parent experiment of that system which has done America so much honour." A theological academy has also been established here. The next stage is to Cayuga, on the western bank of the still and beautiful lake of that name, which is here crossed by a wooden bridge, resting on loose stone piers, 1850 paces in length. A few miles further, the flourishing settlement of Waterloo has sprung up on the bank of a creek communicating between the Cayuga and Seneca lakes; the situation is very beautiful. A wearisome swamp extends from this place to Seneca lake, (so named from an Indian nation nearly extinct,) and a yet more wearisome "log causey" affords the means of crossing it. At the further end is the village of Geneva. Another stage of sixteen miles leads to Canandaigua, situated at the end of an extremely pretty lake, not so large as the last two, but still an extensive piece of water. Canandaigua is a very pretty village, nearly in the centre of Ontario county: it contains three churches, one of them belonging to the Episcopalians. The dwellings have more the appearance of detached country-houses, than of streets; and there are some showy hotels.* Twenty-four miles further is Avon, upon the bank of the Genesee river. Captain Basil Hall, instead of proceeding direct to this place, drove across the country to the village of Rochester, which is built on the banks of that river, just above some beautiful waterfalls, and only a few miles from

* At a place called Bristol, near Canandaigua, there is an inflammable spring. On applying a lighted candle, "in a few minutes," says Captain B. Hall, "we had a row of natural gas-lights, blazing in a style worthy of Pall Mall, for many yards along the banks of a pretty little valley; in the middle of which, a clear stream of water was leaping merrily down to the plains below, over a series of steps or slabs formed by the horizontal strata of limestone covering all that part of the country."

the southern shore of Lake Ontario, which is concealed, however, by a dense screen of untouched forest. The Erie Canal passes through the heart of this singular village, and "strides across the Genesee river on a noble aqueduct of stone."

Rochester, Captain Basil Hall says, is celebrated all over the Union, as one of the most striking instances of rapid increase in size and population of which even this country affords an example. In 1815, its population consisted of 331 souls. These had increased, in 1818, to 1049; in 1820, to 1502; in 1822, to 2700; in February, 1825, to 4274; in August of the same year, to 5273; and in 1827, to upwards of 8000.* The cause of this rapid influx is of course the Erie Canal, this village having become the emporium of the rich agricultural districts upon the Genesee river. The

*The following table, shewing the number of persons engaged in some of the principal occupations in 1826, affords a curious insight into the composition of American society in a settlement twelve years old :

Four political and one religious newspaper were issued from the

presses of this town, and one Christian Monthly Magazine,

population is composed chiefly of emigrants from New England, with a few from other parts of the Union, a considerable number of German, English, Scotch, and Irish settlers, and a few natives of Canada, Norway, and Switzerland; making up a very singular and motley society." Every thing in this bustling place," says Captain Basil Hall," appeared to be in motion. The very streets seemed to be starting up of their own accord, ready-made, and looking as fresh and new as if they had been turned out of the workmen's hands but an hour before, or that a great box-full of new houses had been sent by steam from New York, and tumbled out on the half-cleared land. The canal-banks were at some places still unturfed; the lime seemed hardly dry in the masonry of the aqueduct, in the bridges, and in the numberless great saw-mills and manufactories. In many of these buildings, the people were at work below stairs, while at top, the carpenters were busy nailing on the planks of the roof. Some dwellings were half painted, while the foundations of others, within five yards' distance, were only beginning. I cannot say how many churches, court-houses, jails, and hotels I counted, all in motion, creeping upwards. Several streets were nearly finished, but had not as yet received their names; and many others were in the reverse predicament, being named, but not commenced, their local habitation being merely signified by lines of stakes. Here and there, we saw great warehouses, without window-sashes, but half filled with goods, and furnished with hoisting cranes, ready to fish up the huge pyramids of flourbarrels, bales, and boxes lying in the streets. In the centre of the town, the spire of a Presbyterian church rose to a great height, and on each side of the supporting tower was to be seen the dial-plate of a clock,

of which the machinery, in the hurry-skurry, had been left at New York. I need not say, that these halffinished, whole-finished, and embryo streets were crowded with people, carts, stages, cattle, pigs, far beyond the reach of numbers ;—and as all these were lifting up their voices together, in keeping with the clatter of hammers, the ringing of axes, and the creaking of machinery, there was a fine concert."

On leaving this place, Captain Hall travelled about 30 miles on "the Ridge Road," which runs along the summit of a gently sloping bank of sand and gravel, supposed to have formed, at some remote era, the beach of Lake Ontario, to the southern margin of which it is nearly parallel, but a hundred feet higher in level, and at a distance of eight or ten miles. The intervening tract is a moderately inclined flat belt of country, above the general level of which, this "old beach" rises to the height of 15 or 20 feet. The slope of the southern side of the ridge is much steeper than that which faces the lake, resembling in that respect the natural embankments on sea-coasts or the shores of lakes, thrown up by the combined action of wind and water.* direct road from Avon runs to Batavia, a small, straggling village; and thence, a stage of 40 miles to Buffalo, a busy, thriving town, beautifully situated at the lower extremity of Lake Erie, near the mouth of a small creek which forms the termination of the Great Canal. At Black Rock, two miles below Buffalo, a ferry-boat conveys the Traveller to the Canadian shore, a few miles above

The

* "On the island of Michilimackinac, there are the most decisive proofs, that the waters of Huron and Michigan are several feet lower than they once were. Proofs equally decisive are presented on its southern borders, of a similar subsidence in Lake Erie."-Dwight, vol. iv. p. 68. See also, for a similar remark respecting Lake Champlain, page 254 of this volume.

THE FALLS OF NIAGARA,

THE accounts given of these celebrated Falls by dif ferent travellers, vary so remarkably, both as to the first impression which they produce, and as to the more prominent features of the scene, that any attempt to combine their reports in a general description, would be impracticable. We shall therefore select three distinct descriptions, adding such further particulars as we may be able to gather from other sources. Captain Basil Hall tells us, that the Falls "infinitely exceeded " his anticipations; and he cites the reply of a gentleman who, on his return from the Niagara, was appealed to by a party, whether he thought they would be disappointed-" Why no, unless you expect to witness the sea coming down from the moon." Mr. Duncan, on the other hand, says, that the impression produced on his mind by the first view of the Falls, was decidedly that of disappointment; which he believes to be a very common feeling when strangers visit them for the first time; but those who visit them the oftenest, admire and wonder at them the most. This Traveller visited them twice, and we shall first give his distinct and well-written description of the scene.

"It was on a beautiful morning that I last left Buffalo. The sky was clear, and the air perfectly serene. Not a single cloud was seen upon the broad expanse, except in the north-west, on the very verge of the horizon, where two little fleecy specks appeared and disappeared at intervals; sometimes rising separately, and sometimes mingling their vapours. These were clouds of spray rising above the Falls; perfectly conspicuous to the naked eye at a distance of twenty miles.*

"Weld says, that he saw the clouds of spray from the Falls