OF
1432B.C.Iron said to have been first discovered.
424B.C.Lenses made and used by the Greeks. And a lens has been found in the ruins of Nineveh.
79A.D.Glass known and used by the Romans.
697. Glass brought to England.
1100. Alcohol first obtained by the alchemist, Abucasis.
1287. Nitric acid first obtained by Raymond Lully. Present properties made known by Dr. Priestley, 1785.
1297. Camera-obscura constructed by Roger Bacon.
1400. Chloride of gold solution known to Basil Valentine.
1500. Camera-obscura improved by Baptista Porta.
1555. Chloride of silver blackening by the action of light. Doubtless it was the knowledge of this that induced Thomas Wedgwood and Sir Humphry Davy to make their experiments.
1590. Paper first made in England, at Dartford, Kent, by Sir John Speilman. It is said that the Chinese made paper 170 yearsB.C.
1646. Magic lantern invented by Athanasius Kircher.
1666. Sir Isaac Newton divided a sunbeam into its seven component parts, and re-constructed the camera-obscura.
1670. Salt mines of Staffordshire discovered.
1727. J. H. Schulze, a German physician, observed that light blackened chalk impregnated with nitrate of silver solution and gold chloride.
1737. Solution of nitrate of silver applied to paper, by Hellot.
1739. Chloride of mercury made by K. Neumann.
1741. Platinum first known in Europe: M. H. St. Claire Deville’s new method of obtaining it from the ore, 1859.
1750. J. Dolland, London, first made double achromatic compound lenses.
1757. Chloride of silver made by J. B. Beccarius.
1774. Dr. Priestly discovered ammonia to be composed of nitrogen and hydrogen; but ammonia is as old as the first decomposition of organic matter.
1777. Charles William Scheele observed that the violet end of the spectrum blackened chloride of silver more rapidly than the red end. Chlorine discovered.
1779. Oxalate of silver made by Bergmann.
1789. Uranium obtained from pitch-blende by Klaproth.
1791. Thomas Wedgwood commenced experiments with a solution of nitrate of silver spread upon paper and white leather, and obtained impressions of semi-transparent objects and cast shadows. Sir Humphry Davy joined him later.
1797. Nitrate of silver on silk by Fulhame.
1799. Hyposulphite of soda discovered by M. Chaussier.
1800. John William Ritter, of Samitz, in Silesia, observed that chloride of silver blackened beyond the violet end of the spectrum, thus discovering the action of the ultra violet ray.
1801. Potassium discovered by Sir Humphry Davy.
1802. Examples of Heliotypes, by Wedgwood and Davy, exhibited at the Royal Institution, and process published.
1803. Palladium discovered in platinum by Dr. Wollaston.
1808. Strontium obtained from carbonate of strontia by Sir Humphry Davy.
1812. Iodine discovered by M. D. Curtois, of Paris.
— Nitrate of silver and albumen employed by D. Fischer.
1813. Ditto investigated by M. Clement.
1814. Joseph Nicéphore de Niépce commenced experiments with the hope of securing the pictures as seen in the camera-obscura.
— Iodide of silver made by Sir H. Davy.
1819. Sir John Herschel published the fact that hyposulphite of soda dissolved chloride and other salts of silver.
1824. Niépce obtained pictures in the camera-obscura upon metal plates coated with asphaltum, or bitumen of Judea.
— L. G. M. Daguerre commenced his researches.
— Permanganate of potash. Fromenkerz.
1826. Bromine discovered in sea-water by M. Balard.
— Bromine of silver made.
1827. Niépce exhibited his pictures in England, and left one or more, now in the British Museum.
1829. Niépce and Daguerre entered into an alliance to pursue their researches mutually.
1832. Evidence of Daguerre employing iodine.
1837. Rev. J. B. Reade, of Clapham, London, obtained a photograph in the solar microscope, and employed tannin as an accelerator and hyposulphite of soda as a fixer for the first time in photography.
1838. Reflecting stereoscope exhibited by Charles Wheatstone.
— Mungo Ponton observed that light altered and hardened bichromate of potash, and produced yellow photographs with that material. This discovery led to the invention of the Autotype, Woodburytype, Collotype, and other methods of photo-mechanical printing.
1839. Daguerre’s success communicated to the Academy of Science, Paris, by M. Arago, January 7th.
— Electrotype process announced.
— Professor Faraday described Fox Talbot’s new method of photogenic drawing to the members of the Royal Institution, January 25th.
— Fox Talbot read a paper, giving a full description of his process, before the Royal Society, January 31st.
— Sir John Herschel introduced hyposulphite of soda as a fixing agent, February 14th.
— Dr. Alfred Swaine Taylor employed ammonia nitrate of silver in preference to chloride of silver for making photogenic drawings, and employed hyposulphite of lime in preference to hyposulphite of soda for fixing.
— Daguerre’s process published in August, and patent, for England, granted to Mr. Beard, London, August 14th.
— “History and Practice of Photogenic Drawing”; L. S. M. Daguerre. Published September.
— First photographic portrait taken on a Daguerreotype plate by Professor. J. W. Draper, New York, U. S., in the autumn of this year.
1840. “On the Art of Photogenic Drawing,” by Alfred S. Taylor, lecturer on chemistry, &c., at Guy’s Hospital. Published by Jeffrey, George Yard, Lombard Street, London.
— “The Handbook of Heliography, or the Art of Writing or Drawing by the Effect of Sunlight, with the Art of Dioramic Painting, as practised by M. Daguerre.” Anon.
— Wolcott’s reflecting camera brought from America to England and secured by Mr. Beard, patentee of the Daguerreotype process.
— The moon photographed for the first time by Dr. J. W. Draper, of New York, on a Daguerreotype plate.
— John Frederick Goddard, of London, inventor of the polariscope and lecturer on chemistry, employed chlorine added toiodine, and afterwards bromine, as accelerators in the Daguerreotype process.
1840. Antoine F. J. Claudet, F.R.S., of London, employed chlorine for the same purpose.
— M. Fizeau, of Paris, deposited a film of gold over the Daguerreotype picture after the removal of the iodine, which imparted increased brilliancy and permanency.
— Chloride of platinum employed by Herschel.
— Fox Talbot’s developer published September 20th.
1841. Calotype process patented by Fox Talbot, September 20th.
— First photographic compound portrait lens made by Andrew Ross, London.
— Towson, of Liverpool, noted that chemical and visual foci did not coincide. Defect corrected by J. Petzval, of Vienna, for Voightlander.
