(Vol. vi., p. 552.; Vol. vii., p. 50.)
As I consider J. G.'s apology for the popular, though undoubtedly
erroneous, pronunciation of this word to be far from satisfactory, may I
trouble you with some evidence in favour of Niagára, which MR. W. FRASER
truly says is the Huron pronunciation? I also agree with him, that it is
"unquestionably the most musical." For my own part, the sound of Niágara is
painful to my ear; even Moore himself could not knock music out of it.
Witness the following lines:
"Take, instead of a bowl, or a dagger, a
Desperate dash down the Falls of Niágara."[7]
How very different is the measured, solemn sound, which the word bears in
the noble lines of Goldsmith, who, it is reasonable to suppose, was as well
informed of its proper pronunciation as of its correct interpretation.
Travelling a few years since in Canada, I was assured by an old gentleman,
who for many years held constant intercourse with the aborigines, that they
invariably place the accent upon the penult. If this be true, as I doubt
not, it is conclusive: and in order to testify to the correctness of the
assertion, I could cite numberless aboriginal names of places in "The
States," as well as in Canada: a few, however, will here suffice:
Stadacóna.
Hochelága.
Torónto.
Mississíppi.
Alleghány.
Apalachicóla.
Saratóga.
Ticonderóga.
Narragánset.
Oswégo.
Canandáigua.
Tuscalóosa.
Now, I am aware that there are other Indian words which would seem, at
first sight, if not to contradict, to be at least exceptions to the rule,
but upon investigation they, I conceive, rather strengthen my argument: for
instance, Connécticut--the original of which is, Quonehtácut, the long
river.
In conclusion, we should bear in mind that we have the prevalent
pronunciation of such words through either of two channels,--the French or
the American; consequently, in Canada, we find them Frenchified, and in
"The States" Yankeefied.
I therefore hold that Niágara is a most inharmonious Yankeefication of the
melodious aboriginal word Niagára.