The Cumbrous Vehicle Creaks, Jolts, And Swings,
And, In Spite Of Friction-Breaks And Other Appliances, Gradually Acquires
An Impetus Which Sends It At Full Speed Down The Tremendous Hill, And
Round The Sharp Corner, To The Hotel At Lewiston.
While I was waiting
there watching the stages, and buying peaches, of which I got six for a
penny, a stage came at full speed down the hill, with only two men on the
driving-seat.
The back straps had evidently given way, and the whole
machine had a tendency to jump forward, when, in coming down the steepest
part of the declivity, it got a jolt, and in the most ridiculous way
turned "topsy-turvy," the roof coming down upon the horses' backs. The men
were thrown off unhurt, but the poor animals were very much cut and
bruised.
I crossed Lake Ontario to Toronto in the Peerless, a very smart, safe,
iron steamer, with the saloon and chief weight below. The fittings of this
beautiful little vessel are in perfect taste. We stopped for two hours at
the wharf at Niagara, a town on the British side, protected once by a now
disused and dismantled fort. The cars at length came up, two hours after
their time, and the excuse given for the delay was, that they had run over
a cow!
In grim contrast to the dismantled English Fort Massassaqua, Fort Niagara
stands on the American side, and is a place of considerable strength.
There I saw sentinels in grey uniforms, and the flag of the stars and
stripes.
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