Standing on the platform, I glanced at the mighty volume of water; here
precipitated over a huge rock 163 feet high with a thunderlike roar that
can be heard, under favorable circumstances, a distance of fifteen miles.
For a long time we remained there, spell-bound by the wonderful panorama,
plunged into a reverie of rapture. Mrs. James, reminding me the carriages
were waiting for us, brought me back to consciousness.
The spectacle is so sublime and overwhelming that the mind, unable to
grasp it, cannot adjust itself at once to a scale so stupendous, and the
impression fails. But, gradually, as you remain longer, the unvarying,
ponderous, unspeakably solemn voice of the great flood finds its way to
the soul, and holds it with a fascination which is all pervasive and
cannot be shaken off.
In a car, moving on an inclined plane, we descended to the water's edge.
These cars are raised and lowered by water-power, by means of a three-inch
cable 300 feet long, running over steel wheels.
At the foot of the stairway, tickets may be obtained for the trip on the
"Maid of the Mist," that steams up to the Horseshoe Fall; then back to the
Canadian side, and finally returns to her starting point.
Pages:
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51