by (NIAGARA FALLS)
(NIAGARA FALLS - CAVE OF THE WINDS). DS. 1pg. 7 ½” x 6”. 1855. Niagara Falls. A partly printed certificate acknowledging that M.W. Ponds “has passed behind the Central Fall and Cave of the Winds on the American side of Goat Island. Given under our hands, at Niagara Falls, this 3 day of August 1855”. There are two vignettes of the famous falls and an ode to the spectacle: “What august scenes salute the wandering eye! Floods that seem gushing through the unriver sky, Plunge madly down from glory into gloom – Flash up in spray, and thunder from the tomb…”. The cave, discovered in 1834, was destroyed in a rockfall in 1954. There is a decorative border and the certificate was once folded. There are mounting remnants on the verso that do not affect the front. (Inventory #: 4665)