CURIOSITIES OF THE FALLS. 343 names of people from almost every quar- not time. There was a building near ter of the known world. From this place, we went down the bank of the river towards the Ferry. We passed a museum in which are kept many curious things-birds, beasts, fishes, insects and reptiles-several hundred species of which were caught in the neighborhood of the Falls. They have also shells, minerals, and Indian curiosities, and a collection of live rattlesnakes. Of the stuffed animals-beasts, birds, &c. there are over 800. Some logs, washed ashore below the falls, appeared curious. They were rounded off at the ends and sides, and made as smooth, almost, as if they had been turned in a lathe. Some were half worn out by the friction. Just at the foot of the stair-case, on this Canada side, we saw a great number of men at work, near the water's edge, in getting out little minerals from the rocks, to be sold to visitors. All the shops keep them; but especially the one at Bath Island, and several on the Canada side, near the ferry, the staircase, &c. They have the clear crystalized selenites, the snow white gypsum, the fluor spar, &c. These shops also keep Indian articles for sale, such as ornamented moccasins, work-bags, and baskets, belts, bracelets, pincushions, &c. Travellers who come to the falls are supposed to abound in money, and the shop-keepers and tavern-keepers love to get as much of it as honestly they can. We wished to visit many more places and things on the Canada side, but had the "City of the Falls" called the Assembly Rooms, where is a reading-room; also warm and cold baths. Eight miles west is the Beaver Dams, where a battle was fought during the last war. Here, too, you might see the famous Welland canal; a ship canal connecting Lakes Erie and Ontario. It is 42 miles long and has 37 locks. It is 56 feet wide and from 8 to 16 deep. Six miles and a half north of the Falls, on Queenston Heights, is Gen. Brock's monument, 126 feet high. Gen. B. was killed in a battle at this place, Oct. 13, 1812. Three miles below the falls is a place in the river called the Whirlpool; and a mile below this is a deep cavern in the rocks, in the side of the river, called the Devil's Hole. One mile below the falls is a mineral spring which is considerably resorted to. But the last two curiosities are on the American side. It was now nearly night, and we quitted the Canada shore, and recrossed the Ferry. On arriving on the American side, after so much rambling, we found it exceedingly tedious to ascend the high stairs. Having ascended, we gladly found our way to our lodgings. The next day was chiefly spent in walking about the village of the Falls, in visiting and viewing Goat Island, and in making preparations for our departure. At two o'clock we set out in the rail-road cars for Buffalo. But I am not willing to quit the sub 344 THE LOG-CUTTER AND THE WHIRLPOOL. ject of the Falls without giving you a was a narrow as well as wonderful esfew anecdotes of things and places in cape. that vicinity. The first I have to relate is about the whirlpool which I have mentioned, three miles below the falls, and which is one of the greatest in the world, except that on the coast of Norway. Logs and trees are sometimes whirled around for days together, in its outer circles, while in the centre they are drawn down perpendicularly with great force, and afterwards shot out again into the river. The Devil's Hole is a sort of cavern, scooped out by the hand of nature, from the hard rock, 150 feet deep. In the year 1759, in the old French war, as we call it, a company of British soldiers, pursued by the French and Indians, were driven off this precipice at the point of the bayonet. All but one instantly perished upon the rocks 200 feet beneath them. He happened to fall into the crotch of a tree; and after the enemy were gone, succeeded in climbing the bank and effecting his escape. The rock of the falls is hard limestone to the depth of about 70 feet; below which it is loose crumbling shell, which is constantly wearing away and leaving a portion of the limestone jutting out over it. Table Rock is a specimen of this. When these projections become considerable, a portion breaks off. The people about the falls say they only break off in the spring; because if visitors knew the danger, they would not venture so near the edges of the precipices as they In the year 1812 a party of men were employed, just above the whirlpool, on the bank of the river, in cutting cedar logs to get them floated to Lewiston. One man stepping upon a raft of them one day, was imperceptibly drawn out into the current, and carried swiftly into the whirlpool. He clung to a log and was carried round and round, in the outer edge of the basin, for hours, expecting every moment to be crushed by the logs or drawn into the vortex. At last his companions, on shore, went to Queenston and procured a boat to be drawn up by a team. This was let down to do; or might not come so often to the the bank, and many people assembled falls. You can judge whether these with ropes, poles, &c. to try to render people tell the truth by the following assistance. After the boat had been facts, collected from highly authentic well secured by ropes, and some men sources. had stepped into it, intending to push out into the whirlpool and rescue the poor man, the latter was by some unexpected motion of the logs thrown out directly towards the shore, and saved without any assistance. But it "A mass of Table Rock, 160 feet in length, and from 30 to 40 feet in width, fell off in July, 1818, with a tremendous crash. On the 9th of December, 1828, three immense portions broke from the horse-shoe fall, causing a shock like an THE Samnites, Tarentines, and other neighboring nations, being no longer able to defend themselves against the Romans, sent to ask the assistance of Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, a warlike and ambitious man. He immediately prepared to cross the Adriatic, and ordered a large army to attend him; but only a part of these troops reached Italy, many of