I  myself  found  a  bridal  couple  (of  the  third  espousals)
in  it  when  I  ventured  a  vast  deal  of  potential  literature
in  its  frail  keeping  ;  no  terrapin,  I  fancy,  was  ever  so
rash  as  to  ascend  it,  from  the  day  it  was  built  to  the
day  it  was  taken  away.  What  is  so  amusing  now  to
think  of,  though  not  so  amusing  then,  is  that  all  the
while  I  was  clambering  about  those  heights  and  brinks,
I  was  suffering  from  an  inveterate  vertigo,  which  made
plain  ground  rather  difficult  for  me  at  times.  At  odd
moments  it  became  necessary  for  me  to  lay  hold  of
something  and  stay  the  reeling  world;  and  the  recur-
rence of  these  exigences  finally  decided  me  against
venturing  into  the  Cave  of  the  Winds.  Upon  the  whole
I  am  glad  I  did  not  penetrate  it,  for  now  I  can  think  it
what  I  like,  and  if  I  had  seen  it  I  probably  could  not
do  that.  I  compromised  by  descending  the  Biddle
Stairs,  which  had  a  rail  to  hold  on  by,  and  which,  I
have  no  doubt,  amount  to  much  the  same  thing  as  the


14  NIAGARA,  FIRST    AND    LAST.
Cave  of  the  Winds.  At  any  rate,  when  I  got  to  the
bottom  of  them,  I  wondered  why  in  the  world  I  had
come  down.