— “A Popular Treatise on the Art of Photography, including Daguerreotype and all the New Methods of Producing Pictures by the Chemical Agency of Light,” by Robert Hunt, published by R. Griffin, Glasgow.
— Daguerre announced an instantaneous process, but it was not successful.
1842. Sir John Herschel exhibited blue, red, and purple photographs at the Royal Institution.
— “Photography Familiarly Explained,” by W. R. Baxter, London.
1843. “Photogenic Manipulation,” by G. T. Fisher Knight, Foster Lane.
— Treatise on Photography by N. P. Lerebours, translated by J. Egerton.
1844. Fox Talbot issued “The Pencil of Nature,” a book of silver prints from calotype negatives.
— C. Cundell, of London, employed and published the use of bromide of potassium in the calotype process.
1844. “Researches on Light and its Chemical Relations,” by Robert Hunt. First edition; second ditto, 1854.
— Robert Hunt recommended proto-sulphate of iron as a developer for Talbot’s calotype negatives; also oxalate of iron and acetate of lead for other purposes.
— A. F. J. Claudet patented a red light for “dark room,” but at that date a red light was not necessary, so the old photographers continued the use of yellow lights.
1845. “Photogenic Manipulations:” Part 1, Calotype, &c.; Part 2, Daguerreotype. By George Thomas Fisher, jun. Published by George Knight and Sons, London.
— “Manual of Photography,” including Daguerreotype, Calotype, &c., by Jabez Hogg. First edition. Second ditto, including Archer’s collodion process, bichloride of mercury bleaching and intensifying, and gutta-percha transfer process, 1856.
1845. “Practical Hints on the Daguerreotype; Willats’s Scientific Manuals.”
— “Plain Directions for Obtaining Photographic Pictures by the Calotype and other processes, on paper; Willats’s Scientific Manuals.” Published by Willats, 98, Cheapside; and Sherwood, Gilbert, and Piper, Paternoster Row.
1846. Gun-cotton made known by Professor Schönbein, of Basel.
1847. Collodion made by dissolving gun-cotton in ether and alcohol, by Mr. Maynard, of Boston, U.S.
1848. “Photogenic Manipulation:” Part II., Daguerreotype, by Robert Bingham. Published by George Knight and Sons, London.
— Albumen on glass plates first employed for making negatives by M. Niépce de Saint Victor. Process published June 13th.
— Frederick Scott Archer experimented with paper pulp, tanno-gelatine, and iodised collodion, and made collodion negatives in the autumn.
1849. Collodionpositiveof Hever Castle, Kent, made by Frederick Scott Archerearlyin the year.
— M. Gustave Le Graysuggestedthe application of collodion to photography.
1850. “A Practical Treatise on Photography upon Paper and Glass,” by Gustave Le Gray. Translated from the French by Thomas Cousins, and published by T. and R. Willats. This book is said to contain the first printed notice of collodion being used in photography.
— R. J. Bingham, London, suggested the use of collodion and gelatine in photography.
— M. Poitevin’s gelatine process, published January 25th.
1851. Frederick Scott Archer published his collodion process in the March number ofThe Chemist, and introduced pyrogallic acid as a developer December 20th.
— Fox Talbot announced his instantaneous process, and obtained, at the Royal Institution, a copy of theTimesnewspaper, while revolving rapidly, by the light of an electric spark.
— Niépce de St. Victor’s heliochromic process, published June 22nd. Examples sent to the judges of the International Exhibition of 1862. See Jurors’ Report thereon, pp. 88-9.
— Sir David Brewster’s improved stereoscope applied to photography.
1851. “Photography, a Treatise on the Chemical Changes produced by Solar Radiation, and the Production of Pictures from Nature, by the Daguerreotype, Calotype, and other Photographic Processes,” by Robert Hunt. Published by J. J. Griffin and Co., London and Glasgow.
1852. “Archer’s Hand-Book of Collodion Process.” Published May 14th. Second edition, enlarged; published 1854.
— “Archer’s CollodionPositiveProcess.” Published July 20th.
— Fox Talbot’s photo-engraving on steel process; patented October 29th.
1853. A Manual of Photography, by Robert Hunt, published.
— Photographic Society of London founded. Sir Charles Eastlake, P.R.A., President; Roger Fenton, Esq., Secretary. First number of the Society’s Journal published March 3rd.
— Cutting’s American patent for use of bromides in collodion obtained June 11th, and his Ambrotype process introduced in America.
— “The Waxed-Paper Process,” by Gustave Le Gray. Translated from the French with a supplement, by James How. Published by G. Knight and Co., Foster Lane, Cheapside.
— Frederick Scott Archer introduced a triple lens to shorten the focus of a double combination lens.
1854. E. R., of Tavistock, published directions for the use of isinglass as a substitute for collodion.
— First series of photographic views of Kenilworth Castle, &c., from collodion negatives, published by Frederick Scott Archer.
— Liverpool Photographic Journal, first published by Henry Greenwood, bi-monthly.
— First roller-slide patented by Messrs. Spencer and Melhuish, May 22nd.
— Fox Talbot first applied albumen to paper to obtain a finer surface for photographic printing.
— Photo-Enamel process; first patent December 13th.
— Dry collodion plates first introduced.
1855. M. Poitevin’s helioplastic process patented February 20th.
— Dr. J. M. Taupenot’s dry plate process introduced.
— Photo-galvanic process patented June 5th.
— “Hardwich’s Photographic Chemistry.” First edition, published March 12th.
— Ferrotype process introduced in America by Mr. J. W. Griswold.
1856. “Photographic Notes.” Edited by Thomas Sutton. Commenced January 1st; bi-monthly.
1856. Sutton’s Calotype process, published March.
1856. Dr. Hill Norris’s dry plate process. Patented September 1st.
1856. Caranza published method of toning silver prints with chloride of platinum.
1857. Moule’s photogene, artificial light for portraiture. Patented February 18th.
— Carte-de-visite portraits introduced by M. Ferrier, of Nice.
— Kinnear Camera introduced. Made by Bell, Edinburgh.
1858. Pouncy’s Carbon process patented April 10th.
— Skaife’s Pistolgraph camera introduced.
1858. J. C. Burnett exposed the back of the carbon paper and obtained half-tones.
— Fox Talbot’s photo-etching process, patented April 20th.
— Paul Pretsch’s photo-engraving process introduced.
— “Sutton’s Dictionary of Photography,” published August 17th.
—The Photographic News, founded, weekly. First number published September 10th, by Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, London.
— “Fothergill Dry Process,” by Alfred Keene, published August.
1859. Sutton’s panoramic camera patented, September 28th.
— Photo-lithographic Transfer process patented by Osborne, in Melbourne, Australia.
