I HOPE each of my young readers has the help of a good atlas while reading these papers. By all means trace out the rivers, waterfalls, lakes, and oceans. It will alike increase your interest and profit.
In the last chapter we gave you some account of the Mississippi, the Father of waters. I want to tell you a little about the Ohio, one of its large tributaries. First, it is the only large one flowing from the east; all the rest, including the Missouri, flow from the west. This river has twelve large tributaries from 200 to 1,200 miles in length. The Ohio has eleven such tributaries, the longest of which, the Tennessee, being 1,500 miles in length. Next, the Ohio is perhaps one of the most beautiful rivers in America, if not in the whole world. The early French settlers where so charmed with it that its only name to them was the "Beautiful river." For 1,500 miles its waters roll on peacefully and uniformly, without the least interruption. Its banks are adorned with the largest sycamores, its waters are clear, and studded with islands covered with the finest verdure, and passing, as it and its tributaries do, through the most fertile and populous parts of the United States, its waters are literally covered with steamers, and the traffic is enormous.
Those who have closely examined the nature of the country have come to the conclusion that formerly the whole country south of the point where the Ohio joins the Mississippi, about a thousand miles, was an arm of the sea. Altogether the Mississippi river with its amazing tributaries, is perhaps the most wonderful river in the world. Even now its waters wash a thousand shores; its tributaries stretch out into almost unknown lands; its distant banks are traversed only by the elk, the buffalo, the bear and the deer, and the savage Indians that pursue them. Now they pass through wild rice lakes and dismal swamps where naught can ever live but the coiling serpent and the dangerous alligator; now through craggy hills, deep forests, or beautiful prairies, showing almost, a perfect level, and in summer covered with beautiful grass and the sweetest flowers.
There is another river, the Nile, I must say a few words about, without doubt the most noted one of the old world, as the Mississippi is of the new. The Nile is far inferior in length and volume of water. In all respects the two are totally different. The Nile flows on in solitary grandeur for 1,500 miles. Not a single stream enters it for all that distance, a circumstance not to be found in a single river in the whole world besides. Another most marked contrast is that its long course passes through a desert, dry, barren, hideous country, which without the Nile would be the most desolate land in the world. But you have all heard of the annual overflow of the Nile. By this inundation the whole country is fertilized. Wherever it reaches a rich soil is deposited, by which it becomes the most productive part of the earth. From earliest history Egypt has been the general storehouse for grain for nearly all mankind. It was here that Joseph, the beloved, and the faithful son of Jacob, but the rejected of his brethren, found a home. It was here in the extremity of famine those same brethren came for corn to preserve themselves and their cattle alive. It was here that occurred the seven years of plenty, and then the seven years of famine. And it was here that for four hundred years the children of promise were kept in bondage till the cry of their sufferings reached the ear of God; and it was here that with an outstretched arm He wrought that wonderful deliverance by redemption and power that became the foundation of Israel's history, and of those wonderful types of Christ and the church so full of interest and instruction in old Testament Scriptures.
The prosperity of all Egypt depends on the flooding of the Nile. If the rise does not reach a certain point, there is scarcity and even famine; if it rises a few feet too high, the people and their villages are swept away. It is said that a rise of 38 feet is needed fully to meet the wants of the country.
There are two other great rivers in the eastern, or old world, well worthy of your notice, the Tigris and the Euphrates. These, with the Nile, may well be called the oldest in the world. Their history is connected with all the traditions and destinies of man. The great plains of the Tigris and Euphrates were the abodes of the founders of the first empires after the flood. It was on their banks the two greatest cities of the ancient world, Nineveh and Babylon, reared their proud palaces. It was there that the finger of God traced the doom of the latter city on the walls of the magnificent palace of its trembling monarch, when the man of God, an exiled Jew, in the majesty of inspiration, gave the interpretation of the mystic writing. There, too, rose and fell the splendid empires of the Medes and Persians. Indeed, in every part of the world rivers have been closely bound up with the great events of all human history.
