The chasm, from the falls downward, is bounded on both sides by perpendicular cliffs. After descending seventy or eighty feet by a wooden stair, the way to the water’s edge is down a steep foot-slope, amongst large blocks of stone, and small trees of white cedar which line the banks, and add much to the beauty of this grand ravine. A small skiff is kept for the convenience of those who would have a view of the falls from below. Sailing here sometimes exposes the traveller to {293} have his clothes wet from the falling vapours, the waters being so much agitated; but as the commotion is nothing more than the heavings of an eddy that comes into contact with the stream, no danger whatever is to be apprehended, and I am apt to believe that few visitors will forego the pleasure of crossing at this place. It was not till I got afloat on the river that I obtained a comprehensive view of the whole cataract. The part between the island and the north-western shore, forms a hollow curve that is called the Horse-shoe Bend. It is in the inmost recess of this bay that the greatest quantity of water is precipitated, and from this part the most deep toned sounds seemed to proceed. The great body of water which dashes from the summit of the Horse-shoe Bend, is evidenced by the majestic curve that the liquid forms, where it rolls over the top of the rock, and by the green colour that it retains till the vast column is concealed by the waters which rise in revulsion from the vortex below. It is also over the Horse-shoe Bend, that the vapour ascends in the thickest cloud, and to the greatest height. On the margin of the river, I observed some logs of timber, that had been put ashore by the eddy. They were large round trees, which appeared to have been cut across at the lengths of twelve and sixteen feet, such as are cut into boards at saw-mills. Several of them were split asunder throughout their whole length. Others of them had some of the annular layers of the timber peeled off, and the remaining surfaces bruised and marked, as if they had been beat all over with a weighty hammer or a blunt axe. The ends of the logs were round, somewhat resembling a parabolic figure. {294} The ascent of the northern bank, is performed by climbing the steep foot-slope by a rugged path that winds amongst large stones, and ultimately surmounting the cliff by a wooden stair;--a fatiguing task, but one which is amply repaid by the commanding situation of the high ground on the Canadian side. As the cascade runs obliquely across the river, and exposes the concavity to the northward, the spectator is here, as it were, placed a little beyond the focus of the grandest amphitheatre. It is also in his power to approach close to the extremity of the pitch, and overlook the smoking Horse-shoe Bend, and peer down on the awful but indescribable convulsions that agitate the foaming bay.