_J. Scott_
_Published Dec.14 1798, by J. Stockdale_
]
[Sidenote: NIAGARA FALLS.]
Having left this place, we returned once more through the woods
bordering upon the precipice to the open fields, and then directed our
course by a circuitous path, about one mile in length, to a part of the
cliff where it is possible to descend to the bottom of the cataract. The
river, for many miles below the precipice, is bounded on each side by
steep, and in most parts perpendicular, cliffs, formed of earth and
rocks, and it is impossible to descend to the bottom of them, except at
two places, where large masses of earth and rocks have crumbled down,
and ladders have been placed from one break to another, for the
accommodation of passengers. The first of these places which you come to
in walking along the river, from the Horse-shoe Fall downwards, is
called the “Indian Ladder,” the ladders having been constructed there by
the Indians. These ladders, as they are called, of which there are
several, one below the other, consist simply of long pine trees, with
notches, cut in their sides, for the passenger to rest his feet on. The
trees, even when first placed there, would vibrate as you stepped upon
them, owing to their being so long and slender; age has rendered them
still less firm, and they now certainly cannot be deemed safe, though
many persons are still in the habit of descending by their means. We did
not attempt to get to the bottom of the cliff by this route, but
proceeded to the other place, which is lower down the river, called Mrs.
Simcoe’s Ladder, the ladders having been originally placed there for the
accommodation of the lady of the late governor. This route is much more
frequented than the other; the ladders, properly so called, are strong,
and firmly placed, and none of them, owing to the frequent breaks in the
cliff, are required to be of such a great length but what even a lady
might pass up or down them without fear of danger. To descend over the
rugged rocks, however, the whole way down to the bottom of the cliff, is
certainly no trifling undertaking, and few ladies, I believe, could be
found of sufficient strength of body to encounter the fatigue of such an
expedition.
On arriving at the bottom of the cliff, you find yourself in the midst
of huge piles of mishapen rocks, with great masses of earth and rocks
projecting from the side of the cliff, and overgrown with pines and
cedars hanging over your head, apparently ready to crumble down and
crush you to atoms. Many of the large trees grow with their heads
downwards, being suspended by their roots, which had taken such a firm
hold in the ground at the top of the cliff, that when part of it gave
way the trees did not fall altogether. The river before you here is
somewhat more than a quarter of a mile wide; and on the opposite side of
it, a little to the right, the Fort Schloper Fall is seen to great
advantage; what you see of the Horse-shoe Fall also appears in a very
favourable point of view; the projecting cliff conceals nearly one half
of it. The Fort Schloper Fall is skirted at bottom by milk white foam,
which ascends in thick volumes from the rocks; but it is not seen to
rise above the fall like a cloud of smoke, as is the case at the
Horse-shoe Fall; never the less the spray is so considerable, that it
descends on the opposite side of the river, at the foot of Simcoe’s
Ladder, like rain.
Having reached the margin of the river, we proceeded towards the Great
Fall, along the strand, which for a considerable part of the way thither
consists of horizontal beds of limestone rock, covered with gravel,
except, indeed, where great piles of stones have fallen from the sides
of the cliff. These horizontal beds of rock, in some places, extend very
far into the river, forming points which break the force of the current,
and occasion strong eddies along particular parts of the shore. Here
great numbers of the bodies of fishes, squirrels, foxes, and various
other animals, that, unable to stem the current of the river above the
falls, have been carried down them, and consequently killed, are washed
up. The shore is likewise found strewed with trees, and large pieces of
timber, that have been swept away from the saw mills above the falls,
and carried down the precipice. The timber is generally terribly
shattered, and the carcases of all the large animals, particularly of
the large fishes, are found very much bruised. A dreadful stench arises
from the quantity of putrid matter lying on the shore, and numberless
birds of prey, attracted by it, are always seen hovering about the
place.
[Sidenote: FATE OF AN INDIAN.]
