I know not, but certain it is, that the spirits are affected and
depressed in a singular manner by the magic influence of this stupendous
and eternal fall. About five miles above the cataract the river expands
to the dimensions of a lake, after which it gradually narrows. The
Rapids commence at the upper extremity of Goat Island, which is half a
mile in length, and divides the river at the point of precipitation into
two unequal parts; the largest is distinguished by the several names of
the Horseshoe, 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 in appearance, would rank high among
European cascades....

The current runs about six miles an hour; but supposing it to be only
five miles, the quantity which passes the falls in an hour is more than
eighty-five millions of tuns avoirdupois; if we suppose it to be six, it
will be more than one hundred and two millions; and in a day would
exceed two thousand four hundred millions of tuns....

The next morning, with renewed delight, I beheld from my window--I may
say, indeed, from my bed--the stupendous vision. The beams of the rising
sun shed over it a variety of tints; a cloud of spray was ascending from
the crescent; and as I viewed it from above, it appeared like the steam
rising from the boiler of some monstrous engine....

This evening I went down with one of our party to view the cataract by
moonlight. I took my favourite seat on the projecting rock, at a little
distance from the brink of the fall, and gazed till every sense seemed
absorbed in contemplation. Although the shades of night increased the
sublimity of the prospect and "deepened the murmur of the falling