There is yet another feature connected with rivers, falls, and cataracts, which I would like to tell you something about. Falls are formed by the descent of a river over a precipice, and depend for their sublimity upon the height of the fall and the volume of the water. Rapids are produced by a steeply inclined plane, over which the flood rushes with great force. None of our great English rivers, if we may call them great, the Thames, the Trent, and Severn, have on them either fall or rapid. The Shannon, just above Limerick, where the river is forty feet deep and three hundred yards wide, presents, perhaps the finest rapids in our Islands. For half a mile it dashes over and through a succession of rocks, and is quite unnavigable. There are some smaller but beautiful falls in Wales and Scotland, and especially in Switzerland. The river Adige in the Tyrol, near Moran, rushes with resistless force and deafening noise, down a descent nearly a mile in length between green, quiet, pastoral banks, presenting one of the most magnificent spectacles to be met with in Europe. On the Nile there is a succession of amazing rapids most striking, and extending over a length of one hundred miles. Stanley in his late most perilous passage through the heart of Africa discovered some of the greatest rapids in the world, to get round which cost him immense labor, and the loss of not a few of his party.
But it is in America that the most sublime and imposing rapids and falls are to be found. The chief rapids are on the St. Lawrence at its junction with the Ottawa river. The far-famed Niagara is universally acknowledged to be the greatest and most sublime waterfall in the world. This sea-like flood carries off the water of four of the largest lakes in America. The Niagara river is thirty-three miles long, and joins lake Erie to lake Ontario, and is about three quarters of a mile in width at the falls. From lake Erie the river flows quietly on, giving no indication of the mighty wonder so near at hand. About a mile off the water begins to ripple, and is broken into a series of dashing and foaming rapids, when again it becomes tranquil, but rolls along with tremendous force till it reaches the precipice. But when you are miles distant, a deep awful sound, gradually growing louder, breaks upon the ear-the roar of the distant cataract. When I first gazed on this wonderful sight, it was the depth of an American winter. There had been a great thaw and heavy rain, followed by one of those sharp, sudden spells of frost, which freezes as hard as iron every drop of water. The banks of the falls were like an unbroken sheet of glass, and made it most dangerous to approach them. The sun shone gloriously. There was not a cloud in the whole heavens. The trees around sparkled with myriads of purest gems, the everlasting spray frozen as it fell. Below the falls there was a wonderful sight; the rain and melting snow had poured over the banks, and frozen as it fell, forming an immense number of huge icicles over 150 feet in length, which looked like magnificent marble columns. My first view was from the American side, and immediately above the falls. I was alone, and undisturbed, gazed on the foaming, rushing waters as they dashed onwards to their tremendous leap. I must confess my first feelings were tinged with disappointment. I had expected I knew not what; but surely to take in at a glance the whole grandeur of the scene. I soon found it was too vast, too sublime; it was beyond human capability. I have since learned it takes not hours or even days, but weeks and months before any mind can fully take in this, perhaps, the greatest of earthly scenes.
Shall I try and describe the falls for you? They are divided into two unequal portions by a small island, called Goat Island, about 1,000 feet in breadth. The largest one is on the British side, and is called the Horse Shoe Fall. It is over 2,000 feet broad and 150 feet high; the other, on the American side, is about 1,140 feet wide but 164 feet high. The former is by far the grandest scene. Such is the enormous leap of the water, that it does not strike the stream below within fifty feet of the rock; and it is said that four coaches might be driven abreast through this awful chasm. Two things are ever present, clouds of misty spray and an awful, everlasting roar. I believe neither the one nor the other can be described. They must be seen and heard to be known. The former I saw to its utmost possible advantage. The thermometer was not far from zero, and a cloudless sun was shining with a brilliancy we know nothing of in England. The atmosphere was filled with the most resplendent rainbows, varying in beauty every moment. As to the sound, it has been described as "grand, commanding, and majestic, filling the vault of heaven when heard with fullness—a deep round roar, an alternation of muffled and open sounds." Another says, "It is not like the sea, nor like thunder; nor like anything I ever heard. There is no roar, no rattle; nothing sharp or angry in its tones; it is deep awful, One." When I tell you that sometimes it can be heard at Toronto, a distance of forty-six miles across Lake Ontario, you will cease to wonder at these exciting descriptions.
Having gazed alone for near an hour I was joined by a young man, when together we ventured to descend a covered staircase, close to the falls, and reaching to the very bottom. In the, center of the steps is a tramway, by which in summer visitors are let down and drawn up by machinery. We soon found our descent most perilous, for the snow having beaten through crevices, had in many places completely filled up the treads, and our only means of descent was to slide down the hand rail. Once at the bottom, how indescribable was the magnificent sight! The first object that strikes the eye was an immense collection of enormous rocks that had been hurled over the falls, and piled one above another, till they seemed to reach halfway to the top. Then the majestic torrent above, literally the sea, pouring out its mighty waters!
"The thoughts are strange that crowd into my brain,
While I look upward to thee. It would seem
As if God poured thee from His hollow hand,
And hung His bow upon thine awful front;
And spoke in that loud voice which seemed to him
Who dwelt in Patmos for his Savior's sake,
The sound of many waters.
And yet, Bold Babler, what art thou to Him,
Who drown'd a world, and heaped the waters far
Above the loftiest mountains?—A light wave
That breaks and whispers of its Maker's might.”
Having with great labor and no little risk, regained the top of the stairs, we found a small party who, like ourselves, had come hundreds of miles to gaze on this stupendous scene. We started down the river to cross by a rickety wire bridge to the Canadian side, stopping every five steps to get a fresh view of the falls. Let me here stop for a moment to tell you of a wonderful sight at this bridge. The river greatly narrows at this point, and the surging waters seem to begin a tremendous conflict. It is as if mighty powers were struggling for mastery. The foam and fury; the boiling and surging; the roar and rage with which the mass of water is forced under to rise some miles distant, present a boiling chaldron words cannot describe. It is returning from this bridge on the Canadian side, we found the most striking views of the falls. Every stop presents some new feature; and yet, what was my surprise to see one of our company, who had traveled perhaps a thousand miles to see this great sight, with real disappointment turn back, stating he had seen enough of the falls! But such disappointment, I was told, is often felt. It was not long before I was again left alone, and now began my real enjoyment of the scene. At that, time immediately below the falls was a celebrated rock, called the Table Rock, which hung many yards over the bank. From the edge of this you, look right into the abyss. Strange to say, there was not the least protection along this dangerous ledge, and as the ground was covered with one sheet of ice, to approach it was most dangerous. Curiosity and excitement soon got over the difficulty; spreading my traveling rug on the ground, and stretching myself full length on it, I gradually drew near the dangerous precipice. The first look into the abyss below was overwhelming, and instantly I had to withdraw my outstretched head It was some time before I could calmly gaze on the tremendous rush of waters; after this, the scene was most fascinating, and long did I enjoy the sight.
Then I returned to the American side; familiarity and excitement had made me insensible to danger, and I felt determined to plant my foot on every available spot.
Having visited Goat Island, and many other points of interest, there remained one spot apparently quite inaccessible. In our engraving of the falls you will see a small tower built on a huge projecting rock at the very brink of the falls, between Goat Island and the American shore. This was connected by a long narrow plank, which, with a hand rail, was safe enough in summer time. To reach this plank I must descend a steep declivity, now most dangerous because of the ice. Undaunted by fear, however, taking off my boots, I slid down on my hands and feet, just as you boys will often slide down a steep hill on the snow in winter. Soon I found myself alone at the foot of that tower, my feet within eighteen inches of that foaming leaping water! I won't attempt to describe my feelings. The whole surroundings were sublimity itself. Above I beheld the sea of waters come seething down; below was the yawning abyss; around me the everlasting spray, and the indescribable noise of many waters. Now, too, the shades of evening had thrown over the whole scene an additional sombre charm. These, however, warned me I must soon retire; and now for the first time I realized the extreme danger in which I had placed myself in descending the steep incline to reach the plank. It was easy to get down, but how should I get up again? The path lay diagonally across the bank, which was exceedingly steep. There was nothing to hold by but here and there a projecting stone, a tuft of grass, or root of a tree. One slip and I should have rolled into the surging waters below. For a moment I was horrified and really unnerved. But this would not help. No assistance was near, so again taking off my boots cautiously and slowly, on my hands and knees, I commenced my dangerous task. Every stone and every root had to be tested, before I dare venture my weight upon it. Long and hard was the struggle, but at length completely exhausted, and with scarce a dry thread on my body, I safely landed at the top of the bank—a sad but truthful illustration of the end of many a day's mere earthly pleasure.
Many have been the hairbreadth escapes and fatal accidents at Niagara. Shortly after my visit the whole population was thrown into the greatest excitement by the telegraphic announcement that a man, who had been caught in the rapids, had secured a footing on one of the rocks in the center of the fall. There he was for two nights and near two days. Food was conveyed to him; every possible effort was made to save him, thousands upon thousands assembled on the banks. The whole of the United States were excited, and messages flashing all over the country every few minutes. At last all arrangements were complete; but alas! in vain, nothing could stand against the force of the current. In an instant the poor man and the appliances were swept into the gulf below.