r power. But the danger is in appearance only: it is
possible to penetrate only a few yards beyond the curtain, and, in these
few, there is no hazard; the footing is good, and the space is
sufficiently broad and free. There is even no necessity for a guide: the
eyes amply suffice to point out all that is to be seen or avoided.
During Mr. Hall's first visit, there were two young American ladies on
the same errand; and they, as well as himself, were drenched in the
cloud of spray.

The larger fall was formerly called the "Horse-shoe," but this name is
no longer applicable; for its shape has become that of an acute angle.
An officer, who had been stationed in the neighbourhood thirty years,
pointed out to Mr. Hall the alteration which had taken place in the
centre of the fall, and which he estimated at about eighteen feet in
that time.

The lesser fall, on the American side, had the appearance of a
considerable elevation, above the bed of the greater: on enquiry, Mr.
Hall found that there was a difference between them, of about fifteen
feet, caused, probably, by the greater weight of water descending down
one than the other.

The island which divides the falls has, of late years, been frequently
visited; nor is the visit to it an adventure of much hazard. At the
point where the rapids commence, the current separates, and is drawn, on
either side, towards the centre of the two falls, while the centre of
the stream, being in the straight line of the island, descends towards
it, without any violent attraction; and, down this still water, American
boats, well manned, and furnished with poles to secure them from the
action of the two currents, have frequently dropt to the island.

There is a whirlpool about half way betwixt Niagara and Queenston. The
river, boiling and eddying from the falls, enters a circular basin,
round which the lofty cliff sweeps, like an antique wall, overgrown with
trees at its base, and amid its clefts and crevices. The cause of the
whirlpool is perceptible to the spectator, who looks down, and observes
that the stream, being compelled into this basin, by the direction of
its channel, and unable to escape with celerity, is forced to gain time
by revolving within its own circumference.

[Mr. Weld, who visited Niagara, about the year 1797, observes that,
although the spray, and the noise of the cataract, are sometimes not
observable so far as half a mile, yet, at other times, the noise has
been hear