaking, the "ALBUM OF THE TABLE ROCK," it is a melange 
 made up of excerpts from, a library of Albums. The absence 
 of arrangement and classification of the articles is the result 
 of accident, not of carelessness or design. The materials are 
 selected at random, and the grouping, grotesque as it may be, 
 is in perfect keeping with any one or all the books from which 
 the gleanings are made. If seriousness and solemnity are 
 placed in ludicrous juxtaposition with levity and lightness, that 
 is the doing of the authors of the books themselves, and not 
 of the editor of this compilation from these books. Our right 
 to print nonsense is not a jot more questionable than that of 
 the visitors to the Falls to write it in these public books; but 
 having the fear of an "intelligent public" before our eyes,, we 
 have purposely abstained from making any more licentious use 
 of our undoubted privilege than is necessary for preserving to 
 our book the character of an Album. 
 
 Much that is written is not Gt to be printed, to be sure; and 
 it is to be regretted that the innumerable host of writers who 
 have perpetrated composition in the volumes of manuscript 
 now bo-fore us, should have added so little to the general stock 
 of legitimate and permanent literature. But the actual amount 
 of frivolous nonsense which constitutes so large a portion of the 
 
 764052
 
 VI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 contents of the books from which our selection is made, is not 
 at all to be calculated by the specimens now and then 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 specimen of this 
 gratuitous authorship always endeavoring, however, to take 
 care that decency shall not be outraged, nor delicacy shocked; 
 and in this respect, however improbable it may seem, precau- 
 tion has been by no means unnecessary. 
 
 In criticising the "Album" if anybody should condescend 
 to honor it in that way it should not be forgotten, that the 
 articles of which it is composed are written, not only by per- 
 sons who are not recognized or professed authors, but without 
 the care, time, or study, usually bestowed on composition in- 
 tended for the press generally, it is to be presumed, without 
 any premeditation whatever. In making up the book, we have 
 not unfrequently been obliged to add and deduct, as the case 
 might be, to lines which their authors meant to be of a certain 
 measure, in order to bring them within the rules of prosody. 
 If, in such cases, we have weakened or mistranslated an idea, 
 the best excuse will be to plead guilty ; and we do so, accord 
 ingly, with this condition, that we be distinctly chargeable, at 
 the same time, with making all the alterations which we have 
 made and they are not few on purpose, and because we 
 thought they were amendments. 
 
 It is likely very, that there are numerous plagiarisms in 
 this, as in other "Albums." Nay, we do not know that we 
 may not, in some cases, have made a readable stanza, here 
 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 defense 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 
 hitherto, to our knowledge, been acted upon; and if the 
 publication of it should be attended with any measure of
 
 INTRODUCTION. vil 
 
 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 they do write; and let 
 us hope, that in the next edition we shall be able, not only to 
 add much that may be interesting, but also furnish the names 
 of our numerous contributors. It has been annoying to us ia 
 compiling the present work, to find such extreme parsimony 
 of signature so much so, that, in many cases, it is difficult 
 to tell where one article ends and another begins in the 
 original. 
 
 We now send forth our little pioneer, not without hope that 
 it will meet with some favor; and, at all events, without any 
 doubt that the idea, thus suggested, will hereafter be success- 
 fully followed out, whether failure or success be the recom- 
 pense of our present undertaking. 
 
 June, 1856.

 
 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 NIAGARA FALLS. 
 
 " There ' nothing great or bright, thou glorious Fall 1" 
 
 Thou mayest not to the fancy's sense recall, 
 
 The thunder-riven cloud, the 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 unresistcd sweep of human power 
 
 Britannia's trident on the azure sea, 
 
 America's young shout of liberty! 
 
 Oh ! may the waves 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 ! 
 
 MORPKTH. 
 
 The roaring of thy waters, O Niagara, would have struck 
 me with terror, had 1 not been long familiar with the roaring 
 of human passion. I should have wondered at thy eternal 
 motion, had I not felt my own soul to be infinitely more mo- 
 tional ; at thy unchangeable perpetuity were there not in my 
 own soul a voice forever crying " through the ages I am the
 
 10 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 
 
 same, and my years end not" My soul has felt a deeper fall 
 than thy waters, O Niagara, and experienced a higher rise 
 than thy sun-penciled steams. All that thou hast, and art, 
 most wonderful ! long ago the unseen engendered in my soul^ 
 and I hail thee now, though seeing thee for the first time as a 
 familiar 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, thinking soul ? 
 
 HENRT G. WRIGHT, 
 Jane 8, 1843. Ham, Sorry, England. 
 
 The subscriber would respectfully inform the ladies and gen- 
 tlemen visiting Niagara Falls, that he has taken up his resi- 
 dence in its vicinity, for the purpose of aiding those of an am- 
 bitious temperament, in their efforts at immortalization. The 
 subscriber has effected arrangements with several artists of 
 reputation and science, and will be happy, at all times, to sup- 
 ply those who may favor him with their orders. Signs of all 
 descriptions and sizes, both of board and tin, and in Roman, 
 Greek, or German characters, in blue, red, or green colored let- 
 tering. He would urge upon the public the superiority of this 
 plan over the old one, of carving the name on the barks of 
 trees. By adopting his plan, greater legibility and publicity is 
 obtained, as well as greater durability. The subscriber has 
 engaged several expert climbers, who will fasten these signs, 
 if needed, to the tops of the highest trees, or weld them on 
 the most remote rocks. But to those professing to be their 
 own artists, he would say that he intends having a full supply 
 of paints and brushes, of the most approved make, as well as 
 an abundant quantity of the softest kind of red chalk. Such 
 gentlemen as prefer the time-honored custom of carving their 
 names, can obtain, at the subscriber's place, the best Barlow 
 penknives of the most approved patterns, including the cele- 
 brated style used by the facetious gentleman that cut his 
 way through the pine swamp. A call is respectfully solicited 
 from all. 
 
 GUIDO BUCKTOP, Artist, 
 
 Cave of the Winds.
 
 TABLE EOCK ALBUM. 11 
 
 I have gazed on nature here abroad, 
 
 I have wandered o'er the briny deep ; 
 Of all thy works, Almighty God, 
 
 This is the greatest, this is the chief. 
 
 A roaring cataract, ever foaming, ever rushing, 
 
 Ever boiling, ever raging, ever roaring, ever gushing 
 
 From some great source, which I dare not tell, 
 
 It dashes madly down, as though to the very pit of hell. 
 
 Presumptous man, you dare to write 
 
 Of nature's works and the Great Architect of all ! 
 Bend down thy knee, and revere His might, 
 
 Who formed this cataract, who made this fall. 
 
 HENRY D. O'REILLY. 
 
 Forgive these lines; they emanate from the pen of one 
 who derives his inspiration from the sublime works which 
 surround him. Poetry is not my forte. I was never formed 
 to be a brilliant writer; but silence is not the only admiration 
 which these great works deserve. I have been affected, aye, 
 and deeply too, by incidents which occur in every day life, by 
 the selfishness of mankind, the coldness of friends, the signs 
 of mortality, as some cherished companion, some favorite 
 branch, was suddenly lopped from the great tree of life ; nay, 
 I have even been touched more nearly than this I have lost 
 home, friends, kindred, I am a solitary wanderer o'er the 
 world's wide waste I have sipped, to its very dregs, the cup 
 of affliction, and my spirit has drank deep from the cup of 
 agony ; but, in spite of all, T cannot gaze upon this spot with- 
 out feeling how little, very, very little and insignificant are 
 my sorrows when compared with the ills of the many; and 
 power, who, in one moment, can level all mankind with the dust, 
 especially when I witness these great signs of the Creator's 
 can root out the seeds of evil from the earth, and the germs 
 of sorrow from the heart, planting in their place the everlast- 
 ing fruits of righteousness, of peace, of comfort, and of glad 
 tidings unto all. 
 
 HENRY D. O'REILLY, 
 
 Dublin, Ireland
 
 12 TABLE BOOK ALBUM. 
 
 " ! not to sing presumptuous praise, 
 In studied words and measured lays, 
 
 This scenery survey 
 Omnipotence is imaged here, 
 Let vainer homage disappear, 
 And kneel and pray. 
 
 I have stood in the forest, with no one near but God, and 
 mused upon his grandeur, his power and his great mercy ; 
 while the low winds, sighing among the trees, seemed as if 
 breathing a requiem 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 object 
 to overwhelm in their rage ; then I thought, " How wonderful 
 are thy works, O God, and thy ways past finding out." 
 Again, I have stood, when 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 done." 
 I 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 flow as a river." All these have I seen ; 
 but when I saw Niagara, I stood dumb, "lost in wonder, love, 
 and praise." Can it be, that the mighty God who has cleft 
 these rocks with a stroke of his power, who has bid these 
 waters roll on to the end of time, foaming, dashing, thunder- 
 ing in their course ; can it be, that this mighty Being has said 
 to insignificant mortals, "I will be thy -God, and thou shalt 
 be my people 2 " ! Lord, thy mercy as well as thy power 
 endureth forever! Who can go "within the veil" which thine 
 own hand hath spread, and thus separate from the busy world, 
 with 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 contempla- 
 tion up to Nature's God. 
 
 J. E. HOWARD, 
 
 T. Eamctt's Drawing Room, > Detroit, Mich. 
 
 Oct 17th, 1848. 5 
 
 May the mighty waters of the Niagara smother, in their 
 eternal vortex, all the animosities and rancors that may ever 
 have existed between Great Britain and her fair daughter
 
 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 13 
 
 of the West, and remain, to succeeding generations, an ever- 
 lasting and indestructible monument of the harmony, which, 
 1 trust, will never cease to exist between the two nations, (of 
 one blood,) at once the most enterprising and the most enlight- 
 ened in the world. 
 May 23, 1849. GEORGE MAIR. 
 
 Luego que las cataratas vi, luego sus cuidas me dieron, un 
 no se que, que me hicieron, sosprendente loque vi. 
 
 MIGUEL DE AJURIA. 
 Marro 25, de 1850. 
 
 Alfor Dr. A. X. S. Martin, Editor de la Cronica, N. Y. 
 
 Caro amigo: Bartante enfermo acabo de llegar a las cata- 
 ratas del Niagara, pero las impressiones que en mi han pro- 
 ducido, han hecho desaparecer cari completamente mi m;il. 
 Pintar a v. lo que acabo de ver, me es imposible ; y u manana 
 vuelvo a leer las descripciones publicadas por varios escritores 
 adocenados, me veire de ellos y los dire que no se metan a 
 pintar y esplicar la naturaliza. 
 
 De vd. afmo amigo, 
 
 J. B. GHADEVEZ. 
 
 7 de Juio, 1849. 
 
 Mon opinion est qu 'un jour en le viendra a terre. 
 
 B. BEGUERRE. 
 
 On voit servant des tableaux qui representent les chutes de 
 Niagara, mais cet imposible d'en faire la moindre idee, et 
 faut en venir sur le lieu pour en juger. 
 
 BEGUERRE. 
 
 Should cruel fate, by some unconquer'd spell, 
 Consign our bodies, souls and all, to hell, 
 May falls like these be sent there too, 
 To drown us out of such a monstrous stew. 
 
 T. J. B. 
 Aug. 25, '49.
 
 14 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 
 
 CHUTES DE NIAGARA. 
 
 Roulez volre voix de tonnerre ! puissantes cataractes. Ce- 
 Itii qui vous crea regarde la-haut ce qui se passe ici has a 
 de'criere ses oeuvres imrauable, c'est entreprendre de de'pas- 
 scr ia limite qu 'il a marquee a la capacite de 1'horame! 
 
 Oh! vous tous qui visitez ces chutes immortelles, abaissez- 
 vous devaut la main de Dieu ! Dieu, parle cette voix si forte, 
 riiomme doit se taire et adorer ! 
 
 PETER H. MET. 
 Jcudi Midi, 15 Nov., 1849. 
 
 Hail to thee, fair rainbow ! bright emblem of hope as 
 in the mist of Niagara thou welcomest the rising sun in his 
 resplendent glory. 
 
 M. HENDERSON. 
 
 January 13, '49. 
 
 ETERNAL BEAUTIFUL SERENE SUBLIME. 
 
 Eternal prototype of God ! 
 
 When first the morning stars did sing, 
 
 And the all-glorious sun was placed on high ; 
 
 How didst thou rear thy awful crest 
 
 At His own bidding, and thy thunders spoke 
 
 Of the creation born 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 thce 
 
 And in thy presence feels that God is nigh! 
 
 And the Great Spirit near him to protect: 
 
 All recognize in thee power greatness vastness! 
 
 Beautiful, most beautiful, whether 
 
 In thy murmuring music 
 
 Or thy reverberating, echoing thunders, 
 
 And thy feathery spray, and rainbows, 
 
 Bespeaking hope and faith; 
 
 And as thou dashest o'er the ledge, 
 
 Behold the gorgeous emerald green,
 
 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 15 
 
 Woven through with silvery thread 
 And then thy milky flood below, 
 And eddies and o'erhanging rocks. 
 Call forth the exclamation, "beautiful." 
 
 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 
 Its thoughts to other scenes, 
 And we do dwell afar 'mong those 
 Long lost and dwellers in a better land. 
 The mind is lulled to a repose 
 And we feel 
 Heady to lean on God and trust in Him. 
 
 Sublime surpassing far all else 
 
 Of thy own nature thou art monarch 
 
 Over all and doth feel thy power 
 
 Who shall stop thy way, 
 
 Or say unto thy floods, flow not ? 
 
 Thou wouldst dash aside the net 
 
 Woven by vain man to hold thee, 
 
 And rend them as the brittle reed. 
 
 I have paid my tribute to thee, 
 
 And now will I repose thou hast been 
 
 To me a lesson deep and ineffaceable 
 
 And I leave this spot, I trust, a better man. 
 
 C. W. ROWLAND. 
 Philadelphia, Aug. 2, 1847. 
 
 NIAGARA. 
 
 Niagara, I love to hear thy voice, 
 
 And while I look on thy array of waters 
 
 Careering onward with resistless force, 
 
 And showing forth the might and power of Him 
 
 Who ruleth over all 'tis then my soul 
 
 Is filled with awe, and I can realize 
 
 That God is here, that he is present now,
 
 16 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 
 
 Oh ! let a song of praise ascend to Him 
 
 Who gives us all things richly to enjoy, 
 
 And while we gaze upon this glorious scene, 
 
 Lc-t us remember thou dost shadow forth 
 
 The glory of Omnipotence. 
 
 Awe-struck we gaze on these o'erhanging rocks, 
 
 And mark thy waters as they onward flow, 
 
 And hear, Niagara! thy unceasing roar. 
 
 We watch the clouds of spray as they ascend, 
 
 And view the bright inimitable green, 
 
 Too dazzling to the eye, and then we feel 
 
 That scenes like these, stupendous and sublime, 
 
 Must lose their greatness when compared with Him 
 
 Whose presence fills the immensity; then while 'tis ours 
 
 To gaze upon His works, may we be led 
 
 To worship and adore; to live for him, 
 
 That when earth's scenes shall fail before our eyes, 
 
 We may behold more glorious worlds above, 
 
 And through the sacrifice of Him who gave 
 
 His life for fallen man, dwell ever more 
 
 Where love, and joy, and peace forever reign. 
 
 SARAH PRATT. 
 Nao York, August 12, 1847. 
 
 Niagara like thy Maker, great. 
 
 LINES 
 
 On reading that the only words spoken by the yonng lady recently killed at th 
 Falls, after the accident, were " Let me " 
 
 "Let me," and here the fast receding breath 
 Denied the power of utterance the throb 
 Of that young heart grew faint. Ah, reckless Death, 
 How didst thou then of hope surviving bosoms rob ! 
 
 What was the wish thus less than half expressed, 
 That latest image of the aching brain, 
 
 Imprisoned in the fair young sufferer's breast, 
 Without the strength to burst the feeble chain.
 
 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 17 
 
 Was it a prayer that she might longer live, 
 
 Addressed to Him who holds the scroll of fate ? 
 
 Or did she wish a parting thought to give 
 
 In trust to those that watching, round her wait? 
 
 Some fond remembrance of her distant home, 
 Where late perhaps maternal love had shed 
 
 Its hallowed flame, and when resolved to roam 
 Had breathed a farewell blessing on her head. 
 
 Ah, who so fitting now to claim her thoughts, 
 As she whose hand sustained her helpless years ? 
 
 Oh, that the action of that hand, were brought, 
 To wipe, with tender care, those dying tears. 
 
 See, in this theatre of nature's might, 
 
 In boundless strength the dashing waters rush, 
 
 With headlong fury o'er the dizzy height, 
 And threaten e'en the solid rock to crush. 
 
 But mark the contrast ! On that bed of pain 
 The form reclines of nature's noblest art, 
 
 Whose strongest energy is spent in vain, 
 To breathe the last conception of her heart. 
 
 Great Ruler of the destinies of Man! 
 
 Teach us to reverence thy dark decree ; 
 Forgive the daring murmur at thy plan, 
 
 And make us yield and humbly trust to thee. 
 
 The last words of the dying girl may be 
 
 The first to form the Christian's hopeful prayer; 
 
 Trusting her happy spirit is with thee ; 
 
 He cries, " Father ' Let me ' join her there." 
 
 O thou, Niagara! no Eloquence - can set forth thy own 
 native, untiring, ceaseless Eloquence roll on ! And you, ye 
 Poets, stand abashed, n'r dare attempt impossibilities. 
 
 D. 
 1*
 
 18 TABLE ROOK ALBUM. 
 
 . 
 
 - BY REQUEST. 
 
 Niagara! Monarch of earth's wonders, reflection of Al- 
 mightiness, in thy celestial beauty, and thy dread magnif- 
 icence, and ceaseless thunder song roll on thy course 
 echoing ever the nothingness of man the boundless majesty 
 of God! 
 
 T. T. WATERMAN. 
 
 August 31, 1847. 
 
 A VOLUNTARY. 
 
 One would think that emotions of sublimity knocked com- 
 mon sense into " pi " arid stirred up foaming fancies in the 
 intellect, something like the boiling waters in this double and 
 twisted caldron down here; after looking over the Albums 
 around here. Why the Mammolh 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. 
 
 September 1, 1847. 
 
 While standing under the horse-shoe Fall, 
 Didn't it look grand and you feel small? 
 
 THOMAS A. DWYN, Dublin, Ireland. 
 
 Majestic greatness sits, Niagara, upon thy brow, 
 And o'er thy rocks in thundering grandeur roll ; 
 We gaze, in silent wonder wrapped and humbly bow, 
 To thee, God, who thus doth thrill our inmost soul. 
 
 B. T. ROMAINE AND LADY. 
 Albany, N. F, Sept. 30/A, 1847.
 
 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 19 
 
 This is but the breathings of the great "I Am!" What 
 must his anger 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 
 dawn witnessed thy earliest gush, Creation's doom can but 
 extinguish thy perpetual rush. 
 
 Oh! God!! Great are thy works! Oh! Man!! Hovr 
 small are thine, when placed in the same view. 
 
 A. COMSTOCK, 
 July 3Qth, 1847. Sandwich Islands. 
 
 The Falls of " Niagara" far surpass any natural curiosity in 
 the known world. No human eye that has not beheld this 
 cataract, can form any idea of its greatness. Like all the 
 works of God's creation, it shows forth to his glory. 
 
 WARD CARPENTER, 
 August 3d, 1847. Wcstchcutcr Co., M Y. 
 
 Niagara here Nature holds its sway, 
 While man, with both delight and awe, doth 
 Gaze and wonder at its magnificence. 
 
 Boz. 
 
 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 '11 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 \
 
 20 TABLE ROCK 
 
 Great, beautiful Falls ! you '11 continue great, 
 And live in grandeur, when different is our state, 
 When old age comes, or sad despair, 
 'T is thus to thee, oh God ! we '11 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 work of God, 
 I feel how great, how wondrous is our Lord. 
 
 CHARLOTTE B- 
 Auffust 15, 1847 
 
 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 everything but 
 God and his most grand work. 
 
