that overlooks the Table Rock, and distinguished a low thundering only, which at times was altogether drowned amid the roaring of the rapids above the cataract. In my opinion, the concave shape of the Great Fall explains this circumstance. The noise vibrates from one side of the rocky recess to the other, and only a little escapes from its confinement; and even this is less distinctly heard than it would otherwise be, as the profusion of spray renders the air near the cataract a very indifferent conductor of sound.

The road to the bottom of the fall presents many more difficulties than that which leads to the Table Rock. After leaving the Table Rock, the traveler must proceed down the river nearly half a mile, where he will come to a small chasm in the bank, in which there is a spiral staircase enclosed in a wooden building. By descending this stair, which is seventy or eighty feet in perpendicular height, he will find himself under the precipice, on the top of which he formerly walked. A high but sloping bank extends from its base to the edge of the river; and on the summit of this there is a narrow, slippery path, covered with angular fragments of rock, which leads to the Great Fall. The impending cliffs, hung with a profusion of trees and brushwood, overarch this road, and seem to vibrate with the thunders of the cataract. In some places they rise abruptly to the height of one hundred feet, and display upon their surfaces fossils, shells, and the organic remains of a former world; thus sublimely leading the mind to contemplate the convulsions which nature has undergone since the creation.

As the traveler advances, he is frightfully stunned by the appalling noise; for clouds of spray sometimes envelop him, and suddenly check his faltering steps; rattlesnakes start from the cavities of the rocks, and the screams of eagles soaring among the whirlwinds of eddying vapor, which obscure the gulf of the cataract, at intervals announce that the raging waters have hurled some bewildered animal over the precipice. After scrambling among piles of huge rocks that obstruct his way, the traveler gains the bottom of the fall, where the soul can be susceptible of but one 'emotion, namely, that of uncontrollable terror. It was not until I had, by frequent excursions to the falls, in some measure familiarized my mind with their sublimities, that I ventured to explore the penetralia of the great cataract. The precipice over which it rolls is very much arched underneath; while the impetus which the water receives in its

descent projects it far beyond the cliff, and thus an immense Gothic arch is formed by the rock and the torrent.

Twice I entered this cavern, and twice I was obliged to retrace my steps lest I should be suffocated by the blasts of dense spray that whirled around me; however, the third time I succeeded in advancing about twenty-five yards. Here darkness began to encircle me; on one side the black cliff stretched itself into a gigantic arch far above my head, and on the other the dense and hissing torrent formed an impenetrable sheet of foam, with which I was drenched in a moment. The rocks were so slippery that I could hardly keep my feet, or hold securely by them; while the horrid din made me think the precipices above were tumbling down in colossal fragments upon my head.

It is not easy to determine how far an individual might advance between the sheet of water and the rock; but were it even possible to explore the recess to its utmost extremity, scarcely any one, I believe, would have courage to attempt an expedition of the kind.

A little way below the Great Fall the river is, comparatively speaking, tranquil, so that a ferry boat plies between the Canada and American shores for the convenience of travelers. When I first crossed, the heaving flood tossed about the skiff with a violence that seemed very alarming; but as soon as we gained the middle of the river, my attention was altogether engaged by the surpassing grandeur of the scene before me. I was now within the area of a semicircle of cataracts, more than three thousand feet in extent, and floated on the surface of a gulf raging fathomless and interminable. Majestic cliffs, splendid rainbows, lofty trees, and columns of spray were the gorgeous decorations of this theatre of wonders, while a dazzling sun shed refulgent glories upon every part of the scene.

Surrounded with clouds of vapor, and stunned into a state of confusion and terror by the hideous noise, I looked upward to the height of one hundred and fifty feet, and saw vast floods, dense, awful, and stupendous, vehemently bursting over the precipice, and rolling down, as if the windows of heaven were open, to pour another deluge upon the earth. Loud sounds, resembling discharges of artillery or volcanic explosions, were now distinguishable among the watery tumult, and added terrors to the abyss from which they issued. The sun, looking majestically through the ascending spray, was encircled by a radiant halo, whilst fragments of rainbows floated on every side, and

momentarily vanished, only to give place to a succession of others more brilliant. Looking backward I saw the Niagara River, again become calm and tranquil, rolling magnificently between the towering cliffs that rose on either side, and receiving showers of orient dewdrops from the trees that gracefully overarched its transparent bosom.

The Niagara Falls appear to the observer of a magnitude inferior to what they really are, because the objects surrounding do not bear a due proportion to them. The river, cliffs, and trees are on a comparatively small scale, and add little to the composition or grandeur of the scene; therefore he who contemplates the cataract reduces them to such dimensions as correspond with those of the contiguous objects; thus divesting one part of the scene of a good deal of magnificence, without communicating any additional grandeur to the other.

