We left Buffalo on the stage at about eight o’clock in the morning and drove up along the Erie Canal, which flows parallel to the beautiful Niagara River here. We came through the village of Black Rock and soon crossed Tonawanda Creek near the village of Tonawanda. [The creek] drops into the Niagara not far from here, and we always had the latter river, which is almost twice as wide as the Rhine, to our left [as we] followed its [course]. The Niagara River originates at the eastern end of Lake Erie and has the same magnificent, bluish green water as [the lake]. [Not far from there is] a large island called Grand Island, which the Seneca Indians sold to the state of New York in 1815. The state paid 1,000 dollars and an annuity of 500 dollars. The island is said to be 12 miles long and 2 to 7 miles wide. [There are other,] smaller islands [in] the Niagara, which connects Lake Ontario with Lake Erie; the length of the river is 35 miles. In that distance, it creates the glorious large falls about which so much has been endlessly written already [that] I will attempt to say only a few words [to] describe the impression they made on us. The Niagara is reputed to be 5 to 6 miles wide; it separates Canada from the United States. The road from Tonawanda to the falls (22 miles from Buffalo) is fairly densely inhabited. We stopped often and changed horses. About noon we passed Cayuga Creek, which drops into the Niagara. At twelve thirty we approached the village of Niagara and drove into it from the [eastern] side and stopped at a very good, handsome inn.

The village of Niagara is built next to the falls. [It] has neat houses, some of them charming, [on] a few irregular, unpaved streets. Before reaching [this town], we saw, on the opposite [Canadian] side, the village of Chippawa, where a skirmish took place on 5 July 1814 [that ended] to the disadvantage of the British. We saw the British flag flying there. The banks of the Niagara are mostly rocky here—rock walls picturesquely overgrown with broad-leafed trees and conifers. It cannot be denied that the character of this beautiful river and its famous falls is very similar to that of European Switzerland. Opposite the inn in Niagara lives a certain Hooker. For a fee, he shows tourists around the area and acquaints them with all the [local] curiosities. He owns a small collection of minerals, petrifactions, a few stuffed animals, and Indian curiosities that he sells to tourists. [He also had] a billiard table in his house. I bought an outstanding, beautiful specimen of Strix nyctea (it sometimes stays here in winter), as well as several items made by the Senecas and Tuscaroras, especially birch bark baskets trimmed with porcupine and colorful bird quills. Tourists occasionally buy insignificant items here at high prices. During my stay, Hooker sold a stuffed bald eagle for 20 dollars. After lunch we went to look at the falls.

Before [it reaches] Niagara village, the river has already begun to break up [as it flows over] an uneven, rocky bed. Its whole surface turns into a rapid—a wildly foaming body of water [with] strong waves [with] a little more drop [here] than previously. [The river] creates in this rapid—especially in the vicinity of the village—five- to six-foot-high cascades and is already filled entirely with white foam. Large boulders of all kinds and sizes lie here [and] contribute much to breaking the water and bringing it to a state [resembling] boiling. Fir trees, green [but] wizened, grow on these boulders, some of which deserve to be called small islands. A few of these trees [are] withered, collapsed, broken or snapped off, and piled up in the water, amplifying the picture of the dreadful force and power set free [in this] wildly rushing stream. Even from a distance, we could hear the raging and roaring of the falls, and when we looked in the direction of the river, we saw high columns of white water vapor and fog rising into the sky. From the village we [walked] to the rapid just described and [crossed over] the end on a strong wooden bridge to a small island called Bath Island (because of a bathhouse there where people can take warm and cold baths). There is a large, nice paper mill here, and a house [that collects a] bridge toll of 37 1/2 cents [that allows] one to pass free for the duration of one’s stay. The toll collector [offers] refreshments and a good collection of local fossils [and], particularly, of Indian artwork from the tribes of the Seneca, Cayuga, [and] Tuscarora, etc. We crossed a second bridge from [Bath Island] to Goat Island, [which is] large—70 acres in size. It is mostly overgrown with a shady forest of sugar maples, beeches, and a few other types of trees. The shores are shaded by old fir trees (Pinus canadensis) and particularly by old white cedars (Thuja occidentalis) [the likes of which] I had never seen before. Many nice bushes grow everywhere.

A comfortable path [went] to the right along the shore of the island, through the forest, and [then] suddenly up to the steep rim [overlooking] the colossal torrent of the right river branch. [The river] is divided by Goat Island into two main branches [that] form two large cascades; the right, or southern, one is slightly divided again.

The view is impressive and more magnificent by far than I had imagined it from the various descriptions. The broad, magnificent river, with its lively, bluish green water and snow-white foam, drops, boiling, 170 to 180 feet vertically into the depths, dissolving halfway down into mist, rain, fog, and clouds, so that astonished eyes can follow it only to the vapor and not by any means down to the [bottom of the abyss]. The chasm is filled with snow-white mist sending columnlike clouds high into the air. On the upper rim of the falls, the water [can be seen], powerful [and] shining, [in a] glorious, bluish green color that appears again in its full brightness below [the falls] in the half-calm river. The falls just [described] are divided at the top by a small, rugged rock island. The left branch is only about 30 paces wide. The island is rankly overgrown with arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis), its branches scantling-like, the old trunks colored whitish, [the growth] mixed with other bushes. At the edge of Goat Island, we walked down a short, somewhat steep slope, where we could sit on the trunk of a thick old birch (Betula) bent down to the ground. [This] placed us at the edge of the right falls, where we could enjoy a general, splendid view of them. This is awe-inspiring! Across the small branch, a bridge has been built to the small island described [above]. At the tip of [this island] there is again a view of the larger part of the right falls, which could also be called American, since they are located entirely on the American side, in contrast to those described [next], which create the border between the free states and England [Canada].