 AN OBSERVER. 
 
 Let not vanity and presumption attempt a task too great for 
 inspiration. B. 
 
 
 
 'T was great to speak a world from naught, 
 'T was greater to redeem. 
 
 T. H. DASHIELL, Baltimore. 
 
 Mr and Mrs. Stephen B. Sherwood, and company, of James- 
 ville, Onondaga County, N. Y., say: "We have visited the 
 'mighty cataract,' on the American and Canadian shore, and 
 every spot of interest connected with both hut this Museum 
 and Camera Obsciira is truly the most interesting of all; sit- 
 uated, as it is, with such a fine view of the Falls, I trust no 
 American will leave without calling here, or spending a day at 
 least on British Soil" 
 
 Sept. 24, 1847.
 
 TABLE KOOK ALBUM. 21 
 
 Kings 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 flood that rolls its torrents to the 
 deep and not "Praise the Lord." 
 
 E. E. B. 
 
 It is utterly impossible for any man to give expression to 
 the overwhelming feeling he experiences on beholding this 
 display of the Great Creator's works. Here is manifested on 
 no minute scale, the glory of " him who holds the sea in the 
 hollow of his hand." This roar of Niagara is but a song of 
 praise to the Almighty God. 
 
 R. H. Ball, Baltimore, Md. 
 July 24, 1847. 
 
 
 
 I came from Wall street, 
 To see this water sheet ; 
 Having seen this water sheet, 
 I return to Wall street 
 
 BRYANT. 
 July 24, 1847. ________^ 
 
 Niagara Falls is a stereotype proof sheet of the Omnipo- 
 tence of the Almighty. 
 
 JAMES T. FRAZEE, of Glasgow, Scotland, 
 
 now of Wooster, Ohio. 
 
 Boast not thy greatness, Yankees tall 
 Thy pride and arrogance my catch a fall. 
 
 To view Niagara Falls one day, 
 
 A parson and a tailor took their way; 
 
 The parson cried whilst wrapped in wonder, 
 
 And listening to the cataract's thunder, 
 
 Lord ! how thy works amaze our eyes, 
 
 And fill our hearts with vast surprise : 
 
 The tailor merely made this note 
 
 Lord ! what a place to sponge a coat ! !
 
 22 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 
 
 Visitors, whene'er you wish 
 
 To feast on poultry, flesh and fish, 
 
 And right good wine, 
 Leave your fare across the river, 
 And like a hearty right good liver, 
 
 At the Pavillion dine. 
 
 Since first I saw thee thundering on 
 There 's nothing of thy beauty gone, 
 And though three years have passed away, 
 Thou thuuderest on with all thy spray. 
 
 CHARLOTTE BLANCHE MALCOLM. 
 
 1847. 
 
 Spirit of Homer ! Thou whose song has rung 
 From thine own Greece to this supreme abode 
 Of nature this great fane of Nature's God, 
 
 Breathe on my heart oh ! touch the fervid tongue 
 Of a fond votaress kneeling on thy sod. 
 
 Sublime and beautiful ! your shrine is here 
 Here 'neath the azure dome of heaven you're 
 Here on a rock that trembles o'er your bed, 
 
 Your blended sorcery claims both pulse and tear, 
 
 Controls life's source, and reigns o'er heart and head. 
 
 Terrific, but O! beautiful abyss! 
 
 If I should trust my fascinated eye, 
 
 Or listen to thy maddening melody, 
 Sense, form, would spring to meet thy white foam's kiss 
 
 Be lapped in thy soft rainbow once, and die. 
 
 Color, depth, height, extension, all unite 
 To chain the spirit by a look intense, 
 To dolphin in his clearest seas, or thence
 
 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 23 
 
 Ta'en by some prince to give his love delight, 
 
 Dies not in changeful tints more delicately bright* 
 
 Look, look! there comes o'er yon pale green expanse, 
 Beyond the curtain of this altar vast, 
 A glad young swan the smiling beams that cast 
 
 Light from her plumes, have lured her soft advance 
 She nears the fatal brink her graceful life is past. 
 
 Look up ; nor her fond foolish fate disdain 
 An eagle rests upon the 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, and flies the lovely death. 
 
 "Niagara! wonder of this western world, 
 
 And all the world beside hail, beauteous Queen 
 Of cataracts ! " an angel who had been 
 
 O'er heaven and ,earth thus said ; his bright wings furled, 
 And knelt to Nature first on this wild cliff unseen. 
 
 MARIA DEL OCCIDENTS. 
 
 The Yankees generally take, and keep too, whatever they 
 set their hearts upon having. 
 
 ONE OF THEM. 
 
 t 
 
 Great spirit of the waters ! I have come 
 From forth mine own indomitable home,f 
 Far o'er the billows of the eternal sea, 
 To breathe my heart's deep homage unto thee, 
 And gaze on glories that might wake to prayer 
 
 * When these lines were written in the Album, the fourth stanza was 
 omitted, lest it might occasion some confusion of imagery; but the 
 beautiful tints reflected by the water of the cataract are one of its prin- 
 cipal attractions, and so exactly resembled those of the dolphin, that 
 the idea of one was continually in the mind of the writer, while view- 
 ing the scene from the Table Rock. 
 
 t Scotland.
 
 24 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 
 
 All but the hopeless victim of despair. 
 Flood of the forest, fearfully sublime, 
 Restless, resistless as the tide of time, 
 There is no type of thee thou art alone, 
 In sleepless glory, rushing on and on. 
 Flood of the desert! thou hast been to me 
 A dream ; and thou art still a mystery. 
 Would I had seen thee, years and years agone, 
 While thou wert yet unworshiped and unknown, 
 And thy fierce torrent, as it rushed along, 
 Through the wild desert poured its booming song, 
 Unheard by all save him of lordly mood 
 The bronzed and free-born native of the wood. 
 How would my heart have quivered to its core, 
 To know its God, not all revealed before! 
 In other times when I was wont to roam 
 Around the mist-robed mountain peaks of home 
 My fancy wandered to this Western clime, 
 Where all the haunts of nature are sublime ; 
 And thou wert on my dream so dread a thing, 
 I trembled at my own imagining. 
 Flood of the forest! I have been with thee, 
 And still thou art a mystery to me. 
 Years will roll on as they have rolled, and thou 
 Wilt speak in thunder as thou speakest now ; 
 And when the name that 1 inscribe to-day 
 Upon thine altar shall have passed away 
 From all remembrance, and the lay I sing 
 Shall long have been but a forgotten thing 
 Thou wilt be sung, and other hands than mine 
 Shall wreathe a worthier chaplet for thy shrine. 
 
 GEORGE MENZIKS. 
 August, 1835. 
 
 Mighty water ! headlong tumbling 
 Down the vast abyss below, 
 Ceasless pouring, endless roaring 
 Music like this semper amo. 
 
 C. W. WILSON, Buffalo.
 
 - 
 
 TABLE KOCK ALBUM. 25 
 
 God spake the world into being, and it was created. He 
 made all the wonders of the earth, 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. 
 
 H. FOOTE. 
 
 To hear a jackass bray 
 Is nothing new to-day 
 You can neither sing nor say; 
 So you may go away. 
 
 A. LEGG. 
 
 You had better toddle too, 
 
 For you're blockheads through and through 
 
 'Pon my honor, it is true 
 
 Cock-a-doodle-doo. 
 
 FRANCIS HEAD. 
 
 Good morning, how d'ye do? 
 How much wiser, pray, are you, 
 Than the other stupid two ? 
 Tell me that and tell me true. 
 
 DURHAM. 
 
 Roll on, Niagara, as thou hast ever rolled, 
 Since thy great Maker called thee into being ; 
 But wilt thou never stop ? 0, yes, thou wilt, 
 When the great Archangel sounds the final trump 
 One foot upon the sea, and one on shore 
 And swears that time shall be no more forever; 
 The thundering sound that swells upon our ears, 
 Will then be silenced, and the mighty flood, 
 2
 
 26 TABLE BOOK ALBUM. 
 
 That pours itself o'er the tremendous precipice, 
 Will cease to be. There is but ONE ALONE 
 The first, last, ever-living TRINITT, 
 That can control thee whensoe'er he will. 
 
 H. B. TUTTLE. 
 Lansingburgh, N. Y. 
 
 MEM. This atmosphere is terribly destructive to starched 
 collars, and takes the curls out of one's whiskers with amaz- 
 ing celerity. 
 
 CHARLES AUGUSTUS MANDEVILLE. 
 
 The pretty creature! It should have put itself, whiskers 
 and all, into a band box. 
 
 SHOULD'NT IT. 
 
 Veni, vidi, and gave up the vici. 
 
 JULIUS CAESAR REDIVIVUH. 
 
 The mighty cataract of Niagara rushing over the rocks, 
 and the deep waters of the Mississippi rolling onward to the 
 ocean, are everlasting evidences of the prowess and efficiency 
 of the American Militia! 
 
 his 
 
 ANDREW X JACKSON 
 mark. 
 
 Farewell, Niagara! rolling in splendor, 
 
 Thy beauty is matchless, thy power is supreme ; 
 
 And now, ere I leave thee, my homage I render 
 To return to the world I must rouse from my dream.
 
 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 27 
 
 In a trance I have been, while sublimest emotions 
 Have crowded the 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 '11 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 an 
 awful sight of larnin', had n't he?) well, as Job Diddler 
 used to say, "Fox eat Peter Nichol"* great cry and little 
 wool They ain't good for nothin' for manufacturm' ; and 
 they completely spile navigation that 's a fact 
 
 SAM SLICK, Jun. 
 
 
 
 Hark, hark ! 't is Niagara's mighty roar, 
 
 As o'er the ledge St. Lawrence' waters pour. 
 
 Father Omnipotent! in this we see 
 
 An emblem fit of vast eternity ; 
 
 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 travelers shall e'er return. 
 
 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 ? 
 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 
 
 * Vox et pretera nihil.
 
 28 TABLE KOCK ALBUM. 
 
 Of thy tremendous cataracts, which call 
 Each to the others, and all ears appal ; 
 Leaping in thunder from the rocky wall, 
 And, like a hero, greatest in its fall. 
 
 HENRY LINDSAY. 
 
 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 I 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 SAGINAW pap; 
 ST. GLAIR then undertakes to teach, 
 And tries to modulate my speech. 
 Through ERIE 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 pitch my loud outcry on E, 
 Sure two such tumbles well may vex, 
 And make me froth up Double X. 
 Although the Rapids rather flurry me, 
 And into wheeling whirlpools hurry me, 
 The Devil's Hole does most me scare, I oh! 
 And makes me glad to reach ONTARIO. 
 Traveled so far 't is thought of vital 
 Importance I should change my tide; 
 And though it should be his abhorrence, 
 They make my sponsor old St. Lawrence. 
 The course I steer is rather critical, 
 For, not much liking rows political, 
 'Twixt both my favors I divide 
 Yankee and British, on each side. 
 And wandering 'mongst the "Thousand Isles,"
 
 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 3 
 
 With equable and constant motion, 
 
 I gladly run to meet the ocean. 
 
 Once my deep cavern was a mystery, 
 
 But now 't is known like Tom Thumb's history, 
 
 By ladies, gents, natives and strangers, 
 
 Led on by Barnett through my dangers, 
 
 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 banks, 
 
 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 liquidate all debt, 
 
 Though much is dew from me ; and yet, 
 
 About myself I often vapor 
 
 But ne'er before have issued paper. 
 
 You may think this a brag or a 
 
 Boast of Truly Yours, NIAGARA. 
 
 Falls Hall Cave, half past 11, ? 
 
 July 25th, 1837. 5 H. LINDSAY. 
 
 Here may each traveler behold 
 The name of friends belov'd of old. 
 Whate'er the clime from whence he came, 
 Still will he find some well-known name, 
 To call to mind departed hours, 
 When friendship strewed his way with flowers, 
 Or youthful love, with sun-lit eye, 
 Look'd down to bless him with a sigh : 
 And fancy, fired, will plume her wings, 
 For eagle flight to fairy spheres, 
 While memory, pleased, enraptured, clings 
 To each loved name, with smiles and tears. 
 
 D. C. M.
 
 30 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! 
 
 WRITTEN DIRECTLY AFTER GOING " WITHIN THE VEIL" OF 
 
 NIAGARA. 
 Jly Grenville Mellen. 
 
 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 centuries have heard it, in the rush 
 And roar of waters. I have bent my brow 
 Beneath Thy rainbow, and have 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 ? 
 
 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. 
 
 * This lineSe unmitigated nonsense.
 
 TABLE KOCK ALBUM. 31 
 
 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, worshiping, 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 thundering 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, U, O. 
 
 This is the cataract whose deathless name 
 Lives in itself it hath no need of fame. N 
 It is itself eternal. Look and trace 
 "Dar'st thou forget me," written in his face. 
 'Tis its own record 'tis the living throne 
 Of independence, rolling, rolling on 
 Spurning alike resistance and control, 
 And breathing terror on the human soul. 
 
 G.J. K. 
 
 
 
 If a fellow should slide down from off a slippery stick, 
 'T would be worse nor any Cat-a-lip-tic; 
 And if he should go blind, 'tis a plain fact, 
 From view-ing 'twould be a cataract 
 
 "Pro-di-gi-ous!" as Mr. Shaw says, (quoting from Dominie 
 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 expecta- 
 tions. 
 
 E. G. D. thinks it the best "got up" thing he ever saw. 
 
 Very queer ! as the apostle elegantly remarks in the original 
 tongue. 0. P. Q.
 
 32 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 
 
 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 world ; 
 
 And there stoop 'mid the storm. 'T will risit you 
 
 In robes of darkness that will seem like night 
 
 Fallen on mid-day. 'Twill come on you in song 
 
 Gigantic, but melodious chorussed 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 Spiiit, this ray 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. 
 
 Niagara in winter surpasses 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 glittering sil- 
 ver; and the refraction of the sun's rays through the icicles pen- 
 dant from the trees, presents the most imposing view which it 
 is possible to conceive. Descending by Barnett's Staircase, 
 and passing under the Sheet of Water, you are surrounded by 
 objects which baffle description. The inverted pillars of ice 
 suspended from the projected precipice, the immense icicles 
 which threaten to crush the beholder by their fall, the cataract
 
 TABLE BOCK ALBUM. 33 
 
 darting over head with the rapidity of lightning, the sulphur- 
 ous 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. S. 
 
 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 thyself 
 
 Let's see if you're a man. 
 I doubt it; then still, "Booby," be 
 Thy name enwrapped in mystery. 
 
 ZIP COON. 
 
 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 waves, 
 
 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.
 
 34 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 
 
 I have looked on thee, thou mighty Cataract, and think thou 
 are the greatest coffee-pot in these here parts. 
 
 J. E. WHARTON. 
 
 I guess all natur' is going to wash out to-day ; for how that 
 'ere big kettle biles. 
 
 JOHN DOWNING. 
 
 Yes, traveler, 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 tho' he's black. 
 N. B. -Pay when you come lack. 
 
 ZANET. 
 
 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. 
 
 B. D. Jones has this day done 
 "What can't be said by every one, 
 Has gone as far as man can go, 
 As his certificate will show 
 And counsels all who value fame, 
 Immediately to do the same. 
 
 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.
 
 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 35 
 
 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 '11 think, where, where are they ? 
 No time, no chance, nor change can sever, 
 The links that bind our hearts forever. 
 
 ROBERT. 
 
 Well now, I du calculate them Falls is a decided failure.- 
 They ort to run up stream. 
 
 JOEL. 
 
 " 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. " I think it must soon run itself out of 
 breath must soon pull up, Sammy." "Why, yes, father," 
 replied the junior, taking off his white tile, and stroking down 
 his smooth hair, " it runs a'most as hard and as loud as mother- 
 in-law's tongue." " True, Samivel," rejoined the elder, and 
 turning to Mr. Pickwick, continued, "you know, sir, as how I 
 married a viddy." That benevolent gentleman nodded 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 hunying on forever and forever.
 
 36 TABLE P.OCK ALBUM. 
 
 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 
 Its earthly joys, its earthly hopes, its sorrow and regret ; 
 For who that ever lingered here one little hour or twain, 
 Can think as he hath thought, or be what he hath been again ? 
 Where'er the wanderer's foot may roam, whate'er his lot 
 
 may be, 
 'T.is deeply written on his heart that he hath been with thee. 
 
 GEORGE MENZIES. 
 Chippewa, August, 1834. 
 
 The man that's just from behind the sheet, 
 Says "The Elephant is thar," 
 But I rather guess, if I may speak, 
 That it is a monstrous big white "JBar" 
 
 SOUTH WEST. 
 
 Nature is all changeless. We are but shadows. 
 
 H. J. MUCH, New York. 
 
 r 
 
 Changeless people are no use here; and if you are only 
 shadows, so much the worse for your baker and butcher you 
 can live on vapor. This is just the place for such as you. 
 
 E. L. 
 
 O ! the wonderful Falls of Niagara 
 
 Hop, skip and jump, and here we are plump, 
 At the wonderful Falls of Niagara. 
 
 Of all stupid asses, I call you the trump, 
 In climbing Parnassus you fell on your rump, 
 And your brains of molasses fell out with a plump. 
 
 Y.
 
 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 37 
 
 We are here to-day, and gone to-morrow. 
 
 W. M. 
 
 Well, why don't you stop a week at the hotel ? The beds 
 and grub are good. 
 
 E. B. 
 
 Yes, but devilish dear. 
 
 C. C. 
 
 When God went forth in the work of creation, attended by 
 a shining array of Cherubim and Seraphim, these " living ones " 
 veiled their faces and said, " God of Glory, stay thy hand, or 
 we die!" "One work more," said the Almighty, "and inani- 
 mate creation is complete." He spake and the mountains 
 started back, and Ocean heaved affrighted as Niagara sprang 
 into birth. C. A. H. 
 
 SACRED MUSINGS. 
 
 BT REV. JOHN DOWLING, OF PROVIDENCE, E. I. 
 
 Niagara! thy mighty voice hath waked 
 
 The slumb'ring fancy ; and the beams which from 
 
 Thy crested bosom dart, kindle again 
 
 The smothered flame of wild poetic fire, 
 
 Which in the* days of youthful ardor burn'd 
 
 Within my breast. 
 
 Yet hard the task 
 
 To sing thy wonders ! Laboring fancy reels ! 
 Thought staggers with amazement, and in vain 
 Essays to grasp thy vast sublimities! 
 Yet though the hand which feebly touch'd the lyre 
 To sing thy wonders, palsied is still, 
 Yet may I tell the sweet and holy thoughts 
 Which crowd upon my brain, as on the rocks 
 I stand, and gaze upon thy face. Thoughts, which 
 The love-tun'd harp of Zion woke, and even 
 Thy thunders cannot hush. I gaze upon 
 Thy waters as they leap, foaming with wrath, 
 From rbck to rock, till vast and vehement,
 
 38 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 
 
 The mighty torrent with resistless force 
 
 Tumbles into the gulf; and as I gaze, 
 
 I think upon the awful flood of wrath 
 
 Due to the sins of vile apostate man, 
 
 Which dashed upon the meek and holy ONE, 
 
 And wrung the bitter cry "My God, my God, 
 
 why dost thou forsake me ? " 
 
 I behold 
 
 The beauteous bow which spans the roaring gulf, 
 And thoughts of melting tenderness come o'er my soul! 
 The bow, the heavenly bow of peace and love 
 Which spann'd mount Calvary when Jesus died ! 
 The eye of faith turns from the scenes of earth, 
 And sees love divine! the wondrous words, 
 Inscrib'd by God's own hand upon that bow 
 "PEACE, PEACE ON EAKTH," since Christ the ransom, died. 
 
 1 stand upon the rock ! here am I safe ! 
 Thus may I ever stand on HIM, the ROCK 
 Of everlasting ages. 
 
 Thus secure from harm, 
 As on this solid rock, contemplate 
 That overwhelming Cataract of wrath, 
 Which on my Saviour pour'd to rescue me. 
 Thus may I gaze upon the bow of mercy, 
 Read its bright lines, and wonder and adore fS 
 And as I gaze, in yon bless'd world forever, . 
 Thus sweetly may the fountains of my soul, 
 Be broken up ; and tears, luxurious tears, 
 Of joy and gratitude forever flow. 
 
 Oh ! not to sing presumptuous praise, 
 In studied words and measured lays, 
 
 This scene survey 
 Omnipotence is imaged here, 
 Let vainer homage disappear, 
 
 And kneel and pray. 
 
 R. C.
 
 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 39. 
 
 Niagara's mighty waters, rushing by, 
 
 That stun the sense, and yet delight the eye, 
 
 Whose breakers dashing on the rugged rock, 
 
 With thundering uproar, and with deafening shock, 
 
 Awaken feelings never known before, 
 
 And fill the memory with an endless store 
 
 Of fancies and of thoughts that ne'er can die, 
 
 But treasured in the heart forever lie. 
 
 The white foam dancing and the clouds of spray 
 
 That boil beneath me and around me play, 
 
 The circling rainbows with their vivid dyes, 
 
 Like fairy forms from out the waters rise, 
 
 Deck'd with those tints, so pure and all so bright, 
 
 They seem like rays of heaven's own hallowed light; 
 
 All, all unveil, and place within my sight 
 
 The great Creator in his matchless might. 
 
 T. S., Jun. 
 
 The most insignificant plant, the minutest insect, the small- 
 est drop of water, when examined through the medium of a 
 microscope, proves beyond a doubt, to any reasoning mind, the 
 existence of an almighty creating and sustaining Power 
 must then the circumstance of a large body of water rushing 
 down an inclined plane, and over a precipice of one hundred 
 and fifty feet in height, urged merely by the universal power 
 of gravitation, be selected as the most striking demonstration 
 of the greatness of the Almighty ? 
 
 SNOOKS. 
 
 The most stupendous work of Nature ! The mountains, 
 oceans, lakes and cataracts, are great specimens of the magnif- 
 icence of God's works; but here his beneficence is also indica- 
 ted, by the perpetual rainbow. What mind is not enlarged, 
 what soul not filled with ennobling emotions, by the contem- 
 plation of such wonders ? Let man behold with awe and ad- 
 miration, and learn 
 
 HUMILITY. 
 
 Roar away, mighty Fall, 
 I am done that is all.
 
 40 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 
 
 Roll on, mysterious river, in thy might, 
 
 Awakening dreams of terrible delight, 
 
 Or thrilling fear, and turning into naught 
 
 All that hath e'er been sketched in human thought 
 
 Of beauty and of grandeur God hath thrown 
 
 A glorious girdle round thee God alone 
 
 Can curb thy restless torrent He who gave 
 
 His voice of thunder to thy rushing wave, 
 
 And built on foam the bright prismatic bow 
 
 That sheds its glory on the gulf below 
 
 Yea, He whose path is in the secret deep, 
 
 Shall lull thy troubled spirit into sleep, 
 
 Still as a wearied babe that 's on the breast 
 
 Of yearning love is cradled into rest 
 
 GEORGE MENZIKS. 
 Ckippewa, Nov. 9, 1834. 
 
 I dare not write my name where God hath set his seal. 
 
 When I stand on this awful spot, I feel as if I had entered 
 a living temple of the Eternal. In this mighty concentration 
 of waters, which have ceaselessly rushed on and on, while 
 thousands of generations of mankind have been passing away 
 from the stage of life forever, I behold an impressive emblem 
 of the unchanged and unchangeable glory or the great King 
 of heaven and earth, the Author of time, the father of Eter- 
 nity. If genius would seek inspiration, if piety aspires after 
 elevation as well as holiness of sentiment, let them come and 
 worship at the shrine of Niagara. 
 
 A. R.K. 
 
 You must go down under the mighty Fall ; and when you 
 return, if you are not naturally and permanently imbued with 
 the spirit of poetry, don 't attempt to versify. Namby-pamby 
 on such a theme is utterly intolerable. Silence is, after all, 
 the best poem on the Falls of Niagara. 
 
 I KNOW.
 
 TABLE KOCK ALBUM. 41 
 
 The Yankees are going to take Niagara Falls, 
 Like they thought of taking Montezuma's Halls. 
 
 MEX. 
 
 Call for an ice-cream, a cake or a tater, 
 
 And if you don't get one of them, just kick the waiter. 
 
 GOOD POET I. 
 
 Ye prosing poets, who dull rhymes indite, 
 Why in this place your leaden nonsense write ? 
 Can scenes like these no nobler strain inspire 
 Than vulgar slang and wit whose jokes miss fire ? 
 
 These falls are nothing, after all, to the great cataract with 
 a name ten syllables long, which is about a pleasant sleigh-ride 
 from the capital of the Georgium Sidus. The Major went 
 clear up the Canada Fall, swam round Goat Island, then down 
 the American Fall, and finally crawled up a rainbow to the 
 Ferry House. LONG Bow. 
 
 Ye who would feast your souls on heavenly food, 
 
 Go muse awhile on Niagara's flood : 
 
 Turn ye to Him who pours its rushing wave, 
 
 And praise the power who rules us but to save; 
 
 Whose might could crush the world he deigned to form, 
 
 Whose love redeemed mankind who feeds the worm. 
 
 Niagara ! thy waters were not made 
 A toy for puny mortals' idle gaze. 
 Thine is a hymn eternal, and the tones 
 Of thy mysterious voice ascend the skies, 
 And pour the strain of Nature's melody 
 Before the throne of Him who made the earth, 
 And seas, and skies, and all that in them is. 
 2*
 
 42 TABLE KOCK ALBUM. 
 
 I saw them fall, I saw them fall 
 And that is all, and that is all. 
 
 SIR ISAAC NEWTON. 
 
 On Table Rock we did embrace 
 And then we stood both face to face. 
 The moon was up, the wind was high 
 I looked at she, and she at I. 
 
 Tres fratres stolidi 
 Took a boat for Niagri ; 
 Magnum frothum surgebat, 
 Et boatum overturnebat, 
 Et omncs drowndiderunt, 
 Qui swimmere non potuerunt. 
 
 W. H. HOWELL. 
 
 A scene so vast, so wildly grand, 
 May well a mortal's mind amaze : 
 For even the swift wing'd angel band, 
 On Mercy's errand, stop to gaze. 
 
 The time may come when steamboats up 
 
 Niagara Falls will sail ; 
 And then no stage will be required 
 
 To carry up the mail. 
 
 The codfish may have pic-nics then, 
 
 Or take a little spree 
 Among the folks at Chippewa, 
 
 And then get back to tea. 
 
 G.M. 
 
 
 
 These waters are the perpetual motion. 
 
 If the beauty of this Cataract "keeps a falling off" it will 
 soon cease to be a curiosity.
 
 TABLE BOOK ALBUM. 43 
 
 Adieu, Niagara ! I'm off for New York, 
 
 To measure out sugar, molasses and pork, 
 
 Next year I'll return if I crib enough cash, 
 
 And it won't be my fault if I don't cut a dash. 
 
 I put up at the " Cataract,'' but could not stop there 
 
 The landlord and I were too much of a pair. 
 
 BRASS SPURS AND BROWN COAT. 
 
 See yon troubled waters ! how madly onward they 
 Rush to the precipice, and the voice of Him obey, 
 
 The Great Invisible. 
 
 Now down the " vasty deep" the mighty floods are pouring 
 Into dissolving spray, while upward clouds are soaring 
 
 To the Illimitable. 
 
 Man looks upon the scene with mingled hopes and fears, 
 Calls back to memory his long departed years, 
 
 And at the future trembles ; 
 
 When lo ! the drooping soul beholds the covenant of peace, 
 The Rainbow, that the troubled waters cease. 
 
 God ne'er dissembles. 
 
 TJ. C. KEELE. 
 
 This is to certify that the company passed under the sheet 
 of water, conducted by the " darkness visible"* of this estab- 
 lishment. They were splendiferously delighted, and went 
 home tee-totaticiously satisfied. 
 
 Great is the mystery of Niagara's waters, 
 
 But more mysterious still are some men's daughters. 
 
 It beats all natur'. It is the wickedest sight I ever seen. 
 Why, it's no more like Deacon Johnsing's cider mill than 
 nothin' to no how. 
 
 JOEL. 
 
 *The officiating guide a colored man.
 
 44 TABLE EOCK ALBUM. 
 
 I saw the foam come tumbling down, 
 And spoil my ribbons and my gown, 
 Nor heeded it because I felt 
 That all around me here there dwelt 
 A seven-horse power of majesty ; 
 And, overcome, I cried " Oh my /" 
 
 ELIZA ANN JUDD, New York. 
 
 I never experienced so much mist before. In fact I am com- 
 pletely mistified. R. 
 
 The best remark is silence. G. 
 Then, pray, why do you break it? H. 
 For the same reason that you do ; 
 Because 'tis hard to speak it. Y. 
 On memory's page two things will never fade- 
 Niagara Falls and Barnett's lemonade! 
 
 What a confounded noise that 'ere brook outside makes ! 
 
 W. W. B. 
 
 It is only some water running over some rocks that's all. 
 
 J. N. TOLMAN. 
 
 Thou image of the Almighty One, as on thy wave I gaze, 
 
 It seems as God from off his brow the shroud of time doth 
 
 ' raise, 
 
 And in thy might I see the hand that cleft thy headlong way, 
 And the veil of the eternal throne in thy column'd clouds of 
 
 spay 
 
 The diadem of mercy in thy many-colored bow, 
 And the terrors of his anger in the gulf that boils below 
 In thy thunder hear His voice ! then how dare I speak of 
 
 thee, 
 
 When thus the Godhead speaketh, vain man must silent be. 
 
 C. H. COPE, England.
 
 TABLE BOCK ALBUM. 45 
 
 The autograph of the Deity written in running hand on the 
 wall of creation, to tell man how lightly he weighs in the bal- 
 ance. 
 
 Ceaseless Niagara, shall thy thunder roll, 
 Till time shall cease to be, and like a scroll 
 Earth shall be gathered up, and then the soul 
 Will heed thee not; for God will claim the whole. 
 
 N. BROOKS, JT. H. 
 
 Too GOOD TO BE LOST. Nov. 17, 1834. "Visited the 
 
 Falls with Miss of Philadelphia, and her little sister, 
 
 Fanny, aged nine. When opposite Tonawanda, part of the 
 carriage harness became disarranged, and the driver stopped 
 to " fix" it, when just opposite a little cascade, formed by yester- 
 day's rain. Little Fanny, who knew we were going to Niag- 
 ara, supposing by the stopping of the carriage that we bad ar- 
 rived at our destination, looked at it for some time very ear- 
 nestly through the carriage window, and then exclaimed 
 "Well, I do think it is very grand; but it is not quite so large 
 as I expected." 
 
 W. P. D. 
 
 I stood upon Niagara's dizzy heights, 
 
 And gazed upon the fearful depths beneath; 
 
 I listened to the awful melody, 
 
 Forever echoing to the praise of God ; 
 
 Fearfully behind the flowing drapery, 
 
 Entranced I stood, and heard terrific sounds. 
 
 A slippery path, a yawning gulf below, 
 
 And the huge precipices quivering, 
 
 Bade me beware. God ! I know thou art ; 
 
 For here thy presence overwhelms my soul. 
 
 Oh ! how I wish I were a poet, 
 
 And had a conch shell how I 'd blow it ! 
 
 PRODIGIOUS.
 
 46 TABLE BOCK ALBUM. 
 
 I looked upon the water, and I smiled 
 To see how furiously the creeter biled; 
 And then I thought I wiped a tear away, 
 But folks that saw it said it looked like spray. 
 
 ANNIE TODD. 
 
 RELIGION. 
 
 From hallowed shrines let holy incense rise, 
 In wreathing volumes to the azure skies, 
 To speak the grateful homage of the soul, 
 When man would own his Maker's high control. 
 
 But spices spread upon the marble mound, 
 Or perfumes scattered on the humble ground, 
 Or prostrate head, or bended knees alone,- 
 Find no acceptance at the heavenly throne. 
 
 So costly churches and the glittering dome, 
 May prove that wealth hath found religion's home, 
 But Nature's wonders must inspire the heart, 
 That worships God by love and not by art. 
 
 Vain are the hymns which feeble choirs may raise, 
 Compared with Nature's all pervading praise; 
 So like the praises of Niagara's roar, 
 Our praise should rise from this forevermore. 
 
 For 't is the heart devoted and sincere, 
 Bowing in grateful love and holy fear 
 The up-turned eye with an imploring gaze, 
 The heart-felt prayer, the joyous song of praise. 
 
 'Tis the firm faith, the conduct free from guile, 
 The mind exempt from thoughts that may defile, 
 The strict obedience to our Maker's laws 
 That prove the votaries of religion's cause. 
 
 A. R. P. 
 
 
 
 If you wish to immortalize yourself, do n't write in any of 
 these books jump over the Falls. Never mind the weather, 
 if the wind do n't blow.
 
 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 47 
 
 'T is well on sunny dreams of youth, 
 
 And glowing hopes that oft would steal 
 On manhood's hour, the hand of truth 
 
 Has stamped its impress, set its seal; 
 And all that I have felt and feel 
 
 Rush on my soul in currents deep 
 I see the thundering billows reel, 
 
 Niagara, down thy rocky steep 
 Callous the heart that fails to see 
 The finger of the Deity ! 
 
 The grand, the terrible are thine 
 
 In majesty thou rollest on ; 
 Unceasingly thy rainbows shine, 
 
 And will till time has ceased to run. 
 Emerging from the forest dun, 
 
 The savage stands in breathless fear; 
 
 And awful glories, one by one, 
 
 Arrest the white man's eye and ear. 
 An emblem meek thou art to me 
 Of limitless eternity! 
 
 J. Bp. N. Y. 
 
 " The living know that they must die. :> 
 
 NIAGARA FALLS. 
 
 Tidle-tum and tidle ti. 
 
 VOT OF IT ? 
 
 If it were not such a squally day 
 
 I guess that I would write 
 Some simple lines, and say my say 
 
 On this stupendous sight. 
 
 W. H. A. 
 
 0, what a pity that there should 
 
 Be such a naughty squall, 
 That pretty missy cannot write 
 
 Her poem on the "fall" 
 
 Q IN A CORNEB.
 
 48 TABLE BOCK ALBUM. 
 
 They 're all my fancy painted them, 
 They 're dreadful, not divine ; 
 
 For they 're falling in the devil's mouth 
 I 'm thankful, not in mine. 
 
 R. KAY. 
 
 Roar on, Niagara ! thou mighty wonder ! 
 Till thy stentorian voice is cracked 
 Yea, rend thy very lungs asunder, 
 In rolling out thy matchless thunder, 
 
 Old Cataract! 
 
 "Nil admirari " sure had been suppress'd, 
 Had not that rhymester (?) Horace lack'd 
 The privilege with which we 're bless' d, 
 To gaze upon thee, grand, majest- 
 
 Tic Cataract. 
 
 Well mayest thou haughtily defy 
 Vain man to stop thee, or detract 
 Aught from thy glorious majesty, 
 Or dim thy- fame, most magnifi- 
 
 Cent Cataract. 
 
 Much farther has thy name been pub- 
 lished than the story of Ilium sack'd 
 No fame of any human rub- 
 Bish can compare with thine thou sub- 
 Lime Cataract 
 
 Forever shall thy waters flow, 
 And rush and fall by time intact, 
 And boil, and howl and hiss below, 
 
 Tent Cataract. 
 
 Yet dangerous as thou dost appear, 
 Goldsmith records this wondrous fact. 
 "Some Indians once in safety steer- 
 Ed down in their canoes the fear- 
 
 Ful Cataract." 
 Highgate, VC J. G. S.
 
 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 49 
 
 How poor ! how very poor is praise from man ! 
 Poor to Him praised, is all created praise. 
 When I behold this scene, and think that all 
 Is of less value than a single soul 
 were the whole vast universe a wreck, 
 That awful wreck inanimate were less 
 Than one lost image of the Architect! 
 
 Nature's loudest voice speaking to the soul through the 
 medium of those ever-rushing waters the holy place of the 
 earth ! the vapor of an ever-ascending incense to the throne 
 
 of God! 
 
 
 
 'T is did my braggin' days is o'er, 
 I '11 brag of old SALT* now no more. 
 The look of pride which once I wore 
 Is gone, alas ! my heart are tore; 
 The proud, firm footstep, mine of yore 
 Are now, too, gone ; my eyes is sore, 
 And little scaldin' tears does pour, 
 When I does think that old SALT'S roar, 
 Was made "considerable" lower, 
 Even at this very door. 
 
 CAPTING RALPH STACKPOLE, 
 
 Of Salt River. 
 
 All hail, Niagara! by thine awful noise, 
 Great fear is caused in minds of little boys ; 
 And as thou rollest with thy mighty rumble, 
 All must acknowledge that thou mak'st a tumble. 
 "A thing of beauty is a joy forever;" 
 And in that way thou certainly art clever. 
 
 On Table Rock I stood, and viewed the wonders o'er, 
 Looked on the vast and foaming flood, and wished to look no 
 more. 
 
 * Salt River.
 
 50 TABLE BOCK ALBUM. 
 
 As on the stormy beach I strayed, 
 
 Where frowning rocks prevailed, 
 O ! thus my own, my dearest maid, 
 
 My hard, hard fate bewailed: 
 " ! Harry, dear, you '11 break your neck- 
 
 Upon my soul, you will ; 
 And if you do, you precious fool, 
 
 I '11 lick you sol will!" 
 
 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 power belongs to 
 God alone. 
 
 T. A. H. 
 
 Next to the bliss of seeing Sarah, 
 Is that of seeing Niagara. 
 
 In foam, these Falls resemble ginger-pop 
 In force, a comet; for they never stop. 
 
 SOLOMON SWOP. 
 
 Rush on and on, Niagara, rush 
 Till the archangel's trump shall knell the world ; 
 And join to chant earth's funeral dirge 
 With thy last dash, when the last earthquake 
 Shakes the pillar' d globe. 
 
 M. C.
 
 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 51 
 
 O ! if I were a little fish, and had a little fin, 
 
 To keep my little self afloat, I swear I would jump in, 
 
 And having seen the mighty Falls, and heard their mighty 
 
 roar, 
 
 Myself would be a mighty fish, henceforth, for ever more. 
 Chippeica, Q-. M. 
 
 O ! 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 flight, and scud across the 
 
 foam, 
 And having seen the wondrous sight, I straightway would 
 
 go home. 
 
 Somebody, apparently under the impression that the above verses 
 were written by the same person, inserted below them the following 
 jeu d'esprit: 
 
 If that you were a little fish, 
 
 You say you 'd take a swim below ; 
 
 And if you were a little bird, 
 To sing upon a tree you 'd go. 
 
 There 's nothing but a little beast, 
 For which you after this can pass: 
 
 You had been thought a man; but by 
 These lines you 've proved yourself an ass. 
 
 J. S. B. 
 
 O ! rather say, amazed, let me stand 
 
 Submissive a poor, sinful child of Him 
 At whose omnipotent and dread command 
 
 Came forth the waters and the cherubim. 
 Pray Him, that o'er thy soul he may not bring 
 
 The bitter waters, that destructive prove; 
 But ask in faith of Him, thy Sovereign King, 
 
 To drink the living waters of His love. 
 
 MARY KEELE.
 
 52 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 
 
 What lots of cotton factories and grist mills this little 
 hydraulic power might drive; but these Canucks can't go 
 ahead, no how. 
 
 UNCLE SAM. 
 
 I came to see Niagara too late. Five years ago, I was a 
 creature of enthusiasm, poetry and devotion. Now, I am 
 feelingless, heartless, soulless. The once gushing founts of 
 youthful emotion have been broken up by the withering 
 blast of adversity. The flowers of my life are blighted; 
 and all is dull all tame. I laugh at Niagara, and what 
 care I for thunder? Great God! how I should have enjoyed 
 this sight once. 
 
