(75) XX. DESCRIPTION OF THE FALLS OF NIAGARA. 1. MONG the many natural curiosities which this country affords, the cataract of Niagara is infinitely the greatest. In order to have a tolerable idea of this stupendous fall of water, it will be necessary to conceive that part of the country in which Lake Erie is situated, to be elevated above that which contains Lake Ontario, about 300 feet. The 2. The slope which separates the upper and lower countriy is generally very steep, and in many places almost perpendicular. It is formed by horizontal strata of stone, great part of which is what we commonly call lime stone. slope may be traced from the north side of Lake Ontario, near the bay of Teronto, round the west end of the Lake; thence its direction is generally east, between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie; it crosses the strait of Niagara; and the Chenesco river; after which it becomes lost in the country towards the Seneka Lake. 3. It is to this slope that our country is indebted, both for the cataract of Niagara and the great falls of the Chenesco. The cataract of Niagara, was formerly down at the northern side of the slope, near to that place which is now known by the name of the Landing; but from the great length of time, added to the great quantity of water, and distance which it falls, the solid stone is worn away, for about seven miles, up towards Lake Erie, and a chasm is formed which no person can approach without horror. 4. Down the chasm, the water rushes with a most astonishing velocity, after it makes the great pitch. In going up the road near this chasm, the fancy is constantly engaged in the contemplation of the most romantic and awful prospects imaginable, until, at length, the eye catches the falls; the imagination is instantly arrested, and you admire in silence! The river is about one hundred and thirty-five rods wide, at the falls, and the perpendicular pitch one hundred and fifty feet. 5. The fall of this vast body of water produces a sound which is frequently heard at the distance of twenty miles, and a sensible tremulous motion in the earth for some rods round. A heavy fog or cloud is constantly ascending from the falls, in which rainbows may always be seen when the sun shines. 6. This fog, or spray, in the winter season, falls upon the neighbouring trees, where it congeals, and produces a most beautiful crystalline appearance. This remark is equally applicable to the falls of the Chenesco. per 7. The difficulty which would attend levelling the rapids in the chasm, prevented my attempting it; but I conjecture the water must descend at least sixty-five feet. The pendicular pitch at the cataract is at least 150 feet; to these add fifty-eight feet, which the water falls in the last half mile, immediately above the falls, and we have two hundred and seventy three feet, which the water falls in a distance of about seven miles and a half. 8. If either ducks or geese, inadvertently alight in the rapids, above the great cataract, they are incapable of getting on the wing again, and are instantly hurried on to destruction. There is one appearance at this cataract, worthy of some attention, and which I do not remember to have seen noted by any writer. 9. Just below the great pitch, the water and foam may be seen puffed up in spherical figures, nearly as large as common cocks of hay; they burst at the top, and project a column of spray to a prodigious height; they then subside and are succeeded by others, which burst in like manner. This appearance is most conspicuous about half way between the island that divides the falls, and the west side of the strait, where the largest column of water descends. XXI. Narrative of theCaptivity of Mrs. JEMIMA HOWE, taken by the Indians at Hinsdale, N. Hampshire, July 27, 1755. S Messrs. Caleb Howe, Hilkiah Grout, and Benja 1. Amin Gaffield, who had been hoeing corn in the mea dow, west of the river, were returning home a little before sunset, to a place called Bridgman's Fort, they were fired upon by twelve Indians who had ambushed their path. 2. Howe was on horseback, with two young lads, his children, behind him. A ball, which broke his thigh, brought him to the ground. His horse ran a few rods and fell likewise, and both the lads were taken. The Indians in their savage manner, coming up to Howe, pierced his body with a spear, tore off his scalp, struck a hatchet in his head, and left him in this forlorn condition. 3. He was found alive the morning after, by a party of men from Fort Hinsdale; and being asked by one of the par ty whether he knew him, he answered, Yes, I know you all. These were his last words, though he did not expire until after his friends had arrived with him at Fort Hinsdale. Grout was so fortunate as to escape unhurt. 4. But Gaffield in attempting to wade through the river, at a certain place which was indeed fordable at that time, was unfortunately drowned. Flushed with the success they had met with here, the savages went directly to Bridgman's Fort. There was no man in it, and only three women and some children, Mrs. Jemima How, Mrs. Submit Grout, and Mrs. Eunice Gaffield. 5. Their husbands I need not mention again, and their feelings at this juncture I will not attempt to describe. They had heard the enemy's guns, but knew not what happened to their friends. 6. Extremely anxious for their safety, they stood longing to embrace them, until at length, concluding from the noise they heard without, that some of them were come, they unbarred the gate in a hurry to receive them; when lo! to their inexpressible disappointment and surprise, instead of their husbands, in rushed a number of hideous Indians, to whom they and their tender offsprings became an easy prey; and from whom they had nothing to expect, but either an immediate death, or a long and doleful captivity. 