We returned from there to the top of Goat Island and followed a path through the dark shadows of the forest; [it] ran along the front edge of the island. After 400 to 500 paces, or a little more, we reached an exceptionally imposing view of the so-called Horseshoe Falls. They are the most significant and cross the entire, colossally wide river bed [at] an angle a little more toward the American bank; [the appearance has] caused them to be called, a little incorrectly, Horseshoe Falls. The falls are 150 feet high, and the raging, awe-inspiring, magnificent torrent of water plunges downward, dissolving while still high in the air into mist, rain, and clouds that partially shroud the neighboring rocky forest banks, or rather, allow them to be only half seen through the veil. [There] is a raging, boiling [effect] at the angle of the falls where the water shoots down from three sides, [each mass of water] colliding severely [with] another. Here is the hearth where clouds boil [up and] wet the area far around with rain, the direction [varying with] the wind, which drives the clouds to one side or the other.

We walked down steep stairs to [where] a wooden tower had been built. [It] rises vertically [and has] a spiral staircase. [From] the circular gallery [at] its top, [as well as from] windows [placed] at different levels, we could view the magnificent scenery from a gradually increasing elevation. Beautiful bushes grow on the riverbank in the rubble at the foot of the wooden tower below the steep rock face of Goat Island. Among them were Spiraea opulifolia, Thuja occidentalis, [and] Rubus odoratus (now blooming), as well as lindens, maples, Rhus, and other shrubbery. Beneath the rock face of the island, we continued to walk to the right and left across the rubble to reach, on our right, the first-mentioned falls. One could step into the dark prevailing shadows under those torrents of water, if one did not mind the soaking rain and strong wind. Going to the left, one would arrive at the lower rim of the Horseshoe Falls. Both locations are indescribably imposing.

We went up the stairs again and continued to walk [around] the edge of the island forest up to a small house with several partitions, [each space] open and unobstructed in front [so that] we could sit and enjoy the magnificent scenery. Thousands of names from all countries are written and carved here, and their numbers increase daily—-a bad custom that, incidentally, is found in all parts of the world, wherever the Europeans have taken it.

In the vicinity of the small house, we went down again by stairs near Horseshoe Falls and walked on a bridge over water toward a stone tower built in the river. There, we were directly above the angle of the falls. This lighthouse-like building had been erected for the purpose of [facilitating] an immediate, direct view of the falls. The view is indescribably glorious and grand! The eye is immediately lost in the hell of boiling white water vapor that surrounds [one] in small clouds, [while] the thunderous roar of the falls deafens the ears of the marveling admirer! These scenes cannot be described well; there are no words for the scale and the aweinspiring impressions of [such] natural phenomena!

From there, we again climbed to the summit of the island and went back to the village. Then, approximately ten minutes farther along the bank of the Niagara, [we came] to another covered wooden bridge that led down to the riverbank and the ferry.

On the heights of [the American] side, as well as beyond and below on the water on the opposite [Canadian] side, ferrymen live who charge tourists a fare for crossing. Even though it is hardly more than three to four hundred paces below the falls, the water is no longer very choppy, and we soon landed on the Canadian, or British, bank. In the ferry house there, we again found curios and drinks. Among the former [there were] minerals, Indian crafts, various kinds of [locally] carved canes, etc. The falls were right in front of us, and we could admire them both very well. Mr. Bodmer made a sketch of the falls [as seen] from a little above the ferry house at the riverbank.

We then climbed up a comfortable trail along the rock face and reached a house on top that carried [a] sign [reading] Confectionary, where refreshments were to be had. Here [we saw] some nice views of the falls in [a] collection of Hudson views, doubtless the best existing, even though they remain far behind nature. From there, the guide led us to a single house located in the meadows in front of wooded hills where the so-called museum is located. An Englishman here has, on both floors of the house, quite an interesting natural history collection, which he shows for a fee; many an interesting artifact is part of this collection. Unfortunately, this man had only a few [good] skins in stock [and] available for sale.

From there we went to the so-called Table Rock, but before [arriving there, we] reached a house above the edge of the steep rock face that forms the Canadian bank of the Niagara; oilcloth garments are provided [there] on request [to protect those who] go down [the] stairs [and] beneath the torrent of water of Horseshoe Falls, where one could get very wet. Because I had already walked in such scenery beneath large waterfalls in Switzerland and today at the first falls, we did not climb down but contented ourselves with the panoramic view of Niagara Falls from Table Rock. From here, one may survey both falls, and many tourists prefer this view to that on the American side. I must say, however, that each [side] has its merits, and it is important for travelers to visit both.

[It was] a little damp, because it rained a good deal today. Filled with the great scenery of nature that we had viewed, we returned home in the evening. Here is a sketch of the falls as seen from above: