I my self this last Summer, saw a Cataract, three Leagues above Albany, in the Province of New York, upon Schenectada River called the Cohoes, which they count much of there; and yet that is not above 40 or 50 Foot perpendicular. From these Falls also there rises a mighty Cloud, which descends like small Rain, that, when the Sun shines, gives a handsome small Rainbow that moves as you move, according to the Angle of Vision. The River at the Cohoes is to 40 or 50 Rods broad, but then it is very shallow Water, for I was told that in a dry Time, the whole River runs in a Channel of not more than fifteen Foot wide.
In my Journey to Albany, 20 Miles to the Eastward of Hudson’s River, near the middle of a long rising Hill, I met with a brisk noisy Brook sufficient to serve a Water-Mill, and having observed nothing of it at the beginning of the Hill, I turned about and followed the Course of the Brook, till at length I found it come to an End, being Absorb’d, and sinking into the Ground, either passing through Subterraneous Passages, or soaked up with the Sand; and tho’ it be common in other Parts of the World for Brooks and even rivers thus to be lost; yet this is the first of the Sort, I have heard of, or met with in this Country.
– An Account of the Falls of the River Niagara, taken at Albany, Octob. 10, 1721. From Monsieur Borassaw, a French Native of Canada. By the Honourable Paul Dudley, Esq.; F.R.S.