7. The latter of these, by the favour Providence, turned out to be the lot of these unhappy women, and their still more unhappy, because more helpless children. Mrs. Gaffield had but one, Mrs. Grout had three, and Mrs. Howe The eldest of Mrs. Howe's was eleven years old, seven. and the youngest but six months. か 8. The two eldest were daughters, which she had by her first husband, Mr. William Phips, who was also slain by the Indians, of which I doubt not you have seen an account in Mr. Doolittle's history. It was from the mouth of this woman that I lately received the foregoing acount. She also gave me, I doubt not, a true, though to be sure a very brief and imperfect history of her captivity, which I here insert for your perusal. 9. The Indians (she says) having plundered and put fire to the fort, we marched, as near as I could judge, a mile and a half into the woods, where we encamped that night. 10. When the morning came, and we had advanced as much farther, six Indians were sent back to the place of our late abode, who collected a little more plunder, and destroyed some other effects that had been left behind; but they did not return until the day was so far spent, that it was judged best to continue where they were for the night. 11. Early the next morning, we set off for Canada, and continued our march eight days successively, until we had reached the place where the Indians had left their canoes, about fifteen miles from Crown Point. This was a long and tedious march; but the captives, by Divine assistance, were enabled to bear it with less trouble and difficulty than they had reason to expect. 12. From such savage masters, in such indigent circumstances, we could not rationally hope for kinder treatment than we received. Some of us, it is true, had a harder lot than others; and, among my children, I thought my son Squire had the hardest of any. 13. He was then only four years old, and when we stop. ped to rest our weary limbs, and he set down on his master's pack, the savage monster would often knock him off; and sometimes too with the handle of his hatchet. Several ugly marks, indented in his head by the cruel Indians, at that tender age, are still plainly to be seen. 14. At length we arrived at Crown Point, and took up our quarters there, for the space of near a week. In the mean time some of the Indians went to Montreal, and took several of the weary captives along with them, with a view of selling them to the French. They did not succeed however, in finding a market for any of them. 15. They gave my youngest daughter to the governor, de Vaudreuil-had a drunken frolic, and returned again to Crown Point, with the rest of their prisoners. From hence we set off for St. John's, in four or five canoes, just as night was coming on, and were soon surrounded with darkness. 16. A heavy storm hung over us. The sound of the rolling thunder was very terrible upon the waters, which at every flash of expansive lightning seemed to be all in a blaze. Yet to this we were indebted for all the light we enjoyed. No object could we discern any longer than the flashes lasted.. 17. In this posture we sailed in our open, tottering canoes, almost the whole of that dreary night. The morning indeed had not yet began to dawn, when we all went ashore; and having collected a heap of sand and gravel for a pillow, I laid myself down, with my tender infant by my side, not knowing where any of my other children were, or what a miserable condition they might be in. 18. The next day, however, under the wing of that everpresent and all-powerful Providence, which had preserved us through the darkness and imminent dangers of the preceding night, we all arrived in safety at St. John's. 19. Our next movement was to St. Francois, the metropolis, if I may so call it, to which the Indians who led us cap. tive belonged. Soon after our arrival at that wretched capital, a council, consisting of the chief Sachem and some principal warriors of the St. Francois tribe, was convened; and after the ceremonies usual on such occasions were over, I was conducted and delivered to an old squaw, whom the Indians told me I must call my mother. 20. My infant still continued to be the property of its original Indian owners. I was nevertheless permitted to keep it with me a while longer, for the sake of saving them the trouble of looking after it. When the weather began to grow cold, shuddering at the prospect of approaching winter, I acquainted my new mother, that I did not think it would be possible for me to endure it, if I must spend it with her, and fare as the Indians did. 21. Listening to my repeated and earnest solicitations, that I might be disposed of among some of the French inhabitants of Canada, she at length set off with me and my infant, attended by some male Indians, upon a journey to Montreal, in hopes of finding a market for me there. But the attempt proved unsuccessful, and the journey tedious indeed. 22. Our provision was so scanty as well as insipid and unsavory, the weather was so cold, and the travelling so very bad, that it often seemed as if I must have perished on the way. 23. While we were at Montreal, we went into the house of a certain French gentleman, whose lady being sent for,, and coming into the room where I was, to examine me, seeing I had an infant, exclaimed with an oath, “I will not buy a woman who has a child to look after." 24. There was a swill-pail standing near me, in which I observed some crusts and crumbs of bread swimming on the surface of the greasy liquor it contained. Sorely pinched with |