The Falls of Niagara and Other Famous Cataracts Part 7

This singular syncope of the waters lasted all the day, and night closed over the strange scene. But in the morning our river was restored in all its strength and beauty and majesty, and we were glad to welcome its swelling tide once more.

It is a curious fact that nine out of every ten persons who visit the Falls for the first time, are on their arrival completely bewildered as to the points of the compa.s.s; and this without reference to the direction from which they may approach them. All understand the general geographical fact that Canada lies north of the United States. Hence they naturally suppose, when they arrive at the frontier, that they must see Canada to the north of them. But when they reach Niagara Falls they look across the river into Canada, in one direction directly south, and in another directly west. Only a reference to the map will rectify the erroneous impression. It is corrected at once by remembering that the Niagara River empties into the south side of Lake Ontario.

One other fact may be regarded as well-established, namely, that most visitors are disappointed when they first look upon the Falls. They are not immediately and forcibly impressed by the scene, as they had expected to be. The reasons for this are easily explained. The chief one is that the visitor first sees the Falls from a point above them.

Before seeing them, he reads of their great height; he expects to look up at them and behold the great ma.s.s of water falling, as it were, from the sky. He reads of the trembling earth; of the cloud of spray, that may be seen a hundred miles away; of the thunder of the torrent, and of the rainbows. He does not consider that these are occasional facts. He may not know he is near the Falls until he gets just over them. At certain times he feels no trembling of the earth; he hears no stunning roar; he may see the spray scattered in all directions by the wind, and of course he will see no bow. Naturally, he is disappointed. But it is not long before the grand reality begins to break upon him, and every succeeding day and hour of observation impresses him more and more deeply with the vastness, the power, the sublimity of the scene, and the wonderful and varied beauty of its surroundings. Those who spend one or more seasons at Niagara know how very little can be seen or comprehended by those who "stop over one train."

[Ill.u.s.tration: ROCK OF AGES AND WHIRLWIND BRIDGE]

They are fortunate who can see the Falls first from the ferry-boat on the river below, and about one-third of the way across from the American sh.o.r.e. The writer has frequently tried the experiment with friends who were willing to trust themselves, with closed eyes, to his guidance, and wait until he had given them the signal to look upward.

Those who may be at Niagara a few nights before and after a full moon should not fail to go to Goat Island to see the lunar bow. It is the most unreal of all real things--a thing of weird and shadowy beauty.

Another striking scene peculiar to the locality is witnessed in the autumn, when the sun in making its annual southing reaches a point which, at the sunset hour, is directly west from the Falls. Then those who are east of them see the spray illuminated by the slant rays of the sinking sun. In the calm of the hour and the peculiar atmosphere of the season, the majestic cloud looks like the spray of molten gold.

In 1840 there was a small patch of stones, gravel, sand, and earth, called Gull Island, lying near the center of the Canadian rapid and about one hundred rods above the Horseshoe Fall. It was apparently twenty rods long by two rods wide, and was covered with a growth of willow bushes. It was so named because it was a favorite resort of that singular combination of the most delicate bones and lightest feathers called a gull.

The birds seem large and awkward on the wing, but as they sit upon the water nothing can appear more graceful. They are far-sighted and keen-scented. Their eyes are marvels of beauty. They are eccentric in their habits, the very Arabs of their race--here to-day and gone to-morrow. They are gregarious and often a.s.semble in large numbers. At times in a series of wild, rapid, devious gyrations, and uttering a low, mournful murmur, they seem to be engaged, as it were, in some solemn festival commemorative of their departed kindred. One moment the air will be filled with them and their sad refrain; the next moment the cry will have ceased and not a gull will be seen. They come as they go, summer and winter alike. In thirty years the writer has never been able to discover when nor whence they came. In winter they generally appear in the milder days, and their disappearance is followed by cooler weather.

In the spring of 1847 a long and fierce gale from the west, which drove the water down Lake Erie, caused the highest rise ever known in the river. It rose six feet on the rapids, and for the first time reached the floor-planking of the old bridge. The greater part of Gull Island was washed down in this flood, and ten years later it had wholly disappeared.

The vague tradition--the origin of which cannot be traced--that there is a flux and reflux of the waters in the Great Lakes, which embraces a period of about seven years, is not confirmed by our observation, if it be intended to affirm that the ebb and flow are both completed in seven years. Our observation shows that there is a flow of about seven years, and a reflux, which is accomplished in the same period. The water in the Niagara was very low in 1843-4, again in 1857-8, and again in 1871-2.

