ing against hidden and projecting rocks. The descent of the rapids is probably not less than one hundred feet within the last mile, and the noise and confusion of the water are only surpassed by the fall itself.

8. While at a very great distance, a volume of clouds may be observed hovering over the falls. In a clear day they appear very high and white, while on the contrary, in heavy, cloudy weather, they sink lower, and acquire a smoky appearance. These clouds proceed from the vapours arising from the spray caused by the dashing of the waters.

9. As you proceed down the river on the American side, Goat Island, which divides the falls, is seen at no great distance on the left. The river between is full of rocks, and here and there you perceive considerable lodgments of drifted wood, apparently waiting for a rise of the river, in order to launch themselves over the falls.

10. You may approach equally as near the falling sheet on this as on the opposite side of the river; and by taking a proper station in the morning of a clear day, you will behold beneath your feet a beautiful and variegated rainbow, stretching from shore to shore, and perpetually rolling as if it intended to confound all its brilliant colours into one confused mass, while each still remains separate and distinct.

11. You may advance so near to the cataract on either side as to wash your hands in the falling water, but in a few minutes you will be wet to the skin. This is owing to the abundance of vapour which is continually falling, and this constant humidity has covered the rocks below the falls with a luxuriant growth of grass, sometimes of extraordinary length.

12. The river is about a mile wide at the falls. Goat Island, which divides the falls, contains about twenty acres of land, and is situated nearest the American side. A passage to this island was accidentally discovered several years ago, and many were sufficiently adventurous to visit it.Through the exertions of a distinguished individual who resides near the spot, the difficulties are now removed, and a passage to the island, or a descent to the bottom of the falls, is easily performed.

13. The falls are daily making inroads on this island, ás

well as on the banks and general foundation of the river. There is a tradition of another small island, near that just mentioned, and it is entitled to some credit, as eight or ten large rocks, lying very near the edge of the falls, are still perceptible, and are probably the last fragments of the little island alluded to.

14. From the greater body of water passing off on the Canada side, the rocks or foundation of the falls, are subject to greater inroads than on the other part. It is even conjectured, from the appearance of the river below the falls, that they were once several miles lower down, but as their situation has not materially altered since they were first discovered by Europeans, so great a change could not have taken place, unless caused by some tremendous convulsion of nature.

15. The falls when seen from Goat Island, have the appearance of an irregular horse-shoe, with one side of the curve longer than the other, the longest being on the American side. Two miles below the falls is a very singular whirlpool, caused by an abrupt turn of the river, which, from the depression of its centre, has the appearance of water in a huge tunnel.

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16. Trees of one hundred feet in length, with a great part of their branches, are here frequently seen, spinning round, until, by constant friction, or coming in contact with each other, they are at length broken to pieces. Sometimes they are drawn under and disappear a few minutes, and then show themselves again and resume their former circular motion, while at other times they disappear altogether.

17. It has been asserted by some writers that the force of the current caused the sheet to project so far beyond a perpendicular, that a man at the bottom might walk between the falling sheet and the rocks. But later travellers, after repeated experiments, assert that the compression of air between the water and the rocks is so great, that no living creature ever has or ever can pass betwixt them.

18. Immediately below the falls are several small eddies, where there is excellent fishing; but the difficulty of ascending and descending is too great to compensate an ordinary sportsman. Along the shore are found many curious pieces of timber deposited by the higher water, as it

were for samples of the forms and varieties which are continually ground in the great water works of Niagara.

19. Various accounts have been given of the height of the great pitch, but the only instance of actual measurement which we have known, is recorded in a manuscript tour to the falls of Niagara in the year 1806. The author provided himself with a line, which was lowered from the edge of Table Rock, and held perpendicular by a person below. The line, which, after all allowance for shrinking, measured 176 feet, has since been deposited in the collection of a literary institution.

MESSIAH, A SACRED ECLOGUE.

YE nymphs of Solyma! begin the song :

To heavenly themes sublimer strains belong.
The mossy fountains and the sylvan shades,
The dreains of Pindus and th' Aonian maids,
Delight no more. O thou my voice inspire,
Who touch'd Isaiah's hallowed lips with fire!

2. Rapt into future times, the bard begun :
A Virgin shall conceive, a Virgin bear a son!
From Jesse's root behold a branch arise,
Whose sacred flower with fragrance fills the skies:
The etherial Spirit o'er its leaves shall move,
And on its top descend the mystick Dove.

