Stranica 79 [79]
OCR
THE WHIRLPOOL. The whirlpool is a short distance below the rapids elevators, and of this wonder Portessor Tyndall has written: ‘‘ Here the river makes a sudden bend to the northeast forming nearly a rigkt angle with its previous direction. The water strikes the concave bank with great force and scoops it incessantly away. A vast basin has been thus formed, in which the sweep of the river prolongs itself in gyratory currents. Bodies and trees, which have come over the falls, circulate here for days without finding an outlet. From various points of the cliffs above this is curiously hidden. The rush of the river into the whirlpoo! is obvious enough ; and though you imagine the outlet must be visible, if one existed, you cannot find it. Turning, however, round the bend of the precipice to the northeast, the outlet comes in view.’’ ‘‘T went down to the river’s edge, where the weird loneliness and loveliness seemed to increase. The basin is enclosed by high and almost precipitous banks, covered—when I was there—with russet woods. A kind of mystery attaches itself to gyrating water, due, perhaps, to the fact that we are to some extent ignorant of the direction of its force. The water is of the brightest emerald green. The gorge through which it escapes is narrow and the motion of the water swift, though silent. The surface at the outlet is steeply inclined, but it is perfectly nnbroken. There are no literal waves, no ripples with their bubbles to raise murmur, while the depth is here too great to allow the inequality of the bed to ruffle the surface, nothing can be more beautiful than this sloping mirror, formed by the Niagara in sliding from the whirlpool.’’ If you wish to leave Niagara in the full sense of enjoyment sf a delightful time, pass your last afternoon about the State Reservation. You may think that you saw everything during the last visit there, but you will find many things that escaped your notice before. To linger about the near locality of the cataract and study the beauty of the framing will more thoroughly impress you with its sublimity. You may be tempted to make a second trip on the ‘‘ Maid of the Mist.’’ If you do this, you will depart from Niagara with regret that you cannot linger longer and view the ever changing beauty of the torrent. NIAGARA IN WINTER. In winter Niagara is strangely beautiful. The spray is frozen on the trees and shrubs and everything about appears as though cut from purest marble. Frequently the ice gathers in the gorge in such quantities that a a great ice bridge is formed and thousands of people cross from shore to shore over its uneven surface. An ice bridge formed on January 3rd, 1893, and lasted about two months and a half.
