a Church and a Court-house, with governmentstores, and stores for the Indian department. On account of its flat and obscure situation, it has not by any means an inviting aspect. All merchandize, designed for the use of the Western country, is disembarked at this place, and conveyed by land to Fort Erie, where it is again embarked for its different destinations on the shores of Lakes Erie, St. Clair, and Superior.

· THE FALLS OF NIAGARA are about seven miles from Queenstown, and are situate on the strait which unites Lake Erie with Ontario. The feelings produced in the mind, on the first view of these stupendous cataracts, are such, it is said, as render it impossible for any man, who is at all affected with the "itch of scribbling," to avoid attempting some description of them: And yet, so often have they afforded, to those who, like Dr. Syntax, "travel in search of the Picturesque," an opportunity for the display of their descriptive powers, and so repeatedly have these cataracts been poured forth to the view of "fire-side travellers" in all the majesty of well-selected language, that to him who may now or henceforth visit their resounding solitudes, little more remains than an opportunity of relating "a thrice-told tale." On this ground, I might and certainly would decline the attempt, were I not confident, that no excuse, however plausible, would in your estimation be sufficient to vindicate an omission

which, I suppose, you would consider as unpardonable.

I first visited these celebrated Falls in the month of September, a season of the year, which, in America, is peculiarly pleasant. The violent heats have then considerably abated; the Musquito, satiated with human blood, has given rest to his proboscis; and man, free from the irritating bite of innumerable tormenting insects, and from the scorching heat of an almost insupportable sun, enjoys an agreeable respite, and ranges through the country in quiet and comfort. Until I arrived within a mile of the Falls, the sky was perfectly clear, the sun shone with his wonted splendour, and the atmosphere was remarkably dry and uncommonly lucid. But no sooner had I approached their immediate vicinity, than a sudden and singu lar change took place in the whole aspect of nature: The earth, before parched and immovable, became damp and tremulous; and the sky, till then unsullied by a single cloud, assumed a frowning, dark, and portentous appearance. The atmosphere, previously dry and rarefied, now presented a dense and humid visage; and my fancy, unreined by my reason, transported me into a world essentially different from that in which a few minutes before I lived, and moved, and had my being." Still, however, I pursued my course, and at length gained the summit of the craggy hills which flank this noble river. My increased elevation did not

contribute to dissipate the pre-conceived delusion; and I still felt inclined to doubt of my own or of the world's identity. Mountains of water belching forth the most appalling sounds,-globes of foam, boiling with apparently accelerated rage,-rainbows, embracing within their numerous and splendid arches a surprising variety of newly-formed, impending clouds,-rocks fearlessly projecting over the tumultuous abyss,-and spray-covered forests, decorated with pearly drops,-now rendered more brilliant than chrystal, by the reflected rays of the setting sun,-and now blown into "feathery streams" by sudden gusts of the impetuous wind:-These were some of the most striking features of the gorgeous scenery by which I was surrounded. Long did I luxuriate in pleasing contemplation, admiring its peculiar grandeur; and still did I find myself lingering with fond dalliance amidst these stupendous and matchless displays of creative excellence, until the sun ofheaven, wearied with shedding his effulgent beams. on the Trans-atlantic wilds, had retired in all his glory from the enchanted scene, "to rove o'er other lands, and give to other men the kindest boon of heaven."

For the first time in my life did I regret the shortness of a September day. But my regret soon ceased: For, ere night had completely drawn her sable mantle across the objects of my admiration, over which I still lingered, a glorious moon, enshrouded in golden robes of borrowed light, kindly

lent me the aid of her beauteous lustre, and quickly diffused through every part of the landscape new features of loveliness, giving it a character far. more soft and interesting than that with which proud day had invested it. The stupendous and magnificent machinery of nature which had recently bound me in a state of mental abstraction, was now divested of many of its peculiar charms. A perfect calm succeeded: The forests appeared "sunk in, deep repose "The winds had subsided: The green leaves, no longer agitated by the breeze, ceased their rustling: Not a cloud floated along the face of heaven: Every thing around and above, animate and inanimate, seemed to have sought and found

Tir'd nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep:

All was still, except the wakeful cataracts, that roared with their wonted violence, and disturbed the basin which groaned beneath the undiminished burden. Never was there a finer contrast, than that between the noise of the water, and the stillness of the air;-the golden effulgence of the rushing flood, and the impenetrable shades of the surrounding forests; the blackness of the frightful gulf down which the waves with unabating force are precipitated in crashing confusion, and the light and cheer-> ing face of the spangled heavens over which the crescent moon was sailing with modest pride and conscious dignity. Sick and insensible must be the soul, that could behold with indifference an exhi

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bition so fine, so varied, so replete with all that is calculated to please the eye, to arouse the mind, and, in a word, to raise the whole man above the common level of vulgar existence, and make him sensible that, while he thus contrasts the picturesque scenery of earth with the inimitable grandeur of the heavens, he is standing in the immediate presence of that Deity," who measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and meted out the heavens with a span," to whom he is indebted for all he sees and all he feels, by whose Almighty Power and Infinite Wisdom the rivers had their appointed sources and obtained leave to flow, and from whose plastic hands the mountains first received their appropriate bulk and due conformation.

I cannot convey to you any idea of the poverty; of language that is felt, when one attempts to describe such a combination of grand and uncommon objects, among which is found every thing essential to constitute the romantic, the terrific, the picturesque, and the sublime. All that is "awfully grand, or elegantly little," here occupies a prominent station; and every part is so tastefully arranged as to make the deepest impression upon beholders, and to proclaim in language not less loud than "the music of the spheres,'

The hand that made us is Divine.

You are probably aware, that the circumjacent country in which Lake Erie lies, is elevated nearly