3. Ye heav'ns, from high the dewy nectar pour,
And in soft silence shed the kindly show'r :
The sick and weak the healing plant shall aid,
From storms a shelter, and from heat a shade;
All crimes shall cease, and ancient fraud shall fail,
Returning justice lift aloft her scale,
Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend,
And white rob'd innocence from heaven descend.

4. Swift fly the years, and rise th' expected morn!
Oh spring to light, auspicious Babe, be born!
See nature hastes her earliest wreaths to bring,
With all the incense of the breathing spring;
See lofty Lebanon his head advance,
See nodding forests on the mountains dance,

See spicy clouds from lowly Sharon rise,
And Carmel's flowery top perfume the skies!
5. Hark, a glad voice the lonely desert cheers!
Prepare the way! a God, a God appears!
A God, a God! the vocal hills reply,
The rocks proclaim th' approaching Deity.

6. Lo, earth receives him from the bending skies! Sink down ye mountains, and ye valleys, rise! With heads declin'd, ye cedars, homage pay; Be smooth, ye rocks; ye rapid floods, give way! The Saviour comes! by ancient bards foretold : Hear him, ye deaf! and all ye blind, behold!

7. He from thick films shall purge the visual ray, And on the sightless eye-ball pour the day: He the obstructed paths of sound shall clear, And bid new musick charm th' unfolding ear; The dumb shall sing, the lame his crutch forego, And leap exulting like the bounding roe.

8. No sigh, no murmur, the wide world shall hear;
From ev'ry face he wipes off ev'ry tear.
In adamantine chains shall death be bound,
And hell's grim tyrant feel th' eternal wound.

9. As the good shepherd tends his fleecy care,
Seeks freshest pasture and the purest air,
Explores the lost, the wand'ring sheep directs,
By day o'ersees them, and by night protects;
The tender lambs he raises in his arms,
Feeds from his hand, and in his bosom warms;
Thus shall mankind his guardian care engage,
The promis'd father of the future age.

10. No more shall nation against nation rise,
Nor ardent warriours meet with hateful eyes,
Nor fields with gleaming steel be cover'd o'er,
The brazen trumpets kindle rage no more;
But useless lances into scythes shall bend,
And the broad falchion in a ploughshare end.

11. Then palaces shall rise; the joyful son Shall finish what his short-liv'd sire begun ; Their vines a shadow to their race shall yield, And the same hand that sow'd shall reap the field. 12. The swain in barren deserts with surprise, See lilies spring, and sudden verdure rise.

And start, amidst the thirsty wilds, to hear
New falls of water murmuring in his ear.

13. On rifted rocks, the dragon's late abodes,
The green reed trembles and the bulrush nods;
Waste, sandy valleys, once perplex'd with thorn,
The spiry fir and shapely box adorn;

To leafless shrubs the flow'ring palms succeed,
And od❜rous myrtle to the noisome weed.

14. The lambs with wolves shall graze the verdant mead,

And boys in flow'ry bands the tiger lead;
The steer and lion at one crib shall meet,
And harmless serpents liek the pilgrim's feet;
The smiling infant in his hand shall take
The crested basilisk and speckled snake,
Pleas'd, the green lustre of their scales survey,
And with their forky tongues shall innocently play.

15. Rise, crown'd with light, imperial Salem, rise!
Exalt thy tow'ry head, and lift thy eyes!
See a long race thy spacious courts adorn;
See future sons and daughters, yet unborn,
In crowding ranks on ev'ry side arise,
Demanding life, impatient for the skies!
See barb'rous nations at thy gates attend,
Walk in thy light, and in thy temple bend.

16. See thy bright altars throng'd with prostrate kings,
And heap'd with products of Sabæan springs!
For thee Idume's spicy forests blow,
And seeds of gold in Ophir's mountain glow.
See heav'n its sparkling portals wide display,
And break upon thee in a flood of day.

17. No more the rising sun shall gild the morn,
Nor evening Cynthia fill her silver horn;
But lost, dissolv'd in thy superiour rays,
One tide of glory, one unclouded blaze,
O'erflow thy courts: the Light himself shall shine
Reveal'd, and God's eternal day be thine!

18. The seas shall waste, the skies in smoke decay,
Rocks fall to dust, and mountains melt away;
But fix'd his word, his saving pow'r remains:
Thy realm forever lasts, thy own Messiah reigns!