— Wm. Blair, of Perth, secured half-tone in carbon printing by allowing the light to pass through the back of the paper on which the pigment was spread.
— Asser, of Amsterdam, also invented a photo-lithographic transfer process about this time.
1860. “Principles and Practice of Photography,” by Jabez Hughes. First edition published; fourteenth edition, 1887.
— Fargier coated carbon surface with collodion, exposed, and transferred to glass to develop.
— Spectroscope invented by Kertchoff and Bunsen.
1860. “Year-Book of Photography,” edited by G. Wharton Simpson, first published.
— Improved Kinnear camera with swing front and back by Meagher.
1861. Captain Dixon’s iodide emulsion process patented, April 29th.
— M. Gaudin, of Paris, employed gelatine in his photogene, and published inLa Lumièrehis collodio-iodide and collodio-chloride processes.
— H. Anthony, New York, discovered that Tannin dry plates could be developed by moisture and ammonia vapour.
1862. “Alkaline Development,” published by Major Russell.
— Meagher’s square bellows camera, with folding bottom board, exhibited at the International Exhibition. Noticed in Jurors’ Report.
— Parkesine, the forerunner of celluloid films, invented by Alexander Parkes, of Birmingham.
1863. Pouncy’s fatty ink process; patented January 29th.
— Toovey’s photo-lithographic process; patented June 29th.
— “Tannin Process,” published by Major Russell.
— “Popular Treatise on Photography,” by D. Van Monckhoven. Translated from the French by W. H. Thornthwaite, London.
1864. Swan’s improved carbon process; patented August 27th.
— “Collodio-Bromide Emulsion,” by Messrs. B. J. Sayce and W. B. Bolton; published September 9th.
— “Collodio-Chloride Emulsion,” by George Wharton Simpson; published inThe Photographic News, October 28th.
— Willis’s aniline process; patented November 11th.
— Obernetter’s chromo-photo process; published.
— Instantaneous dry collodion processes by Thomas Sutton, B.A. Sampson, Low, Son, and Marston, London.
1865. Paper read on “Collodio-Chloride Emulsion,” by George Wharton Simpson, at the Photographic Society, March 14th.
1865. Photography, a lecture, by the Hon. J. W. Strutt, now Lord Rayleigh, delivered April 18th; and afterwards published.
— Eburneum process; published by J. Burgess, Norwich, inThe Photographic News, May 5th.
— Bromide as a restrainer in the developer; published by Major Russell.
1865. Interior of Pyramids of Egypt, photographed by Professor Piazzi Smyth with the magnesium light.
— W. H. Smith patented a gelatino-bromide or gelatino-chloride of silver process for wood blocks, &c.
1866. Magic photographs revived and popularised.
— Woodburytype process patented by Walter Bentley Woodbury, of Manchester, July 24th.
— Photography reviewed, inBritish Quarterly Review, by George Wharton Simpson, October 1st.
1867. M. Poitevin obtained the balance of the Duc de Luynes’s prize for permanent printing.
— Cabinet portraits introduced by F. R. Window, photographer, Baker Street, London.
1868. W. H. Harrison experimented with gelatino-bromide of silver and obtained results, though somewhat rough and unsatisfactory.
1869. John Robert Johnson’s carbon process double transfer patented.
— “Pictorial Effect in Photography,” by H. P. Robinson, first edition. London: Piper and Carter.
1870. Thomas Sutton described Gaudin’s gelatino-iodide process.
— Jabez Hughes toned collodion transfers with chloride of palladium.
— John Robert Johnson’s single transfer process for carbon printing patented.
1871. Dr. R. L. Maddox, of Southampton, published his experiments with gelatino-bromide of silver in theBritish Journal of Photography, September 8th.
1872. “Emaux Photographiques” (photographic enamels), second edition, by Geymet and Alker, Paris.
1873. J. Burgess, of Peckham, advertised his gelatino-bromide of silver emulsion, but it would not keep, so had to be withdrawn.
— Ostendo non Ostento published a gelatino-bromide of silver formula with alcohol.
— Platinotype process patented by W. Willis, junior, June 1st.
1873. R. Kennett’s gelatino-bromide of silver pellicle patented November 20th.
— “The Ferrotypers’ Guide” published by Scovill Manufacturing Company, New York.
1874. R. Kennett issued his gelatino-bromide of silver dry plates in March.
— Gelatino-bromide of silver paper first announced by Peter Mawdsley, of Liverpool Dry Plate Company.
— “Backgrounds by Powder Process” published by J. Werge, London.
— Flexible supports in carbon printing patented by John Robert Sawyer, of the Autotype Company.
— Leon Lambert’s carbon printing process patented.
1875. Demonstrations in carbon printing by L. Lambert given in London and elsewhere.
— Eder and Toth intensified collodion negatives and toned lantern slides with chloride of platinum.
1876. “Practical Treatise on Enamelling and Retouching,” by P. Piquepé, Piper and Carter, London.
1877. Ferrous oxalate developer published June 29th.
— Wratten precipitated the gelatine emulsion with alcohol, and so avoided the necessity of dialysing.
1878. Improvement in platinotype patented by W. Willis, junior, July.
— Abney’s “Treatise on Photography” published.
— Abney’s “Emulsion Process” published.
1879. J. Werge’s non-actinic developing tray introduced at the South London Photographic Society.
1880. “Principles and Practice of Photography,” by Jabez Hughes, comprising instructions to make and manipulate gelatino dry plates, by J. Werge. London: Simpkin and Marshall, and J. Werge.
— Gelatino-bromide of silver paper introduced by Messrs. Morgan and Kidd.
— Platinotype improvement patent granted.
— Iodides added to gelatino-bromide of silver emulsions by Captain W. de W. Abney.
1880. Warnerke’s sensitometer introduced.
— “The Argentic Gelatino-Bromide Workers’ Guide,” by John Burgess. W. T. Morgan and Co., Greenwich.
— “Photography; its Origin, Progress, and Practice,” by J. Werge. London: Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.
— Hydroquinone developer introduced by Dr. Eder and Captain Toth.
1881. Stannotype process introduced by Walter Woodbury.
— Photographers in Great Britain and Ireland 7,614 as per census returns.
— “Modern Dry Plates; or Emulsion Photography,” by Dr. J. M. Eder, translated from the German by H. Wilmer, edited by H. B. Pritchard. London: Piper and Carter.
— “Pictorial Effect in Photography,” by H. P. Robinson (cheap edition). Piper and Carter.
