is perhaps as beautiful as any; but being from a
situation which is level with the river above the
Falls, a considerable part of the cataract is hid from
the eye. After taking a circuit of about a mile,
the path leads down a steep precipice, which is
descended with considerable difficulty, and not
without the aid of a long ladder, placed there by
a neighbouring planter, as when for his own con-
veniency, as for that of strangers. Immediately
below the cataract, the river is confined between
two steep rocks that form a deep winding valley,
through which the waters flow in their course to-
wards Lake Ontario. This valley is terminated
by a perpendicular rock of 53 yards in height,
which runs across, forming angle pointing up
the river, over which this vast body of water pre-
cipitates itself with astonishing rapidity, and with
a noise so tremendous that it can scarcely be de-
scribed. On the top of the rock is a small island,
which divides the cataract into tracts, and in
such a manner that the greater part of the water
pours over the rocks at the extreme head of the
valley; and the rest on one side of it. A little
above, opposite Chippaway

, the river is two miles
over; but directly above the Falls it narrows to
about a mile in breadth. I was informed by
Joseph Ellicot and his brother, at whose house I
lodged, that they had twice measured the falls, and
found them to be 158 feet in height, and about
1800 yards in width from the opposite edges of