Amongst the numerous stories current in the country, relating to this
wonderful cataract, there is one that records the hapless fate of a poor
Indian, which I select, as the truth of it is unquestionable. The
unfortunate hero of this tale, intoxicated, it seems, with spirits, had
laid himself down to sleep in the bottom of his canoe, which was
fastened to the beach at the distance of some miles above the falls. His
squaw sat on the shore to watch him. Whilst they were in this situation,
a sailor from one of the ships of war on the neighbouring lakes happened
to pass by; he was struck with the charms of the squaw, and instantly
determined upon enjoying them. The faithful creature, however, unwilling
to gratify his desires, hastened to the canoe to arouse her husband; but
before she could effect her purpose, the sailor cut the cord by which
the canoe was fastened, and set it adrift. It quickly floated away with
the stream from the fatal spot, and ere many minutes elapsed, was
carried down into the midst of the rapids. Here it was distinctly seen
by several persons that were standing on the adjacent shore, whose
attention had been caught by the singularity of the appearance of a
canoe in such a part of the river. The violent motion of the waves soon
awoke the Indian; he started up, looked wildly around, and perceiving
his danger, instantly seized his paddle, and made the most surprising
exertions to save himself; but finding in a little time that all his
efforts would be of no avail in stemming the impetuosity of the current,
he with great composure put aside his paddle, wrapt himself up in his
blanket, and again laid himself down in the bottom of the canoe. In a
few seconds he was hurried down the precipice; but neither he nor his
canoe were ever seen more. It is supposed that not more than one third
of the different things that happen to be carried down the falls
reappear at bottom.
[Sidenote: NIAGARA FALLS.]
From the foot of Simcoe’s Ladder you may walk along the strand for some
distance without inconvenience; but as you approach the Horse-shoe Fall,
the way becomes more and more rugged. In some places, where the cliff
has crumbled down, huge mounds of earth, rocks, and trees, reaching to
the water’s edge, oppose your course; it seems impossible to pass them;
and, indeed, without a guide, a stranger would never find his way to the
opposite side; for to get there it is necessary to mount nearly to their
top, and then to crawl on your hands and knees through long dark holes,
where passages are left open between the torn up rocks and trees. After
passing these mounds, you have to climb from rock to rock close under
the cliff, for there is but little space here between the cliff and the
river, and these rocks are so slippery, owing to the continual moisture
from the spray, which descends very heavily, that without the utmost
precaution it is scarcely possible to escape a fall. At the distance of
a quarter of a mile from the Great Fall we were as wet, owing to the
spray, as if each of us had been thrown into the river.
There is nothing whatsoever to prevent you from passing to the very foot
of the Great Fall; and you might even proceed behind the prodigious
sheet of water that comes pouring down from the top of the precipice,
for the water falls from the edge of a projecting rock; and, moreover,
caverns of a very considerable size have been hollowed out of the rocks
at the bottom of the precipice, owing to the violent ebullition of the
water, which extend some way underneath the bed of the upper part of the
river. I advanced within about six yards of the edge of the sheet of
water, just far enough to peep into the caverns behind it; but here my
breath was nearly taken away by the violent whirlwind that always rages
at the bottom of the cataract, occasioned by the concussion of such a
vast body of water against the rocks. I confess I had no inclination at
the time to go farther; nor, indeed, any of us afterwards attempted to
explore the dreary confines of these caverns, where death seemed to
await him that should be daring enough to enter their threatening jaws.
No words can convey an adequate idea of the awful grandeur of the scene
at this place. Your senses are appalled by the sight of the immense body
of water that comes pouring down so closely to you from the top of the
stupendous precipice, and by the thundering sound of the billows dashing
against the rocky sides of the caverns below; you tremble with
reverential fear, when you consider that a blast of the whirlwind might
sweep you from off the slippery rocks on which you stand, and
precipitate you into the dreadful gulph beneath, from whence all the
power of man could not extricate you; you feel what an insignificant
being you are in the creation, and your mind is forcibly impressed with
an awful idea of the power of that mighty Being who commanded the waters
to flow.
[Sidenote: NIAGARA FALLS.]