 BIT. 
 
 Bit with affectation that is all. Any man so blighted 
 in prospect and broken in spirit would not think of remem- 
 bering the enjoyment which he would have had here, or 
 anywhere else. One who is what this scribbler affects to be, 
 thinks not of his past capacity of enjoyment, but of his pres- 
 ent sense of misery. 
 
 ONE WHO KNOWS Now. 
 
 Go to prayer to heal your sorrow 
 And it will not be to-morrow. 
 
 ONE WHO HAS KNOWN. 
 
 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 loveliness. 
 Then he looked abroad over the many beautiful things he 
 had called into being, and said, "Yet will I fashion one more 
 wonder of nature, more instructive to the soul of man than 
 all others one that shall be an enduring monument of my 
 greatness, and 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.
 
 TABLE KOCK ALBUM. 53 
 
 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. 
 
 Boast not thyself, though God hath set 
 
 His seal of glory on thee now ; 
 For He shall veil thy glory yet, 
 
 And take the rainbow from thy brow. 
 
 Thou, thou 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. 
 
 I have just returned from under the great sheet of water; 
 and here record it as my deliberate opinion and opinion is 
 every thing 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 Almighty is heard rebuking the vain and 
 frivolous ribaldry so often uttered here. Bow thyself, son 
 of man, before Him whose wisdom ordained, and whose provi- 
 dence sustains the wonders which surround thee. Yea, bow 
 thyself to the dust, and whilst thou admirest the creature, 
 adore the Creator. 
 
 ELIZA.
 
 54 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 
 
 Could I feel secure that ray life would endure, 
 Right over the Falls I would go. 
 
 L. 
 
 Of this I feel sure, that the journey would cure 
 Any pain you might have in your toe. 
 
 O. 
 
 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 upon the sublime genius and melan- 
 choly fate of Sam Patch! 
 
 Q. 
 
 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 ; 
 When the writhing shark, by his form so dark, 
 
 Is seen mid the rushing spray, 
 So I like the sleet of the water sheet 
 
 Of the grand Niagaray! 
 
 JOHN B. SCHUNK. 
 
 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. 
 
 ANNOTATOK. 
 
 O, but you have something very sublime in yours, so you 
 may go up to the head. 
 
 DOMINIE.
 
 TABLE KOCK ALBUM. 55 
 
 -3 
 
 This is a great fishing place; but there are more Sharks 
 than mackerel. 
 
 J. B. S. 
 
 And more gudgeons than either. 
 
 G.M. 
 
 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 on that point, as he cannot understand what is meant by 
 worship at all. The very fact of the Falls being visible, suffi- 
 ciently shows that they are not an object of rational worship. 
 One of the reasons for worshiping God is his being invisible. 
 
 X. 
 
 Loud roars the waters, O, 
 
 Loud roars the waters, 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 fall herself. 
 
 CRANK. 
 
 O what ^ fall was there, my countrymen ! Shalcspeare. 
 
 CLINK. 
 
 God ! David has said of Thee, " Qui respicit in terram et 
 facit cam tremere, gui tangit monies et fumigant" Here thy 
 mighty power shakes the rocks themselves, and the very 
 depths of the waters smoke. 0, THOU art mighty every 
 where, but terribly so at Niagara.
 
 56 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 
 
 Who that has not heard this thundering roar 
 Can be elsewhere a thundering bore? 
 
 M. C. 
 
 Frivolity and lightness appear to me altogether out of place, 
 totally uncongenial to this scene of awful grandeur. While 
 the voice of the great Creator of the universe is proclaiming 
 his matchless power, while Niagara is giving testimony 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 crea- 
 tures. Let us not, then, provoke the anger and just punish- 
 ment of Him at whose bidding these mighty waters flow at 
 whose command they will cease their roaring, and at whose 
 will we also move and live. Man weak, finite man, may 
 laugh and trifle ; but the day of retribution will surely come. 
 Let it not be said that we have seen NIAGARA in vain. 
 
 Philadelphia, 1th mo., 31, 1838. 
 
 Here, when thy feet all climes have trod, 
 
 See 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 15, 1838. 
 
 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 't was best, 
 
 She thought, to travel to the West; 
 
 So after many arguments and brawls, 
 
 She brought me, no/ens, volens, to the FALLS. 
 
 "A man convinced against his will, 
 
 Is of the same opinion still ; " 
 
 As Butler says though 't is the wit 
 
 More than the sense that I admit ;
 
 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 57 
 
 For I came here to end the strife 
 
 Between myself and my good wife. 
 
 Well, after staying here 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 trade. 
 
 The first, he was an Irishman ; 
 
 The second was a Scot; 
 
 The third was an American; 
 
 The fourth I know not what; 
 
 The fifth was a Canadian 
 
 Their names I will not tell: 
 
 But their remarks upon the Falls 
 
 I still remember well: 
 
 "O Vanagher, you're surely bate, 
 
 For on my soul they 're mighty nate." (Pat.) 
 
 "I 'am no that sorry I cam' here, 
 
 But by my sooth that public's dear; 
 
 So when I've written doon my name, 
 
 I '11 tak' my boondle an' gang name." (Sawney.) 
 
 " Them Falls I 've seen from every quarter, 
 
 And judge them but a waste of water." (Jonathan.) 
 
 " Ce 'st grande, superbe' ma foi, 
 
 Magnifique 0, by Gar ! ver pretty ! (Jean Baptiste.) 
 
 At morn the rising God of day 
 Unveils this temple to our eyes 
 Incense ascending to the skies 
 
 Bids man his grateful homage pay 
 
 To God, at whose supreme command 
 The waters war, and dash, and leap, 
 And, thundering down this awful steep, 
 
 Whirl furiously along the strand 
 
 Below 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.
 
 58 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 
 
 Roll on, Niagara, for ever roll 
 You look so GRAND and yet so droll! 
 
 EMPHATIC. 
 
 I can compare these Falls to nothing in this world ; there- 
 fore as I have never seen the world to come, and have no lan- 
 guage to express my feelings, I leave the subject in the hands 
 of ETERNITY. 
 
 ROBERT WALLACE, Kentucky. 
 
 Fall on, fall on, ye mighty Falls 
 I 'm going now to make my calls ; 
 When I come back I hope I will 
 Just find you falling, falling still. 
 
 S. 
 
 But lest you lose your chance, my friend, 
 You 'd better stay and see the end ; 
 Lake Erie's "packing up her awls " 
 Perhaps she may discharge the Falls. 
 
 M. 
 
 
 
 The Falls make a noise ! nothing is louder, 
 And their spray sparkles so like a good soda powder! 
 
 SQUIRE JONES. 
 
 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 MARV. 
 
 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.
 
 TABLE EOCK ALBUM. 59 
 
 TO THE ATHEIST. 
 
 Almighty God! 
 
 The waters sing to Thee in awful praise; 
 Their mighty voice, in bursting thunder says, 
 
 " Believe in God ! " 
 
 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 his work in vain ; 
 God is his own interpreter, 
 And he will make it plain. 
 
 JOHN SMYTH, 
 Land Agent, L. L. D. and P. L. 
 
 Poetic Smyth, the Muse's favored child, 
 Thou prince of rail-roads, seller of lands wild ! 
 Idol of women handsomest of men 
 'T is nature speaks by thy poetic pen. 
 Canadians, round his brow the laurels twine, 
 And wreathe a chaplet worthy of his shrine. 
 A few short years, when Smyth will be no more 
 His fame will reach the trans- Atlantic shore.f 
 
 MART. 
 
 * The writer of the above says the scene at the Falls reminded hii>. 
 of a total eclipse of the sun which he had seen in Georgia. Though 
 the links of the chain of association are certainly not very perceptible, 
 the Editor of this compilation, having no sympathy with the ribald 
 jester who attempts to turn his seriousness into ridicule, has purposely 
 left the witticism on his senses, which is played off in the Album, 
 under a "total eclipse." 
 
 t The latter part of Mary's prophesy has been already fulfilled, as 
 may be seen by consulting Captain Marryatt's book on America.
 
 60 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 
 
 Of all the roaring, pouring, 
 
 Spraying streams that dash, 
 Niagara is number one 
 
 All to eternal smash f 
 
 JEFFERSON BRAGG. 
 
 Niagara, it has been sung, 
 
 Can speak so loud without a tongue, 
 
 You hear its voice a mile hence; 
 But I a greater wonder know 
 A pretty woman, who, although 
 
 She has a tongue, keeps silence/ 
 
 E. J. II. 
 
 
 
 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 superior power in the work of crea- 
 tion, when Jupiter built Olympus to frighten the world with 
 his thunder; Pluto set fire to Mount Etna; and Neptune, with 
 a dash of his trident, made the CATARACT OF NIAGARA ! 
 
 W. A. STEVENS, 
 
 Esqmsing, 11. C. 
 
 These are Thy works, God ! Let man approach 
 With cautious reverence, and behold and wonder, 
 And with protbundest awe adore and worship Thee. 
 Ten thousand thunders in the rolling flood 
 Send forth their peal in deep-toned harmony, 
 Sounding their anthem 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., 
 
 New York. 
 
 
 
 You 'd better dose your eyes not eye your clothes.
 
 TABLE KOCK ALBUM. Cl 
 
 See Niagara's torrent pour over the height, 
 How rapid the stream ! how majestic the flood 
 
 Rolls on, and descends in the strength of his might, 
 As a monstrous great frog leaps into the mud! 
 
 Then, see, o'er the waters, in beauty divine, 
 The rainbow arising, to gild the profound 
 
 The Iris, in which all the colors combine, 
 
 Like the yellow and red in a calico " gownd!" 
 
 How splendid that rainbow ! how grand is the glare 
 Of the sun through the mist, as it fervently glows, 
 
 When the spray with its moisture besprinkles the ah* 
 As an old washerwoman besprinkles her clothes! 
 
 Then, see, 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 flour! 
 
 The roar of the waters ! sublime is the sound 
 Which forever is heard from the cataract's steep ! 
 
 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 tall towering pine, 
 When plunged o'er the steep with a crack and a roar, 
 
 Are dashed into atoms to fragments as fine 
 
 As a pipe when 'tis thrown on a hard marble floor ! 
 
 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 be likely to fracture his "trowsersf" 
 
 JOHN G. SAXE. 
 
 If Lovers' Leaps were now the fashion, 
 
 As they were in days of yore, 
 Oh what a place to drown the passiou 
 
 In Niagara's foaming roar. 
 
 W. A. STEVENS.
 
 TABLE EOCK ALBUM. 
 
 Niagara's tide is pouring, 
 
 Swift 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. 
 
 Rare beauty there is glowing, 
 When glittering sunbeams play, 
 
 The rainbow tints bestowing, 
 Upon the rising spray. 
 
 Not in the mighty thunder, 
 
 Not in the whirlpool's sound, 
 Not in the cataract's foaming fall, 
 
 Will God be always found: 
 
 But in the still small voice 
 
 That speaks to man for aye, 
 Tn silence and in solitude, 
 
 And in the rainbow's ray. 
 
 And here where Niagara roars, 
 This beauteous bow is placed 
 
 Here may the finger of our God, 
 In loveliness be traced. 
 
 Liz. 
 
 "In the year 1836 the names of 30,000 persons were reg- 
 istered 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. 
 
 JOB THORNBURY, England.
 
 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 63 
 
 " This world is all a fleeting show, 
 - For man's illusion given ;" 
 But all who visit here must know, 
 Niagara is of heaven. 
 
 J. R. H. 
 
 We read that in heaven there is no material sun and no ma- 
 terial moon; but J. R. H. seems to intimate that there is a 
 material water -fall! Verily, the "wisdom of the world" is 
 now confounding the " things that are mighty." 
 
 "Tis first a little disappointment, 
 
 And next a little wonder; 
 Then plenty of aquatic ointment, 
 
 And awful lots of thunder ! 
 
 OH!! 
 
 As we see it now, can we describe our feelings ? What 
 then must have been the emotions with which the wild unciv- 
 ilized 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 looks like mockery to see the houses, and the green para- 
 sols of fashionable ladies, among these primeval rocks. Yet 
 even these do not entirely break the enchantment, nor dissi- 
 pate the consciousness that here you are nearer to God than 
 
 in the crowded city. 
 
 
 
 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" 
 'T is truth indeed that you are crack'd ; 
 That you 're a Bard is poetry, 
 Or in plain prose, an arrant lie. 
 
 No BARD.
 
 64 TABLE EOCK ALBUM. 
 
 This spot was not created; it was left by the Creator when 
 he called other things to order, to show men of what rude 
 materials he formed our fair world. 
 
 D. R. 
 
 " The hell of waters." Byron. 
 
 Roar, rage and foam, Niagara, 
 
 We mark thy waters hurled 
 From off thy giddy summit 
 
 Thou wonder of the world. 
 
 Let sceptics doubt a Deity, 
 
 But in their proud 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 thy matchless glory, 
 O Niagara! For should they strike the harp, and tune the 
 lyre to notes of sweetest music, they could not weave a song 
 of numbers true as those which thou hast sung ever since 
 darkness was dispelled from off the face of -the waters. One 
 ceaseless hymn to nature's God, since earth first owned his 
 power, hast thou been singing not in language such as mor- 
 tals frame, but in a voice that speaks louder than thunder 
 from the angry sky, telling to all that nature has a Qod to 
 whom, in presence of this, his grandest work, in humble rev- 
 erence I submissively bow. 
 
 J. M. SMITH, Jr. 
 
 
 Land of my birth ! land of the " stripes and stars ! " 
 
 Studious of peace, victorious in thy wars ! 
 
 How has my bosom swelled with patriot pride, 
 
 To think no rival could thy fame divide. 
 
 Oft as I've climb'd thy summit's loftiest mounts, 
 
 And traced thy mightiest rivers to their founts, 
 
 Or braved the fury of thy inland waves, 
 
 Or sought the depths of thy capacious caves 
 
 How has my heart exclaimed, "Land of the free, 
 
 What matchless wonders centre all in thee I "
 
 TABLE EOCK ALBUM. 65 
 
 With thoughts like these I sought these Western shores, 
 
 Where Niagara's stream its current pours. 
 
 I passed the rapids to the Isle of Goats,* 
 
 (But saw no creature save the cows and shoats;\ 
 
 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 '11 find it but an awkward mess. 
 When I do write there is none 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 I can, why should not I ? 
 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 '11 do as others do I '11 borrow. 
 
 KB. 
 
 My wife and I went round the Falls ; 
 
 My wife and I -came back again; 
 My wife and I went up the hill; 
 
 And only think we felt no pain! 
 
 The Falls are all I fancied them; 
 
 But 0, they are not mine; 
 And if they were I 'd wish them then, 
 
 Not what they are but wine. 
 
 * Goat Island, 
 t Pigs of a certain age. 
 3*
 
 66 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 
 
 Sit by this roaring surge, 
 
 Thou whom scorn wasteth; 
 And let thy_ musings be 
 
 Where the Flood hasteth. 
 Mark, on its troubled breast, 
 Rolls the white billows' crest: 
 So deem his thoughts unrest, 
 Who of love tasteth. 
 
 Smile thou, greatly wise; 
 
 And if fate sever 
 Bonds which the 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. 
 
 A. H. 
 
 The effect produced upon the mind by gazing on this 
 mighty avalanche of waters is the reverse of those exhila- 
 rating emotions which we experience in studying the quiet 
 beauties of a sparkling cascade, which charms the ear and 
 soothes the heart with its light tones of music. Our feelings 
 partake of grandeur and sublimity, as we behold these mad- 
 dened wafers 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 rain bow- beauty in the smoke, 
 
 Where crystal waters dash. 
 
 ALETHES. 
 
 Beauty and sublimity twin sisters, rocked on the bosom 
 of terror!
 
 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 67 
 
 If I were annoyed with a termagant wife, 
 Whose tongue was the bane of try every-day life, 
 To try to get rid t>f her pestilent clatter, 
 I 'd live on the brink of this great fall of water. 
 
 SOCRATES. 
 
 I came a long, long way to see 
 
 This mighty sheet of water ; 
 And wish that I could only be 
 
 At home with wife and daughter. 
 
 THOMAS P. HUNT, M. D., 
 
 North Carolina. 
 
 Well, now, I swow, if Niagara aint a little bit the darndest 
 place that ever I seen. Perhaps, stranger, you 've never been 
 to old Kentuck. If you haint, just allow me to tell you, in the 
 most delicate. way in the world, that that ere place beats all 
 natur for steamboats and alligators : but I '11 be teetotaPd, if 
 it would n't be rather a skittish affair 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 
 waters of Erie tumble into Lake Ontario, might convince 
 any philosophical mind that this is an excellent place for 
 Carding Machinery ! 
 
 ZlNDENDORF. 
 
 Tell them I AM, Jehovah said : 
 Niagara's watersjheard with dread, 
 
 And smitten to the heart, 
 At once, above, beneath, around, 
 The Cataract, in thundering sound, 
 Replied "0 Lord, THOU ART!" 
 
 Jos. H. PATTEN, 
 
 New York.
 
 68 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 
 
 Thank you most to death, sir; I've got my money's worth 
 of cold water. I rather guess it would take a " considerable " 
 long-winded chap to stand twenty-fowr hours on TERMINATION 
 ROCK. 
 
 S. 
 
 Roll on, Niagara, thou mighty cataract, 
 Magnificent memento of the power of God! 
 Thy changeless song of praise commenced with time, 
 And will continue to eternity. 
 
 On this, the morning that commemorates 
 
 The resurrection 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 cliff, and, astonished, gazed round, 
 Saw the waters rush o'er, and heard them rebound' 
 And I thought, if my love should slip and fall so, 
 She might tumble alone, for / would n't go. 
 
 G. 
 July 30, 1837. 
 
 I stare with wonder, and alas ! 
 
 How bad a body feels, 
 To think how difficult this pass 
 
 To emigrating eels ! 
 
 My thoughts are strange, sublime and deep, 
 
 As I look up to thee 
 What a glorious place for washing sheep 
 
 Niagara would be ! 
 
 Away, ye blockheads, to a grammar-school, 
 And learn to write, spell, scan and parse, by rule ; 
 Scratch then your heads, and scratch your doggerel verse: 
 It may, perhaps, be better can't be worse.
 
 TABLE HOCK ALBUM. 69 
 
 All ye perturbed souls, that go, 
 With restless footsteps to and fro, 
 Running here, and scudding there, 
 Backward, forward, everywhere 
 Ye who haste, in double time, 
 From every region, every clime, 
 Hold, one moment pray ye, stay, 
 And harken what I 've got to say : 
 
 Restless spirits, tranquil sleep, 
 
 Invade not ye my sacred keep; 
 
 Come not to Niagara Fall, 
 
 To scribble nonsense, scratch and scrawl. 
 
 Go, your footsteps trespass, rude, 
 
 On my awful solitude 
 
 Go, ye little reptiles vain, 
 
 Go, and get ye home again. 
 
 THE SPIRIT OF THE WATERS. 
 
 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 '11 tell you then to meet it unprepared. 
 
 J. HALL, 
 Weymouth, England. 
 
 Let no one think 'tis waste of time 
 
 To view this waste of waters 
 The scene is all alike sublime 
 
 To Poets and "Bog-trotters." 
 
 A. B. 
 
 I am thankful that I have been permitted to view from this 
 spot the place where it has been truly and beautifully said, 
 "the Almighty notches his centuries in the eternal rocks." 
 
 W. F. D. HOT.
 
 70 TABLE EOCK ALBUM. 
 
 A name! a bubble whence came it? Whither gone? 
 Like the rush of water which hurrieth to the precipice's 
 edge 't is forever gone forgotten ! Thus is it with man 
 a worm, an atom of life's nothingness. 
 
 If you should deem sublimity in water, 
 Just take a view from here, and spend a quarter. 
 
 BAR-TENDER. 
 