The

There have been instances of people being carried over the falls, but I believe none of the bodies were ever found. rapidity of the river, before it tumbles down the precipice, is so great, that a human body would certainly be whirled along without sinking; therefore some of those individuals, to whom I allude, probably retained their senses till they reached the edge of the cataract, and even looked down upon the gulf into which they were the next moment precipitated.

Many years ago, an Indian, while attempting to cross the river above the falls in a canoe, had his paddle struck from his hands by the rapidity of the currents. He was immediately hurried toward the cataract, and, seeing that death was inevitable, he covered his head with his cloak, and resigned himself to destruction. However, when he approached the edge of the cataract, shuddering nature revolted so strongly that he was seen to start up and stretch out his arms; but the canoe upset, and he was instantly ingulfed amidst the fury of the boiling

surge.

PERDITA AND HER FLOWERS.-SHAKSPEARE.

A Shepherd's Cottage.

Enter FLORIZEL and PERDITA.

Flo. These your unusual weeds to each part of you
Do give a life: no shepherdess; but Flora,

Peering in April's front. This your sheep-shearing
Is as a meeting of the petty gods,

And you the queen on't.

Per.
Sir, my gracious lord,
To chide at your extremes, it not becomes me;
O, pardon, that I name them: your high self,
The gracious mark o' the land, you have obscur'd
With a swain's wearing; and me, poor lowly maid,
Most goddess-like prank'd up: But that our feasts
In every mess have folly, and the feeders
Digest it with a custom, I should blush
To see you so attired; sworn, I think,
To shew myself a glass.

Flo.
I bless the time,
When my good falcon made her flight across
Thy father's ground.

Per.

Now Jove afford you cause!
To me, the difference forges dread; your greatness
Hath not been us'd to fear. Even now I tremble
To think, your father, by some accident,
Should pass this way, as you did: O, the fates!
How would he look, to see his work, so noble,
Vilely bound up? What would he say? Or how
Should I, in these my borrow'd flaunts, behold
The sternness of his presence?

Flo.

Nothing.

Apprehend

Your resolution cannot hold, when 'tis

Oppos'd, as it must be, by the power o' the king;

One of these two must be necessities,

Which then will speak; that you must change this purpose, Or I my life.

With these forc'd thoughts, I pr'ythee, darken not

The mirth o' the feast: Or I'll be thine, my fair,
Or not my father's; For I cannot be

Mine own, nor any thing to any, if

I be not thine: to this I am most constant,

Though destiny say, no. Be merry, gentle;

Strangle such thoughts as these, with any thing

That you behold the while. Your guests are coming:
Lift up your countenance; as it were the day

Of celebration of that nuptial, which
We two have sworn shall come.

Per.

Stand you auspicious!

O lady fortune

Enter Shepherd, with POLIXENES and CAMILLO disguised; Clown, Mopsa,

Flo.

DORCAS, and others.

See, your guests approach;
Address yourself to entertain them sprightly,

And let's be red with mirth.

Shep. Fye, daughter! when my old wife liv'd upon
This day, she was both pantler, butler, cook;

Both dame and servant; welcom'd all; serv'd all:
Would sing her song and dance her turn; now here,
At upper end o' the table, now, i' the middle;

On his shoulder, and his: her face o' fire
With labor; and the thing, she took to quench it,
She would to each one sip: You are retir'd,
As if you were a feasted one, and not
The hostess of the meeting: Pray you, bid
These unknown friends to us welcome: for it is
A way to make us better friends, more known.
Come, quench your blushes; and present yourself
That which you are, mistress o' the feast: Come on,
And bid us welcome to your sheep-shearing,
As your good flock shall prosper.

Per.

Welcome, sir!

It is my father's will, I should take on me
The hostess-ship o' the day :-You're welcome, sir!

[TO POL.

[TO CAMILLO.

Give me those flowers there, Dorcas. Reverend sirs,
For you there's rosemary, and rue; these keep
Seeming, and savour, all the winter long:
Grace, and remembrance, be to you both,
And welcome to our shearing!

Pol.

Shepherdess,

(A fair one are you,) well you fit our ages
With flowers of winter.

Per.

Sir, the year growing ancient

Not yet on summer's death, nor on the birth

Of trembling winter-the fairest flowers o' the season

Are our carnations, and streak'd gillyflowers.

Here's flowers for you;

Hot lavender, mints, savory, marjoram ;
The marigold, that go to bed with the sun,
And with him rises weeping; these are flowers

Of middle summer, and, I think, they are given

To men of middle age: You are very welcome.
Cam. I should leave grazing, were I of your flock,
And only live by gazing.

Per.

Out, alas!

You'd be so lean that blasts of January

Would blow you through and through.-Now, my fairest frienu,