The physical geography of New York state . id a drawing byCapt. Basil Hall. quietly along out of Lake Erie, nearly at the level of thesurrounding flat country. So nearly so, indeed, that if byany of those chances which swell other rivers, but have no \i<nj(tri( -211 effect here, we could suppose the Niagara to rise perpen-dicularly eight or ten feet, the adjacent portion of UpperCanada on the west, and of the State of New York on theeast, would be laid under water. After the river passes over the Falls, however, itscharacter is immediately and completely change. 1. It thenruns furiously alo
The physical geography of New York state . id a drawing byCapt. Basil Hall. quietly along out of Lake Erie, nearly at the level of thesurrounding flat country. So nearly so, indeed, that if byany of those chances which swell other rivers, but have no \i<nj(tri( -211 effect here, we could suppose the Niagara to rise perpen-dicularly eight or ten feet, the adjacent portion of UpperCanada on the west, and of the State of New York on theeast, would be laid under water. After the river passes over the Falls, however, itscharacter is immediately and completely change. 1. It thenruns furiously along the bottom of a deep, wall-sided val-ley, or huge trench, which seems to have been cut intothe horizontal strata of the limestone rock by the continuedaction of the stream during the lapse of ages. The cliff-on both sides are at most places nearly perpendicular, with-out any interval being left between the cliffs and the river,or any rounding of the edges at the top; and a rent wouldseem a more appropriate term than a valley. Above the. FlG. 1.).:. Niagara in 1MIL1, from a caincra-olixrura drawing > Kan-1nrtl. Falls, therefore, that is, between them and Lake Krie, itwill be understood, there is literally no valley at all; as theriver flows with a gentle current, and almost Hush, as sea-men call it, or level with the banks; while below the cata-ract, the bed of the river lies so deep in the earth that astranger, unprepared for these peculiarities, is not awareof there being any break at all in the ground, till lie comeswithin a few yards of the very edge of the precipice. Inpoint of fact we did drive for some distance on the Ameri-can side of the valley or ravine of Niagara, across whichwe were looking, all the while, at th<- scenery in tanala,without knowing it, and without iieing in the least deg; • 278 The Physical Geography of New York State conscious that such a strong natural line of demarcationwas interposed between us and that province. He pointed out that the
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