his ships being lost in a violent storm. When the king reached Tarentum, he found the inhabitants given up to luxury; and while he was trying to re form their habits, and training them to bear the hardships of war, the Romans sent an army to oppose him. The city of Tarentum, now called Tarento, was situated on the gulf of that name. Lævinus, the consul, was defeated by Pyrrhus; and the elephants, which he employed in the battle, were one great cause of his success, the Romans never yet having fought against those animals. Pyrrhus, on looking over the field of battle, was struck with the strength and manly appearance of the slaughtered Romans, and wished for soldiers who ed each other, a letter, written by the resembled them. The Romans, on their side, learned caution from their misfortunes, while they fiercely refused all offers of peace, which Pyrrhus, though victorious, made them. Cineas, the friend of Pyrrhus, was sent to Rome for this purpose; but the senate dismissed him with this reply: That they would treat of peace when the king had withdrawn his army from Italy. Soon after, Fabricius was sent as an ambassador to Pyrrhus, to procure an exchange of prisoners taken in the late battle. Fabricius was an old senator, famous for his integrity and contentment in the midst of poverty; one who really deserved to be called a great man. Pyrrhus knew his character, and received him kindly. When large presents were offered him, the brave old Roman steadily refused to accept them, and Pyrrhus was struck with admiration at his integrity. Finding Fabricus above all meanness, Pyrrhus, as a proof of his good opinion, allowed the Roman prisoners to return with him, taking his word alone, that, in case the senate continued the war, they would return when he required them. Another battle was fought some time afterwards, in which Pyrrhus was again the conqueror; but great numbers of his friends and followers were slain. The next year Fabricius was made consul, and the two armies again prepared for battle. When they approach physician of Pyrrhus, was delivered to Fabricius. The writer offered, for a reward, to poison the king, and thus relieve the Romans from their enemy. This offer was treated by the consul with disdain: he ordered the letter to be conveyed to Pyrrhus, who caused his physician to be put to death. The king expressed great approbation of this conduct, and sending back the prisoners he had taken, again desired to make peace with Rome; but the senate returned him the same answer as before. Soon after, he passed over into Sicily, to defend the inhabitants from the cruelty of the Carthagenians, who had seized their island. After two years he returned to Tarentum, and was defeated by Curius Dentatus, the consul, In this last battle the elephants were again employed, but the Romans no longer feared them. They had improved so much by their contests with Pyrrhus, that they were now able to oppose him skilfully. The Roman commander returned in triumph to Rome; and Pyrrhus, leaving only a few soldiers in Tarentum, soon afterwards embarked for his native country. After a war which lasted many years, the Tarentines at last submitted to Rome. The character of the Roman people at this time, was very respectable. The example of Fabricius was much followed; and when he became censor, he severely punished every kind of vice. THE HERMIT OF NIAGARA FALLS. A young Englishman, named Francis Abbott, of respectable connections, either through misfortune or a morbid state of mind, which made him desire seclusion, took up his residence on Goat Island, and in the neighborhood of the Falls, for two years; and became so fascinated with the solitude, and infatuated with the scenery, that no inducement could divert his thoughts, or draw him from the spot, where he acquired the name of the "Hermit of Niagara Falls." He arrived on foot in June, 1829, dressed in a loose gown or cloak of a chocolate color, carrying under his arm a roll of blankets, a flute, a portfolio, and a large book; which constituted the whole of his baggage. He took up his abode, in the first instance, in the small inn of Ebenezer Kelly, on the New York side, stipulating that the room he occupied should be exclusively his own, and that certain parts of his cooking only should be done by his host. He then repaired to the Library, where he gave his name, and borrowed some books and music books, and purchased a violin; the following day he again visited the Library, expatiated largely, with great ease and ability on the beautiful scenery of the Falls, and declared his intention of remaining at least a week; for "a traveller might as well," he said, "examine in detail the various museums and curiosities of Paris, as become acquainted with the splendid scenery of Niagara in the same space of time." On a subsequent visit, he declared his intention of staying at least a month, perhaps six. Shortly after, he determined on fixing his abode on Goat Island, and was desirous of erecting a hut, in which he might live quite secluded; the proprietor of the Island not thinking proper to grant this request, he occupied a small room in the only house, being occasionally furnished with bread and milk by the family, but more generally providing and always cooking his own food. During the second winter of his seclusion, the family removed, and to the few persons with whom he held communion, he expressed great satisfaction at being able to live alone. For some time he enjoyed this seclusion; but another family having entered the house, he quitted the Island, and built himself a small cottage on the main shore, about thirty rods below the great Fall. On the 10th of June, 1831, he was seen to bathe twice, and was observed by the ferryman to enter the water a third time about two o'clock in the afternoon; his clothes remaining some hours where he had deposited them, an alarm was created, and an ineffectual search was made for him. On the 21st, his body was taken out of the river at Fort Niagara, and was decently interred in the burial ground near the Falls. When his cottage was examined, his |