The imagination is agreeably struck with the first view of the place.

On one side of the village is a mountain covered with shrubbery and verdure;--behind, a rich and cultivated plain extends backwards, which is bounded in every direction by luxuriant woods; while in front, the Niagara river glides in majestic stillness, and may be traced, with all its windings, till its waters are swallowed up in the vast expanse of Lake Ontario.

The soil around Queenstown consists chiefly of a red clay, the bright colour of which, upon the roads and declivities where it is exposed, forms a singular contrast, during summer, with the pure green of the trees and fields in the vicinity.
"Queenstown must infallibly acquire magnitude and importance when the province becomes populous and flourishing, for it is situated at the commencement of a portage, which never can be evaded by any improvement in the navigation, it being rendered necessary by the falls of Niagara; therefore, all vessels containing goods and stores destined for the western parts of Upper Canada must unload and leave their cargoes at Queenstown, that they may be conveyed overland to Chippewa, where the Niagara river again becomes navigable.

Even now, a good deal of this carrying business goes on during the summer months.

The North-West Company forward a considerable quantity of stores to the Indian territories by this route, and the country merchants receive annual supplies of goods from Montreal, and send down pork, flour, staves, and potash, in return.
"The environs of Queenstown are beautifully picturesque and romantic, and nothing can be finer than the prospect up the Niagara river.
Immediately above the village its channel narrows very much, and the banks rise to the height of 300 feet perpendicular, while at the same time they become wild and rocky, and are thickly covered with trees of various kinds.