This is the first photograph ever taken of Canada, and it shows a familiar tourist attraction.

The photograph of Niagara Falls was snapped by British industrial chemist Hugh Lee Pattinson on a trip to Canada in 1840 — 27 years before Canada officially became a country.

It lay forgotten in Newcastle University's special collections in England until it was rediscovered in 1997.

Behold the first photograph ever captured in Canada taken before it was even a country back in 1840 🤯- Newcastle University https://t.co/eK5ee1W5ZC #Canada #Niagara #NiagaraFalls #Ontario pic.twitter.com/d2TxReZePd

— Freshdaily (@freshdaily) December 2, 2019

The image is a daguerreotype — a type of photograph that requires a long exposure time.

It took Pattinson around 10 minutes to capture the image, leading many to believe that the small, smudgy figure at the bottom is actually the photographer himself.

Pattinson went on to take photographs of Horseshoe Falls as well as international destinations, but the British traveller's image of Niagara Falls remains his most famous work.