| Show 1 S WONDERS j 1GARAS 1I 1 I Letter of Descriptive bird Edward Stevenson OF TEREST E SRRTlfES I of Adventures and Ex lOr1e5 Worlds Great I Brief olaeat the I P Cataract i i February 13 1855 CITY LxE I SL1 delceof THE URALDl Cotlt03 that it may not be considered e a I hOpe intrusion to present Ih on or an JIIrition the beauties as well as Ibird letter on and thrilling incidents of tie borrl rs My three distinct visits Falls SiBpra farfamed resort may account this its dwell to reUd delight to on for I1Y increase curiosities and yet I have Inrrelons for a fourth exploration ett gate still further I can truly to my words however appro others yywifb Snbination of ideas how priate no can do justice to Ous feGcitons erer I iagara returned from Terrapin Tower gaTisgretumed I I ring Island as related in my last Goat to Mtinn our guide conveyed us ommont t toLuna island so called totheright from which point best l1seItIS the r 1 < Lunar Bow A narrow vIew the to this island with Goat griaad mmects lunar Bow is only seen island is full but is then most thf moon W be thf Not so with the Solar Bow ldllurabe s to be seen when than I ya a ays tarthstisalways for the falls 0 dear me on sun shims lovely It is said by some isnt t tjUstl trembles which is not Island that Luna A ery melancholy accident improbable d at the northern extremity I dent of thIS island t the year 1Si9 The i vol Defores of Buffalo vis Mr of amily o titefallson the 21st of June 1Si9 the a Jted Charles Addington play man A oun Annette daughter of Mr Deforest in his arms and held her over Defortlr the railing of the bridge ex the e Ie lam going to throw you ctaming Ilgudden of fear caused S A sudden impulse causedd he child to bound out of his arms and fall into the rushing stream With aloud a-loud of horror the young man err in to save her and ere the < In In Pent could utter a cry they were both sent dashing over the falls The next day the mangled remains of the child were discovered in the Cave of the Winds ButAddinstons body was not found for several days afterwards We cannot leave Goat Inland without visiting the Three S sters a little group of islands so named because of their being be-ing closely connected at the head of I Goat Island Our dtector Informed us while riding over this heavily wooded island that it is onehalf a mile long and a quarter broad containing about seventy acres In 1770 a Mr I Steadman pastured some goats here I hence the name It is the property of i the Percy family It is to tern the 1 public are indebted for the facilities winch are afforded them in visiting the Falls Visitors were scarce before the bridges were constructed the risk being toogreat The dates 1771 1772 1779 under the tames of strangers were found cut in a tree near the Horseshoe Fall Dr Hungerford of West Troy was killed just under this point in 1839 by the falling of a portion of the cliff which often is the case as the rock constantly con-stantly crumbles from its bed being undermined by the constant washing of the raging stream Many thrilling tales are told us about the Three Sisters which are now connected con-nected by sabstantial footbridges to Goat Island What a grand sight this was In the summer of 1811 a Mr Allen started alone in his boat for Chippewa Chip-pewa and in the middle of the river broke one of his oars Being unable to pain the shore he endeavored with the remaining oar to steer for the head of Goat Islandjbut the rapid current swept him past this IJoit With cool energy lIe steered Situ despair for the outer of the Three Sisters and succeeded in leap ing on to the is et The boat like Iishtnine flash shot down and over the lfore i06 FalL For two days M Allen remained on the island ana then fortunately succeeded in making a fire wIth some matches he happened to have 111 his pocket Crowds of people assembled to assist in and fitness the rescue A Mr Robinson managed to pass a rope from island to Island reaching him with a skiff In lGJ a father iWi it and son aged 10 were paddling a canoe over to Grand Island The father who was drunk at the time Tl unable to guide the frail canoe whIch was carried into the rapids and cended with fearful rarity The w retched father could do nothing to save htnis nth UlSeIf but the gallant boy struggled the f energy of a hero and succeeded M ands the canoe between Goat i Island and the Three Sisters Here they the were in eminent danger of Posing over I Lut little cascade between these islands Vldenuallv the boat upset at a shallow point leaving the occupants SttUI ling m the water The brave boy full1g II footins seized the worthless tttoer by collarsand himeto by the collar and dragged him to Ashore where hundreds of anxious I slectators received them with shouts o JOY In order to properly understand the It velocity of the current of the river learn thIs point it mj necessary tu gin that the heavy rapids ln about one mile above the lump 01T and the fall in that distance 15 the abOut sixty feet This accounts for e umultuolls madness of the waters hurling lows and forming in wavwarl bi I i r TV an breaker down this descent as ltagth I Vi1R with Patience and at 9OOd below they gush into the thundering of There is a story yet coins the rounds an old Indian badly fuddled with brewater which in those rn days of mod bOles was made of corn and rye for rentsper gallon not as in our Jay of aft and i science drugged with poison at and pe jit gaIlon Poison costs something II Th without jumping the falls edrunken Indian knowing no fear bravado the bottle to his tipped mouth as k e matde dQh as he reade his last leap over the dtthing falls solitudes In days of old > long before the deep Wh of the west whiten were disturbed by iadi e n men it was the custom of the I I bleat nhwarriori of the forest to assem I a the fflaaInn el great cataract and offer a hu r r G The sacrifice to the Spirit of the Falls 0 of t fall Oferhna consisted of a white canoe flowernf hfruits ad blooming t the tprJublch was Paddled over I girl terrible of cliff by the fairest arriTel the tribe who had J stat st-at the age of womanhood It was counted an honor by the tribe to whose lot it fell to make the costly sacrifice sacri-fice and eyen the doomed maiden deemed it a high complimentto base lected to guide the white canoe over the fallsBut in the stoicalheart of tae red man there are tender feelings which cannot be subdued and chords which snap if strained too roughly The only daughter of a chief of the Seneca Indians waschosen as a sacrificial offerhigto the S irit of Niagara Her mother lad been slain by a hostile tribe Her father was the bravest among the warriors and his stern brow seldom relaxed save to his blooming child who was now the only joy to which he clung on earth When the lot fell on his fair child no symptom of feeling crossed his countenance coun-tenance In the pride of Indian endurance endur-ance he crushed down the feeling that tore his bosom and no tear trembled in his dark eye as the preparations for the sacrifice went forward At length the day arrived it faded into night as the savage festivities and rejoicing proceeded pro-ceeded i and then the silver moon arose brightening the cloud of mist that rose from ont the turmoil of Niagara And now the white canoe laden with its precious freight glided from the bank and swept out into the dread rapid from which escape is hopeless The young girl calmly steered her tiny bark towards the centre of the stream while frantic yells arose from the forest Suddenly another white canoe shot forth upon the sirjam and under the powerful impulse of the Seneca Chief flew like an arrow to destruction It overtook the first the eyes of father and child met in one last gaze of love and then they plunged together over the thundering cataract into eternity EDWARD STEVENSON |