 Built by the golden sun, by day, 
 And by the silvery moon, by night, 
 
 Is seen, amid the torrent's spray, 
 An everlasting rainbow's light, 
 
 Serene above the cataract's rage, 
 
 Cheering the storm it can't assuage. 
 
 Why are the Falls like a woman? Because they are 
 always making a noise. 
 
 SILENT MAN. 
 
 What would have been the effect upon the eloquence of 
 Demosthenes, had he climbed the rugged steep of Niagara, 
 gathered pebbles from its torrent-washed shores, and tried to 
 raise his voice above the roar of the cataract ? 
 
 ZENO. 
 
 In all likelihood he would have torn his pantaloons, and 
 taken a devilish cold. 
 
 VELL, VOT OF IT. 
 
 Ages on ages Niagara has been pouring 
 
 Its deep green waters o'er the ledge's brink ' r 
 
 Ages and ages more it may keep roaring 
 A measureless and mighty mass of drink!
 
 TABLE BOOK ALBUM. 71 
 
 
 
 Beautiful, sublime and glorious, 
 
 Wild, majestic, foaming, free 
 Over time itself victorious - 
 
 Image of eternity. 
 
 J. F. C. 
 
 Lo! dey come, de peoples, much 
 
 De French, de Anglais, Yankee, Dutch 
 
 Lo! dey come, and here dey view 
 
 De vorld of vaters not a few. 
 
 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 vord. 
 
 Ma foi, indeed, I link my verse 
 
 De best I 'm sure 't is not the worst. 
 
 FRANCOIS. 
 
 Look up to where the mist arises, 
 And see where God himself baptizes! 
 
 LYDIA. 
 
 Free ! ay, as air,* V 
 
 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. 
 
 Of the two men who live off this spot, 
 
 Mr. Barnett is the best, I ween ; 
 Let strangers come here, and purchase a lot 
 
 Of curiosities here to be seen : 
 His museum is good, the birds are well stuffed, 
 
 As the pockets should be that come here ; 
 His prices are low, so you cannot be huffed, 
 
 And you do n't see him once in a year. 
 
 J. W. 0. 
 
 * Not free from rheumatism, however.
 
 72 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 
 
 The morn was fair, the skies were clear, as we stood upon 
 the Rock four distinguished gentlemen from Texas; and 
 nothing was to be seen in the blue vault of heaven, save 
 one little, fleeting cloud, that floated over the azure space, 
 and looked like some wandering angel's bed-quilt hung out 
 to dry. 
 
 Probably angels' "bed-quilts" are peculiar to the region 
 of Texas. We in Canada have no conception of such things. 
 
 Why should you, when there are no "angels" in it? 
 Are angels peculiar to Texas? 
 "Guess" not they would not stay long. 
 
 Well, but they might stop one night by the way, and would 
 therefore want a "bed-quilt" the SHEET is always ready here 
 when they come. 
 
 No, it is n't either, because it is never dry. 
 
 If they want dry sheets, they had better bring them in 
 their trunks. 
 
 Angels are not elephants, you goose ; they do n't carry 
 trunks. 
 
 Elephants do n't carry sheets in their trunks, either. 
 No, nor do you carry brains in your head. 
 Nor you any where else. 
 
 The wonder of the world, and a world of wonder. 
 
 SAM. 
 
 DISCOVERY OF TERMINATION ROCK 
 
 A young salmon, one day, 
 
 To his mother did say, 
 "I should very much like a nice leap through the spray." 
 
 The Old lady said, "Why, 
 
 If you like you may try ; 
 But I guess that the jump will be found rather high."
 
 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 7 
 
 Then she just took a peep, 
 
 But thought it too deep; 
 " No, no," said mamma, " Catch a weasel asleep 
 
 Mind, child, if you go 
 
 To the regions below, 
 What will become of you then I do n't know." 
 
 But the young fish, so wise, 
 
 Did its mother despise, 
 And being adventurous straightforward tries. 
 
 Soon it fell from the edge, 
 
 And got dashed on a ledge, 
 Whence an Indian to bring it back soon gave a pledge. 
 
 The Indian so brave 
 
 His pledged honor to save, 
 Found a path by the rock out of reach of the wave ; 
 
 Through spray and through squall, 
 
 He returned fish and all; 
 And he was the first that went under the Fall. 
 
 Mr. Forsyth then came, 
 
 And went under the same, 
 And thus to posterity handing his name. 
 
 What after befell, 
 
 The guides best can tell 
 /went, with my wife; and we both liked it well! 
 
 H. SYLVESTER, 
 Vicarage, Buckingham, Englo.nd. 
 October 24, 1839. 
 
 I stand upon Niagara's dizzy heights, 
 Gazing far down into the fearful gulf, 
 And listening to the sleepless melody, 
 That never tires, but still keeps booming on, 
 Deep echoing to the eternal praise of God. 
 Trembling behind the flowing drapery 
 Of mist, I stoop, and list unearthly sounds 
 Kinging all round, above me and beneath. 
 God, thou art present with me, and the voice 
 Is thine that whispers me " Beware." 
 
 G.M. 
 
 Niagara, Oct, 1839. 
 4
 
 74 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 
 
 L t 
 
 Niagara, can words express 
 
 Thy wondrous majesty ? 
 Great Queen of floods enrobed in clouds 
 
 Thou emblem of eternity. 
 
 I 've stood upon thy trembling shore 
 
 At dead of night, and heard 
 The mighty thunder of thy roar, 
 
 While earth itself has stirred. 
 
 ft 
 
 I Ve seen thy gulf when silvered o'er, 
 
 Beneath the moon-lit sky, 
 While wreaths of spray resemblance bore 
 
 To phantoms floating by ; 
 
 & 
 And I have gazed upon thy bow 
 
 That bridge of colored light, 
 On which our fancies heaven- ward go, 
 In visions of delight 
 
 J. G. H. 
 October 17, 1846. 
 
 I have been to " Termination Rock," 
 
 Where many have been before ; 
 But as I can 't describe the scene, 
 
 I won 't say any more. 
 
 H. STLVESTEK. 
 
 If you cannot describe the scene 
 Which all should much deplore 
 Inferior bards should drop their pens 
 Their verse would be a bore. 
 
 I'll climb the mountain tops, 
 
 And there I '11 guage the weather; 
 
 I '11 wrench the rainbow from the clouds, 
 And tie both ends together. 
 
 C. 0. B.
 
 TABLE KOCK ALBUM. 75 
 
 Hoch, sirs, but its an awfu' place this its waur and wilder 
 than the Clauchan of Abufayle, only there are nae breekless 
 Hielanders about it Ma conscience ! If Helen McGregor 
 would 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. Gude save us ! but it gars me grue to think o' that 
 fearsome limmer in connection wi' this fearsome gulf. 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, I dinna 
 mak' the least doubt that she could wi' a crook o' her mou' 
 get up a hale army o' Hieland savages to rise up out o' thae 
 wuds to drive them ower. What would my faither, the Dea- 
 con, hae thocht if he ever could ha'e jaloused that I should 
 daun'er sae far frae the saut market, and come amang wild 
 Indians, waur even than Hielanders, only that their clans come 
 farther down ower their hurdies, and in especial, among fouk 
 ca'in themselves civileezed, whae charge sae muckle for their 
 victual and drink. 
 
 NICOL JARVIE. . 
 
 Here speaks the voice of God let man be dumb, 
 Nor with his vain aspirings hither come. 
 That voice impels the hollow-sounding floods, 
 And like a Presence, fills the distant woods. 
 These groaning rocks the Almighty's finger piled; 
 For ages here his painted bow has smiled, 
 Mocking the changes and the chance of time 
 Eternal, beautiful, serene, sublime! 
 
 WILLIS GATLORD CLARK. 
 
 Down the steep an ocean pours, 
 Loud the rushing water roars. 
 Oh, how shadowy were the way, 
 If 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.
 
 76 TABLE BOCK ALBUM. 
 
 Here fools from all lands take of gazing their fill, 
 In wonder that water will run down a hill. 
 
 CYRUS. 
 
 The wealth of Croesus might 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 your muse is not swimming in grog? 
 
 SIB WALTER SCOTT. 
 
 He 's a gomeril, that Smyth a pure feckless body 
 Wha the de'il can write poetry wha canna drink toddy ? 
 What a pour o' Glenlivit an ocean and mair 
 It would tak' to mjx up that cauld water down there ! 
 
 ETTRICK SHEPHERD. 
 
 Hermoso Niagara ! yo te saludo. 
 
 Look, look up; the spray is dashing, 
 
 Roaring waters foam and sweep, 
 O'er your head the torrent dashing, 
 
 Hurls its grandeur down the steep. 
 0, mortal man beneath such splendors, 
 
 How trifling, mean, and vain, and poor! 
 Prepare, then, sinner, to surrender 
 
 All thoughts unhallowed and impure. 
 Terrific 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!
 
 
 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 77 
 
 I would recommend every visitor to go behind the " Great 
 Sheet of Water" to "Termination Rock." I have not been 
 there myself, but from all accounts, it must be a "tarnation 
 cute" place. 
 
 T. C. TOPPER, 
 
 October 26, 1839. Miaissipi. 
 
 At this season of the year, I should advise the visitors to 
 go under the blankets; which would be quite as likely a way 
 to show their "cuteness." 
 
 Niagara falls, Septonber 21, 1849. 
 MY DEAR MOTHER: 
 
 I guess this river is the wrathiest, go-ahead, hand-over- 
 hand, frothiest bit of water I ever seen. The waves comes 
 streakin, one arter another, like gals out of a meetin house, 
 when the preachin 's over; and keeps churnin about till they 
 liker turns to milk, but somehow the milk wont turn to butter 
 in summer, though it do look creamish. Squire Barnett, who 
 lives here, ses he gits it up in winter, and sells it out in pur- 
 spirin times for ice-cream ; but may I swallow a hookin ox if 
 I believe him. Sich a noise as it makes I never heerd tell on. 
 It beats high-preshure ingines bustin their bilers. I can't 
 kalkilate how many hos-power this stream is; but I rayther 
 think, that if Ohio was hitched to one eend of an everlastin 
 tuff chain, and this here Niagara to t' other, that the state 
 would come over the Falls as easy as a nightcap over a walk- 
 ing stick. And then, what they call spray (we say rain, on 
 our side) keeps fallin and fallin, till a feller gets as wet as the 
 inside of a whiskey barl. Folks think nothin of it here I 
 spose it saves washin ; it do n't save ironin though, for I seen 
 two gals go down the starcase with gownds as stiff and pussy 
 as a turkey-rooster ; and when they kern back agin you could n't 
 have told 'em from mermaids. 
 
 There is a place under the water called " Tarmination 
 Rock," which they wanted me to see; but as the ticket for 
 a dive were a dollar, and my name was n't Sam Patch, I guv 
 Jim Lane fifty cents to take the job off my hands. Well, he 
 went into a leetle room, while I was a lookin at some puter- 
 factions, kristals, and other scientific things a gal was explainin
 
 78 TABLE KOCK ALBUM. 
 
 to me, when a feller comes behind me, and guv me a bump on 
 the back as hard as a calf suckin a dry cow, and hollers out, 
 "Here I are, booked for Tarmination ; " and there was Jim, 
 sure enuf, with such an out-of-the-land coat and hat on, that 
 I 'd a taken him for a riglar built furrener. But Jim felt as 
 fine as a pig with a sweet apple in his mouth, and went a turnin 
 round and round, with his coat tails flappin round his head 
 till I felt red all over lest the gal should see him. I thought 
 Jim did n't know his trowsers were wore out from settin on 
 stones, or sich like, so ses I, "Jim, you 'd better go under at 
 oncet, and kiver yourself up from the peak eend of your nose 
 to the hole in your under kiverins." With that, Jim claps his 
 hands behind him, and warket himself down the starcase, as 
 strate as a corkskrew into a cider bottle he follerin on a guide, 
 and I a follerin on him. But we 'd not gone fur, when it blue 
 so screechin hard, and rained so slantindiklarly, that I made 
 tracks up stairs agin, and found a hull congregation of men 
 and weemin ritin thar names in books, and makin poetry on 
 the fall. They was all sniggerin when I fust went in; but 
 arter a leetle one on 'em comes up to me, as smilin as a 
 munkey when it's done scratchin, and says she, "You are a 
 smart chap, and I see by the rooster of your eye, you 're a 
 poetizer. So now du rite us some verses, and I '11 get 'em sot 
 to musik, and sing 'em for you." 
 
 The water had taken eeny most all the ambition out of me, 
 but when I seen 'em all lookin at me, my dander got up, and 
 down I sot, and rote her this : 
 
 When I cum here, I felt so queer 
 
 To see the water pourin, 
 I riz my eyes up to the skies, 
 
 And felt myself a soarin. 
 
 But when I got near out of site, 
 
 I heerd a gal a callin, 
 And turned about when she did shout, 
 
 And listened to her squallin. 
 
 Ses she, "Dear sir, I know you are 
 
 A clever poetizer ; 
 Rite me a line now most divine, 
 
 Nor look away so shy, sir."
 
 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 79 
 
 Now here it is, and for a kiss, 
 
 I '11 write you sich another 
 Ses she, "You'll wait until you get 
 
 The leave of aunt and mother." 
 
 She kept lookin over and talkin at me with her eyes, and 
 sometimes she 'd say something tu ; and when I 'd dun, I felt 
 as proud as a gardner's dog with a collyflower tied to his tail; 
 and they was a complimentin me, and I was a bowin to the 
 ladies, when Jim comes up the miserablest critter that ever 
 got out of a mill-pond. He sed, he 'd been skeert eeny most 
 to death, and thought his pipe was out for etarnity. The 
 weemin haw-hawd at him till he slipped away to change his- 
 self; and arter that, we went to the hotel whar I am writin 
 this, which Squire Barnett will forrerd by fust passenger to 
 our place. I '11 be to hum soon, and n'tch some curositys 
 along with me. 
 
 Your dutiful son, 
 
 JAKE SLICKERSHIX. 
 
 MRS. SLICKERSHIN, ? 
 
 Slicker thin Holler, Ohio. J 
 
 Squire Barnett will obleege Jake Slickershin, whot bot a 
 puterfaction of him, if he'll give this here to the fust passen- 
 ger to Slickershin Holler; and if none offer but Quakers, he'd 
 best keep a koppy to send by other conveyance. 
 
 Should the British Lion ever come to the Falls of Niagara, 
 he will thero see the proud eagle of American Liberty sitting 
 in his majesty ; and will go roaming down that mighty cata- 
 ract in despair. 
 
 If the American Eagle comes to the British side of the 
 Falls, that same old Lion will pluck his feathers, and compel 
 him to take shelter behind a cotton bale. 
 
 Farewell, Niagara may thy mighty waters roll on till time. 
 is no more, that man may learn how insignificant arc all his 
 works compared with those of the Almighty. 
 
 B. P. W.
 
 80 ABLE ROCK ALBUM. 
 
 Hail ! Sovereign of the World of Floods, whose majesty and 
 
 might 
 
 First dazzles, then enraptures, then o'eraws the aching sight, 
 The pomp of kings and emperors, in every clime and zone, 
 Grows dim beneath the splendors of thy glorious watery throne. 
 
 No fleets can stop thy progress no armies bid thee stay ; 
 But onward, onward, onward, thy march still holds its way; 
 The rising mist that veils thee, as thine herald goes before, 
 And the music that proclaims thee, is the thundering cataract's 
 
 Thy diadem is an emerald green, of the clearest, purest hue, 
 Set round with waves of snow-white foam and spray of feathery 
 
 dew; 
 
 While tresses of the brightest pearls float o'er thy ample sheet, 
 And the rainbow lays its gorgeous 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 : 
 The sun, the moon, and all the orbs that shine upon thee now, 
 Saw the first wreath of glory that entwined thine infant brow. 
 
 And from that hour to this, in which I gaze upon thy stream, 
 From age to age, in winter's frost, or summers sultry beam, 
 By day, by night without a pause thy waves with loud ac- 
 claim, 
 
 In ceaseless sounds have still proclaimed the Great Eternal's 
 name. 
 
 For whether on thy forest-bank, the Indian of the wood, 
 
 Or 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 have bent before the God of All, to worship and adore. 
 
 Accept, then, Supremely Great! O Infinite! O God! 
 From this primeval altar the green and virgin sod 
 The humble homage that my soul in gratitude would pay 
 To Thee, whose shield has guarded me through all my wan- 
 dering way.
 
 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 81 
 
 For, if the ocean be as naught in the hollow of thine hand, 
 And the stars of the bright firmament, in thy balance, grains 
 
 of sand; 
 
 If Niagara's rolling flood seems great to us who lowly bow, 
 Oh! Great Creator of the Whole! how passing great art 
 
 Thou! 
 
 Yet, though thy power is far more vast than finite man can 
 
 scan, 
 
 More boundless is thy mercy shown to weak dependent man ; 
 For him Thou cloth'st the fertile fields, with herb, and fruit, 
 
 and seed; 
 For him the woods, the lakes, the sea, supply his hourly need. 
 
 Around, on high, or far or near, the Universal Whole 
 Proclaims thy glory, as the orbs in their fixed courses roll ; 
 And from Creation's grateful voice, the hymn ascends above, 
 While Heaven re-echoes back to earth, the chorus " God is 
 Love!" 
 
 J. S. BUCKINGHAM. 
 Clifton Hold, Niagara, July 23, 1840. 
 
 He who would immortalize his name 
 
 Jump from the Falls, mix with its thundering roar; 
 And his would be high on the list of fame 
 
 As any that would wish to soar. 
 
 J. BURKE. 
 
 Oh, Mr. " J. Burke," thou art a sad wag, I ween, 
 Suppose you try the trick yourself, and let posterity 
 Know how you felt afterwards. 
 
 Ad Niagara 
 Qui te audit beatus est ; 
 Beatior qui te vidit; 
 Sed qui te comprehendere posset 
 Beatissimus est. 
 
 A. D. J s. 
 
 July iGth, 1851.
 
 82 TABLE BOCK ALBUM. 
 
 " Enraptured with the view, I 'm lost 
 In wonder, love, and praise ! " 
 
 J. L. B. 
 
 Thy path is on the deep waters." 
 
 Thou of the universe, whose sovereign sway 
 
 Call'd light from darkness, and from night made day, 
 
 Alone presided o'er all nature's birth, 
 
 Gave ocean bounds, and energy to earth; 
 
 Sun, moon and stars, to each their place assigned, 
 
 Subject to laws, all perfect in their kind ; 
 
 Decked this gay world with foliage, flowers and fruit, 
 
 With various seasons as each clime best suit, 
 
 With mountain, valley, rivulet, rock, dell, 
 
 Lawn, meadow, lake, so wisely and so well. 
 
 All living creatures formed beneath the sky, 
 
 From the huge mammoth to the smallest fly ; 
 
 Birds, beasts, fish, insects everything below, 
 
 Life, instinct, being, to thy bounty owe; 
 
 Man, lord, and woman, loveliest of all, 
 
 The tempted still, since tempted first to fall ; 
 
 Emblem of hope o'er sorrow's darkening gloom, 
 
 Man's solace from the cradle to the tomb. 
 
 But viewing nature with admiring eye, 
 
 In all her charms, 'wood, landscape, ocean, sky, 
 
 While due proportion will in each appear, 
 
 While all is good, the master-piece is here. 
 
 Here where 'mid waters wild, and torrents hoarse, 
 
 Mighty Niagara rolls its rapid course, 
 
 Sublimely awful ! seeming, even now 
 
 An ocean flowing o'er a mountain's brow ; 
 
 So grand, and yet so fearful is the gaze, 
 
 No pen can paint, no tongue can tell its praise ; 
 
 While standing spell-bound, motionless, beside 
 
 Its ceaseless, changing, overwhelming tide, 
 
 The eye will see, the heart must feel how small 
 
 Is man compar'd with the first cause of all. 
 
 O may we learn, without the chastening rod, 
 
 Wondering at nature's scenes, to worship thee her Qod. 
 
 DOUGLAS STUART. 
 September 16, 1844.
 
