‘What has been said by Goldsmith, and repeated by others, respecting the destructive influence of the rapids[15] above to ducks and other water fowl, is only an effect of the imagination. So far from being the case, a wild duck is often seen to swim down the rapid to the brink of the Falls, and then fly out, and repeat the descent, seeming to take a delight in the exercise. Neither are small land-birds affected on flying over the Falls, in the manner that has been stated. I observed the blue-bird and the wren, which had already made their annual visit to the banks of the Niagara, frequently fly within one or two feet of the brink, apparently delighted with the gift of their wings, which enabled them to sport over such frightful precipices without danger. We are certainly not well pleased to find that some of the wonderful stories we have read of the Falls, during boyhood, do not turn out to be the truth; but, at the same time, a little attention is only necessary to discover that many interesting facts and particulars remain unnoticed, which fully compensate for others that have been over-strained or misstated. Among these, the crystalline appearances disclosed among the prostrate ruins, and the geological character of the Fall itself, are not the least interesting. Illustration: Bridge and Rapids above the Falls. ‘The scenes where nature has experienced her greatest convulsions, are always the most favorable for acquiring a knowledge of the internal structure of the earth. The peaks of the highest mountains, and the depths of the lowest ravines, present the greatest attractions to the geologist. Hence this cataract, which has worn its way for a number of miles, and to a very great depth, through the stony crust of the earth, is no less interesting for the geological facts it discloses, than for the magnificence of its natural scenery. The chain of highlands, called the Ridge, originates in Upper Canada, and running parallel with the south shore of Lake Ontario, forms a natural terrace, which pervades the western counties of New-York, from north to south, affording, by its unbroken chain, and the horizontal position of its strata, the advantages of a natural road, and terminates in an unexplored part of the county of Oswego, or thereabout. It is in crossing this ridge, that the falls of the Niagara, of the Gennessee, and of the Oswego rivers, all running into Lake Ontario, are produced; together with those of an infinite number of smaller streams and brooks. Through this, the Niagara has cut its way for a distance of seven miles, and to a depth of more than two hundred feet, disclosing the number, order of stratification, and mineral character, of the different strata of secondary rocks, of which it is composed.