— “The Art and Practice of Silver Printing,” by H. P. Robinson and Captain Abney. Piper and Carter.
1882. Herbert B. Berkeley recommended the use of sulphite of soda with pyrogallic acid to prevent discolouration of film.
— “Recent Advances in Photography” (Cantor Lectures, Society of Arts), Captain Abney. London: Piper and Carter.
1882. “The A B C of Modern Photography,” comprising practical instructions for working gelatine dry plates, by W. K. Burton. London: Piper and Carter.
1882. “Elementary Treatise on Photographic Chemistry,” by A. Spiller. London: Piper and Carter.
1883. Translation of Captain Pizzighelli and Baron A. Hubl’s booklet on “Platinotype;” published inThe Photographic Journal.
— Orthochromatic dry plates; English patent granted to Tailfer and Clayton, January 8th.
— “The Chemical Effect of the Spectrum,” by Dr. J. M. Eder. (Translated from the German by Captain Abney). London: Harrison and Sons.
1883. “The Chemistry of Light and Photography,” by Dr. H. Vogel. London: Kegan Paul.
1884. “Recent Improvements in Photo-Mechanical Printing Methods,” by Thomas Bolas, Society of Arts, London.
— “Picture-Making by Photography,” by H. P. Robinson. London: Piper and Carter.
1885. “Photography and the Spectroscope,” by Capt. Abney, Society of Arts.
— “The Spectroscope and its Relation to Photography,” by C. Ray Woods. London: Piper and Carter.
— “Photo-Micrography,” by A. C. Malley; second edition. London: H. K. Lewis.
1886. Orthochromatic results exhibited by Dixon and Sons at the photographic exhibition in October.
— English patent rights of Tailfer and Clayton’s orthochromatic process secured by B. J. Edwards and Co., Nov. 18th.
1887. Platinotype improvements; two patents.
1888. Pizzighelli’s visible platinotype printing paper put on the market in June.
1889. Eikonogen developer patented by Dr. Andresen, of Berlin, Germany, March 26th.
— Wire frames and supports in camera extensions patented by Thomas Rudolph Dallmeyer and Francis Beauchamp, November 6th.
Originally published in the “Photographic News,” “British Journal of Photography,” Photographic Year-Book, and Photographic Almanac.
Taken with Camera, Pen, and Pencil.
Manyvery beautiful and interesting photographic views of Niagara Falls, and other places of romantic and marvellous interest, have been taken and exhibited to the world. Indeed, they are to be seen now in almost every print-seller’s window; and in the albums, stereoscopes, or folios of almost every private collector. But I question very much if it ever occurred to the mind of anyone, while looking at those pictures, what an amount of labour, expense, and danger had to be endured and encountered to obtain them—“the many hairbreadth ’scapes by flood and field,” of a very “positive” character, which had to be risked before some of the “negatives” could be “boxed.” Doubtless Mr. England, Mr. Stephen Thompson, and Mr. Wilson have many very vivid recollections of the critical situations they have been in while photographing the picturesque scenery of the Alpine passes of Switzerland, and the Highlands and glens of Scotland.
Mr. Stephen Thompson has narrated to me one or two of his “narrow escapes” while photographing his “Swiss scenes,” and I am sure Mr. England did not procure his many andbeautiful “points of view” of Niagara Falls without exposing himself to considerable risk.
I had the good fortune to be one of the earlier pioneers, in company with a Yankee friend, Mr. Easterly, in taking photographs of the Falls; and my recollections of the manner in which we “went about,” poised ourselves and cameras on “points of rock” and “ledges of bluffs,” and felled trees, and lopped off branches overhanging precipices, to “gain a point,” even at the distant date are somewhat thrilling. To take a photograph of what is called “Visitors’ View” is safe and easy enough. You might plant a dozen cameras on the open space at the brink of the “American Fall,” and photograph the scene, visitors and all, as they stand, “fixed” with wonder, gazing at the Falls, American, Centre, and Horseshoe, Goat Island, and the shores of Canada included, for this point embraces in one view all those subjects. But to get at the out-of-the-way places, to take the Falls in detail, and obtain some of the grandest views of them, is a very different matter.
I remember, when we started, taking a hatchet with us, like backwoodsmen, to take a view of Prospect Tower, on the American side of the great Horseshoe Fall, how we had to hew down the trees that obstructed the light; how we actually hung over the precipice, holding on to each other’s hands, to lop off a branch still in sight where it was not wanted. The manner in which we accomplished this was what some bystanders pronounced “awful.” I hugged a sapling of a silver birch, growing on the brink of the precipice, with my left arm, while friend Easterly, holding my right hand with one of the Masonic grips—I won’t say which—hung overthe precipice, and stretching out as far as he could reach, lopped off the offending branch. Yet in this perilous position my lively companion must crack his joke by punning upon my name, and a Cockney weakness at the same time, for he “guessed he was below thewerge of the precipice.” The branch down, and we had resumed our perpendicularpositions, he simply remarked, if that was not holding on to a man’s hand infriendship, he did not know what was.
But theworkwas not done yet; to get the view of the Tower we wanted, we had to make a temporary platform over the precipice. This we managed by laying a piece of “lumber” across a fallen tree, and, unshipping the camera, shoved it along the plank until it was in position, balancing the shore end of the plank with heavy stones. When all was ready for exposure, I went round and stood on the point of a jutting rock to give some idea of the great depth of the Fall, but I very nearly discovered, and just escaped being myself the plummet. In the excitement of the moment, and not thinking that the rock would be slimy and slippery with the everlasting spray, I went too rapidly forward, and the rock having a slight decline, I slipped, but was fortunately brought up by a juniper bush growing within a foot of the edge. For a second or two I lay on my back wondering if I could slide out of my difficulty as easily as I had slidden into it. In a moment I determined to go backwards on my back, hands, and feet, until I laid hold of another bush, and could safely assume a perpendicular position. After giving the signal that “all was right,” the plate was exposed, and Icautiouslyleft a spot I have no desire to revisit. But it is astonishing how the majesty and grandeur of the scene divest the mind of all sense of fear, and to this feeling, to a great extent, is attributed the many accidents and terrible deaths that have befallen numerous visitors to the Falls.
The Indians, the tribe of the Iroquois, who were the aboriginal inhabitants of that part of the country, had a tradition that the “Great Spirit” of the “Mighty Waters” required the sacrifice of two human lives every year. To give rise to such a tradition, doubtless, many a red man, in his skiff, had gone over the Falls, centuries before they were discovered by the Jesuit missionary, Father Hennepin, in 1678; and, even in these days of Christian civilization, and all but total extirpation of the aboriginals, the “Great Spirit” does not appear to be any less exacting.Nearly every year one or more persons are swept over those awful cataracts, making an average of at least one per annum. Many visitors and local residents have lost their lives under the most painful and afflicting circumstances, the most remarkable of which occurred just before my visit. One morning, at daylight, a man was discovered in the middle of the rapids, a little way above the brink of the American Fall. He was perched upon a log which was jammed between two rocks. One end of the log was out of the water, and the poor fellow was comparatively dry, but with very little hope of being rescued from his dreadful situation. No one could possibly reach him in a boat. The foaming and leaping waters were rushing past him at the rate of eighteen or twenty miles an hour, and he knew as well as anyone that to attempt a rescue in a boat or skiff would be certain destruction, yet every effort was made to save him. Rafts were made and let down, but they were either submerged, or the ropes got fast in the rocks. The life-boat was brought from Buffalo, Lake Erie, and that was let down to him by ropes from the bridge, but they could not manage the boat in that rush of waters, and gave it up in despair. One of the thousands of agonized spectators, a Southern planter, offered a thousand dollars reward to anyone that would save the “man on the log.” Another raft was let down to him, and this time was successfully guided to the spot. He got on it, but being weak from exposure and want, he was unable to make himself fast or retain his hold, and the doomed man was swept off the raft and over the Falls almost instantly, before the eyes of thousands, who wished, but were powerless and unable, to rescue him from his frightful death. His name was Avery. He and another man were taking a pleasure sail on the Upper Niagara river, their boat got into the current, was sucked into the rapids, and smashed against the log or the rock. The other man went over the Falls at the time of the accident; but Avery clung to the log, where he remained for about eighteenhours in such a state of mind as no one could possibly imagine. None could cheer him with a word of hope, for the roar of the rapids and thunder of the cataracts rendered all other sounds inaudible. Mr. Babbitt, a resident photographer, took several Daguerreotypes of the “man on the log,” one of which he kindly presented to me. Few of the bodies are ever recovered. One or two that went over the Great Horse Shoe Fall were found, their bodies in a state of complete nudity. The weight or force of the water strips them of every particle of clothing; but that is not to be wondered at, considering the immense weight of water that rolls over every second, the distance it has to fall, and the depth of the foaming cauldron below. The fall of the Horse Shoe to the surface of the lower river is 158 feet, and the depth of the cauldron into which the Upper Niagara leaps about 300 feet, making a total of 458 feet from the upper to the lower bed of the Niagara River at the Great Horse Shoe Fall. It has been computed that one hundred million, two hundred thousand tons of water pass over the Falls every hour. The depth of the American Fall is 164 feet; but that falls on to a mass of broken rocks a few feet above the level of the lower river.
Our next effort was to get a view of the Centre Fall, or “Cave of the Winds,” from the south, looking at the Centre and American Falls, down the river as far as the Suspension Bridge, about two miles below, and the Lower or Long Rapids, for there are rapids both above and below the Falls. In this we succeeded tolerably well, and without any difficulty. Then, descending the “Biddle Stairs” to the foot of the two American cataracts, we tried the “Cave of the Winds” itself; but, our process not being a “wet” one, had no sympathy with the blinding and drenching spray about us. However, I secured a pencil sketch of the scene we could not photograph, and afterwards took one of the most novel and fearful shower-baths to be had in the world. Dressed—or, rather, undressed—forthe purpose, and accompanied by a guide, I passed down by the foot of the precipice, under the Centre Fall, and along a wet and slippery pole laid across a chasm, straddling it by a process I cannot describe—for I was deaf with the roar and blind with the spray—we reached in safety a flat rock on the other side, and then stood erect between the two sheets of falling water. To say that I saw anything while there would be a mistake; but I know and felt by some demonstrations, other than ocular, that I was indulging in a bath of the wildest and grandest description. Recrossing the chasm by the pole, we now entered the “Cave of the Winds,” which is immediately under the Centre Fall. The height and width of the cave is one hundred feet, and the depth sixty feet. It takes its name from the great rush of wind into the cave, caused by the fall of the waters from above. Standing in the cave, which is almost dry, you can view the white waters, like avalanches of snow, tumbling over and over in rapid succession. The force of the current of the rapids above shoots the water at least twenty feet from the rock, describing, as it were, the segment of a circle. By this circumstance only are you able to pass under the Centre Fall, and a portion of the Horse Shoe Fall on the Canadian side. To return, we ascended the “Biddle Stairs,” a spiral staircase of 115 steps, on the west side of Goat Island, crossed the latter, and by a small bridge passed to Bath Island, which we left by the grand bridge which crosses the rapids about 250 yards above the American Fall. Reaching the American shore again in safety, after a hard day’s work, we availed ourselves of Mr. Babbitt’s kindness and hospitality to develop our plates in his dark room, and afterwards developed ourselves, sociably and agreeably, refreshing the inner man, and narrating our day’s adventures.
I shall now endeavour to describe our next trip, which was to the Canadian side—how we got there, what we did, and what were the impressions produced while contemplating thosewonderful works of nature. In the first place, to describe how we descended to the “ferry” and crossed the river. On the north side of the American Fall a railway has been constructed by an enterprising American, where the “cars” are let down a steep decline by means of water-power, the proprietor of the railway having utilized the very smallest amount of the immense force so near at hand. Placing our “traps” in the car, and seating ourselves therein, the lever was moved by the “operator,” and away we went down the decline as if we were going plump into the river below; but at the proper time the water was turned off, and we were brought to a standstill close by the boat waiting to ferry us across. Shifting our traps and selves into the boat and sitting down, the ferryman bent to the oars and off we dashed into the dancing and foaming waters, keeping her head well to the stream, and drawing slowly up until we came right abreast of the American Fall; then letting her drop gently down the stream, still keeping her head to the current, we gained the Canadian shore; our course on the river describing the figure of a cone, the apex towards the “Horse Shoe.” Ascending the banks by a rather uphill road, we reached the Clifton Hotel, where we took some refreshments, and then commenced our labours of photographing the Grand Rapids and the Falls, from Table Rock, or what remained of it. On arriving at the spot, we set down our traps and looked about bewildered for the best point. To attempt to describe the scene now before us would be next to folly, nor could the camera, from the limited angle of our lens, possibly convey an adequate idea of the grandeur and terrific beauty of the Grand Rapids, as you see them rushing and foaming, white with rage, for about two and a half miles before they make their final plunge over the precipice. Many years ago an Indian was seen standing up in his canoe in the midst of these fearful rapids. Nearing the brink of the terrible Fall, and looking about him, he saw that all hope was lost, for he had passed GullIsland, his only chance of respite; waving his hand, he was seen to lie down in the bottom of his canoe, which shot like an arrow into the wild waters below, and he was lost for ever. Neither he nor his canoe was ever seen again. In 1829 the shipDetroit, loaded with a live buffalo, bear, deer, fox, &c., was sent over the Falls. She was almost dashed to pieces in the rapids, but many persons saw the remains of the ship rolled over into the abyss of waters. No one knew what became of the animals on board. And in 1839, during the Canadian Rebellion, the steamerCarolinewas set fire to in the night and cast adrift. She was drawn into the rapids, but struck on Gull Island, and was much shattered by the collision. The bulk of the burning mass was swept over the Falls, but few witnessed the sight. Doubtless no fire on board a ship was ever extinguished so suddenly. The view from Table Rock is too extensive to be rendered on one plate by an ordinary camera; but the pantascopic camera would give the very best views that could possibly be obtained.
Taking Table Rock as the centre, the entire sweep of the Fall is about 180 degrees, and stretching from point to point for nearly three-quarters of a mile—from the north side of the American Fall to the termination of the Horse Shoe Fall on the west side. The American and Centre Falls present a nearly straight line running almost due north and south, while the Great Horse Shoe Fall presents a line or figure resembling a sickle laid down with the left hand, the convex part of the bow lying direct south, the handle lying due east and west, with the point or termination to the west; the waters of the two American Falls rushing from east to west, and the waters of the Canadian Fall bounding towards the north. By this description it will be seen that but for the intervention of Goat and Luna Islands the three sheets of water would embrace each other like mighty giants locked in a death struggle, before they fell into the lower river. The whole aspect of the Fallsfrom Table Rock is panoramic. Turning to the left, you see the American rapids rushing down furiously under the bridge, between Bath Island and the American shore, with a force and velocity apparently great enough to sweep away the bridge and four small islands lying a little above the brink, and pitch them all down on to the rocks below. Turning slowly to the right, you see the Centre Fall leaping madly down between Luna and Goat Islands, covering the Cave of the Winds from view. A little more to the right, the rocky and precipitous face of Goat or Iris Island, with the “Biddle Stairs” like a perpendicular line running down the precipice; and to the extreme right the immense sweeps of the Great Horse Shoe.
Doubtless this fall took its name from its former resemblance to the shape of a horse shoe. It is, however, nothing like that now, but is exactly the figure of a sickle, as previously described. Looking far up the river you observe the waters becoming broken and white, and so they continue to foam and rush and leap with increasing impetuosity, rushing madly past the “Three Sisters”—three islands on the left—and “Gull Island” in the middle of the rapids, on which it is supposed no man has ever trodden, until, with a roar of everlasting thunder, which shakes the earth, they fall headlong into the vortex beneath. At the foot of this Fall, and for a considerable distance beyond, the river is as white as the eternal snows, and as troubled as an angry sea. Indeed, I never but once saw the Atlantic in such a state, and that was in a storm in which we had to “lay to” for four days in the Gulf Stream.
The colours and beauty of Niagara in sunlight are indescribable. You may conveysomeidea of its form, power, and majesty, by describing lines and giving figures of quantity and proportion, but to give the faintest impression of its beauty and colours is almost hopeless. The rich, lovely green on the very brink of the Horse Shoe Fall is beyond conception. All the emeralds in the world, clustered together and bathed in sunlight,would fall far short of the beauty and brilliancy of that pure and dazzling colour. It can only be compared to an immense, unknown brilliant of the emerald hue, in a stupendous setting of the purest frosted, yet sparkling silver. Here, too, is to be seen the marvellous beauty of the prismatic colours almost daily. Here you might think the “Covenant” had been made, and set up to shine for ever and ever at the Throne of the Most Mighty, and here only can be seen the completecircleof the colours of the rainbow. I saw this but once, when on board theMaid of the Mist, and almost within the great vortex at the foot of the Falls. A brilliant sun shining through the spray all round, placed us in a moment as it were in the very centre of that beautiful circle of colour, which, with the thunder of the cataract, and the sublimity of the scene, made the soul feel as if it were in the presence of the “Great Spirit,” and this the sign and seal of an eternal compact. Here, also, is to be seen the softer, but not the less beautiful Lunar Rainbow. Whenever the moon is high enough in the heavens, the lunar bow can be seen, not fitful as elsewhere, but constant and beautiful as long as the moon is shedding her soft light upon the spray. On one occasion I saw two lunar bows at once, one on the spray from the American Fall, and the other on the spray of the great Horse Shoe Fall. This I believe is not usual, but an eddy of the wind brought the two clouds of spray under the moon’s rays. Yet these are not all the “beauties of the mist.” One morning at sunrise I saw one of the most beautiful forms the spray could possibly assume. The night had been unusually calm, the morning was as still as it could be, and the mist from the Horse Shoe had risen in a straight column to a height of at least 300 feet, and then spread out into a mass of huge rolling clouds, immediately above the cataracts. The rising sun shed a red lustre on the under edges of the cloud, which was truly wonderful. It more resembled one huge, solitary column supporting a canopyof silvery grey cloud, the edges of which were like burnished copper, and highly suggestive of the Temple of the Most High, where man must bow down and worship the great Creator of all these wondrous works. It is not in a passing glance at Niagara that all its marvellous beauties can be seen. You must stay there long enough to see it in all its aspects—in sunshine and in moonlight, in daylight and in darkness, in storm and in calm. No picture of language can possibly convey a just conception of the grandeur and vastness of these mighty cataracts. No poem has ever suggested a shadow of their majesty and sublimity. No painting has ever excited in the mind, of one that has not seen those marvellous works of God, the faintest idea of their dazzling beauties. Descriptive writers, both in prose and verse, have failed to depict the glories of this “Sovereign of the World of Floods.” Painters have essayed with their most gorgeous colours, but have fallen far short of the intense beauty, transparency, and purity of the water, and the wonderful radiance and brilliancy of the “Rainbow in the Mist.” And I fear the beauties of Niagara in natural colours can never be obtained in the camera; but what a glorious triumph for photography if they were. Mr. Church’s picture, painted a few years ago, is the most faithful exponent of nature’s gorgeous colouring of Niagara that has yet been produced. Indeed, the brilliant and harmonious colouring of this grand picture can scarcely be surpassed by the hand and skill of man.