 TABLE BOCK ALBUM. 83 
 
 Here is recorded the startling fact, 
 I have been beneath the Cataract; 
 Bid Niagara's fairest daughter 
 Bring me a glass of gin and water, 
 When half-seas over, fairly reeling, 
 I'll tell thee all about that feeling. 
 Talk not to me of feelings now, 
 But wipe the wild spray from my brow 
 And on the bridge the radiant bow, 
 A heaven above, a hell below, 
 We '11 speak of love, or fear, or sorrow, 
 To-morrow let it be to-morrow. 
 
 W. H M. M. 
 
 
 
 Oh, for the pen of Byron ! I 'm inspired 
 By a great the.me, and it is loftier, I know, 
 
 Than that which erst the "gloomy Harold" fired, 
 When singing of thy cataract, Velino! 
 
 Alas, my verses halt and blindly stagger, a- 
 
 Long 'neath their load, Oh, most sublime Niagara! 
 
 I am unequal to my task, yet feel 
 
 That I owe generous Mr. Barnett something. 
 
 For his kind cognizance of travelers' weal, 
 And tho' this way of paying is a rum thing, 
 
 I do it cheerfully, and hope this sample, 
 
 Will make all poets follow my example. 
 
 I 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 and conjuring up rhyme; 
 
 While gaping crowds stand by in stupid wonder 
 
 To see them almost split their skulls asunder. 
 
 Four stanzas are, I think, a dose sufficient ; 
 
 Read these ye would-be bards, and let me tell ye, 
 If ye would like to be in verse proficient, 
 
 I have the secret which I '11 cheaply sell ye ; 
 My price is fixed, I cannot from it vary, 
 
 Two shillings for my rhyming dictionary. 
 July 4, 1841.
 
 81 TABLE EOCK ALBUM. 
 
 Having visited the Rock, and received the best of attention 
 from the proprietor of Barnett's Museum, it is the wish of the 
 visitor, that he may be successful in accommodating those 
 other Hocks, which he so richly deserves by his earnest efforts 
 to promote the comfort of his visitors. 
 
 M. F. N. 
 
 May 8, 1850. 
 
 
 
 Etas aguas torrentosas, en su salto loco y atrevido, son l;i 
 simbdlica personificacion caracteristica del genio activo, in- 
 quieto y emprendador de los habitantes de los Etados Unidos. 
 
 M. RlVADENEYRA. 
 9 de Junto, de 1850. 
 
 The river, with its lashings, 
 
 Like a bosom full of fears, 
 Has a mist to hide its passions, 
 
 And a place to shed its tears. 
 
 The bow in beauty bending 
 
 So radiant in the skies, 
 Like a pretty maiden, lending 
 
 Love's flashes from her eyes. 
 
 The river and the bow 
 
 Form a varied scene, 
 Like our pleasures and our woe, 
 
 With a weeping seat between. 
 
 ALCIMUS MOUSE. 
 
 June 22d, 1850. 
 
 
 
 ' t ADDRESS TO NIAGARA FALLS. 
 
 Rush down, thou proud torrent of the mighty West, 
 Thy work is not done, thou mayest not yet rest ; . 
 There 's a home in the ocean for Erie's proud lake, 
 Her waves are in motion, thy power is at stake : 
 Dash down her proud waters with thunder and foam 
 Drive them into spray, until she goes to her home. 
 
 JAS. S. MAXSOJT. 
 Junt 28, 1850.
 
 TABLE BOCK ALBUM. 85 
 
 It is, indeed, the work of an Almighty hand, 
 Fearfully beautiful, inspiring grand! 
 
 ANON. 
 
 A'n't this a grand place for washing sheep ? 
 
 YANKEE. 
 
 Niagara Falls got up at immense cost, for the exhibition of 
 Nature, on a grand scale. 
 
 A STRANGER IN AMERICA. 
 
 THE LAST SONG OF TABLE ROCK. 
 
 The Rock fell June 28th, 1850 nearly the CENTRAL DAT of the CENTRAL YBAR 
 of this century. 
 
 "SERMONS IN STONES." 
 
 Give ear, oh world ! my hour is come ! 
 
 And I will speak a thunder word 
 Shall make the roaring torrent dumb, 
 
 And by the listening earth be heard. 
 
 My hour is come! I feel it now 
 In failing grasp and trembling knee, 
 
 And in the pressure on my brow, 
 And gathering drops of agony. 
 
 The angel waits ; and I must soon 
 
 A Titan leaping from the rock 
 Strike loud the century's passing noon, 
 
 As with an earthquake's reeling shock. 
 
 For this, I have in silence hung 
 
 For ages, waiting, watching, here ; 
 For this the cataract has sung 
 
 Its syren music in my ear. 
 
 "Why fear to plunge?" it ever said; 
 
 "'Tis bold, and beautiful, and free; 
 Oh! deep and soft my foamy bed 
 
 Come down, oh, Rock ! and dwell with me."
 
 86 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 
 
 A heart of stone, to such a song, 
 
 For ages harped, must yield at length ; 
 
 A grasp of flint may grapple long, 
 
 But crumbling age will steal its strength. 
 
 From Nature's birth, I heard the sound 
 Of falling waters creeping near, 
 
 And trembled at the shock profound 
 Of rocks that crashed from year to year. 
 
 At last, I saw Niagara's face, 
 
 Its bright archangel robe and crown, 
 
 And felt the breath and wild embrace 
 Of floods that strove to drag me down. 
 
 Still up I stood, a steadfast wall, 
 
 And held my forehead proud and high, 
 
 And shook with laughter at the Fall, 
 Until it slowly passed me by. 
 
 Ha ! ha ! I echoed back its roar, 
 
 And shivered "with a strange delight, 
 
 To think that Time could nevermore 
 So try again my rocky might. 
 
 And I grew happy in the sound 
 
 That vainly poured its tempting song, 
 
 And while, on wooded slopes around, 
 A thousand summers swept along. 
 
 And I was proud to bear the weight 
 Of Indian monarchs on my head, 
 
 And blest to feel the lovelier freight 
 Of maidens with their tender tread. 
 
 At last, there came the iron heels 
 Of those who fought the forest sons; 
 
 And later still, the grinding wheels 
 And angry roar of English guns. 
 
 A few years more, and all the wild 
 
 Grew tame with shapes of man's device 
 
 God's grandest temple was defiled 
 With haunts of Pride and Avarice.
 
 TABLE KOCK ALBUM. 87 
 
 And yet I joyed, that on my head 
 
 So many thousands came and went; 
 'T was good to hear their godlike tread, 
 
 Who mused of Love omnipotent. 
 
 And here they best could stoop and see 
 
 An emblem of the rust of Time 
 A symbol great of Deity 
 
 An image of the soul sublime. 
 
 And I ah ! who onn boast with me 
 
 The pressure of so many hands 
 The wise, the fair, the great, the free, 
 
 And pilgrims from a hundred lands. 
 
 But one there was, of lovely mold, 
 
 My willing brow of wreaths would rob ; 
 
 In vain for her, so sweet and bold, 
 My pulse a moment ceased to throb. 
 
 She heard the torrent's witching words 
 "Why fear to fall?" and with the spell, 
 
 As shining serpents charm the birds, 
 
 The torrent charmed she swooned and fell. 
 
 And one there was, who, in the night, 
 For grief and madness, sought my brink, 
 
 And leaped adown the fearful hight 
 No one but I beheld him sink. 
 
 Oh ! I could tell a thousand tales 
 
 Of life and death, of woe and mirth, 
 That now must sleep till God unveils 
 
 The secrets of the air and earth. 
 
 To-day, an angel o'er me stood 
 
 A messenger to cast me down; 
 To-day, the thunder of the flood 
 
 Took on a fierce and taunting tone. 
 
 "Why fear to fall?" it growled and-hiseed;' 
 
 "Will you endure my shaking hate, 
 The buffet of my furious mist, 
 
 Yet fear to dash me with your weight ?
 
 88 TABLE BOCK ALBUM. 
 
 "Why fear to plunge? the strongest fall, 
 And conquerors and empires sink; 
 
 The stars themselves shall perish all, 
 
 Like falling leaves ; and still you shrink. 
 
 " Why fear to drop ? at latest, soon 
 You must in earth's destruction melt; 
 
 Oh ! strike so loud the century's noon 
 It shall from star to star be felt ! " 
 
 I fear not, oh thou roaring tide ! 
 
 I dare the leap, the whirl, the shock ; 
 And now and now, to shame thy pride, 
 I come ! a Cataract of Rock ! 
 
 H. W. PARKER, 
 July 1st, 1850. Cayuga Lake. 
 
 TO THE SPIRIT OF THE CATARACT. 
 
 Beneath thy torrents, trembling in the spray, 
 
 I feel thy spirit, in the rushing foam; 
 And as the waters fiercely round me play, 
 
 It seems as if we had familiar grown. 
 Thy kiss, though rude, is fresh as dewy tears 
 
 Distilled from roseate clouds at twilight's hour; 
 I have no thought of earthly hopes or fears, 
 
 Within the embrace of thy majestic power. 
 
 BRITTON A. HIM. 
 
 Majestic monitor, thy ceaseless war 
 
 Thrills, like the accents of another sphere, 
 
 As fierce and fathomless thy waters pour 
 O'er rocks primeval, in their mad career, 
 
 Warning each step that o'er thy banks hath trod, 
 
 To look through nature up to nature's God. 
 
 W. W. ERAMOSA. 
 
 I look on the -Falls of Niagara in winter, as a liquid impres- 
 sion of Mount Blanc ! 
 
 B. B.
 
 TABLE BOCK ALBUM. 89 
 
 From Paris, Ky., I came for to see 
 
 Thy mighty falls, great Niagaree; 
 
 But too great are thy wonders for me to relate, 
 
 So I '11 hasten back to tell my sweet Kate. 
 
 J. W. C. 
 
 To render praise where praise is due, 
 Seek ye God's wondrous works to view; 
 Search the wide world thy travel done, 
 Speak! and point out the noblest one. 
 Almighty power! I bend in fear, 
 And own, thy mightiest work is here. 
 
 All hail, Niagara! thy deafening roar 
 
 Bespeaks thy great Creator's sovereign power; 
 
 Through thy great voice he tells his creatures here, 
 
 To view his mighty works, admire and fear, 
 
 The king supreme of heaven, and earth, and sky, 
 
 Who dwells in glorious majesty on high ! 
 
 W. E. B. 
 
 And so you Ve seen this mighty wonder ; 
 Heard its loud hydraulic thunder; 
 Like many another senseless calf, 
 Have doubtless scrawled your autograph ', 
 And now, Sirree, perhaps you '11 go 
 Down the river two miles or so 
 Cross the bridge, think it funny, 
 Walk your chalks, and pay your money. 
 
 R. V. D 
 
 He recorrido estas hermosas cataratas ; la una de lapte Yngle- 
 sa, la otra, de lapte, Americana ; une parece y. ambas se contem- 
 plan, se admiran y setemen, como las dos gdes Naciones, a q. 
 pertenecen ; j Plegue alcieto q. la desgraciada Mexico ; Megue 
 a tal altura de grandera y de poder, q. sea admirada y tcmida, 
 de su poderosa vecina! 
 
 M. MA. DE TRAZABAL. 
 4*
 
 90 TABLE ROCK ALBTTMT. 
 
 I have visited Niagara; and in the presence of the "Water- 
 Thunderer," I feel how weak is man, and how futile are his 
 efforts to describe the mighty Cataract. 1 am therefore dumb; 
 silence must now be more eloquent than words. One word 
 only would I say : I have visited the Falls at all hours ; I 
 have seen her misty veil shroud her solemn beauties in the 
 morning have beheld the glorious sun lend his bow and 
 stood by at even, when the last lingering glimpses of light 
 from the sunken sun hung over her with beauty; but to see 
 her rightly, you must view her by the pale moonlight. 
 
 K. S. 
 
 I Ve seen the Falls three times before, 
 And want to see them three times more, 
 Which is enough according to my mind, 
 And now I'm going to look at them behind. 
 
 JOHNNY. 
 J>dy 8lh, 1851. 
 
 NIAGARA'S AGE. 
 
 Thy long white beard proclaims how many lonely centuries 
 thou hast sat upon thy rocky throne, and held thy rainbow 
 sceptre in thy hand ; and yet age has not cracked thy voice or 
 rendered less tuneful one note of thy anthem; nor art thou 
 at all childish, although, in the fall of Table Rock, but a litBe 
 while ago, thou lost the greatest bump of thy rocky head, and 
 thy life currents seem to gush on as freely and as wildly as 
 when for the first time thou shook thy infant rattle or leaped 
 first into the abyss. 
 
 F. N. ZABRISKIE. 
 
 Great Jerusalem ! what a fall, 
 "Take my hat," I give you all. 
 
 H. J. H., Albany, JT. T. 
 
 Y para que todo sea admirable y grandiose en este pais de 
 libertad y de forodijio, se colocio tambien en el! Niagara 
 sublime! el supremo. Hacedor de la creacion. 
 
 B. MA E., Matanzas.
 
 TABLE EOCK ALBUM. 91 
 
 From Huron's pine clad shore, 
 From Superior's rocky strand, 
 Niagara's crested torrents pour, 
 Touched by the Eternal's hand. 
 God spake the waters into life 
 And bade their voices wild proclaim, 
 Above the petty din of human strife, 
 His dread omnipotence and fame. 
 
 JONAH J. MARVIN, Wis. 
 
 Tremendous torrent, foaming sheet, 
 Draw back thy veil, and let me greet 
 Thy awful face, I glad would know 
 And trace thy surges, whence they go; 
 Terrific waves a rumbling keep, 
 They leap and wash thy stony feet, 
 Then mount in watery mist on high, 
 And paint young rainbows on the sky. 
 Creation's dawn first lisped thy birth, 
 And sent thee echoing through the earth ; 
 Old ocean stole thy given name, 
 "Mother of Waters;" his theme again 
 Thy maddened waves may foam and roar, 
 May leap and dash, as in days of yore ; 
 Till time shall cease, thou shalt not wane, 
 But seemingly writhe on in pain. 
 
 A. L. C- 
 Aug. 1st, 1851. 
 
 Tupper,* where slept thy soul, that could not see 
 
 The highest grandeur in sublimity 
 
 In yon majestic works of power divine, 
 
 Chanting God's praise in thunder tones sublime? 
 
 Vain man thou canst not justly speak its praise, 
 
 In silent wonder reverently gaze ! 
 
 And humbly bow unto the power on high, 
 
 Which reared this wondrous work for mortal eye. 
 
 J. S. BYRNE, Mississippi. 
 
 * Martin F. Tupper, the English tourist, said there was no sublimity 
 in Niagara.
 
 92 TABLE BOCK ALBUM. 
 
 Those who desire to immortalize their names, 
 Come here and take a pen and then ransack their brains ; 
 I own it 's curious to see 
 How smart some people try to be, 
 But all they write is nought but trash ; 
 Their heads as void of sense as their pockets are of cash. 
 
 E. F. P. 
 
 TO THE IROQUOIS' THUNDER OF WATERS." 
 
 Roll on most grand and gorgeous river, roll ! 
 
 Thou art an impress of thy great Creator's skill, strength, and 
 
 glory; 
 
 And seemest 'neath this summer sky, like some beacon light 
 In the spirit land that warns the traveler, and leads him 
 Home to God, his maker. 
 
 Below thy awful brink, wind and wave I see in strife, 
 True picture of the struggles of our mortal life. 
 Shine on sweet mirror of the lake's wild wandering tides, 
 Thou showest how thin the veil that time from eternity divides. 
 Alas ! I ne'er again may visit thee, Oh ! wonder of the world ! 
 Then amid the " Thunder of thy waters " my last farewell is 
 
 hurled. 
 
 NOSWIKTA, Alexandria, Va. 
 
 Fixed in these terrific Falls of endless years 
 The pillars of Eternal plan appears ; 
 The raging storm the dashing wave defies, 
 Built by architects who built the skies. 
 
 PETBR J. SULLIVAN, of the Cincinnati bar. 
 
 Niagara! absorto me quede" al mirante, y solo pude decir 
 solo el que te contemplar conoce -tu grandera ! 
 
 Y. P., Habana. 
 
 How are the Falls like half a fish ? 
 Because they have got a Gill on one side. 
 
 T. GILL.
 
 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 93 
 
 The mighty Falls with their foam and roar, 
 Speak a single word to mv heart "Adore!" 
 
 J. P. B. 
 
 I know a famous word that rhymes to staggerer, 
 Of course, I mean the waterfall, Niagara. 
 
 Oh ! thou great structure of God's hand, 
 
 The mighty, great and falling sheet 
 That greets the eye of every man 
 
 That goes behind a hundred feet; 
 Yes, Niagara's falling spray 
 
 Is a wonder to the world ; 
 From here to yonder, where you may, 
 
 Niagara's name is ever hurled. 
 
 CHAS. W. HOBART. 
 
 Why did the Falls of Niagara on a recent occasion appear 
 more beautiful than they ever did before ? 
 
 Because they were adorned with a lovely (haze) Hayes. 
 1852. 
 
 TO NIAGARA. 
 
 Alike in grandeur and in beauty you rejoice 
 But most I 'm struck with admiration of your voice ; 
 This makes me dumb, for even flattery is dead, 
 Where nobody can hear a single word that 's said. 
 
 J. J. G., New York. 
 
 Oh ! Niagara no puedo espresar las emociones y senti al 
 ver tus caidas ; y creo es lo mas grandiose que puede verse : 
 he hecho un viage de Cuba aquipr verte solmante y vuebbo a 
 mi patria encantata y con esperanze de volverte a ver. 
 
 E. CASANOVA, Cardenas, Cuba. 
 
 Perpetual motion, but not the work of man. 
 
 R. C. McC.
 
 04: TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 
 
 Niagara! Nada enla escomparable con la magnificencia de 
 estas torrentez. Nengs de Europa conde he parado tres aud, 
 y no me queda nada que Ner en ere Niez mundo. Soi nacia 
 en el nuevo, Cajo la influencia del calor tropical. En un lis- 
 ton del gloro Ni la luz ; Cuba le mi patria ; Cuba a quien 
 james lehiereron dano las influencias politicas, haita hoi que 
 nadie podra fijar cual sea su porvenior! Sobre Cuba, quien 
 pudiera darte tu felicidad ecliprada ! yam le posible ; de manos 
 y com tu Cuen hijo propendene" a que, comerves pr siempre 
 tu estas de tranquilidad unius que te comviene. No te que 
 me ha camado mat dula imprion, si tavita de esta mara im- 
 muna de aquas cayendo intorrentez, a ceptacer de veordar mi 
 pain tan hemejante a cete in a presente my sur Corques, suy 
 prados, suy artiolez, la muneara de Ncvir dely camperinos, todo 
 lo de Cuba. Cara patria, yo vuelo atee sens, may hiento haur- 
 to cuando llory. El que conasca miboria sabra a que aludo, 
 Niagara. 
 
 C. C. Y. M. 
 
 En el limite de los dos pueblos q. arombran al mundo con 
 sur progresor materiales, colocio" Dios la cascada del Niagara 
 q. es la mor marasilla del mundo material. Ojala comprendan 
 ambos y partienlarmte los Anglo Americanos q. la providencia 
 tiene senalado a las naciones un finmoral, antes q. todo; y q. 
 no puedon ser completante felices, si no son honradasy repet- 
 adoras de Dios y del dereiho de los demas hombres. 
 
 Table Rock, Junio de 1852. 
 
 BARTD. HIRRKRAS. 
 
 II n'y a pas d'expresion 
 
 Si 1'on a vu de shase pareille 
 
 II faut laissez cela pour la poet. 
 
 H. L 
 
 Mar avilla incomparable de la natur aleza; quien no amara 
 y reconocera un ser supremo y durno del universo, al contem- 
 plar tu randa comiente precipit an dose sublime en copos de 
 espuma mas blanca que la niede ! ! 
 
 Ro. Jo. Do. A. B. 72.
 