Since the Falls of Niagara were first discovered they have receded very
considerably, owing to the disrupture of the rocks which form the
precipice. The rocks at bottom are first loosened by the constant action
of the water upon them; they are afterwards carried away, and those at
top being thus undermined, are soon broken by the weight of the water
rushing over them: even within the memory of many of the present
inhabitants of the country, the falls have receded several yards. The
commodore of the King’s vessels on Lake Erie, who had been employed on
that lake for upwards of thirty years, informed me, that when he first
came into the country it was a common practice for young men to go to
the island in the middle of the falls; that after dining there, they
used frequently to dare each other to walk into the river towards
certain large rocks in the midst of the rapids, not far from the edge of
the falls; and sometimes to proceed through the water, even beyond these
rocks. No such rocks are to be seen at present; and were a man to
advance two yards into the river from the island, he would be inevitably
swept away by the torrent. It has been conjectured, as I before
mentioned, that the Falls of Niagara were originally situated at
Queenstown; and indeed the more pains you take to examine the course of
the river from the present falls downward, the more reason is there to
imagine that such a conjecture is well founded. From the precipice
nearly down to Queenstown, the bed of the river is strewed with large
rocks, and the banks are broken and rugged; circumstances which plainly
denote that some great disruption has taken place along this part of the
river; and we need be at no loss to account for it, as there are evident
marks of the action of water upon the sides of the banks, and
considerably above their present bases. Now the river has never been
known to rise near these marks during the greatest floods; it is plain,
therefore, that its bed must have been once much more elevated than it
is at present. Below Queenstown, however, there are no traces on the
banks to lead us to imagine that the level of the water was ever much
higher there than it is now. The sudden increase of the depth of the
river just below the hills at Queenstown, and its sudden expansion there
at the same time, seem to indicate that the waters must for a great
length of time have fallen from the top of the hills, and thus have
formed that extensive deep basin below the village. In the river, a mile
or two above Queenstown, there is a tremendous whirlpool, owing to a
deep hole in the bed; this hole was probably also formed by the waters
falling for a great length of time on the same spot, in consequence of
the rocks which composed the then precipice having remained firmer than
those at any other place did. Tradition tells us, that the great fall,
instead of having been in the form of a horse shoe, once projected in
the middle. For a century past, however, it has remained nearly in the
present form; and as the ebullition of the water at the bottom of the
cataract is so much greater at the center of this fall than in any other
part, and as the water consequently acts with more force there in
undermining the precipice than at any other part, it is not unlikely
that it may remain nearly in the same form for ages to come.
[Sidenote: NIAGARA FALLS.]
At the bottom of the Horse-shoe Fall is found a kind of white concrete
substance, by the people of the country, called spray. Some persons have
supposed that it is formed from the earthy particles of the water, which
descending, owing to their great specific gravity, quicker than the
other particles, adhere to the rocks, and are there formed into a mass.
This concrete substance has precisely the appearance of petrified froth;
and it is remarkable, that it is found adhering to those rocks against
which the greatest quantities of the froth, that floats upon the water,
is washed by the eddies.
We did not think of ascending the cliff till the evening was far
advanced, and had it been possible to have found our way up in the dark,
I verily believe we should have remained at the bottom of it until
midnight. Just as we left the foot of the great fall the sun broke
through the clouds, and one of the most beautiful and perfect rainbows
that ever I beheld was exhibited in the spray that arose from the fall.
It is only at evening and morning that the rainbow is seen in
perfection; for the banks of the river, and the steep precipice, shade
the sun from the spray at the bottom of the fall in the middle of the
day.
