y specks are distinctly
seen, appearing and disappearing at intervals. These are the clouds of
spray arising from the Falls; it is even asserted that they have been
seen from Lake Erie, a distance of fifty-four miles.--Weld, p. 374.]

[Footnote 133: The sound of the Falls appears to have been heard at the
distance of twenty or even forty miles: but these effects depend much on
the direction of the wind, and the tranquil or disturbed state of the
atmosphere. Mr. Weld mentions having approached the Falls within half a
mile without hearing any sound, while the spray was but just
discernible.--Weld, p. 374.]

[Footnote 134: "The shores of Lake Erie, though flat, are elevated about
400 feet above those of Lake Ontario. The descent takes place in the
short interval between the two lakes traversed by the Niagara Channel.
This descent is partly gradual, producing only a succession of rapids.
It is at Queenston, about seven miles below the present site of the
Falls, that a range of hills marks the descent to the Ontario level.
Volney conceives it certain that this must have been the place down
which the river originally fell, and that the continued and violent
action of its waves must have gradually worn away the rocks beneath
them, and in the course of ages carried the Fall back to its present
position, from which it continues gradually receding. Mr. Howison
confirms the statement, that, in the memory of persons now living in
Upper Canada, a considerable change has been observed. The whole course
of the river downward to Queenston is through a deep dell, bordered by
broken and perpendicular steeps, rudely overhung by trees and shrubs,
and the opposite strata of which correspond, affording thus the
strongest presumption that it is a channel hewn out by the river
itself."--H. Murray's _Historical Description of America_, vol. ii., p.
466.

"It is now considered that there is clear geological proof that the Fall
once existed at Queenston. The 710,000 tons of water which each minute
pour over the precipice of the Niagara, are estimated to carry away a
foot of the cliff every year; therefore we must suppose a period of
20,000 years occupied in the recession of the cataract to its present
site."--Lyell's _Geology_.]

[Footnote 135: "The mouth of the whirlpool is more than 1000 feet wide,
and in length about 2000. Mr. Howison, in his sketches of Upper Canada,
says that the current of the river has formed a circular excavation in