 TABLE BOOK ALBUM. 95 
 
 Niagara, I have n't much hat, but you may take what I have 
 
 got. 
 
 HARRY WHITBECK. 
 
 "She's all my fancy painted her." After an upset in a 
 stage-coach with the Governor of Iowa, I am fully prepared 
 for the beauties of any other fall. Niagara is perhaps the best 
 now on hand. What a scene! and what a place to spend 
 five hundred dollars! juicy as an orange, and powerful as a 
 brandy-smash oft repeated ! 
 
 H. HOLT, Iowa. 
 
 Feb. 22, 1853. 
 
 " Oh what a fall was there, my countrymen ! " but whether 
 the allusion is intended for the upset in the stage-coach, or the 
 Falls of Niagara, I am not prepared to say. Either are all that 
 imagination could paint them, having participated in both, I 
 can add, that they are "all that heart could wish." The 
 allusion to brandy-smash, however, I consider somewhat per- 
 sonal, having participated in that also. 
 
 DAVID OLMSTEAD, Minnesota. 
 
 Niagara, can man look on thee, and say "There is no God?" 
 
 L. H. C. 
 
 Niagara! Sobertio triumfador del tempo, cano. Loss hom- 
 bres al contemplarte esclamaran : j Niagara, eres ! ! 
 
 UN CUBANO. 
 
 Si mucho me inspird el canto de sublime ruisenor Cubano 
 Jose M. Heredia mucho mas me sorperdie el original! El 
 Niagara. 
 
 JOSE HERNANDEZ, 
 
 Matanzas, Cuba. 
 
 " Whorum quorum sapientia." 
 
 " Sf RAY HOOSIER."
 
 96 TABLE KOCK ALBUM. 
 
 DC cuanto llevo visto nada me impuerto tanto como la bajada 
 a la cataracta. 
 
 B. V. 
 
 IMPROMPTU LINES, 
 
 Suggested by beholding the terrible rapids and cataract, over which the 
 unfortunate Avery was dashed. 
 
 TO NIAGARA. 
 
 When warriors met, and battle's roar 
 Kesounded on thy hostile shore, 
 Above the pomp and trumpet's blast, 
 Thy white-plumed billows high and fast 
 Were rushing onward at thy call, 
 Thou chief! victorious over all; 
 And like proud steeds, with foaming mane, 
 They plunge, but ne'er shall rise again; 
 For one fierce, overwhelming shock 
 Has hurl'd them on thy battle-rock, 
 While o'er them, like the soldier's sleep, 
 Shall rise the requiem of the deep, 
 Beneath whose snowy bosom, now 
 Hath shook fore'er their crested brow, 
 On which no hero's wreath can bloom, 
 But incense from thy ocean-tomb 
 Will, with thy voice, forever rise, 
 In memory of their sacrifice, 
 Gaze on, proud man, and here behold 
 The high and great, the certain goal 
 Of wild ambition, whose mad wave 
 From glory hurries to the grave: 
 Here wealth, and power, and place, and all 
 Most prized on earth, shall see their fall 
 Proclaimed in thunder-tones afar 
 By thee, invincible Niagara. 
 But, oh ! the blessed hope of man, 
 When, o'er thy stormy breast, the span, 
 Whose rainbow hues, when evening glow 
 Thy God and his in mercy throws, 
 Pointing the soul, from cloud and storm, 
 To Heaven, its ever-glorious home:
 
 TABLE BOCK ALBUM. 97 
 
 Yes, when that poor and humble one, 
 Clung, in Life's struggle all alone, 
 To his frail stay, with none to bless, 
 His eye beheld, e'er in thy breast 
 He sunk to his eternal rest, 
 The rainbow-promise, like a star, 
 Shining above the tempest war- 
 No slow disease, no lingering death, 
 But swept before thy Godlike breath, 
 With one fond look and outstretched arm; 
 Immortal now he has become. 
 His tomb, thy white and spotless wave, 
 Thy roar, his knell above the grave. 
 
 L. COLLINS LEE, 
 
 Maryland. 
 
 Cuantas ideas agitan la iraaginacion 
 A contemplar lael cristalinas aguas 
 
 Del olivefero Niagara, 
 Solo una mano omnipotente. 
 
 PANFELO PITOQERONICA, 
 
 Cayo Huesco, Cuba. 
 
 Quien joh sxiblirae Niagara! oh prodigoroso maravilla de 
 la naturaleza! no Joja cru tu vita? pero que podre deciente 
 habiendote cantado el illustre 6 inportunado pretu Cubano? 
 mi compatriata Flesedia ! 
 
 ESTEBAN ESTRADA, 
 
 De Bayamo Yslade Cuba. 
 
 Man's mind is filled with earthly thoughts no more, 
 While wrapt in mist amid Niagara's mighty roar. 
 
 MICHIGAN. 
 
 
 
 No es possible que exista un mortal castante presuntuoso 
 qd que crea poder'explicar loque se sciente quando se ve la 
 cataranta: solo Gteredia ha sido su digna cantor. 
 
 JOSE M. RIVERO, 
 
 Del Habana.
 
 98 TABLE KOCK ALBUM. 
 
 Son tantas las ideas que se aglorneran la mi mente, quc no 
 es posible! oh Niagara! poder inamiVstar tu grandcya y sub- 
 limidad como nusmo tiempo la admiration que me has causado. 
 
 S. DEL POYO, 
 
 Habana. 
 
 Admirable y sorpendente, 
 Es del Niagara el torrente, 
 
 Que desciende en su Cascada, 
 Y solo el omnipotente, 
 La formd tan acabada. 
 
 RAMON DIAZ, 
 Natural del principado de Asturias y luyar de l>ierca. 
 
 MY MUSINGS! 
 
 Niagara, the great, my eye rests on 
 
 Thy snow-white troubled spray ay, rests untired, 
 
 Not as of yore, when, thousand leagues away, 
 
 Ideal it gazed, measured thy expanse o'er, 
 
 Formed lofty scenes and grand, then longed to see 
 
 The picture real. I own, now viewing thee, 
 
 Imagination 's spoiled reality ! 
 
 And yet I greet thy fascinating power, 
 
 But not thy form, nor yet thy gorgeous garb, 
 
 Neither thy magnitude my mind restrains: 
 
 Though minus both the first, the latter thou 
 
 Canst boast; and, e'en in that, though joined 
 
 With ragged form, there is sublimity, 
 
 It is thy ceaseless roar entrances me, 
 
 So emblematic of Eternity! 
 
 Yet mighty as thou art, my mind but sees 
 
 Thee as a speck of His unbounded work 
 
 Who bids the world (thou art of which a part, 
 
 A fragment, following great Nature's law) 
 
 Revolve around the sun that sun 
 
 The point round which a thousand worlds 
 
 Perform their periodic, circled course, 
 
 Forming the heavens. One may the many seek 
 
 That doubtless circumscribe the Heaven of Heavens !
 
 TABLE KOCK ALBUM. 99 
 
 Yea, imagine farther still ! where shall we stop ? 
 
 What art thou, then ? A bubble ! drop ! speck ! 
 
 An atom of creative power compared ! 
 
 Were man thy framer, then astonished I 
 
 The work with man's, on equal base comparing, 
 
 I, as a man, must view thee with amaze. 
 
 And yet I gaze ! the spell has magic force ! 
 
 Though through my brain conceptions gloomy course. 
 
 I see the sportful waves rush heedless on, 
 
 Exalting high their heads of pearly spray, 
 
 Regardless of the dread abyss before, 
 
 Till on the brink; then tremble, helpless plunge 
 
 In the dark gulf; then with those 'ready gone 
 
 Commingle, forming one continuous stream, 
 
 Are hurried to the ocean's endless wave. 
 
 Yet, perhaps each drop that falleth o'er thee now, 
 
 Viewless being, raised, condensed, again shall flow 
 
 A lengthy course, and tumble o'er thy brow, 
 
 When each gay one here has passed below ! 
 
 A stranger, strange I view the motley throng, 
 
 From every nation of the earth impressed, 
 
 The center there a loadstone that attracts 
 
 Mankind. For what ? Answer, ye scenes around ! 
 
 Is it to view their Maker, through His works, 
 
 Hence form exalting ideas of His power? 
 
 Doubtless with some 't is so ; more, more, alas ! 
 
 To kill ennui to sport as butterflies 
 
 In all the gaudy tinsel of a day, 
 
 Revel in pleasure (kin to vice, I fear), 
 
 And culture what shall cause them many a tear 
 
 Surrounded thus by Fashion's votaries gay, 
 
 Thy ceaseless roar vibrating on my ears, 
 
 Seems tho' Jehovah's voice were heard 
 
 Pleading in thunder mild, to those drawn here, 
 
 To pause, to think, ere, like the rushing waves, 
 
 Too late they tremble, plunge into their graves, 
 
 And meet their final Judge, as Pleasure's slaves. 
 
 Reader, judge not I think it any crime 
 
 Thy coming hither to view this scene sublime 
 
 Ah, no ! 't is good, 't is wise, but think of future time. 
 
 S. F. Ross.
 
 100 TABLE BOCK ALBUM. 
 
 J' admire la chute de cette masse d' eau, mais sa pensee sa 
 sa vue 1' impression qu'elle produit sur mon esprit me reporte 
 sers Dieu (cet abyme infinie), et la me perdant dans son im- 
 menshe, je sens mon neant, et j' adore. 
 
 E. DUSAULX. 
 
 "In the spring," I purpose coming here prepared to erect a 
 water-wheel under the Falls, that shall reach from Canada to 
 the United States. The shaft is to be made of iron, sufficiently 
 strong to bear the whole sheet of water. What a grand water 
 privilege! In this act, I shall immortalize my name. I am 
 confident I can get power enough (when brought to bear) to 
 turn this globe the other way upon its axis. Then we shall 
 have a different revolution of things the sun rising in the 
 west and setting in the east, etc. 
 
 D. 
 
 Feb. 24, 1854 
 
 
 
 Adias, Canada, 
 
 A darte venga aqui el adias pastrero, 
 Al greto de lo patria voi lejero, 
 El lampo del honor, 
 La libertad sapado, 
 Defendern mi espado, 
 Sin rloidaz te amo. 
 
 CONDE QUAN DR Coi BAROA, 
 
 Madrid. 
 
 
 
 Subject for a painter. 
 
 Here, rising on the scene sublime, 
 Heaven's sunbeams tint, with hues divine, 
 The gorgeous torrent and its spray, 
 Passing in glorious pride away ; 
 Still mingling with each misty shower 
 Rejoicing in each glowing hour 
 Embracing, from the grateful skies, 
 Earth's splendid offering, ere it dies! 
 
 CmNCAcnoo.
 
 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 101 
 
 The touters ply, 
 
 The niggers cry, 
 The Falls to take you under 
 
 "Oh pray, sir, go 
 
 It 's such a show ; 
 Indeed, I '11 make no blunder." 
 
 If full of zeal, 
 
 You chance to feel, 
 And nerves are tightly braced up, 
 
 Just go within, 
 
 And neck and shin 
 Have snugly dressed and laced up : 
 
 Do n't mind the spray 
 
 There 's light of day, 
 Besides you 're clothes to bake in 
 
 But what you see ! 
 
 Oh powers that be ! 
 Was there ever such a take in ? 
 
 G. C. 
 
 
 
 ON VISITING THE NIAGARA FALLS. 
 By the Hon. C. N. Vivian. 
 
 Awestruck and lost in silent admiration, 
 I stand and gaze upon thy rushing waters. 
 Mighty Niagara, no sportive stream art thou; 
 Thy very thunder mocks such poor comparison, 
 And to my wildered ear, thy deafening roar 
 Makes my heart quail with its own littleness. 
 Oh, mighty grandeur ! who can silent gaze 
 Upon thy verdant, angry foaming spray, 
 And not feel touched with the sublimity 
 Of such a scene. Magnificent ! pouring forth 
 Living streams of glittering, liquid light 
 Down from thy dizzy verge in vapor fathomless, 
 Faint Memory cannot sketch thy mighty grandeur, 
 Awful Niagara ! nor could the muse with justice 
 Half describe thy majesty. But he who doubts 
 There is a God, let him but gaze one moment 
 From thy giddy height, and listen to the roar 
 Of thy engulfing waters, methinks base infidelity 
 Would shrink amazed, and say within itself,
 
 102 TABLE KOCK ALBUM. 
 
 "Surely, this is not chance which thus has formed 
 This ocean avalanche, these cloud-hung cliffs 
 Speak of some mighty hand, and herald a Creator." 
 Nor could he lift his eyes from billows far beneath, 
 But he would shrink aghast, and wondering cry, 
 "Condemned I stand, convinced of His dread power 
 That thus could mould this mighty ornament." 
 Albion boasts of her cliffs, her lordly halls, 
 Her peasant's homes, her old cathedrals where 
 Kings and queens lie buried, but send her sons 
 To view these kingly scenes, and gaze upon 
 Columbia's mighty rivers, and her lakes 
 That mock the haughty sea, and dash their waves 
 Against this mammoth land where freedom dwells. 
 
 April 12, 1855. 
 
 
 
 Niagara always majestic, but most grand and lovely in the 
 ice-bound embraces of winter. 
 
 J. R WHITNEY. 
 
 Feb. 12, 1854. 
 
 
 
 Que horrible hertnosa presentan las cataractas del Niagara. 
 
 M. 
 
 et mtr gegriifjt, beS jungen 2Beltracb$ t 
 
 3n betnem SBraufen, ber grefyeit Conner grollen ! 
 
 Umfonft flemmt ftcfc ber ftel$ untm'Utg feincr iyiirbe, 
 
 2>r (Strom fucbj feme 23at<n, beg gelfcn Jriimmcr roflcn, 
 
 <>o jtet)t tie ^Jenfc^^eit ortcort. bent fernen 3'f'f ju> 
 
 Unb erjt natf) Wilbem ^ampfe winft tt)r beg rabe^ Stitl). 
 
 @et rmr gegriigt, 1)u fd^oner mut^'ger Strom ! 
 
 2Ju3 beinem griinen (Spiegel flrafylt mtr be^ Seben^ 33t!b 
 
 iu f^tttngfl bt(^ fii^n bjttunter on beinem boben Dom, 
 
 pringfi in bie btaue Siefe, bietoeie i\d)t erb,iillt. 
 
 2)er Wenfc^, ber tcagt unb ringt, tt)ut manctyen fut>nen jjrung, 
 
 Unb iiber feiite 3ufunft liegt btc^tt Cammerung. 
 
 @et mtr gegriit, m beiner !Wajeftat unb ^rat^t ! 
 3JJit foment 3iinber fc^miirft 9iatur nur Sraft unb 
 2)e0 a?a'4)Iein^ ilbertoetttn, ber @ee in Wonbe^nacbt 
 2Bie f4aal (tnb i^re 9teije gegen beiner garben !utl? ! 
 ma.ragbe jieb'n btnunter, 5Demanten (teigen binouf, 
 Unb JHegenbogen fpannen rotb,flolbne 33riicfen auf.
 
 TABLE ROCK ALBUM. 103 
 
 Set mt'r gegriifjt, bcr rie b nadi Orettjeit fiibrtc mid) ju ir ; 
 3d? fcbe .Tid) unb meine lefctcn 3^ f f fl fd'ftinben ! 
 SBer gretbett ftill, mug nwgcn, jci^ft Cu nur. 
 On'fc^ orh?art^ auf ber SBa^n, t>a^ 3 te ' tp ' r ^ 
 93or S3?afTcrtuf fl, jfrftritlit im gall, ate (emr 
 
 m'ctjt ber ^riijung ^)robe bait, ifi nur eincttlcr iiraunt. 
 
 Niagara galU, bm 29. Wlti 1851. 
 
 unb bte grnbcit jetflen jtcb in bcr 
 J/rum cljrt in ticfett 55citcn ber fveie cift ben cfoc'pfcr nur. 
 
 Suit 18. 1851. 
 
 ift cm gar grcgcr 
 l)unb_ert 3Jici!en tcebl lanfl 
 1)orf bier t(^ fafl'^ cud) cb 
 3ft cin erf, toie'^ Corner un^ be[ang. 
 
 ie Sd)afe ber ^llten fcblen unS t)ier, 
 Xie g), infers tod) fiiilcn ben Tla^ bier fiir jtf. 
 er 2l!te fd)fnft and) ein trefflid; lag SBt'cr, 
 nub gleid; jtoar nidjt, bocb ift er fcin i 
 
 Der $tmmel iji Unit, ba Staffer j'fi nag, 
 S3 grunjet bie Sou, bcr ^anfee tft bla. 
 3Ter -^erraott ift bier, tcie uberall, 
 <g [ditvebct fetn fScijl ai4 iiber ben 3aH. 
 
 Niagara 3ftll, 21. Suit 1851.
 
 SKETCHES OF NIAGARA FALLS 
 
 AND THE SCENERY ADJACENT. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It is not the purpose of this publication to furnish the toxirist 
 with a guide to the Falls of Niagara. Books with this object 
 are already as numerous as the routes which they describe : 
 besides, in these days when steamboats and railroad cars are 
 every where so abundant, the traveler can have no difficulty in 
 reaching his destination, without the aid of a " Guide Book," 
 provided he can make himself intelligible to the people whom 
 he encounters on his journey, and have money enough to pay 
 for his passage. We intend to accompany 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 different 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; because, at best, it would only 
 be an unsuccessful attempt. It might be easy enough to write 
 a voluminous 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. Niag- 
 ara is itself a poem 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 tinger of 
 the Almighty Author in this stupendous work of His creative 
 power. It is beyond the reach alike of delineation and analysis; 
 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 if he had never read a word on the subject 
 let him come and see!
 
 SKETCHES OF NIAGARA FALLS. 105 
 
 THE CRESCENT, OR BRITISH FALL. 
 
 We shall so far depart from established custom in treating 
 on this subject, as to plunge at once in medias res not a-la 
 Sam Patch, however, but, in plain English, we shall commence 
 with our remarks at the Falls themselves the great 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 notwithstanding 
 all the rules differing from each other, according to the varying 
 tastes of individuals which have been laid down as to the best 
 point from which to take a first 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 invariably, 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 affectation may crack its jaws in. giving 
 utterance to all the rumbling polysyllables expressive of amaze- 
 ment in the dictionary, it is affectation 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 anticipation 
 has been busy previously to arriving here, the very process of 
 demolition which the fancy picture of the Falls must necessa- 
 rily undergo in the presence of the dread reality, will occupy 
 the mind to the exclusion of those feelings of amazement and 
 terror which the scene is so well calculated to inspire. It may 
 be argued that this cannot be the case, inasmuch as the 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
 
 106 SKETCHES OF NIAGARA FALLS. 
 
 parcel of itself; and the act of dissipating cherished vis'nns 
 must in some degree unhinge the mind for a moment, and in- 
 capacitate it for comprehending at once the full measure of a 
 new and magnificent idea. The wonder is so great that our 
 anticipation should have been so different in kind from the 
 reality, that we only partially realize at first the difference in 
 degree of magnificence ; and it is not until, by protracted con- 
 templation of the reality the picture sketched by fancy is 
 forgotten, that the full glory of this sleepless concentration of 
 might and majesty bursts on our astonished senses. Thxis it 
 is, that disappointment is in most cases the feeling with which 
 the Falls are first beheld by the stranger his attention is dis- 
 tracted and bewildered between his own receding dreams of 
 Niagara, and the unimagined sublimities of the 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 Falls when they strike his eye for the 
 first time, from whatever point he views them, is incapable of 
 appreciating the glories of the scene, which only gradually 
 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 are patent at this place, let him 
 refresh himself with a 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 convenient 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 person to light accidentally on the Table Rock, 
 without having previously read or heard of the P'alls of Niagara, 
 he might legitimately indulge in the tropes and figures of as- 
 tonishment ; 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 amazement; and the idea of 
 expressing them by words would not for a moment ^pccur to 
 his imagination. The "how beautiful !" of the boarding-school 
 miss, the "how sublime!" of that unfledged poetical law or 
 divinity-student, and the " Oh, my God ! " of Mrs. Fanny But- 
 ler, are all "leather and prunella" the quintessence of absur- 
 dity and affectation.
 
