stration: THE MAIDEN SACRIFICE.]

Of course, it was the difficulty and danger of descending
into the Gorge, and of scaling the face of the cliff in
returning--accomplishable in those days only by means of vines which
clung to the rocks, or by crude ladders (formed of long trunks of
trees, from which all branches had been lopped off about a foot from
the trunk, and set upright, close to the face of the cliff)--that lends
any plausibility to the legend.

The Legend of Burial was, that Goat Island was specially reserved as a
burying-ground for famous chiefs and noted warriors.

If this Legend was founded on fact, it certainly would have made
Niagara at that time one of the best known and most frequented spots on
the Continent; and at each visit for such burial, trade would doubtless
have been carried on.

CIRCULAR RAINBOWS

It is possible to-day, as it most certainly was in those traditional
days, to behold a complete circular Rainbow at Niagara; generally, only
when one is out in front of the falling waters, close to the spray,
near the level of the river in the Gorge; always with the Sun at one's
back--and the Sun must shine brightly, and the Mist must be plentiful.

It is possible to see a complete circular Rainbow anywhere, on land or
water, whenever one stands between the Sun and a sufficiently abundant
mist (standing close to the latter), and the Sun is near the horizon.

It is possible to see it, at some point at Niagara, often,--that is on
every bright day,--because that abundant curtain of mist is ever
present; and the Gorge, by reason of its great width and depth, affords
specially favorable opportunities.

This curious phenomenon is obtainable easily and regularly only in the
Gorge at the Goat Island end of the American Fall, from the rocks in
front of the Cave of the Winds (for the prevailing winds of the
locality are from the southwest, which bring the spray cloud into the
best relative position at this point), or from the deck of the
steamboat, at certain parts of the trip,--and from both only in the
afternoon.

It can sometimes be seen from Prospect Point, and from the Terrapin
Rocks--in the early morning, when the spray-cloud rises towards the
north.

It can also, sometimes (at the season when the Sun sets farthest to the
northward), be seen from the rocks out in front of the American Fall,
below Prospect Point.

This was the spot where the Aborigines would most easily have tested
the