THE NOISE OF NIAGARA FALLS.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.''] SIR,—In the review of Mr. Marshall's " Through America," in the Spectator of October 15th, yon notice that the author remarks that Niagara is not deafening, but that the sound is so soft that a conversation can be carried on close beside the Falls without straining the voice. Will you allow me, as a former American traveller, to slightly amend Mr. Marshall's statement ? In 1872, I visited Niagara with a friend, and my experience was as follows. Standing in front of the American Fall, we found that at first the roar was so overpowering that, standing close together, we had to shout at the top of our voices to be heard at all ; but in a few minutes the sound of the Falls seemed to pass into us, and become part of our being (I can describe it in no other way), so that not only could we converse in an ordinary tone of voice, but we could hear (as if against the background of sound of the Falls) little streams trickling over the rocks, and even the twittering of birds.—I am, Sir,
[*** We have received a rejoinder from " A Sometime- Anglican" to Mr. Warren's letter of last week on "Ritualism v. Principle," but we think it best to close the correspondence, as hardly likely to issue in any very tangible result.—Eu. Spectator.]
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