 SKETCHES OF NIAGARA FALLS. 107 
 
 But this is a long digression, besides, perhaps, a violation of 
 the rules laid down in the introduction. 
 
 Well, you are 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 bah! to this; but do n't be in a 
 hurry. Wait till your dream has vanished evaporated in thin 
 air; and then say, if you can, how immeasurably beneath the 
 truth your highest imaginations were. The vastness of the 
 volume of water its great breadth especially and the impen- 
 etrable clouds of foam, which, rising from the fathomless gulf 
 below, envelop and conceal from your view, perhaps, nearly 
 halt' the altitude of the cataract, detract materially from the 
 apparent altitude. It is, by the way, in regard to this deterior- 
 ation of the apparent height, or rather depth for it is at the 
 bottom where the concealment is that the feeling of disap- 
 pointment 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 precipice, 
 and look down, and down, till you are giddy with terror nay, 
 not terror either, but some undefinable feeling for which lan- 
 guage has no appropriate 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 mysterious fascination 
 will come over you, if you gaze too long, and you "will feel an. 
 irresistible impulse to spring into the dread abyss there to 
 sport amid the rainbow, glories, and wrestle with the incompre- 
 hensible terrors of the "secret deep." This is no ideal expo- 
 sition of the sensations felt in making this experiment. The 
 writer, in company with others, has tried it again and again; 
 and the result has invariably been as above described. But 
 even standing erect, you will find the scene, if you keep your 
 eye steadily fixed 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, imbued with vermilion as intense as it is unvarying, 
 pours itself down with a calmer, but far more impressive 
 majesty, conveying the idea that the power which shakes the 
 solid rocks under your feet, hath its throne and its sanctuary 
 there, and there alone. There may be beauty "unspeakable
 
 108 SKETCHES OF NIAGARA FALLS. 
 
 and full of glory " in the prismatic arch which spans the restless 
 ocean beneath, and fancied mysteriousness in the clouds of spray 
 that are ever and anon rising in spiral columns, and rolling 
 away and away over the otherwise cloudless expanse of the 
 azure heaven, but it is in that ever living rush of deep green 
 waters that the omnipotence of Him who holds them in the 
 hollow of his hand, is most vividly typified. 
 
 Pshaw ! We, too, are getting poetical, notwithstanding our 
 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 ceaseless 
 thunder of Niagara booming at the lone hour of midnight in 
 our ears, how can we help it? In such circumstances even an 
 oyster would be a poet! 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 " Horse 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 torrent is 
 especially manifested in the quivering of the pillared rocks be- 
 neath your feet, and the perceptible vibration of the earth for 
 miles around. But, in the absence of any power of desciiption 
 of our own, we subjoin an article, which contains some statistical 
 in%rmation respecting 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 difficulties. I had not only protracted my absence from home, but 
 increased my distance from it some hundred miles. Ample, however, 
 was my recompense. I had, in the course of my life, beheld some of 
 the most celebrated scenes in nature Etna and Vesuvius, the Andes, 
 almost at the highest point of elevation, Cape Horn, rugged and bl< ak, 
 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. 
 
 "My first sensation was that of exquisite delight at having before 
 me the greatest wonder of the world. Strange' as it may appear, this 
 feeling was immediately succeeded by an irresistible sensation of mel- 
 ancholy. Had this not continued, it might have been attributed to tlio 
 complete gratification of "hope deferred; " but so far from diminishing, 
 the more I gazed, the stronger and deeper the feeling became. Yet, tins 
 sense of sadness wag strangely mingled with a kind of intoxicating 
 fascination. Whether the production of such a feeling is peculiar to
 
 SKETCHES OF NIAGARA FALLS. 109 
 
 Niagara, I know not; but certain!}' it has been generally observed that 
 the spirits are affected and depressed in a singular manner by the magic 
 influence of this stupendous cataract. 
 
 "About five miles above tbe Falls, the river expands to the dimen- 
 sions of a lake; after which it gradually narrows. The Rapids com- 
 mence at the upper end of Goat Island, which is half a mile in length, 
 and divides the river, at the point of precipitation, into two unequal 
 parts the larger of which is distinguished by the several names of 
 "Horse Shoe," ''Crescent," and " British Fall," from its semi-circular 
 form and contiguity to the Canadian shore; the smaller is named the 
 "American Fall." A portion of this Fall is divided by a rock from 
 Goat Island; and though here insignificant comparatively, this portion 
 would rank high among European waterfalls. The height of the British 
 Fall is 175 feet, and its breadth, in one unbroken stream, is 700 yards. 
 The extremity of Goat Island, which separates the cataracts, is 320 
 yards in breadth. The American Fall is 370 yards in breadth, and 160 
 feet high making the total breadtli nearly 1,400 yards. I must not 
 omit to mention that, though the bed of the river sinks to so great a 
 depth, the level of the circumjacent lajid continues nearly the same as 
 above the Falls. 
 
 " The quantity of water which rushes over at the cataracts is thus 
 computed by an American traveler: ' The river, at the ferry below the 
 Falls, is seven furlongs wide, and, on an average, 250 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, I 
 descended the bank by a steep, winding path, to a narrow slip which 
 forms the immediate margin of the river. Along this I advanced about 
 a hundred yards, till I arrived at the very edge of precipitation. A per-, 
 son 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, I came to a kind of corkscrew ladder, constructed round 
 a column, to enable travelers to descend to a path by which they gain 
 the lower part of the Cataract, and have a magnificent view upwards. 
 
 " In the evening, I again visited the Cataract to behold it by moon- 
 light. Taking my seat on a projecting rock, at a little distance from 
 the Falls, I gazed till my senses were almost entirely absorbed in the 
 contemplation of this most magnificent scene. Although the shades 
 of night increased the sublimity of the prospect, and ' deepened the 
 murmur of the falling flood,' the moon, in placid beauty, shed its soft 
 influence upon the mind, and mitigated the terror of the scene. The 
 thunders which bellowed from the abyss, and the brilliancy of the 
 falling waters, which glistened like molten silver in the moonlight, 
 seemed to exhibit in absolute perfection the rare union of the beautiful 
 and sublime. 
 
 "THOMAS DAY."
 
 110 SKETCHES OF NIAGAEA FALLS. 
 
 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 
 
 "Crazed "with care, or cross'd in hopeless love," 
 
 but under the "great falling sheet of water," as the handbill 
 expresses it. To have stood and gazed on a mighty ocean of 
 water rushing innocuously over your head, will be something 
 to talk of in all your after days ; and if you perform the feat, 
 you will be furnished with a certificate 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 this voyage of 
 discovery, however, you have a metamorphosis to undergo. 
 You must strip "inpuris naturalibvs;" but don't be startled 
 you do not go down into the great deep in this stale of 
 primitive nudity. Barnett. has an ample, though grotesque, 
 wardrobe for your especial use, from which you may select 
 fitting equipment for the occasion. There are dressing-rooms 
 too, as well as dresses; and if you are a lady, you will have 
 one of your own sex to wait 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 unadorned, 
 adorned the most." You will also have an experienced guide 
 to accompany you "within the veil." 
 
 Your path is somewhat circuitous certainly; but it is a good 
 and safe one nevertheless, providing your guide is an experi- 
 enced one. From the bottom of the stairs is a shelving decli- 
 vity over immense rocks and fragments of limestone down to 
 the river. After you get down, there is a footpath by which 
 you can reach, with perfect safety, the end of your journey, 
 appropriately named "Termination Rock." Never mind the 
 projecting cliffs, frowning in terrible grandeur high over head, 
 on the one side, nor the fathomless gulf of turbulent waters on 
 the other. You may, of course, and you ought, to look and 
 wonder at both ; but you need not be frightened, for if you 
 keep by the guide you are perfectly safe, and if you are nervous 
 he will take care of you. Pay no regard to the spray ; it makes 
 a good shower-bath for the benefit of your health. Your silk 
 cr 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 in going out
 
 SKETCHES OF NIAGARA FALLS. Ill 
 
 with a land surveyor's chain to measure the extent of the uni- 
 verse, 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 nnder 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 dis- 
 suade me from the attempt, as being one attended with much difficulty 
 and some danger the latter arising from exposure to wet for so long a 
 time as would be necessary to accomplish the task. I determined, how- 
 ever, 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 succeeded 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 
 examined 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 d;ite, the only name to be found there; and while 
 in the neighborhood of the Falls, eveiy pillar, rail, staircase, seat, rock 
 and tree is covered with names, mine stands alone! 
 
 "August 3. My desire of yesterday is fulfilled : and I have been 
 again under the ' Sheet of Water,' to finish cutting my name in the 
 rock. The direction of the wind, though causing me some obstruction, 
 amply repaid me during my momentary periods of rest, by occasionally 
 opening 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, witli people walking on it like mere specks in the*'-.' 
 light, the cliffs and the woods all arrayed in the splendor of a noon-tide 
 sun; and then the veil was closed, and I was shut out from the w,orld 
 left in utter solitude. 
 
 "Fellow-travelers, who, like me, come to view scenes surpassing all 
 others in grandeur and sublimity, do not leave without going under the 
 'Sheet of Water.' Take the advice of 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 enthusiasm in your 
 composition, you will be gratified enchanted; if you have not, you 
 deserve to be disappointed. 
 
 "D. T. EDGERTON, London, England." 
 
 It is something to have been " within the veil " at any time ; 
 but he who has not penetrated the mystery in winter knows
 
 112 SKETCHES OF NIAGAKA FALLS. 
 
 it only in part At that season of the year, you are, of course, 
 not very likely to emulate Mr. Edgerton ; nor is it at all prob- 
 able 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 "Termination Rock," is perhaps the most 
 inconceivably magnificent of any in the whole compass of crea- 
 tion. All that the most exuberant fancy ever imagined of 
 beauty and of grandeur falls immeasurably short of the reality 
 that presents itself to your view, while standing on "Termina- 
 tion 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 mag- 
 nitude; on the other, there is a massive wall of ice, with, here 
 and there, an aperture of most grotesque conformation, through 
 which you can see the rushing torrent and the wreathing foam ; 
 while 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." Every 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 dreams of the land of Fairy. Beau- 
 tiful, exceedingly, is the workmanship 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 Whoever has 
 seen the Falls on one side, and not on the other, need not say 
 anything 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 descend, as the case may be, by a flight of
 
 SKETCHES OF NIAGARA FALLS. 113 
 
 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 beautiful; and if you have just been viewing the 
 British Fall, the prospect of the bright sparkling torrent of 
 water, white as unsunned snow, and studded with innumerable 
 rainbows, broken into fragments, and vibrating amid the dashing 
 spray, has an exhilarating effect on your spirits, and contributes 
 to dissipate that undetinable sensation of awe which always 
 comes over the mind, while contemplating that magnificent 
 " wonder of the world." Accounts differ as to the comparative 
 height of the two Falls. One has been already copied ; others 
 again make the American Fall 164 feet and the "Crescent" 
 only 158 feet high. But it is not a question of any moment 
 whatever. That petty national jealousy, or interested rivalry, 
 which is so ludicrously displayed in the " Guide Books," can- 
 not 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 Almighty 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 be 
 obtained, still for a variety of prospect, 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 which 
 you have to pay 25 cents. The toll-keeper has always on 
 hand a large stock of Indian and other curiosities for sale. The 
 guides 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 fret, 
 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 safety and pleasure under the sheet of water; and another 
 leading to one of the most stupendous scenes in this interesting 
 locality the "Cave of the Winds." This cave is situated
 
 114 SKETCHES OF NIAGARA FALLS. 
 
 immediately behind the middle Fall, which we have omitted to 
 notice particularly, on account of its comparative inferioiity, 
 though in any other vicinity would of itself be an object of 
 wonder. Mr. Parsons, the author of the "Book of the Falls," 
 says, "this cave is about 120' feet across, 50 feet wide, and 100 
 feet high." The same writer remarks, that the "astounding 
 roar of the waters, owing to the echoes or reverberations, is 
 apparently a hundred times greater here than anywhere else;" 
 and another observes, "it is said to be quite an adventure to 
 go under 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 insti- 
 tute 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 having winded your toilsome way up the "Biddle 
 stair-case," keep along the footpath across the Island till you 
 come to the Terrapin Bridge, which leads you to a stone tower 
 forty-five feet high, erected near the verge of the precipice. 
 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 Table Rock, is yet worthy of all 
 comparison, in so far as comparison is at all admissible. There 
 is the headlong torrent rushing impetuously over the precipice, 
 far beneath your feet, and the "hell of waters," boiling, hiss- 
 ing, foaming and thundering in the unfathomed abyss still 
 farther down. There, too, you have a partial, yet striking, 
 view of the "American Fall;" and your eye reaches down the 
 vast 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 vibra- 
 ting platform on which you stand. 
 
 Go round the Island, and you will 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 compensated by the vague 
 and evanescent immortality thus obtained. Every seat and 
 every wall nay, every rail and stray log of timber, is crowded
 
 SKETCHES OF NIAGAKA. FALLS. 115 
 
 \vith the same evidences of "this longing after immortality." 
 De guslilus non est disputandum; 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 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 few 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 undoubtedly 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 is less obviously resistless here; but that the view is 
 more obstructed and not so extensive. If the grandeur, how- 
 ever, 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 in- 
 fluence 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 wandering 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 dulce; 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 undesecrated by the 
 beggarly influence of modern ultraism a fitting shrine for love, 
 poetry, or any other kind of moping madness. 
 
 "O! that this Island were ray dwelling-place, 
 
 With one fair spirit for my minister; 
 
 Wheie I might all forget the human race, 
 
 And, hating no one, love only her." 
 
 But it may not be ; for, to say nothing of the " fair spirit," 
 we are not likely to "forget the human race" here, seeing
 
 116 SKETCHES OF NIAGARA FALLS. 
 
 all the world, with his wife and daughters, would visit us every 
 summer. 
 
 We might swell our book, by telling you a thousand things 
 about the Falls which you have doubtless heard and read of 
 before: of this vessel and- the other being sent over the cata- 
 ract, with bears, geese, etc., as passengers; of one "startling 
 incident," and another "frightful occurrence," such as Sam 
 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 very 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 finally 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. 
 
 We close our remarks on this locality with an extract from 
 a MSS. description of the Falls, by Mr. Edward Lane : 
 
 " Luna Island is connected with Goat Island by means of two pieces 
 of timber laid across, and within a few yards of the brow of the cata- 
 ract or Centre Fall, which is about fifty-four 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 beau- 
 tiful a view as that of the Falls themselves. From the Island, which is 
 about thirty 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 Grand 
 Crescent itself. From this point, too, when the sun is shining, and haa 
 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 same phenomenon, while the white foam of the 
 falling waters, the ascending mist and agitated bosom of the river 
 assume the appearance of living liquid crystal." 
 
 MINOR CURIOSITES. 
 THE WHIRLPOOL. 
 
 It is the same with this as with other wonders of the Niagara 
 River personal inspection is the thing. Books are mere tran- 
 scripts of impressions made on the minds of their respective 
 writers. Still it may be well enough, after you have seen with
 
 SKETCHES OF NIAGARA FALLS. 117 
 
 your own eyes, to listen to what others think and say of what 
 you have thus seen ; but we hold it as a good general rule, to 
 look first 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 description, and being withal "dead 
 sweer," as well as "wretched ill o't," we again borrow as follows 
 from Mr. Lane's MSS.: 
 
 "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 sufficient attractions to repay me 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 performing 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 current dashes suddenly 
 round and pursues its onward way, while another portion, obstructed 
 in its progress by the intervening promontory, recoils and produces the 
 eddying of the waters, called the ' Whirlpool.' 
 
 " Numerous accidents have taken place here. The places of inter- 
 ment of three individuals was pointed out to me. Some twenty-two 
 years ago (from 1835), when the British were stockading Fort George, 
 one Macdonald, in Government employ, was engaged with others in 
 rafting timber down the Niagara. The crib on which he happened to 
 be situated, broke from its moorings ; and for several hours the unfor- 
 tunate Scot, with no other music but the roaring of the waters and his 
 own groan?, and without the slightest exertion on his part, performed a 
 dance somewhat different from the ' Highland Fling," which, however 
 novel, he found anything 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 precipice; 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 Queens- 
 ton, would be objects of attraction to strangers. As it is, all 
 should be viewed. Independently of the natural characteris- 
 tics of the locality, it abounds with historical associations of 
 
 * This "half-way house" seems to be rather a disorderly retting-
 
 118 SKETCHES OF NIAGARA FALLS. 
 
 battle and of flood 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 Niagara winding its circuitous way 
 beneath your feet, as calmly and peacefully as if its waters had 
 never known the turbulence and turmoil of the Fall 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 the passage ships, pro- 
 pelled by the invisible agency of the great magician, steam; 
 there is the rural hamlet embowered amid ancestral trees, the 
 white-walled village, the rising city, and the interminable forest 
 stretching far and wide into the dim obscurity of distance. 
 
 THE FERRY CLIFTON HOUSE. 
 
 After the notice already taken of the Ferry, it will 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 the 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 mention- 
 ed, also an assortment of mineral specimens, petrefactions, 
 walking canes, &c., for sale, you may pay a visit to the " Burn- 
 ing 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, accommo- 
 dated with a guide, who takes a lighted candle with him, on 
 applying which to the orifice of a metal tube fixed in the bot- 
 tom of an inverted wooden vessel which covers the spring, a 
 bright flame is emitted. A writer, who examined the place 
 minutely, says, " There are two other similar springs some dis- 
 tance farther up the river the sites of which are known to but
 
 SKETCHES OF NIAGARA FALLS. 119 
 
 lew. Therefore, from the consideration that a large quantity 
 of this sulphureate hydrogen gas is emitted from a compara- 
 tively small quantity of water, it is probable that a sufficient 
 body of gas might be collected to be applicable 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." 
 
 PASSAGE BEHIND THE CATARACT. 
 
 It is not perhaps generally known, that Mr. Thomas Barnett, 
 the gentlemanly proprietor of the Museum and Public Garden 
 on the Canada side, has also, for some time past, had the en- 
 tire charge of the house at the head of the stairs leading to 
 the passage behind the great Falls to "Termination Rock." 
 Mr. B. during a residence of more than 16 years at the Falls, 
 by his uniform, correct deportment, has won for himself a re- 
 putation as enviable as it is deserved. His charges are uni- 
 form 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 particularly, as in for- 
 mer years the passage behind the sheet was in the charge of 
 a person whose charges and conduct were not of the kind cal- 
 culated to win confidence or gain good will ; and many persons 
 have been deterred from visiting this point, believing the same 
 objections to still exist. Buffalo Commercial Advertiser. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 We might protract our intercourse with you ad libitum, if 
 we were your professional guide ; but we leave you in charge 
 of the initiated, who will tell you all about the battle grounds, 
 <fec., in the neighborhood of the Falls. The history of this fron- 
 tier is more deeply written in blood than that of any other 
 portion of Upper Canada Even recently it has been the 
 theatre of numerous acts of conflagration and robbery, and one 
 atrocious murder that of Captain Usher, who was roused 
 from his bed at dead of night, by masked assassins, and delib- 
 erately shot in his own house. All these deeds of violence are
 
 120 SKETCHES OF NIAGARA FALLS. 
 
 supposed to originate from the late unhappy and insane at- 
 tempt of a portion of the people of the Province, led on by a 
 few turbulent and ambitious demagogues, to dissever the con- 
 nection of these Colonies with the Mother Country. We might 
 tell you about the occupation of Navy Island by Mackenzie 
 and his band of outlaws ; the burning of the Caroline, and a 
 number of other matters of local interest; but they are record- 
 ed in the journals of the day, and will doubtless in due time ap- 
 pear on the page of history. The student of nature can have 
 little gratification 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" 
 
 VIEW OF THE WHIRLPOOL.
 
 University of California 
 
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