At a great distance from the foot of the ladder we halted, and one of
the party was dispatched to fetch a bottle of brandy and a pair of
goblets, which had been deposited under some stones on the margin of the
river, in our way to the great fall, whither it would have been highly
inconvenient to have carried them. Wet from head to foot, and greatly
fatigued, there certainly was not one amongst us that appeared, at the
moment, desirous of getting the brandy, in order to pour out a libation
to the tutelary deities of the cataract; nor indeed was there much
reason to apprehend that our piety would have shone forth more
conspicuously afterwards; however it was not put to the test; for the
messenger returned in a few minutes with the woeful intelligence that
the brandy and goblets had been stolen. We were at no great loss in
guessing who the thieves were. Perched on the rocks, at a little
distance from us, sat a pair of the river nymphs, not “nymphs with
sedged crowns and ever harmless looks;” not “temperate nymphs,” but a
pair of squat sturdy old wenches, that with close bonnets and tucked up
petticoats had crawled down the cliff, and were busied with long rods in
angling for fish. Their noisy clack plainly indicated that they had been
well pleased with the brandy, and that we ought not to entertain any
hopes of recovering the spoil; we e’en slaked our thirst, therefore,
with a draught from the wholesome flood, and having done so, boldly
pushed forward, and before it was quite dark regained the habitations
from whence we had started.
[Sidenote: REMARKS.]
On returning we found a well-spread table laid out for us in the porch
of the house, and having gratified the keen appetite which the fatigue
we had encountered had excited, our friendly guides, having previously
given us instructions for examining the falls more particularly, set off
by moonlight for Niagara, and we repaired to Fort Chippeway, three miles
above the falls, which place we made our head-quarters while we remained
in the neighbourhood, because there was a tolerable tavern, and no house
in the village near the falls, where sickness was not prevalent.
The Falls of Niagara are much less difficult of access now than they
were some years ago. Charlevoix, who visited them in the year 1720,
tells us, that they were only to be viewed from one spot; and that from
thence the spectator had only a side prospect of them. Had he been able
to have descended to the bottom, he would have had ocular demonstration
of the existence of caverns underneath the precipice, which he supposed
to be the case from the hollow sound of the falling of the waters; from
the number of carcases washed up there on different parts of the strand,
and would also have been convinced of the truth of a circumstance which
he totally disbelieved, namely, that fish were oftentimes unable to stem
the rapid current above the falls, and were consequently carried down
the precipice.
[Sidenote: REMARKS.]
The most favourable season for visiting the falls is about the middle of
September, the time when we saw them; for then the woods are seen in all
their glory, beautifully variegated with the rich tints of autumn; and
the spectator is not then annoyed with vermin. In the summer season you
meet with rattlesnakes at every step, and musquitoes swarm so thickly in
the air, that to use a common phrase of the country, “you might cut them
with a knife.” The cold nights in the beginning of September effectually
banish these noxious animals.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
_LETTER _ XXXII.
_Description of Fort Chippeway.—Plan in meditation to cut a Canal to
avoid the Portage at the Falls of Niagara.—Departure from
Chippeway.—Intense Heat of the Weather.—Description of the Country
bordering on Niagara River above the Falls.—Observations on the
Climate of Upper Canada.—Rattlesnakes common in Upper Canada.—Fort
Erie.—Miserable Accommodation there.—Squirrel hunting.—Seneka
Indians.—Their Expertness at the Use of the Blow-gun.—Description of
the Blow-gun.—Excursion to the Village of the Senekas.—Whole Nation
absent.—Passage of a dangerous Sand Bar at the Mouth of Buffalo
Creek.—Sail from Fort Erie.—Driven back by a Storm.—Anchor under
Point Abineau.—Description of the Point.—Curious Sand Hills
there.—Bear hunting.—How carried on.—Dogs, what Sort of, used.—Wind_
_changes.—The Vessel suffers from the Storm whilst at
Anchor.—Departure from Point Abineau.—General Description of Lake
Erie.—Anecdote.—Reach the Islands at the Western End of the
Lake.—Anchor there.—Description of the Islands.—Serpents of various
Kinds found there.—Rattlesnakes.—Medicinal Uses made of
them.—Fabulous Accounts of Serpents.—Departure from the
Islands.—Arrival at Malden.—Detroit River._
Malden, October.
FORT CHIPPEWAY, from whence my last letter was dated, is a small
stockaded fort, situated on the borders of a creek of the same name,
about two hundred yards distant from Niagara River. Had it been built
immediately on the latter stream, its situation would have been much
more convenient; for the water of the creek is so bad that it cannot be
drank, and the garrison is obliged to draw water daily from the river.