This last is the lowest long continued shrinkage ever known. It is, however, altogether probable that the general level of the lakes will fall hereafter, owing to the destruction of the forests and the cultivation of the land along their sh.o.r.es. In this case the waters of the Niagara and Detroit rivers may, in the far future, meet in the bed of Lake Erie, and their margins be covered with orchards and vineyards more extensive and productive than those along the Rhine.

The Hermit of the Falls, so called, Mr. Francis Abbott, came to the village in June, 1829. He was a rather good-looking, respectable young man, of moderate attainments, who was subject, apparently, to a mild form of intermittent derangement. Though his manner was eccentric, his conduct was harmless, and it is probable that his parents, who, it was afterward ascertained, were respectable members of the Society of Friends in England, encouraged his desire to travel, and furnished him the means to do so. He seems to have had some taste for music, and to have been a tolerable performer on the flute. He wandered much about the island, both night and day, and often bathed below the little fall on the south side of Goat Island, near its head. He lived alone in an unoccupied log-hut, directly across the island from this fall, until about the first of April, 1831, when he removed to a little cabin of his own building, on Point View. In June of that year, just two years after his arrival, he was drowned while bathing below the ferry. Ten days after, his body was found at Fort Niagara, brought back, and buried in the G.o.d's-acre at the Falls.

CHAPTER XIV.

Avery's descent of the Falls--The fatal practical joke--Death of Miss Rugg--Swans--Eagles--Crows--Ducks over the Falls--Why dogs have survived the descent.

On the morning of the 19th of July, 1853, a man was discovered in the middle of the American rapid, about thirty rods below the bridge. He was clinging to a log, which the previous spring had lodged against a rock.

He proved to be a Mr. Avery, who had undertaken to cross the river above the night before, but, getting bewildered in the current, was drawn into the rapids. His boat struck the log, and was overturned, yet, by some extraordinary good fortune, he was able to hold to the timber. A large crowd soon gathered on the sh.o.r.e and bridge. A sign, painted in large letters, "We will save you," was fastened to a building, that the reading of it might cheer and encourage him. Boats and ropes were provided, with willing hands to use them. The first boat lowered into the rapids filled and sank just before reaching Avery. The next, a life-boat, which had been procured from Buffalo, was let down, reached the log, was dashed off by the reacting waters, upset, and sank beside him. Another light, clinker-built boat was launched, and reached him just right. But, in some unaccountable manner, the rope got caught between the rock and the log. It was impossible to loosen it. Poor Avery tugged and worked at it with almost superhuman energy for hours.

The citizens above pulled at the rope until it broke.

By this time a raft had been constructed, with a strong cask fastened to each corner, and ropes attached so that Avery could tie himself to it.

It was lowered, and reached him safely. He got on it and seized the ropes. Every heart grew lighter as the rescuers moved across the lower part of Bath Island, drawing in the rope, while the raft swung easily toward Goat Island. But when it reached the head of Chapin's Island, all hopes were dashed again. The rope attached to the raft got caught in the rocks as it was pa.s.sing below a ledge in a swift chute of water. All efforts to loosen it were ineffectual. Another boat was launched and let down-stream. It reached the raft all right, and Avery, in his eagerness to seize it, dropped the ropes he had been holding, stepped to the edge of the raft, with his hands extended to catch the boat, when the raft, under his weight, settled in the water, and, just missing his hold, he was swept into the rapids, went down the north side of Chapin's Island, and, almost in reach of it, in water so shallow that he regained his feet for an instant, threw up his hands in despair, fell backward, and went over the Fall. The tragedy lasted eighteen hours.

The names connected with the next incident are suppressed, out of regard for the feelings of surviving friends. It is given as a warning to future visitors to Niagara not to attempt any mirthful experiments around the Falls. A party of ladies, gentlemen, and children were on Luna Island, near a small beech tree, since destroyed, called "the Parasol." A young girl of ten was standing near her mother, just on the brink of the water, when a young man of twenty-two stepped up beside her and seized her playfully by the arms, saying, "Now, Nannie, I am going to throw you in," and swung her out over the water. Taken by surprise and frightened, she struggled, twisted herself out of his grasp, and fell into the rapid within twenty feet of the brink of the precipice.

