vicinity of the Falls, in the Gorge below them; but no one seeks to
gather it, save as a curiosity.

But, in those early days, among the ignorant and phenomenally
superstitious Savages, those "Erie Stones," to be "found only at
Niagara," seemed to them a special gift from the Great Spirit to his
children. To the Savages, they were, veritably, "Big Medicine."

Their fame lasted for many a year. They were gathered and traded
in--yes, and used--even until the middle of the 18th Century. As late
as 1787, their reputation still clung to the great Fall.

That year, Capt. Enys, of the 29th Regiment, British, was at Niagara,
and wrote of them--they were no longer called "Erie Stones," but the
substance was known as "petrified spray of the Falls,"--

"On our return" [from the base of the Fall, and walking along the
water's edge, under the cliff], "we employed ourselves in picking
up a kind of stone, which is said to be the Spray of the Fall,
petrified, but whether it is or no, I will not pretend to
determine; this much I can say, that it grows, or forms itself in
cavities in the cliff, about half way to the top, from whence it
falls from time to time; its composition is a good deal like a
piece of white marble which has been burnt in the fire, so that it
may be pulverized with ease. Whatever may be its composition, it
does not appear that it will bear to be exposed to the air, as some
pieces which seem to have fallen longer than the rest are quite
soft; while such as had lately fallen are of a much harder nature."

Robert McCauslin, M.D., who, during and after the War of the
Revolution, spent nine years at Niagara--undoubtedly as British Post
Surgeon at Fort Niagara,--furnished a scientific paper entitled, "An
account of an earthly substance, found near the Falls of Niagara, and
vulgarly called the Spray of the Falls," to Dr. Benjamin Smith Barton;
and he, on October 16, 1789, communicated it to the American
Philosophical Society; in whose Transactions it was subsequently
published. Dr. McCauslin specially noted, that

"This substance is found, in great plenty, everywhere about the
bottom of the Falls; sometimes lying loose among the stones on the
beach, and sometimes adhering to the rocks, or appearing between
the layers upon breaking them. The masses are of various sizes and
shapes, but seldom exceed the bulk of a man's hand. Sometimes they
are of