The name "Niagara" is supposed to belong to the vocabulary of the Iroquois
language, meaning "Thunderer of Waters."
The first white visitor to Niagara Falls was Father Hennepin, a priest and
historian, accompanying Chevalier Robert de la Salle on his discoveries.
He published the first description of "this wonderful Downfall" in 1678.
There exist now three distinct cataracts, which are known as _Horseshoe_,
_American_, and _Central Falls_. The weight of water descending over the
cadences in a single hour, is computed to be 100,000,000 tons.
The magnitude of the great waterfalls, and their fame as a natural wonder,
had, heretofore, to a certain degree, excluded from thought the idea of
their marvelous utilarian properties; but the recent development of
electrical science, and the far-reaching enterprise of to-day, have now
combined to subject to the uses of mankind a portion of the power of the
falls, developed at such a distance from the great cataract as not to
interfere in any way with the natural beauty of the scenery.
As the western sky was dyed with the tints of sunset, we hastened to reach
our floating home; since we expected two friends of Miss Campbell on board
the yacht--a gentleman who holds a prominent position in Buffalo, Mr.
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