[Mr. Fergusson, in his Notes made during a visit to the United States
and Canada, in 1831, thus refers to the Genesee Falls, engraved in No.
562 of _The Mirror_, p. 97 of the present volume.]
Rochester is well known to all who take an interest in America, as a
remarkable instance of what may be done in the way of transition, and as
exhibiting in its streets a perfect sample of the progress from stumps
to steeples. It is certainly an interesting place, and presents a busy
scene of manufacturing and commercial enterprise. My time being limited,
I immediately procured a _cicerone_, and proceeded to walk over the
town, concluding with the banks of the river, where there is a powerful
fall upon the Genesee, about 90 feet in height, forming a most romantic
scene, and which may be fairly denominated the parent of Rochester, as
the mill power which it supplies has brought the whole affair into
existence. There are also sulphur springs and baths in the town of some
repute.
A splendid aqueduct carries the canal here across the river by ten
arches. It is also at present in contemplation to unite the Genesee and
Alleghany rivers, by a canal of more than 100 miles in extent, and which
would open up a valuable trade with the upper part of the Ohio Valley.
I have no doubt that it will be carried into effect, or perhaps a
railroad substituted. Close upon the verge of the precipice at the fall,
is observed a small islet or green knoll, from whence poor Sam Patch
took his final plunge. Sam, it would seem, was no subscriber to the
tenets of the Temperance Society, for upon this occasion his perceptions
were far from being clear; and having neglected to spring in his usual
adroit style, the unlucky wight never again appeared. The interest which
this poor creature excited, both here and at Niagara, was astonishing.
His very exit (than which nothing could be more natural) was considered
somewhat mysterious, as his body was not found; and some time subsequent
to the event, a fellow of a waggish disposition happening to be
accidentally in that part of the country, and bearing, it is said, a
singular resemblance to Patch, was stopped by a Rochester-man on the
road, and questioned on the subject. The stranger immediately saw a fair
opening for fun, and, _after some hesitation, reluctantly confessed_
that he was actually _Sam himself_; but that, for particular
reasons, his being alive must be kept a profound secret, until a day he
named, when he would make a public appearance in Rochester, and that he
trusted to the fidelity of the person who had discovered him not to
mention the circumstance, meantime, to any living being. _As a matter
of course_, it was speedily confided, in like manner, to the whole
population; and on the appointed day, crowds assembled to laugh at the
credulity of one another. A poor tradesman of the town had taken
wilfully the same fatal leap, only on the day preceding my visit. Many
of the poor Indians are lost over the fall, when rum has been in plenty.
A squaw was observed upon one occasion, with her canoe absorbed in the
current, and she herself utterly insensible to the danger. Warned at
last by loud exclamations from the banks, she roused herself, only to
behold the frightful chasm before her, when, perceiving all hope of
escape to be vain, and every effort fruitless, she coolly finished off
the contents of her bottle, and plunged into the abyss.--See _Quart.
Journ. Agric._ No. 18.
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