of those in Canada and America, they are very good; one of them, the "Chief Justice Robinson,” is quite a model of neatness and comfort; the deck is carpeted, furnished with sofas and arm-chairs, the sides hung round with paintings and ornamented with well-occupied stands of gay flowers; while she is as safe and speedy as the smokiest and dirtiest of her sisterhood.

In this steamer I crossed the lake, and went seven miles up the Niagara river, to Queenstown, thence to the falls, eight miles, by a railway of very primitive construction: it despises levels, has settled down into deep ruts, and is unconfined by fences on either side. We were perched on a quaint old coach, our locomotives three meek horses, and it certainly was not an express train. Our lateral movements on the rough track, rivalled those forward in quantity, and much exceeded them in rapidity.

During the late war, this district was the scene of several very bloody and gallant actions between the English and Americans; they seem to have been highly satisfactory to both parties, for each claims the victory. They have contended for the laurels during the last thirty years with the same pertinacity with which they disputed the battle-ground, and with the same doubtful result. One thing, however, is certain-that the Americans failed in

making any serious permanent impression on any part of the country. Perhaps the mutual injury was about equal, their loss of Buffalo being balanced by that of Little York on the side of the English; each had to mourn over the graves of many worthy and brave soldiers. Sir Isaac Brock was the most remarkable of these; he commanded the British force at the battle of Queenstown, where he fell : the Canadian Parliament erected a pillar to his memory on the scene of his victory, which, as I have before mentioned, was blown up by one of the Sympathizers, at the time of their invasion of Canada.

Queenstown is but a poor place: being on the frontier, it has frequently suffered in the struggles between the two countries; the inhabitants are now about five hundred in number. At the entrance of the Niagara river, or, as it should be called, the continuation of the St. Lawrence, is Fort Niagara, now a place of considerable strength and importance. I there saw, for the first time, the flag of the Stars and Stripes, and the soldiers in their grey uniforms. On the English side, Fort Massassagua guards the river; behind it is the town of Niagara, with its docks and foundry, four churches, and two thousand people. At the western end of Lake Ontario, is Burlington Bay, containing the

towns of Dundas and Hamilton; both of them are rapidly growing-the latter has five thousand inhabitants, and much commercial enterprise. The waters of the Niagara river are of a peculiarly beautiful colour, the blue is as clear and soft as that of a summer's sky. Up to Queenstown the banks are low, and the country around flat; thence to the falls the flood lies between high, abrupt cliffs. On the Canada side, rich tracts of park-like scenery extend for many miles inland; a great portion is cleared, but there still remain many of the magnificent old forest trees, which once sheltered the people of the departed race. The surface of the country rises in steppes of good table-land, from but little above the level of the lake, to the undulating grounds which spread about the falls, nearly three hundred feet higher.

We stopped several times on the way from our landing at Queenstown; the noise of the falls was not perceptible until within two miles-while our clumsy rail-carriage was in motion, its rattle had a complete monopoly of our anxious ears. The night was very calm, but, as we were rather below on our approach, the noise seemed lost among the tall trees that surrounded the road. We arrived at the hotel, which was on the Canada side, but kept by an American, according to American

customs. Fortunately, it was dark; I was very glad not to have had the first view dimmed by twilight. A great many people were staying in the house, principally Americans; they walked about under the verandahs, and danced, till twelve at night. The musician was a very gaily-dressed negro, who did good service on his violin, the instructions to the dancers being added in a vocal accompaniment: he entered so completely into the spirit of his office, that he sometimes pirouetted about, to assist precept by example. This valuable man also fulfilled the functions of barber and head waiter to the hotel.

By painting and by description, Niagara had been familiar to me for years, as no doubt it has been to every one else: so much has been said and written on the subject, that any attempt to throw new light upon it is hopeless. I, therefore, mean, with simple egotism, to give the impressions it made upon myself.

The sight was precisely what I expected the sensations it caused, totally different. I did not start with an exclamation of awe, neither did I only look upon it as "an everlasting fine 'waterprivilege."" I thought it a magnificent cataract, far grander than anything I had before seen, and more beautiful. I sat down on the turf near Table

Rock, whence there is the best view, with something approaching to disappointment on my mind, that, after all, it should be only a "magnificent cataract." But as I looked and listened, the eye and ear, as it were, matured into the power of fit perception; then, admiration and astonishment, and, at last almost confusion, came upon me; sight and sound seemed to have joined their strength and merged into a vague impression—vague, but of mighty force. A passing stranger addressed some question to me, which aroused me; I found that, unconscious of the lapse of time, I had been for hours staring at the great wonder.

I got up reluctantly, and proceeded to the nuisance of sight-seeing, but looked back every now and then as though fearing that I should lose the rest of the grand spectacle; for I could not but fancy that it was some strange and transient phenomenon, or a display got up by some enormous effort for the moment. When night came, it seemed reckless waste to keep it going still, while its glorious beauty was hidden from mortal view.

It was not till increasing distance freed me from its influence, and when thought returned, that I knew it had been going on yesterday, last year, for a century, for tens of centuries-back to that deep abyss of the past, on which sceptic science