sketches of others, but go to the Falls himself; and there become acquainted with those feelings which the actual presence of that stupendous scene is capable of inspiring. For without some infusion of these local sentiments into his painting, were it ever so correct in outline, the result would be nothing but a large picture of a large waterfall, instead of the noblest, and perhaps the most popular of those singular works of art, which, by a species of magic, transport so many distant regions to our very doors.

On the 7th of July, by way of relief from the absorbing interest of the Falls, we accepted an invitation to a country house in the neighbourhood, within hearing, but not in sight of, the object which had occupied all our thoughts for the last week.

Our host, some years before, with the prophetic eye of taste, as it has been elegantly called, had selected a certain spot in the midst of the wilderness, which he conceived, from the nature of the ground, the description of trees which grew upon it, and the extent of view which it commanded, might be converted, with little trouble, from its wild state into a beautiful park,—such as must have cost, in the ordinary process of old countries, at least one century, if not two, to bring it to any

thing like the maturity which he found on the spot, almost ready to his hand.

The soil appeared to be peculiarly favourable to forest trees, since it was covered, but not too thickly, with venerable oaks, which, from having had room to spread their arms—a rare occurrence in that country-had grown to a great size. His idea was to remove those trees only which encumbered the ground, near the spot selected as the site of his house, or interfered with his view of Lake Ontario, and the distant high grounds of Upper Canada.

To work he went ; cleared out a space of ground for the house, smoothed his lawn, completed his garden, laid down his gravel walks-regulating every thing with reference to the magnificent grove in front of the house, the principal feature in his foreground, which required nothing but some partial thinnings amongst the oaks. Of course care was taken to mark, in a particular manner, all those sacred trees, the growth probably of many ages, which were on no account to be touched; while those intended for the axe were blazed, as it is called, in the usual manner.

On a particular day appropriated to these thinning operations, the proprietor was called away by urgent business; but before leaving the ground, he gave orders for the condemned trees to be removed in his absence. The workmen, however,

who, from their infancy, had known nothing about trees, except that they ought to be cut down as fast as possible, decided, in their precious wisdom, that it must surely be the blazed trees which were meant to be preserved. The first thing, accordingly, that struck the master's eye on his return, was the whole of his noble grove lying flat on the ground, while only a dozen or two of scraggy oaks, pines, and hemlocks, destined for the fire, were left standing to tell the tale!

On Sunday night, the 8th of July, we returned to the Falls, and walked down to the table rock to view them by moonlight. Our expectations, as may be supposed, were high, but the sight was even more impressive than we had expected. It possessed, it is true, what may be called a more sober kind of interest than that belonging to the wild scene behind the sheet of water above described. I may mention one curious effect: It seemed to the imagination not impossible that the Fall might swell up and grasp us in its vortex. The actual presence of any very powerful moving object, is often more or less remotely connected with a feeling that its direction may be changed; and when the slightest variation would evidently prove fatal, a feeling of awe is easily excited. At all events, as I gazed upon the cataract, it more than once appeared to increase in its volume, and

to be accelerated in its velocity, till my heated fancy became strained, alarmed, and so much overcrowded with new and old images,-all exaggerated, that in spite of the conviction that the whole was nonsense, I felt obliged to draw back from the edge of the rock; and it required a little reflection, and some resolution, to advance again to the brink.

During the delightful period that the Falls formed our head-quarters, we made various excursions to several interesting objects in the neighbourhood. Of these, the most amusing were, a trip to Buffalo, a flourishing American town at the eastern end of Lake Erie, where the great New York canal com→ mences, and a visit to the Welland canal, which joins Lake Erie with Lake Ontario.

It is amusing to look back, after a journey is over, at those objects which at the time excited the most vivid interest, but which have faded from the recollection so completely, that any description of them from memory would be feeble and unsatisfactory, while a literal transcript of the notes written on the spot would be no less inaccurate from their extravagance and high colouring. The mere proximity of some things, gives them an importance which we are apt to mistake for a permanent and intrinsic value; whereas their real consequence may not extend beyond their own small

circumference. Even on the spot, it is frequently no easy job for the stranger to decide which of a variety of objects he shall devote most of his attention to. And his perplexity is frequently increased by the local authorities, who, with the best dispositions to oblige him, have generally some pet lion of their own, to which they are anxious to call his exclusive attention. Much precious time is thus frequently wasted on matters of the merest insignificance, while others of paramount importance are left unexamined, and very often unknown, till it be too late.

In Italy, or any other old country, every picture, statue, or ruin, worthy of notice, is recorded, and brought to the traveller's notice in spite of him; and, under the directions of his cicerone, he soon learns what he is to admire, and what he is to abuse. In America, however, there are none of these delightful aids to the taste and judgment. There, every thing is new, and nothing arranged, nor even any approach to classification attempted; and, consequently, the wretched explorer's body and soul are literally worn out by the ceaseless importunities of the inhabitants. With the kindest possible dispositions towards their guest, the Americans are never satisfied that he has seen any thing unless he has seen every thing; and if he leaves a single 'factory' unexamined, though he has seen fifty