Instantly the young man plunged in after her, seized hold of her dress, and swung her around toward her half-distracted mother, who almost reached her as she slipped by and went over the Fall, immediately followed by the young man. The young girl was found some days afterward, lying on her back, on a large rock, holding her open parasol above her head, as though she had lain down to rest. A few weeks afterward the father of the young man was coming up the river, on the _Maid of the Mist_, from the lower landing. A body was discovered floating in the water, and, by the aid of a small boat, was brought on board the steamer. It was that of his son.

On the 23d of August, 1844, Miss Martha K. Rugg was walking to Table Rock with a friend. Seeing a bunch of cedar-berries on a low tree, which grew out from the edge of the bank, she left her companion, reached out to pick it, lost her footing, and fell one hundred and fifteen feet upon the rocks below. She survived about three hours. Pilgrims to Table Rock used to inquire for the spot where this accident happened. The following spring, an enterprising Irishman brought out a table of suitable dimensions, set it down on the bank of the river, and covered it with different articles, which he offered for sale. In order to enlighten strangers about the spot, he provided a remarkable sign, which he set up near one end of the table. This sign was a monumental obelisk, about five feet high, made of pine boards, and painted white. On the base he painted, in black letters, the following inscription:

"Ladies fair, most beauteous of the race, Beware and shun a dangerous place.

Miss Martha Rugg here lost a life, Who might now have been a happy wife."

An envious compet.i.tor, one of his own countrymen, brought his own table of wares, and placed it just above the original mourner. Thereupon, the latter, determining that his rival should not have the benefit of his sign, removed it below his own table, having first removed the table itself as far down as circ.u.mstances would permit. Then he added his master-stroke of policy. Up to that time the monument had been stationary. Thenceforward, every day on quitting business he put it on a wheelbarrow and took it home, bringing it out again on resuming operations in the morning.

Previous to the War of 1812, the Niagara River abounded in swans, wild geese, and ducks. Since that war none of the swans have been seen here, except two pair which came at different times. One of each pair went over the Falls, and was taken out alive but stunned. Their mates, faithful unto death, were shot while watching and waiting for their return.

Eagles have always been seen in the vicinity, and a few have been captured. A single pair for many years had their aerie in the top of a huge dead sycamore tree, near the head of Burnt s.h.i.+p Bay. It was interesting to watch the flight of the male bird when he left his brooding mate to go on a foraging expedition. Leaving the topmost limb that served as his home observatory, he would sweep round in a circle, forming the base of a regular spiral curve, in which he rose to any desired height. Then, having apparently determined by scent or sight, or by both, the direction he would take, he sailed grandly off. How grandly, too, on his return, he floated to his lofty perch with a single fold of his great wings, and sat for a few moments, motionless as a statue, before greeting his mate. When the young eaglets had but recently chipped their sh.e.l.ls, pa.s.sing sportsmen were content to view the majestic pair at a respectful distance. A pair of eagles, each carrying ten talons, a hooked beak, a strong pair of wings, and an unerring eye, all backed and propelled by an indomitable will and courage, are not to be recklessly trifled with.

Early in July, 1877, two farmers riding in a buggy from Bergholtz, in the easterly part of the town of Niagara, toward the town of Wilson on Lake Ontario, saw a large gray eagle sitting on a fence by the roadside, and watching with much interest some object in a field beyond. Leaving their buggy, they ascertained that the object of its solicitude was an eaglet sitting on the ground, unable to fly, his wings and feathers having been drenched by a heavy shower. One of the men who first reached the young bird found it rather bellicose, and while attempting to secure it was surprised by a vigorous thump on the head from the old bird, accompanied with a sensation of sharp claws in his hair which nearly prostrated him. His a.s.sailant then rose quickly some forty feet in the air, and, turning again, descended upon the man with such force as to compel him to relinquish his game. His friend joined him, and for nearly half an hour the two were engaged in a fierce fight with the resolute bird, which they estimated would measure eight feet across the extended wings. The eagle would soar quickly upward as at first until it reached the desired range, when it would turn upon them with great fierceness, thumping with its wings and striking with its talons at their very faces. Finally, securing a number of good-sized cobble-stones, they advanced again upon the eaglet, and were at once attacked by the parent. But they used their stone artillery with vigor, and succeeded in getting the eaglet to their buggy, leaving its gallant defender still unconquered and soaring in the air with a slightly injured wing.