The fort, which occupies about one rood of ground only, consists of a
small block house, inclosed by a stockade of cedar posts about twelve
feet high, which is merely sufficient to defend the garrison against
musquet shot. Adjoining to the fort there are about seven or eight farm
houses, and some large stone houses, where goods are deposited
preparatory to their being conveyed up the river in bateaux, or across
the portage in carts, to Queenstown. It is said that it would be
practicable to cut a canal from hence to Queenstown, by means of which
the troublesome and expensive process of unlading the bateaux and
transporting the goods in carts along the portage would be avoided. Such
a canal will in all probability be undertaken one day or other; but
whenever that shall be the case, there is reason to think that it will
be cut on the New York side of the river for two reasons; first, because
the ground on that side is much more favourable for such an undertaking;
and, secondly, because the state of New York is much more populous, and
far better enabled to advance the large sums of money that would be
requisite for cutting a canal through such rugged ground as borders upon
the river, than the province of Upper Canada either is at present, or
appears likely to be.
[Sidenote: FORT CHIPPEWAY.]
About fifteen men, under the command of a lieutenant, are usually
quartered at Fort Chippeway, who are mostly employed in conducting, in
bateaux from thence to Fort Erie, the stores for the troops in the upper
country, and the presents for the Indians.
After we had gratified our curiosity in regard to the wonderous objects
in the neighbourhood, at least as far as our time would permit, we were
obligingly furnished with a bateau by the officer at Fort Chippeway, to
whom we carried letters, to convey us to Fort Erie. My companions
embarked in it with our baggage, when the morning appointed for our
departure arrived; but desirous of taking one more look at the Falls, I
staid behind, determining to follow them on foot in the course of the
day; I accordingly walked down to the falls from Fort Chippeway after
breakfast, spent an hour or two there, returned to the fort, and having
stopped a short time to rest myself after the fatigues of climbing the
steeps about the falls, I set out for Fort Erie, fifteen miles distant
from Chippeway, accompanied by my faithful servant Edward, who has
indeed been a treasure to me since I have been in America. The day was
by no means favourable for a pedestrian expedition; it was intensely
hot, and we had not proceeded far before we found the necessity of
taking off our jackets, waistcoats, and cravats, and carrying them in a
bundle on our backs. Several parties of Indians that I met going down
the river in canoes were stark naked.
The banks of Niagara River, between Chippeway and Fort Erie, are very
low, and covered, for the most part, with shrubs, under whole shade,
upon the gravelly beach of the river, the weary traveller finds an
agreeable resting place. For the first few miles from Chippeway there
are scarcely any houses to be seen; but about half way between that
place and Fort Erie they are thickly scattered along the banks of the
river. The houses in this neighbourhood were remarkably well built, and
appeared to be kept in a state of great neatness; most of them were
sheathed with boards, and painted white. The lands adjoining them are
rich, and were well cultivated. The crops of Indian corn were still
standing here, which had a most luxuriant aspect; in many of the fields
there did not appear to be a stem less than eight feet in height.
Between the rows they sow gourds, squashes, and melons, of which last
every sort attains to a state of great perfection in the open air
throughout the inhabited parts of the two provinces. Peaches in this
part of the country likewise come to perfection in the open air, but in
Lower Canada, the summers are too short to permit them to ripen
sufficiently. The winters here are very severe whilst they last, but it
is seldom that the snow lies longer than three months on the ground. The
summers are intensely hot, Fahrenheit’s thermometer often rising to 96°,
and sometimes above 100°.
[Sidenote: INTENSE HEAT.—SNAKES.]
As I passed along to Fort Erie I killed a great many large snakes of
different sorts that I found basking in the sun. Amongst them I did not
find any rattlesnakes: these reptiles, however, are very commonly met
with here; and at the distance of twenty or thirty miles from the river,
up the country, it is said that they are so numerous as to render the
surveying of land a matter of very great danger. It is a circumstance
strongly in favour of Lower Canada, that the rattlesnake is not found
there; it is seldom found, indeed, to the northward of the forty-fifth
parallel of north latitude.