After obtaining our views of the Grand Rapids and the Falls from Table Rock, we put up our traps, and leaving them in charge of the courteous proprietor of the Museum, we prepared to gounderthe great Horse Shoe Fall. Clothing ourselves in india-rubber suits, furnished by our guide, we descended the stairs near Table Rock, eighty-seven steps, and, led by a negro, we went under the great sheet of water as far as we could go to Termination Rock, and standing there for a while in that vast cave of watery darkness, holding on to the negro’s hand, we feltlost in wonder and amazement, but not fear. How long we might have remained in that bewildering situation it would be impossible to say, but being gently drawn back by our sable conductor, we returned to the light and consciousness of our position. The volume of water being much greater here than at the Cave of the Winds, and the spray being all around, we could not see anything but darkness visible below, and an immense moving mass before, which we knew by feeling to be water. There is some fascination about the place, for after coming out into the daylight I went back again alone, but the guide, hurrying after me, brought me back, and held my hand until we reached the stairs to return to the Museum. On our way back our guide told us that more than “twice-told tale” of Niagara and Vesuvius. If I may be pardoned for mixing up the ridiculous with the sublime, I may as well repeat the story, for having just come from under the Falls we were prepared to believe the truth of it, if the geographical difficulty could have been overcome. An Italian visiting the Falls and going under the Horse Shoe, was asked, on coming out, what he thought of the sight. The Italian replied it was very grand and wonderful, butnothingto the sight of Mount Vesuvius in a grand eruption. The guide’s retort was, “I guess if you bringyourVesuvius here,ourNiagara will soon put his fires out.” I do not vouch for the truth of the story, but give it as nearly as possible as I was told. Returning to the Museum and making ourselves “as we were,” and comforting ourselves with something inside after the wetting we had got out, we took up our traps, and wending our way back to the ferry, recrossed the river in much the same manner that we crossed over in the morning; and sending our “baggage” up in the cars we thought we would walk up the “long stairs,” 290 steps, by the side of the railway. On nearing the top, we felt as if we must “cave in,” but having trodden so far the back of a “lion,” we determined to see the end of his tail, and pushing on to the top, we had the satisfaction of havingaccomplished the task we had set ourselves. Perhaps before abandoning the Canadian side of Niagara, I should have said something about Table Rock, which, as I have said, is on the Canadian side, and very near to the Horse Shoe Fall. It took its name from the table-like form it originally presented. It was formerly much larger than it is now, but has, from time to time, fallen away. At one time it was very extensive and projected over the precipice fifty or sixty feet, and was about 240 feet long and 100 feet thick. On the 26th of June, 1850, this tremendous mass of rock, nearly half an acre, fell into the river with a crash and a noise like the sound of an earthquake. The whole of that immense mass of rock was buried in the depths of the river, and completely hidden from sight. No one was killed, which was a miracle, for several persons had been standing on the rock just a few minutes before it fell. The vicinity is still called Table Rock, though the projecting part that gave rise to the name is gone. It is, nevertheless, the best point on the Canada side for obtaining a grand and comprehensive view of Niagara Falls.
The next scenes of our photographic labours were Suspension Bridge, the Long Rapids, The Whirlpool, and Devil’s Hole. These subjects, though not so grand as Niagara, are still interestingly and closely associated with the topographical history and legendary interest of the Falls. And we thought a few “impressions” of the scenes, and a visit to the various places, would amply repay us for the amount of fatigue we should have to undergo on such a trip under the scorching sun ofAugust in America. Descending to the shore, and stepping on board the steamerMaid of the Mist, which plies up and down the river for about two miles, on the tranquil water between the Falls and the Lower Rapids, we were “cast off,” and in a little time reached the landing stage, a short distance above the Long Rapids. Landing on the American side, we ascended the steep road, which has been cut out of the precipice, and arriving atSuspension Bridge, proceeded to examine that wonderful specimen of engineering skill. It was not then finished, but the lower level was complete, and foot passengers and carriages could go along. They were busy making the railway “track” overhead, so that, when finished (which it is now), it would be a bridge of two stories—the lower one for passengers on foot and carriages, the upper one for the “cars.” I did not see a “snorting monster” going along that spider’s-web-like structure, but can very well imagine what must be the sensations of “railway passengers” as they pass along the giddy height. The span of the bridge, from bank to bank, is 800 feet, and it is 230 feet from the river to the lower or carriage road. The estimated cost was two hundred thousand dollars, about £40,000. A boy’s toy carried the first wire across the river. When the wind was blowing straight across, a wire was attached to a kite, and thus the connecting thread between the two sides was secured, and afterwards by means of a running wheel, or traveller, wire after wire was sent across until each strand was made thick enough to carry the whole weight of the bridge, railway trains, and other traffic which now pass along. We went on to the bridge, and looked down on the rapids below, for the bridge spans the river at the narrowest point, and right over the commencement of the Lower Rapids. It was more of a test to my nerves to stand at the edge of the bridge and look down on those fearful rapids than it was to go under the Falls. To us, it seemed a miracle of ingenuity and skill how, from so frail a connection, a mere wire, so stupendous a structure could have been formed; and yet, viewing it from below, or at a distance, it looked like a bridge of threads. During its erection several accidents occurred. On one occasion, when the workmen were just venturing on to the cables to lay the flooring, and before a plank was made fast, one of those sudden storms, so peculiar to America, came up and carried away all the flooring into the Rapids. Four of the men were left hanging to the wires, which were swayingbackwards and forwards in the hurricane in the most frightful manner. Their cries for help could scarcely be heard, from the noise of the Rapids and the howling of the wind, but the workmen on shore, seeing the perilous condition of their comrades, sent a basket, with a man in it, down the wire to rescue them from death. Thus, one by one, they were saved. Leaving the Bridge, and proceeding to the vicinity of the Whirlpool, still keeping the American side of the river, we pitched the camera, notoverthe precipice, as I heard of one brother photographer doing, but on it, and took a view of the Bridge and the Rapids looking up towards the Falls, but a bend in the river prevented them being seen from this point. Not very far above the angry flood we saw theMaid of the Mistlying quietly at her moorings.