Before the War of the Rebellion, Niagara was a favorite resort of that winged scavenger, the crow, and, at times, they were very numerous. But after the first year of the war they entirely disappeared. Snuffing the battle from afar, they turned instinctively to the South, and did not re-appear among us until several years after the war had ended.

Large numbers of ducks formerly went over the Falls, but not for the reason generally a.s.signed, namely, that they cannot rise out of the rapids. It is true that they cannot rise from the water while heading up-stream. When they wish to do so, they turn down the current, and sail out without difficulty. No sound and living duck ever went over the precipice by daylight. Dark and especially foggy nights are most fatal to them. In the month of September, 1841, four hundred ducks were picked up below the Falls, that had gone over in the fog of the previous night.

In two instances, dogs have been sent over the Falls and have survived the plunge. In 1858 a bull-terrier was thrown into the rapids, also near the middle of the bridge. In less than an hour he came up the ferry-stairs, very wet and not at all gay.

The reason why the dogs were not killed may be thus explained. From the top of the Rapids Tower, before its destruction, the spectator could get a perfect view of the Canadian Fall. On a bright day, by looking steadily at the bottom of the Horseshoe, where water falls into water, he could see, as the spray was occasionally removed, a beautiful exhibition of water-cones, apparently ten or twelve feet high. These are formed by the rapid acc.u.mulation and condensation of the falling water.

It pours down so rapidly and in such quant.i.ties that the water below, so to speak, cannot run off fast enough, and it piles up as though it were in a state of violent ebullition. These cones are constantly forming and breaking. If any strong animal should fall upon one of these cones, as upon a soft cus.h.i.+on, it might slide safely into the current below. The dogs were, doubtless, fortunate enough to fall in this way, aided also by the repulsion of the water from the rocks in the swift channel through which they pa.s.sed.

CHAPTER XV.

Wedding tourists at the Falls--Bridges to the Moss Islands--Railway at the ferry--List of persons who have been carried over the Falls--Other accidents.

For many years Niagara has been a favorite resort for bridal tourists, who in a crowd of strangers can be so excessively proper that every one else can see how charmingly improper they are.

The three fine, graceful bridges which unite Goat Island with the three smaller islands--the Moss Islands, or the Three Sisters--lying south of it were built in 1858. They opened up a new and attractive feature of the locality, with which all visitors are charmed. Those who have been on them will remember what a broken, wild, tangled ma.s.s of rocks, wood, and vines they are. Nothing on Onalaska's wildest sh.o.r.e could be more thoroughly primitive.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE THREE SISTERS OR MOSS ISLANDS]

A rude path with steps cut in the slope of the bank was for several years the only way of getting down to the water's edge at the ferry. In 1825 several flights of stairs were erected, with good paths between, which made the task quite safe and easy. The double railway-track at the ferry was completed in 1845. When the necessary excavations were nearly finished, and people were told the object of it, the scheme met no approval from those conservative persons who have no faith in new things. The idea of a railway "to go by water" was not considered a brilliant one. Indeed, the greater number shrugged their shoulders at the thought of riding down _that_ hill. But as soon as the lumber cars were started for the convenience of the workmen, and people saw how expeditious and easy was the trip, it was difficult to keep them off the cars. Hundreds of thousands of pa.s.sengers have ridden in them without accident or injury. The motive power is a reaction waterwheel set in a deep pit, and as all the machinery is concealed, it has quite the appearance of a self-working apparatus. There is alongside of the railroad a straight stair-way of two hundred and ninety steps, for those who prefer to use it.

The number of victims whom carelessness or folly has sent over the Falls is large, and, it may be believed, is quite independent of the Indian tradition that the great cataract demands a yearly sacrifice of two human victims.

OVER THE FALLS.

In 1810 the boat _Independence_, laden with salt, filled and sunk while crossing to Chippewa. The captain and two of the crew went over the Falls. One of the crew clung to a large oar, and was saved by a small boat from Chippewa.

1821 Two men in a scow were driven down the current by the wind, and went over the Falls.

1825 Two men in a boat from Grand Island went over.

--Three men went over in three different canoes.

1841 Two men, engaged in smuggling, were upset in the current; one went over. One was found dead on Gra.s.s Island.

--Two men who were carrying sand in a scow were drawn into the current and went over.