Here these flats which are quite extensive and exceedingly rich and
beautiful, appear to leave the river and follow its tributary, the
Canaseraga, to a point about sixteen miles above; diminishing somewhat in
width as they ascend, until they come near the present village of
Dansville, where the hills again recede and forming a large basin, enclose
it on the south, presenting the appearance of a magnificent amphitheater.
The Canaseraga is here joined by two streams, Stony Brook and Mill Creek,
which flow down from the highlands beyond, over precipices, and through
gorges deep and wild, where rugged cliffs defying all attempts at culture,
rise abruptly at times, from one to three hundred feet on either side. The
Indian's trail conducted him to these wilds, which still remain the most
unchanged of all his ancient haunts. Here are solitudes seldom visited by
man, where are treasured sublimities that enchain the mind, and inspire a
feeling of devotion in the heart of the beholder. Here the Indian,
undisturbed by other sights or sounds, may yet listen to the voice of the
waterfall as it sounded in the ear of his fathers, or to the gentle murmur
of the stream discoursing now, as it did to them, in passing hurriedly
over its rocky bed. [Footnote: Who would ever suspect that a railroad
would stride across any of these deep chasms? How presumptuous.]
Beyond this point the Canaseraga itself, as it flows from its source among
the hills bordering on Pennsylvania, passes often through deep ravines,
narrow defiles, and overhanging cliffs.
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