We next turned our attention to the great Whirlpool, which is about a mile below Suspension Bridge. Photographically considered, this is not nearly of so much interest as the Falls; but it is highly interesting, nevertheless, as a connecting link between their present and past history. It is supposed that ages ago—probably before the word went forth, “Let therebelight, and therewaslight”—the Falls were as low down as the Whirlpool, a distance of over three miles below where they now are, or even lower down the river still. Geological observation almost proves this; and, that the present Whirlpool was once the great basin into which the Falls tumbled. In fact, that this was, in former ages, what the vortex at the foot of the Great Horse Shoe Fall is now. There seems to be no doubt whatever that the Falls are gradually though slowly receding, and they were just as likely to have been at the foot of the Long Rapids before the deluge, as not; especially when it is considered that the general aspect of the Falls has changed considerably, by gradual undermining of the soft shale and frequent falling and settling of the harder rocks during the last fifty years. Looking at the high and precipitous boundaries of the Long Rapids, it is difficult to come to any other conclusionthan that, ages before the red man ever saw the Falls of Niagara, they rolled over a precipice between these rocky barriers in a more compact, but not less majestic body. The same vast quantity of water had to force its way through this narrower outlet, and it doubtless had a much greater distance to fall, for the precipices on each side of the river at this point are nearly 250 feet high, and the width of the gorge for a mile above and below the Whirlpool is not more than 700 feet. Considering that the Falls are now spread over an area of nearly three-quarters of a mile, and that this is the only outlet for all the superfluous waters of the great inland seas of Canada and America—Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie—and the hundreds of tributaries thereto, it may easily be conceived how great the rush of waters through so narrow a defile must necessarily be; their turbulence and impatience rather aptly reminding you of a spoilt child—not in size or form, but in behaviour. They have so long had their own way, and done as they liked on the upper river and at the Falls, they seem as if they could not brook the restraint put upon them now by the giant rocks and lofty precipices that stand erect, on either side, hurling them back defiantly in tumultuous waves, seething, and hissing, and roaring in anger, lashing themselves into foam, and swelling with rage, higher in the middle, as if they sought an unpolluted way to the lake below, where they might calm their angry and resentful passions, and lay their chafed heads on the soft and gently heaving bosom of their lovely sister Ontario. It is a remarkable circumstance that the waters of the Rapids, both above and below the Whirlpool, in this defile are actually higher in the middle, by eight or nine feet, than at the sides, as if the space afforded them by their stern sentinels on each side were not enough to allow them to pass through in order and on a level. They seem to come down the upper part of the gorge like a surging and panic-stricken multitude, until they are stopped for a time by the gigantic precipice forming the lowerboundary of the Whirlpool, which throws them back, and there they remain whirling and whirling about until they get away by an under current from the vortex; and, rising again in the lower part of the gorge, which runs off at right angles to the upper, they again show their angry heads, and rush madly and tumultuously away towards Lake Ontario. The bed of these rapids must be fearfully rugged, or the surface of the waters could not possibly be in such a broken state, for the water is at least 100 feet deep, by measurement made above and below the Rapids. But nobody has ventured to “heave the lead” either in the Rapids themselves or in the Whirlpool, the depth of which is not known. There is not much picturesque beauty at this point. Indeed, the Whirlpool itself is rather of a fearful and horrible character, with little to see but the mad torrent struggling and writhing in the most furious manner, to force its way down between its rocky boundaries. I saw logs of wood and other “wreck,” probably portions of canal boats that had come down the river and been swept over the Falls, whirling around but not coming to the centre. When they are seen to get to the vortex they are tipped up almost perpendicularly and then vanish from sight, at last released from their continually diminishing and circular imprisonment. It has sometimes happened that the dead bodies of people drowned in the upper part of the river have been seen whirling about in this frightful pool for many days. In 1841, three soldiers, deserters from the British army, attempting to swim across the river above these rapids, were drowned. Their bodies were carried down to the Whirlpool, where they were seen whirling about for nearly a fortnight. Leavingthisgloomy and soul-depressing locality we proceeded for about half a mile further down the river, and visited that frightful chasm called Devil’s Hole, or Bloody Run. The former name it takes from a horrible deed of fiendish and savage ferocity that was committed there by the Indians, and the latter name from the circumstance of that deed causing astream of human blood to run through the ravine and mingle with the fierce water of the Rapids. Exactly one hundred years ago, during the French and Canadian wars, a party of 250 officers, men, women, and children, were retreating from Fort Schlosser, on the Upper Niagara River, and, being decoyed into an ambush, were driven over into this dreadful chasm, and fell to the bottom, a distance of nearly 200 feet. Only two escaped. A drummer was caught by one of the trees growing on the side of the precipice, and the other, a soldier named Steadman, escaped during the conflict, at the commencement of the treacherous onslaught. He was mounted, and the Indians surrounding him, seized the bridle, and were attempting to drag him off his horse; but, cutting the reins, and giving his charger the “rowels deep,” the animal dashed forward, and carried him back in safety to Fort Schlosser. The Indians afterwards gave him all the land he encircled in his flight, and he took up his abode among them. In after years he put the goats on Goat Island—hence its name—by dropping carefully down the middle of the upper stream in a boat. After landing the goats he returned to the mainland, pushing his boat up the stream where the Rapids divide, until he reached safe water. The events of the foregoing episode occurred in 1765, and it is to be hoped that the Indians were the chief instigators and perpetrators of the massacre of Bloody Run.
While we were looking about the chasm to see if there were any fossil remains in the place, an unlooked-for incident occurred. I saw two men coming up from the bottom of the ravine carryingfish—and the oddest fish and the whitest fish I ever saw. The idea of anyone fishing in those headlong rapids had never occurred to us; but probably these men knew somefissuresin the rocks where the waters were quiet, and where the fish put into as a place of refuge from the stormy waters into which they had been drawn. No wonder the poor finny creatures were white, for I should think they had beenfrightened almost out of their lives before they were seized by their captors. I don’t think I should have liked to have partaken of the meal they furnished, for they were very “shy-an’-hide” looking fishes. But soon we were obliged to give up both our geological studies and piscatorial speculations, for black clouds were gathering overhead, shutting off the light, and making the dark ravine too gloomy to induce us to prolong our stay in that fearful chasm, with its melancholy associations of dark deeds of bloodshed and wholesale murder. Before we gained the road the rain came down, the lightning flashed, and the thunder clapped, reverberating sharp and loud from the rocks above, and we hurried away from the dismal place. On reaching the landing stage, we took refuge from the storm and rain by again going on board theMaid of the Mist. She soon started on her last trip for the day, and we reached our hotel, glad to get out of a “positive bath,” and indulge in a “toning mixture” of alcohol, sugar, andwarmwater. We had no “gold” but our “paper” beinggood, we did not require any.
After a delightful sojourn of three weeks at the Falls, and visiting many other places of minor interest in their neighbourhood, I bade adieu to the kind friends I had made and met, with many pleasant recollections of their kindness, and a never-to-be-forgotten remembrance of the charms and beauties, mysteries and majesty, power and grandeur, and terror and sublimity of Niagara.—Photographic News, 1865.