Full text of "The wonders of the world : a popular and authentic account of the marvels of nature and of man as they exist to-day"

<\:

THE LIBRARY

THE UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA

PRESENTED BY

PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND

MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID

THE WONDERS OF THE WORLD.

Paintedhy G. H. Edwards.

LAKE BUJUKU AND RUWENZORI.

Photo by Vitiorio Sella,

This scene, in the very heart of Africa, is one beyond all comparison in its grandeur. In the hollow lies Lake Bujuku, a splendid

sheet of calm water surrounded by grotesque forests of senecio mingled with clumps of everlasting flowers. Towering far above it

are the snow-whiie peaks of Mount Stanley and Mount Baker of tlie Ruwenzori range.

THE

Wonders

OF THE

WORLD

From stereo copyright by']

IKevstone Vietr Co,

THE CRATER OF LA SOUFRIERE

A POPULAR AND AUTHENTIC
ACCOUNT OF THE /MARVELS «
OF NATURE AND OF A\AN AS
THEY EXIST TO-DAY ....

eyniNENT travellers

rNCLUDING

SIR HARRY JOHNSTON

G.C.M.G., K.C.B.

ALAN H. BURGOYNE

M.P., F.R.G.S.

PERCEVAL LANDON

J. THOMSON

F.R.G.S.

AND MANY OTMEK5

Vol. II.
ILLUSTRATED

WITH 14 COLOURED PLATES AND

484 REPRODUCTIONS IN BLACK AND

WHITE, INCLUDING nANY UNIQUE .

PHOTOGRAPHS OF RECENT DISCOVERIES

London: Hutchinson & Co., paternoster row

Printed at the Chapel River Press,
Kin<'ston-on-Thames

CONTENTS OF VOL. II.

APRICA.

PAGE

XV. By Sie Harry Johnston, G.C.M.G. - - - 449

NORTH AMERICA.

XVI. By George Wharton James - - 481

XVII. By Nugent M. Clougher, P.R.G.S. 513

XVIII. By George Wharton James 577

XIX. By p. J. Tabor Prost 635

CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA.
XX. By Lewis Spence 641

EUROPE.

XXI. By Charles Rudy - - - - - 681

XXII. By Charles White - - 714

XXIII. By Charles Rudy 759

XXIV. By Douglas Sladen - 789

XXV. By Douglas Sladen, John Dill Ross, E. P. Whitby, and others - - 817

APPENDIX.
By Philip Sergeant and P. W. Christian 889

ILLUSTRATIONS

— ♦

COLOURED PLATES

Lake Buguku and Ruwenzori Frouiisinccc

The Grand Canyon of the Colorado Riveh, Arizona .... Fucimj 481

The Great Pountain Geyser, Yellowstone Park ., 513

The Palls of Niagara in Winter „ 5i5

The Sapphire Hot Spring, Yellowstone Park „ 577

The Hot Spring, Yellowstone Lake, Yellowstone Park ... „ 609

Ollantay-tampu ,,641

Alhambra „ 673

Venice ,,705

Pompeii „ 737

The Matterhorn „ 769

The Jungfrau „ 801

The Church of the Resurrection of Christ „ 883

The Leaning Tower of Pisa ... - ,,865

Mr?095B2

BLACK AND WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS.

AFRICA.

Aden, The Tanks of . . . 400

Amenhotep III., The Forecourt of . 4-19
Dendera, Temple of Hathor . . 473,

474, 475, 476
Edfu, Temple of . . . 477, 478

Kaiio, The City of 453, 454, 455, 450, 457

lAc.K

4G4

Kiruiiga-Cha-Goiigo, The Crater of
Lightning on the Northern Congo . 465
Luxor, Temple of . . 450, 451, 452

Mfumbiro, The Caves of . . . 462

Namlagira, The Volcano of . . 463

Uiiwenzori, Views of . . 471, 472

Thebes, The Kamesseum . . 480

Tinigad . . .458, 459, 460, 401

Tlemcen. Jlosque of Sidi-bu-Medin . 407,
468, 469, 470
Transvaal, The Premier Diamond Mine 479

605, 606, 607

. 608

. 609

. 529

. 530

. 576

. 627

. 500

. 502

Acoma :

The Pueblo

Natural Bridge .

The Trail .
Alaska :

Alert Bay Totem Poles .

A Totem .

Muir Glacier
Alert Bay, Tree Burial .
Arizona :

The CUff Dwellings

Stalagmites

A Hopi Indian Village 504, 505, 500,

507, 508

Avalanche, The ESects of an . 537

The Petrified Forest, 552, 553, 554, 555,

556

Red Mountain Crater

Havasu Canyon .

The Roosevelt Dam

The Blue Canyon
Bermuda, Coral Rocks
CaUfornia :

Cloud Formation

The Big Trees

. 587
. 619, 020
. 623, 024
625, 626, 628

. 540

. 510
588, 589, 590, 591

^ORTH AMERICA.

Ceiba, The
Chelly, Canyon de
Chff DwelUngs, The :

Mancos Canyon .

Walnut Canyon .

Sierra Madre, Mexico

Pajarito Park

I'AUK

527
577

. 499
. 629, 630, 631
. 575
611, 612, 613, 614
Canyon del Muerto, 577, 578, 579, 580,

581

Colorado River :

Grand Canyon of . 481, 482, 483, 484,

485, 486, 487

The Mount of the Holy Cross . 509

Garden of the Gods . 561, 562, 563,

564, 565, 566

Monument Park .... 603

Cotopaxi, Mount .... 049

Cuba, The Caves of Bellamar . . 532

Guadeloupe, La Soufriere . . 557

Guanacatlan Falls, Mexico . . 558

Guanajuato, The Catacombs, Mexico,

559, 560
Kentucky, Mammoth Caves 600, 601, 602
Labrador, Icebergs . 542, 543, 544

Manila, Burial Vault . . . 592

I'ACK

Mesa \'erde, The ClilT Palace . . 501

Mitla, The Ruins of 517, 518, 519, 520,

521

Mont Pel^e . . . 513, 514, 515

Nevada, Fossil Footprints . 632

New York, The " Skyscrapers " 488, 489,

490, 491, 492

Niagara :

Tunnel in a Rock . . . 545

The Falls, 546, 547, 548, 549, 550, 551

Oregon :

Crater Lake .... 539

Moimt Hood . . . 595, 596

Paradise Glacier, An Ice Cave . . 510

Pike's Peak, Sunrise . . . 004

Polar Sun, The . . . .594

Popocatepetl ..... 520
Robson, Mount .... 538
Rocky Mountains, Lake Louise . 535
San Francisco,Claus Spreckels Building, 574
San Salvador, Mount Izalco . 647, 048
Superior, Lake .... 525
Teotihuacan, The Pyramid of the Sun, 541
Trinidad, The Asphalt Lakes . 533, 534
Utah, Weber Canyon . . 597

Black and White Illustrations

Victoria Regia, The

Virginia, The Natural Rridge .

Wastiingtoti :

The Capitol

Library of Congress
Washington Memorial, The
Washington, Totem Pole in Seattle . 593
White Mountains .
Wisconsin, The Leaping Chasm
Wrangell, Totem Poles, Fort .
Wyoming :

Sandstone Carrings

P.one Quarry

PAGE

PAOK

PAOE

512

Yellowstone Park :

Yellowstone Park — continited :

567

Cleopatra Terrace

. 493

Old Faithful Geyser .

570, 571

Pulpit Terrace .

. 494

Punch Bowl

. 572

501

Jupiter Terrace .

. 495

Morning Glory .

. 573

599

Mammoth Hot Springs

. 496

The Grand Canyon

. 615

511

Liberty Cap

. 497

The Great Falls .

. 616

593

The Deril's Kitchen

. 498

A Dendritic Fossil

. 617

598

The Devil's Inkwell

. 522

Lone Star Geyser

. 018

531

The Norris Geyser Basin

. 523

Yoho Valley, The Twin Falls .

. 536

528

The Mammoth Paint Pots

. 524

Yosemitc Valley, 582, 583, 584

, 585, 586

Great Fountain Geyser

. 524

Yucatan, Ktiins in. 633, 034,

635, 636,

610

Sunrise

. 568

687, 638,

639. 640

,622

Orottfl Geyser

. 569

CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA.

PACK

670
603
664

Andes, In the Heart of the
Argentina, The Inca liridge
Arequipa, Mount Misti
Culebra Cut, Panama Canal 642, 643, 644,

645, 646
Guzco 650, 651, 652, 653, 654, 655

Iguazu Falls . . . 657, 658, 659

Kio de Janeiro :
The Avenue of Palms
The Harbour

I'AOK

Kaielcur Falls, llrilish Guiana . 673

Lima, Receptacles for the Dead . 656

Maracaibo, Indian Village . . 665

Ollantay-Tampu . 666, 667, 068, 669 Tandil Rocking-Stone, The

Piedra Parade, The . . .660 Tiahuanaco .

Pissac, The Inca Fortress of . 676, 677 Vcntana, The

Poas Crater, The . . . . 641 I

661, 662

. 674

. 675

678, 679, 680

. 671, 672

PAGt

Aareschlucht, The .... 753
Adelsberg Caves, The . 776, 777, 778, 779
Alcazar, Seville 758, 759, 760, 761

Aletsch Glacier, The . .781, 782
Alhambra, Granada . . 685, 686,

687, 688, 689, 690, 691, 692
Amiens, The Cathedral of . .835
Athens, 714, 715, 716, 717, 718, 719,

720, 721, 722, 723, 724, 725
Axenstrasse, The .... 838
Beauvais Choir .... 827
Blanc, Mont . . . 823, 824

Bologna, The Leaning Tower of . 780

Brigsdal Glacier, The . . .788

Bruges, The Belfry .... 878
Cappella Pahitina, The . . .868

Capri .... 764, 765, 706

EUROPE.

PAr.K
Carcassonne, The Ramparts . 862, 863
Carnac .... 854, 855

Chaeronea, The Lion of . . . 834
Cologne Cathedral . . . .780

Constantinople . 772, 773, 774, 775

Cordova Cathedral (Spain) . 703, 704

A Doorway in ... . 704

Corinth, The Isthmus of . . 712

Dobsina, The Ice Caverns . 860, 861

Drei Zinnen, Dolomites . . . 784
Eleusis . . . . . .883

Enseigne, The Earth Pyramids of, 710, 711
Escurial, The . . . .839

Etna, Mount . . . 817, 818, 819

Fingal's Cavo . . . . . 752

Florence .... 828, 829

Fontninoblcau, The Rocks of, 727, 728, 729

PAQB

Forth Bridge, Scotland, The .

. 853

Germany, The Extinct Craters of.

848, 849

850,

851, 852

Giant's Causeway, The .

770, 771

Gibraltar ....

. 699

Girgenti :

The Temple of Concord

. 871,

Temple of Castor and Pollux

. 870

Grindelwald ....

. 884

Iceland . . 873, 874, 875,

876, 877

lona, St. Martin's Cross .

. 886

Jungfrau, The

830,831

London :

St. Paul's ....

730, 731

Westminster Abbey

858, 859

Lourdes, The Grotto

. 684

Lucerne, The Gletschergart«n .

. 840

Black and White Illustrations

EVnOVE—continued.

Malaga, The Gorge of the Guadalhorce, 701
Malta, The Hypogeum . 693, 694, 695,
690, 097, 698
Mallerhorn, The . . . 708, 769

Mer de Glace ..... 822
Messina . . . ■ • 869

Meteora, The Rock Monasteries of, 732, 733

Milan 881, 882

Monreale, The Cloisters . . .867
Monte Rosa .... 879, 880
Mont St. Michel . . '. . 762
Moscow . . 844, 845, 846, 847

Mycenee .... 825, 826

Naples 755

Nimes, The Amphitheatre . 836, 837
Norway, The Runic Stone 767

Orange, Tlie Theatre . . . 783 !

PAGE

Paestum 785

Palermo, The Catacombs of the Cap-

puccini ..... 866

Paris, Notre Dame de . . 820, 821

Peterhof, The Fountains . . .857

Pisa . . . ■ . . 864, 865

Pompeii . 742, 743, 744, 745, 746, 747,

748, 749, 750, 751

Pozzuoli, The Soltatara . . . 734

Rome:

Classical .... 789-807

Catholic .... 708-816 '

St. Gothard Tunnel . . . .683

St. Petersburg, The Winter Palace . 856

Sardinia, The Prehistoric Remains, 681, 082

Segesta, The Temple of . . . 871

Segovia, The Roman Aqueduct . 708, 709

PAGK

Selinunte, The Ruins of . . . 872

Seville :

The Giralda .... 71.'?

The Ruins of the Amphitheatre,

Italica 700

Stonehenge 832,833

Strasburg Cathedral . . . 885

Stromboli 887

Syracuse . . . 841, 842, 843

Taormina ..... 702
Tarragona, The Cyclopean Walls . 787
Tiryns, The Gallery of the Citadel . 726
Torghatten, Norway . . .706, 707
Ulm Cathedral .... 763
Venice 735, 736, 737, 738, 739, 740, 741
Versailles ..... 888
Vesuvius, Mount . . .754.750,757

Ctesiphon, The Palace of Chosroes
Easter Island, The Colossi . 8

APPENDIX.

I'AUK

PAGK

891

Mecca .

•

. 889

.895

Meshed .

. 890

Ishtar, The Gate of

PAi;i!
893

Africa

449

CHAPTER XV.

By SIR HARRY JOHNSTON, G.G.M.G.

Luxor. — It has been already mentioned in tliis work that the modern name " Luxor " is a
corruption of the Arabic words " Al-Uksur," or " the castles," applied to it, of course, by the
ignorant Arab invaders and devastators of Egypt, because the great temple they saw there in its
already ruined condition reminded them of the stone castles in their own country.

This Temple of Luxor had no doubt fallen into some degree of disrepair and ruin when the
Arabs invaded Egypt in the seventh century, for the Christians of Egypt, though they frequently
built their churches in the middle of these vast Egyptian temples, took no pains whatever to repair
the ravages of time or earthquake shocks outside the actual structure of the mean little chapel in
which they worshipped.

There was a temple standing at Luxor three thousand years ago, but the buildings whose
impressive ruins are here illustrated were not erected until the reign of Amenhotep IIL (between
B.C. 1411 and 1375), during the period which is sometimes described as the zenith of Egyptian
wealth and prosperity. The portion of the temple which survives to this day, its south end with the
colonnaded forecourt and chambers leading to it, was dedicated by Amenhotep IIL to the trinity
of gods then worshipped in the Theban towns, namely, Amon-ra (the Sun-god), Mut the goddess,
and Khonsu, the youthful god sometimes identified with the moon. Amenhotep III. seems to have

THE FORECOURT OF AMENHOTEP III

£xceptins those at the north end, these columns are still almost perfect: but the blocUs which covered in the space

between each double row have all disappeared. The centre of the court was paved and open to the sky.

""30

450

The Wonders of the World

desired specially to erect this temple in the heart of the riverside town as in some way a rival of
the great Temple of Karnak, which stood farther away from the centre of the Theban capital. A
further motive was that of gratifying the priesthood and people of Thebes, because Amenhotep
III., though the son of the preceding Pharaoh, Tehutimes IV., was not in the eyes of the orthodox
a sufficiently legitimate King of the two Egypts, since he had not succeeded to the throne by being
the husband or son of a Pharaoh's daughter, for the succession according to Egyptian law always
went through the eldest daughter of a Pharaoh, which was why there were so many brother-and-

sister, or half-brother and
half-sister marriages. The
wife of Amenhotep III.
was, on the contrary, a
foreigner, probably Assy-
rian, and the daughter of
Yuaa, a priest of the god
Min, and at the same time
the keeper of the sacred
cattle of Amon-ra, the Sun-
god of Thebes. She was
the celebrated Queen Teie,
or Thiy. Amenhotep had
married her when he and
slie were very young, and
he remained all his life de-
votedly attached to her and
rendered her the utmost
justice on his monuments,
as has already been related
in connection with the two-
Colossi of Memnon.

The son of Amenhotep
■ — Akhenaton — was a great
religious reformer who-
wished to substitute for the
worship of the sun that
of Aton* (the Greek name-
of which god was Adonis) ;
but his successors restored
the worship of the trinity
headed by Amon-ra and con-
tinued the building of this
temple according to the design left behind by Amenhotep III. The splendid building reached its-
climax of development under Ramses III., with a few small additions as late as Ramses VI., and
the Pharaohs of the Twenty-first, Twenty-sixth, Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth Dynasties piously
restored some of its beauty and completeness, for at one time it had been much damaged by floods,
of the Nile.

* Aton, seemingly, was ihe Syrian form of the Egyptian god Min, the patron of generation, increase, cropi and vegetation.
His worship was evidently growing up under the shadow of Amon-ra from the fact that the father of Queen Teie was a priest
at Thebes directing the worship of Min. It may have been due to the influence of Queen Teie, who was known to be devoted,
to the god Aton or Min, that the religious revolution occurred under her husband's successor, Akhenaton, who was possibly-
her son.

THE NORTHERN ENTRANCE TO THE TEMPLE OF LUXOR.

The colossal seated statues (one partiallv buried) are those of Ramses II., and
through this entiance one passes to the gieat forecourt of the temple built in the
reign of that monarch. On the stones of the pylons in front ale depicted incidents
in the war between the Egyptians and the Hittites

Copyj-ight s((reo(,ra/ /< 1 1.-]

[//. C. W/uh' Co,

THE GREAT COLONNADE OF HOREMHEB IN THE TEMPLE OF LUXOR

This is the most 'imposing part of the whole Temple. Fourteen columns in two rows supported the roof. This sptendid
colonnade waa commenced by Amenhotep III., but was finished by Haremheb, the first Pharaoh of ithe XlXth Dynasty
B.C. 1350.

452

The Wonders of the World

Phalo !)i/] [Thoims I'imk <t Sous.

A STATUE OF RAMSES II.

This statue is the third of five equally colossal figures of

Ramses the Great, placed in his forecourt of the Temple of

Luxor. * The figure stepping out from the dark ' recess is

particularly impressive.

In the still standing forecourt of Amenhotep
III. the columns are almost perfect, except those
at the north end. In its perfect state this court
was smoothly paved and open to the sky, but
the colonnade cast on it more shadow than at
the present day ; and on the columns, archi-
traves and walls, the inscriptions and reliefs
were highly coloured.

At the south end of the forecourt still stands
the Hypostyle Hall, the roof of which was once
supported by eight rows of four columns. The
first vestibule beyond the forecourt was used in
later times as a Roman temple, the walls were
covered with plaster, and elaborate pictures
of men and horses were painted on this surface.
On the west wall of this Hypostyle Hall may
be seen a number of scenes illustrated in relief
and giving a pictorial history of the divine
origin of Amenhotep III. For one of his ob-
jects in building this splendid temple was to set
forth the myth of his direct sonship to a god
in order to atone to posterity for his complete
lack of legitimacy. His mother, Queen Mutemua
(a Syrian princess), is shown as the beloved
of the god Amon-ra, the intermediary an
bringing about an affection of these two having
been no less a personage than the great goddess
Isis. All this nonsense could be apparently
repeated reign after reign, and century after
century, in Egyptian monuments without
arousing any recorded ridicule, and in other
shapes and forms it has recurred in the history of
European nations : for example, the preposterous
frescoes of Rubens at the Louvre illustrating the
life of Anne of Austria and the birth of Louis Xl V.

Ramses II. (Ramses the Great) took I a
marked interest in this temple at Luxor. His
architect, who was a high-priest of Amon, has
left the record that he erected obelisks " whose
beauty approached heaven ; " that he planted
gardens of trees in front of the great entrances
and elevated flagstaffs of considerable altitude ;
and designed and constructed a broad and
magnificent avenue of sphinxes which reached
from the Temple of Luxor to the Temple , of
Amon-ra at Karnak, along which processions
of priests passed on the occasions of grjeat
festivals. Moreover, this architect made, -on
behalf of Ramses, great double doors of electrum

Africa

453

(electrum, which is so often referred to in the history of these ancient Egyptian monuments, was
an alloy of gold and silver, which was considered in its pale-yellow colour to resemble amber, of
which the Greek name was " elektron ") ; and the walls of the temple were inlaid with electrum
and the doors were studded with pure gold. Parts of the pavement (according to the Egyptologist,
Breasted) were covered with sheets of silver. But some of the columns added by Ramses II. are
huge and ungainly. He had caused a number of colossal statues of himself, seated and standing,
to be placed in the temple. One of the surviving statues of this monarch in a standing position
is, however, a very fine piece of Egyptian sculpture, though the legs are somewhat thick.

This Temple of Luxor might quite possibly by now have been laid in complete ruin by the steady
rise in level of the Nile bed. We read in history that the temple was much damaged some two

fhoto hfi

A PORTION OF THE WALLS OF KANO.

[tV- O. 11. Aiad'.e.

Kano is the principal commercial city in Northern Nigeria, Its walls are between thirty and fifty feet in height and arc
forty feet thick at the base. They are constructed of clay, with an inner framework of tree-trunks. In front of the walls lies a
deep double ditch or moat.

thousand years ago, and again, in later times, by the floods of the Nile. The same cause led in time
to the complete ruin of Memphis, much lower down. The Nile water when long standing has a
certain corroding effect on the bases of the columns which causes them in time to topple over. The
Romans arrested this decay by the building of huge dykes, but these soon went to pieces under the
ever- to-be-accursed rule of the Moslem between 640 and 1882 (though it is only just to say tliat the
much-abused Khedive Ismail, and even his predecessors, did not discourage Europeans from
attempting to save the monuments of Ancient Egypt). Since 1884, and after the British occupa-
tion of Egypt became effective, strenuous efforts have been made to save Luxor and other riverside
temples from the effects of the floods. More than that, to a degree which few people realize who
stay at home in England, the British, aided by French Egyptologists, have actually restored to
something like their original condition some of the most superb buildings of the Pharaohs.

454

The Wonders of the World

The Walls and Buildings of Kano in Northern Nigeria. — Now we turn to a very different
style of African arcliitecture, and yet one which probably owes its inception and characteristics
to Egyptian influence penetrating the Sudan about two thousand years ago. I refer to the great
clay buildings of Nigeria, and in this particular instance to the remarkable town of Kano, the
commercial capital not only of Hausaland, but of all British Northern Nigeria. The district round
Kano was one of the original seven states of the Hausa Confederacy. The Hausa language, and,
to a certain extent, the Hausa people, seem to have come into existence through an ancient invasion,

some say of Berbers from North
' Africa, but more probably of

Hamites from Nubia. The
Libyan and the Hamitic lan-
guages spoken respectively at
the present day in North
Africa, the Sahara, and in the
coast region of the Red Sea,
Southern Abyssinia, etc., are
allied to each other in origin,
and somewhat more distantly
allied to Ancient Egyptian, and
to the great Semitic family of
languages of which Hebrew and
Arabic are prominent repre-
sentatives. All these languages
agree (amongst other features)
in the use of the letter " t "
with a feminine signification,
and the recognition of sex
(masculine and feminine) in
nouns, pronouns, etc. But it
is not yet decided by philo-
logists whether the Hausa
language (which has a pre-
ponderating Negro basis) was
created by the influence of
Libyans from the north or
Hamites from the east, li —
as seems more probable — the
latter, then it would coincide
interestingly with the obvious
Egyptian influence on the
architecture of Nigeria. This
influence did not extend to the use of stone, which has never been used as a building material
by th2 True Negro or by the half- white Fulas of Nigeria : it rather confined itself to general design,
the shape of doorways and the slanting walls of great buildings. But long afterwards, from about
the tenth century of the present era onwards, another influence swept over the Central and the
Nigerian Sudan, that of the Muhammadanized Berbers, or Libyans, of North Africa, which brought
with it the ideas of Saracenic art and architecture, and this last influence may be seen in the designs
and decorations of the doorway and interior of the Emir's Palace at Kano, a building which is now
used as an office by a British official. The long spouts which project from the walls of some of these

J'hoto hu} [Capt. a, H. Abadie,

THE GATEWAY INTO KANO.
Thi walls here are pierced with loopKoles for musketry. The door within the
gateway that leads into the town is of hard ox-hide and the heavy doorposts are of
wo 3d.

456

The Wonders of the World

buildings are intended to carry off the heavy rainfall. Egyptian influence caused these and similar
works to be constructed with flat roofs, though here and there we see a feeble attempt at introducing
the Saracenic dome. But flat roofs are not very well suited to a tropical African climate with its
annual seasons of heavy rainfall, consequently these buildings are obliged to be provided with
disfiguring water-spouts.

The city of Kano itself is built on an open plain and is surrounded by a wall which measures
eleven miles round the rough circle. The wall is pierced by thirteen gates, and is from thirty to
fifty feet high, and supplemented by deep double ditches. The gates are merely made of leather,
ox-hides in several thicknesses, but they are set in massive entrance towers. The total area of the
walls is about twenty-two square miles, but only one-third of this space is covered with houses.

Iholu Oil}

lUapt, (r. //. Altaaxt,

A DISTANT VIEW OF THE EMIR'S PALACE AT KANO.

This was the residence of the Fula GDvernor of Kano before the place was captured by a British force in 1903. It is
built of clay on a framework of wood, and in the centre there is an imperfectly shaped dome covering a hall of audience.

the original design of the builders of Kano being to surround with high defensive works a sufficient
area of ground to feed the besieged by cultivation, while this ground also includes on its surface one
large pond, several (unsanitary) lakelets, and two steep hills.

The Audience Hall of the Emir's Palace, already referred to, is twenty-five feet square and eighteen
feet high, and the designs on the wall are painted in black, white, green and golden-yellow. This
yellow, indeed, ghstens like gold, because the pigment is mixed with micaceous sand and therefore
looks like metal. The dome-shaped roof is supported by twenty arches with a slightly horse-shoe
outline.

There was a city of Kano existing, according to authentic Arab records, as early as the twelfth
century of the present era, but in all probability the actual foundation of a great native "market
round about the hill of Dala goes back to that period in the history of the Sudan, about 900 a.d.,
when a great stimulus had been given to commerce by the immigration of traders from across the

Africa

457

Photo hy']

[Vai,(. W.

A part of the exterior of the women's quart^-rs jf the Emii's Palace, KanD.
It is carefully ornamented bv incised patterns on the clay surface.

Sahara and from Egypt. But
the influence of Egypt on the
architecture (not so much of
Hausaland as of the Songhai
and Fula peoples, originally of
Western Nigeria) would date
back to a still more remote
period vaguely placed at about
two thousand years ago,
when the commercial impulses
of Ptolemaic Egypt, infused
latterly with Roman energy,
carried some faint reflex of
the arts and architecture of
Egypt right across the Sudan
into the region of the Upper
Niger, where quite a remark-
able civilization arose under
the subsequent growth of the
Mandingo and Songhai power.
But this civilization did not

halt much in what is now Hausaland. It took its great development to the west of the Central

Niger and afterwards came back to Hausaland through the Fula conquest of the Central Sudan at

the beginning of the nineteenth century.

The modern province of Kano, together with Katagum, includes an area of thirty-one thousand

square miles, inhabited by about two million two hundred and fifty thousand of people. This

population consists mainly of Hausa negroes, a few Songhais from the central Niger, an aristocracy

of Fulas, Tuaregs from the desert, who are more or less nomadic and trade in leather goods,

horses, camels and sheep ;

and lastly, Arabs who resort

to the Central Sudan for

trade, but more often to pick

up a living as oculists, rougii

surgeons, and mallams, or

learned men. Associated with

the mallam type is the Fiqih

(fakir), or professional saint.

Indeed, it is not always easy

to determine among these

wandering Arabs from Egypt,

the Sudan, Tripoh, or Algeria.

where the saint begins and

the doctor of medicine, school-
master, letter - writer and

charm-writer leave off. The

last profession unites them all,

perhaps, in one individual ;

for Hausaland — and Kano

city — are still so uneducated

[Cnp/. a. II. Ahadie.

t'fiolo hu]

The deCDration jf the walls of the interior of the ^Emir's Palace, although verv
lude. aie inspired by the Saracenic art of the North, and have a certain grandiose
effect in connection with the monstrous structure of c'ay outside.

453

The Wonders of the World

and unsophisticated as to attach an immense superstitious importance to the written word and
to the texts of tlie Koran. Many a cure is still sold in the market-place of Kano which
consists of some sacred text written on a piece of parchment and sewn in a little leather bag to be
worn round the neck, or even in a few sentences scrawled in charcoal on a whitened wooden board,
which are washed off in water and swallowed, or applied as an outward lotion. But even as these
lines are being written the iron rail and the puffing locomotive are awakening Kano to new life and
to new ideas, and perhaps to a prosperity in commerce that her past history has never known. Nine
hundred miles separate Kano from the port of Lagos on the Gulf of Guinea, and this nine hundred
miles have just been traversed by a railway which brings Kano into direct touch with the sea, and
will make it possible to transport the trade goods of Europe to the very heart of the Sudan
at a rate half-again as cheap and infinitely more safe and certain than the traffic with camels

across the Sahara Desert.
What will Northern
Nigeria possess on her part
to cause such a railway
ultimately to pay its way ?
Tin, perhaps copper, a
little silver, hides, beauti-
fully-tanned goats' skins
and sheep-skins, cotton,
ground nuts, and possibly
rubber. Above all, there
will be the energy and in-
dustry of that remarkable
Hausa people, which for
a thousand years and
more has created a trade
in the Central Sudan and
established a degree of
civilization at one time
the wonder of Arab
writers, and the origin of
that legendary wealth of
these lands lying to the
south of the Sahara Desert
which first allured explorers
like Mungo Park, Frederick Hornemann, Alexander I^aing, and other pioneers in the service
of the African Association to risk their hves in order to open up a legitimate commerce between
Europe and the Sudan : a trade which might do away with the traffic in slaves. The com-
pletion of the railway from Lagos to Kano is the logical outcome of their efforts.

Timgaj, Eastern Algeria.. — The extraordinary Roman ruins of Timgad — the Thamugadi
or Thamugas of the time of its foundation in the year loo a.d., in the reign of Trajan — have already
been referred to in this record of the world's wonders. A town was founded by a Roman legate,
Lucius Munatius Gallus, at the date mentioned, but it became an uninhabited city during the
seventh century, and seems to have been quitted by its more-or-less Roman inhabitants not at
first from any attacks of Berbers or Arabs, but because of earthquakes which shook down some
buildings. About this time — the beginning of the seventh century — the Berbers had made
themselves independent of the weak Byzantine rule, and no doubt took every occasion of plundering
the city that was offered by the temporary breaches in its walls, or panic caused by the earthquake

J'hulo bti] [i\tiirdrt:in f'rtrti.

THE ARCH OF TRAJAN, TIMGAD
The arch is situated to the north-east of the market of Timgad and stretches across
the Decumanus Maximus. Built of sandstone in the Coiinthian style, it is adprned
with fluted columns of white limestone and smaller columns of coloured marble.

50
o

i
o
>

■2
3

a.
t

146o

The Wonders of the World

Pholo byl

n F/'eres.

TRIUMPHAL ARCH, TIMGAD.
This arch is situated at the eastern end dF the Decumanus Maxitnus.

shocks. These same earthquake shocks may also have upset the water supply of the city (as they
did elsewhere in North Africa), although the town received its water from a beautiful spring not
more than two miles away. It was conveyed to Timgad by stone conduits, and an elaborate system
of elevation raised the water to cisterns on the top of a tower, now in ruins. From this point the
water was carried about the streets of the city in aqueducts, and probably the earthquake shocks
having laid the water tower in ruins, it was this that interfered with the city's water supply and
made it uninhabitable.

The ruins of Timgad extend over an area of one hundred and twenty acres. A great paved
street, of which an illustration is here given, separates the town into two unequal parts. At the end
of this street may be seen the Arch of Triumph, which is built of a beautiful bluish limestone coming
from the neighbouring mountains. Amongst other buildings more or less intact is the Forum,
containing a sort of town hall and commercial Exchange ; the courts of justice, the tribune of public
orators, and the Temple of Victory ; and there are also statues erected in honour of emperors and
important local personages of Timgad. There are the remains of a theatre, which could accommodate
nearly four thousand spectators, the thermae, or hot baths, and a colossal temple dedicated to
Jupiter Capitolinus, besides many examples of houses, a few of which still retain their tiled roofs.
Gradually this remarkable town is being revealed to our sight by the patient and skilful labours
of French archaeologists under the direction of Monsieur Albert Ballu. In many ways it is as
remarkable as Pompeii, so far as it gives a detailed picture of civilized Roman life during the^empire.

Africa

461

Timgad, of course, was for about three hundred years a Christian city, and it contains the remains
of at least one church in the Byzantine style of architecture.

The Active Volcanoes in Equatorial Africa. — Some fifty-one years ago, when the great
explorer Speke was travelling in search of the sources of the Nile and making a considerable detour
to the west of the Victoria Nyanza, he sighted on the western horizon the cone of a volcano from
which the smoke was issuing. This was the volcanic peak now identified as Muhavuru. Speke
put a rough drawing of it into his book, but very little attention was paid to his statements about
its being an active volcano, though these were based on stories collected from the natives, who
called the district Umufumbiro (usually shortened to Mfumbiro, which means a kitchen or cook-
house). The explorer Stanley, in 1876, passing (without knowing it) round the south end of Mount
Ruwenzori in his discovery of the eastern gulf of Lake Edward, also caught a glimpse of this volcano.
But it was not until Count von Gotzen, a great German explorer and administrator, travelled through
this region in 1894 that the Mfumbiro, or Virunga,* volcanoes were really revealed to the scientific
world and placed definitely on the map. They have subsequently been explored by several British
and German travellers, but it was not until 1907-8 that this remarkable district was completely
and authoritatively examined by the scientific expedition of the Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg.
These volcanic mountains are probably of recent origin and the result of a remarkable local change
in the earth's surface which threw up the land so as to block the Rift Valley that once connected
Lake Tanganyika with the Albertine Nile ; a condition of affairs which Livingstone felt instinctively
must have existed at some time or another. At the present day, however, the little Lake Kivu,
situated in this upraised Rift Valley, sends its waters to Tanganyika, and Tanganyika drains away
intermittently — and almost reluctantly, one might think — to the barbarous Congo. The chain

* Virunga is the plural of Kirunga, a local name for a smoking mountain.

Photo l/y\

{yetirdrein Freres.

THE RUINS OF THE THEATRE. TIMGAD,

Besides; the theatre, there are'.here shown part of the Forum and the Basilica, as well as the semi-circular auditorium of the

theatre. Notice the excellent preservation of the auditorium, which could seat nearly 4.000 persons.

462

The Wonders of the World

of volcanic mountains here illustrated consists of two groups surrounded by a vast field of lava,
lava that is still hot in some places. The western group hes directly north of Lake, Kivu, and
includes two active volcanoes, Kirunga-clia-Gongo (eleven thousand one hundred and ninety-four
feet) and Kirunga-Namlagira (nine thousand seven hundred and eleven feet), ten miles farther
north. (In the illustration here given of Namlagira a column of smoke is seen rising from the
summit.)

The surroundings of these eight (sometimes reckoned as seven) smoking volcanoes are not all
black lava, old and new, or somewhat commonplace plantations of bananas and food crops. Where
the ground has not recently been overflowed with volcanic eruptions there is forest of a magnificence

Photo by'] \^Etjon. i-r. Kiracfutein,

CAVES OF CONGEALED LAVA IN THE VOLCANIC DISTRICT OF MFUMBIRO.

"Mfumbiro" is the name given to the aistrict between Lake Edward and Lake Kivu. Tremendous outpourings of lava

over the Rift Valley have cooled and formed crevices and caves which serve the natives as dwellings.

scarcely paralleled elsewhere in Africa. On the high lands above seven thousand feet in altitude
the forest consists of immense yews {Podocarpus), giant bamboos, and (among other trees) one of
the Sapotaceous order, Sideroxylon adolfi-frederici. This is interesting, because it has a near relation
in far-off Morocco, the Argan tree, on the slopes of the High Atlas. Lower down, the forest becomes
more tropical ; there are tree ferns and epiphytic orchids. But up to about nine thousand feet,
in spite of the cold, great anthropoid apes range through all the types of forest, and particularly affect
those containing the trees I have mentioned. These apes — a species or sub-species of gorilla and a
large chimpanzi — feed on the tender young shoots of the bamboo.

According to Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg (who has written an admirable account .of
this region), these apes live in " parishes," or famiUes, and there is peace among them (relatively)

I'hoto by'l

ylCyon. t'r. Kirschatein.

THE VOLCANIC MOUNTAIN OF KIRUNGA-NAMLAGIRA.

This mountain in German Equatorial Africa is 9.711 feet high, and is on; of the seven great volcanoes of the

Mfumbiro grouD

Photo hyl \^Egon. fi\ Kirschstein,

THE SMOKING CRATER OF NAMLAGIRA.
At night columns of golden and blood-red vapour and red-hot ashes rising into the air. light up th^ district

brilliantly for a considerable distance

464

The Wonders of the World

HHil

THE INTERIOR OF THE CRATER OF KIRUNGA-CHA-GONGO (OR NINA-GONGO).

This crater has been named after Count Gbtzen. the explorer. The flat surface of the Gotzen crater floDr— flat except
for the twin holes which Nature has neatly carved— is very remarkable. It is generally too hot to walk upon, and may be
seen smokine in certain places.

provided each family keeps to its own forest area or parish, but war if boundaries are crossed. Within
the family — here my own observations are quoted from the not-far-off Toro forest — there is compara-
tive peace. Yet getting-up-time and going-to-bed-time seem to be accompanied by much screaming
and yelling, as though family relations were not always quite harmonious.

These volcanoes are quoted in some works (putting aside the almost numberless small cones as
a separate computation) as seven in number. They are really eight : Namlagira and Nina-Gongo on
the west ; Mikeno, Visoke and Karisimbi in the centre ; and Sabinyo, Mgalunga and Muhavuru in
the east.

The eastern group contains higher peaks, some of which rise to acute and slender points. The
highest of all, Karisimbi, has an altitude of fourteen thousand six hundred and eighty-three feet,
and Mikeno, somewhat more to the west, is fourteen thousand three hundred and eighty-five feet.
The most easterly of the peaks, Speke's mountain of Muhavuru, is thirteen thousand five hundred
and sixty-two feet in altitude and is an isolated sugar-loaf-shaped mountain. The crater on the
top is filled with water. Six miles to the north-west of Muhavuru is Sabinyo, eleven thousand eight
hundred and eighty-one feet high, which was ascended and photographed in 1900 by Mr. J. E. S.
Moore. The higher of these mountains have snow on the uppermost parts of the crater nearly all
through the year. It is to the region immediately north of these great volcanoes — between them
and the south end of Lake Edward — that the Uganda name of " cooking-pots " (Umufumbiro)
really applies, as it is studded with hundreds of low cones and the craters of small extinct
volcanoes.

Africa

465

An interesting picture is here given of the interior of the crater of Kirunga-cha-Gongo. This
crater has been named after the recently-deceased Count von Gotzen. The view of the crater of
Kirunga-Namlagira shows the smoke arising from the boihng lava. Much of this region has been
blasted and blighted by recent outpourings of lava, vegetation being completely absent from some
stretches of the country. But in the older lava flows there are crevices which the natives utilize as
caves. These people are of a somewhat wild Bantu stock, with an underlying race of Pygmies, and
occasionally aristocratic looking chiefs that are of Northern, perhaps Egyptian or Gala, descent.
In the north, all alike speak one of the purest and most archaic of Bantu languages, the Lukonjo ;
in the southern part of the volcanic region the principal tongue is Kinyaruanda, the language of the
powerful Ruanda people. Tliis is more nearly related to the speech of the Unyoro group of north-
western Uganda.

A Flash of Lightning at Bopoto, Northern Congo. — Equatorial Africa is subjected — generally
twice a year — to the most terrible storms of lightning, thunder, wind and rain. The worst of these
tornadoes (as they were named by the Portuguese) take place in the period which precedes the rainy
season. The air is full of
electricity then, after the fierce
heat lias dried the atmosphere
and parched the ground.
These tornado storms rarely,
if ever, occur in the morning :
it is generally in the after-
noon about 4 p.m., or else
in the middle of the night.
Of the two, residents or
travellers in Equatorial Africa
would prefer to get them
over in daylight, in case there
should occur some small or
large disaster, which seems
always far more terrible when
it takes place in pitcliy dark-
ness.

The writer of these re-
marks, who has experienced
these thunderstorms on the
Upper Congo, as well as in
Uganda, Liberia and East
Africa, once remarked that they
offered one several ways of
dying. Firstly, there was the
hurricane wind, which might
blow down your house or tent
and stun or crush you in the
debris. Secondly, came the
lightning flash, which is bound

to strike something, and if it be photo iy] [«'■'•• "■i""'>"< for/eui.

not the person of the anxious A flash of lightning on the northern congo.

watcher it may be the thatch or , Y'\''^'"Z^^ "V ',"''" °V ^°'""' °" '•''!• "';"'7"-°;' „^'"k/ 'ulc' gZZ

•' by the Rev. William Forfeitt, who wa» an inlimate triend ol the late Oeorge

poles of his house-roof, which Grenfeii.

466

The Wonders of the World

then and there'go up in flames. (Many are the European buildings — cathedrals, hospitals, barracks
and schools which have been recently destroyed by lightning fires in Equatorial Africa ! ) If you
escape these preliminary dangers, there is the avalanche of rain which follows — a cubic mile of water,
it often seems. Out in this you are like to drown, for the atmosphere is as fuh of hissing water as
of air ; or the downpour may wash away your house, or penetrate the roof and swamp the interior.
The severe chill which follows may mean death by fever or pneumonia.

These horrors naturally do not occur often, or there would be no European exploitation of
Tropical Africa. But the apprehension of them always spoils the present writer's enjoyment of a
fine display of lightning such as the Reverend William Forfeitt has here photographed. Bopoto,
where this snapshot was taken a few years ago, is the Upoto of Stanley's celebrated journey down
the Congo, one of the many places where he believed he was being attacked by cannibals.
The boisterous people probably meant to have plundered the stranger from the unknown, but

Photo by']

[llohei-l Whitbread.

THE TANKS OF ADEN FILLED WITH WATER.

In the far distance may be seen the town of Aden ; but this is not the town ordinarily visited by steamer tourists.

wtio generally ge

t no farther than the modern town at Steamer Point.

would not have made much scruple about eating him and his heutenant, Frank Pocock, and
their black Swahili followers.

But for the last twenty years the Baptist Mission has had a large station at Bopoto, and the
people are many of them Christians, and even educated craftsmen. Bopoto was frequently the head-
quarters of the late George Grenfell when he was engaged on those wonderful exploring or
propagandist journeys which opened up (by accurate surveys) so much of the geography of
Congoland.

The Tanks of Aden filled <ruUh Water.— li became the custom in the near East to attribute all
marvels of construction, all great achievements in architecture not possessing an obvious parentage,
to Alexander the Great, Joseph the Hebrew patriarch (once servant to Potiphar), or to King
Solomon. These cisterns at Aden have, therefore, been attributed in their inception to Shelomoh
ben David, king of the united twelve tribes of Israel. In reahty, Solomon had nothing whatever
to do with their construction. They were probably made first about looo B.C., when Aden had

Pholo by\ INeurdrnn t'reres.

INTERIOR OF THE MOSQUE OF SIDI-BU-MEDIN. NEAR TLEMCEN.
This beautiful mosque, dating from the thirteenth century, is. with other Saracenic buildings of equal richness of decora-
tion, situated about two miles from the town of Tlemcen. in Western Algeria. Sidi-bu-M;din was a gieat saint in the
Muhammadan world and is buried in the vicinity of this mosque

468

The Wonders of the World

become a calling place for Arab and
Egyptian vessels engaged in the trade
between the Red Sea and Somaliland,
Southern Arabia and Western India.
In those days there was probably a
more abundant rainfall on the high
mountains behind Aden, and the people
of Aden must have conceived the idea
of cutting basins in the rock to receive
and store the results of heavy showers in
the hill regions above the scorched plain.
Similar works on a larger scale existed
formerly at Marib, in the Yaman.

Tlie Aden tanks are in a hill gorge,
just above the old Arab town. The
tanks are taken charge of by British
officials in order that the water may
be fairly apportioned. Round about
these reservoirs there is dense and
beautiful tropical vegetation grateful
to the eye of the traveller or the
resident weary with the scorched, lifeless
red rocks or black rocks round Aden,
and to such the trees and plants pro-
bably appear more numerous and larger
than they really are. Yet at the same
time the lifeless nature of the land-
scapes near Aden has been much ex-
aggerated. In the hill gorges not far
from Steamer Point — within an easy
walk — there is a vegetation of aloes,
euphorbias, acacias, lilies, and fleshy-
limbed shrubs, which " n'est pas i
dedatgner " to a botanist ; and within
the scope of a short excursion are the
grape vines, the figs, date-palms, and
even frankincense trees (Boswellia) which so attracted ancient commerce to this part of Arabia
Felix. Even now from the large Aden Protectorate and Sphere of Influence immense quantities
of incense are shipped to the Muhammadan States of India, who also recruit a large proportion of
their guards and soldiery among the warlike Arab tribes of the Hadhramaut.

The Mosque and Tomb of Sidi-ba-Medin, near Tlemcen.—At one time the city of Tlemcen in
Western Algeria had a population of over one hundred thousand souls, when, from the fourteenth
to the fifteenth century, it was the capital of the Abd-al-Wad Empire. These '" Abd-al-Wad "
were really Berbers of the Zeneta branch, and their kings were sometimes called the Beni-Zeyan,
after the founder of the dynasty, Yaghmorassen-bin-Zeyan, a hero of the tribe of Abd-al-Wad. This
worthy was chiefly occupied in fighting in order to establish peace and safety for his people in and
round about Tlemcen, and he fought against the Berber dynasties of Tunis, of Spain, and of Morocco ;
but his successors were able to give themselves up to a very remarkable encouragement of the arts
and industries, with the result that Tlemcen became another Granada or Tunis. The palaces, with

photo ii/] \_Settrdrein Freres.

INTERIOR OF THE KUBA OR TOMB OF THE SAINT.

SIDI-BU-MEDIN, NEAR TLEMCEN.
Through the doorway is the small chamber of the rather tawdry
tomb of the saint, adorned with ostrich eggs and gorgeous silk draperies.
To this tomb women who have no children come to pray and drink
from the sacred well therein.

Africa

469

their art treasures, the mosques and their doorways and mahrabs, became famous, not only through-
out the Muhammadan world, but through the descriptions of Leo the African, a convert to
Christianity, who published in Italy a description of Africa in the sixteenth century.

I have already described the great mosque at Tlemcen, and now wish to draw the attention of
my readers to the equally beautiful mosque of Sidi-bu-Medin. The exceedingly picturesque little
village of Bu-Medin is situated not far from the railway station at Tlemcen, and is about two miles
from the town of that name. It is reached by a road that slowly climbs the side of a verdant
mountain. Picturesque villas of Moorish design are passed on the way, surrounded with lovely
gardens of orange-trees, olives, cherries, pears, apples and plums. The village itself is properly
called Al-Abad (spelt by the French, " Eubbad "). Through it percolates the clear water of a little
brook that never dries and which nourishes most beautiful verdure all the year round. At the
time of my visit all the open spaces of ground were blue with the beautiful large flowers of a dwarf
iris. The mosque itself is really built in connection with the tomb of a great saint, Sidi-bu-Medin,
much reverenced throughout many Muhammadan countries. Apparently he flourished in the
fourteenth century, and is supposed to
have had a particular pity and regard
for childless women : so much so that
his tomb at this village of Al-Abad is
constantly resorted to by women who
desire to have children, and who make
their prayers to that effect at the
tomb of the holy man, and at the
same time drink water from the well
by the side of the tomb, which is
supposed to have a magic effect. Being
women (despised of Islam), the poor
things are not allowed to enter the
actual chamber of the catafalque, but
they utter their prayers through a
little hole in the wall. By the side of Bu-
Medin is buried one of his most fervent
disciples, Abd-as-Salam-at-Tunin. The
mosque, which rises close by the kuba, or
domed tomb, on the opposite side of the
way, is certainly one of the most beauti-
ful existing developments of Saracenic
art. It was apparently built in the four-
teenth century. A stairway of eleven
steps leads one to the great doorway.
The door is made of cedar covered with
plates of worked copper. All the other
appurtenances of the door- — hinges,
knocker, rings, etc. — are also of copper
and beautifully worked. On one side of
this doorway rises a superb minaret
covered with beautiful tiles. Passing
through the doorway one enters a kind
of cloister which leads to a court paved
with tiles and with a fine marble basin for

[Neurdvein Fi-ei'es.
MINBAR OR PULPIT OF THE MOSQUE OF
SIDI-BU-MEDIN.
The minbar is nearly always placed close to th<r mahrab or shrine
of the faith. The mullah who officiates at the mosque, or any other
saintly man who is invited to address the conKresation, does so from
the top of these steps.

470

The Wonders of the World

ablutions. The interior of the mosque is divided into eight aisles by a series of arcades, and the
walls are covered with exquisite sculptured stucco. This last is also the feature of the arch of the
mahrab. The columns of this arch are of onyx. It is rightly asserted by the French architects who
have made a particular study of buildings of Bu-Medin at Agadir, and in Tlemcen itself, that there
is scarcely anything more beautiful to be found in the best remains of Moorish art in Spain.

The Snoiu Range of RuTvenzori. —
In the very heart of Africa under the
Equator there rises up nearly seventeen
thousand feet into the air a wonderful
mountain range, now known by the
name of Ruwenzori. This block of
mountains, about thirty miles long and
fifteen miles wide, is of archaean rocks,
and its elevation is probably due to
some twist of the earth's crust, and not
to volcanic causes, though, curiously
enough, there are evidences of volcanic
activity (in the shape of extinct craters,
filled with beautiful little lakes, besides
the existence of hot springs) on its
eastern flanks, while at no great distance
to the south — within sight, indeed, of
the peaks of Ruwenzori — are the
snow-crowned volcanoes of Mfumbiro.
Ruwenzori separates the valley of the
Semliki, which is part of the Rift
Valley of Lake Albert Nyanza, from
the regions draining into the Victoria
Nyanza. Its southern flanks are
bathed by Lake Edward (formerly
called Albert Edward). Lake Dweru,
which is connected by a narrow gut
with Lake Edward, extends to the
south-eastern slopes of the Ruwenzori
range. It would almost seem at one
time as though the Victoria Nyanza
had risen till it was in sight of Ruwen-
zori and then discharged its waters
into Lake Edward and the Albertine
Rift Valley, before it pierced the hilly
barrier on the north and developed
its present outlet of the Victoria Nile-
Thus Ruwenzori is situated between the two great fountains of the Nile, the Victoria and the Albert
Nyanzas, and corresponds in position remarkably to the legendary Mountains of the Moon, which
were placed at the head waters of the Nile by classical geographers. The coincidence between
these legends and the actual facts of geography is so great that we are almost forced to con-
clude that the Greek and Roman geographers founded their descriptions of the twin lakes of
the Nile sources and the great snow-covered Mountains of the Moon from information reaching
them through Egyptian or Arab travellers who may have made their way in ancient times

Plioto by'] ISeurdrein Frires.

THE MAHRAB OR SHRINE OF THE MOSQUE OF
SIDI-BU-MEDIN. NEAR TLEMCEN.

This Holy of Holies in the mosque indicates in what direction the
Muhammadan is to turn his face to look towards Mecca, the sacred
city. It is a beautiful example of sculptured stucco, ivory-white
candlesticks flank either side.

Bii

472

The Wonders of the World

Pholo byl

\yillorio Hella.

ANOTHER VIEW OF RUWENZORl.
Ruwenzori is no Kilimanjaro or Kenya, no single f^now-mass. It is a chain of heights liUe the Caucasus The snow
peaks of this range probably extend over a distance of thirty miles from north to south."

through Galaland to Uganda, and thus have come to hear of, or even to see, these lakes and
mountains.

During the Dark Ages — which, so far as tlie development of science is concerned, may be said to
have begun about 200 a.d. — this idea of the Mountains of the Moon in Central Africa died away,
but was revived by the Arab geographers when they began to study such writers as Claudius
Ptolemseus and his maps. The Arabs adopted the title of " Mountains of the Moon " (Jahl al Kumr),
and the European geographers of the Renaissance picked up the idea from the Arabs. When, in
ihe middle of the nineteenth century, the two Wiirtemberg missionaries, Krapf and Rebmann,
discovered the snow-crowned volcanoes of Kenya and Kihmanjaro, the Mountains of the Moon
were thought to be located at last ; and geographers were exasperated to find that they had nothing
to do with the Nile flood. Curiously enough, when Speke discovered the Victoria Nyanza and
Baker reached the shores of the Albert Nyanza, neither explorer caught sight of Ruwenzori. This
is the more extraordinary in the case of Speke, because he was the first to sight the snow-crowned
volcanoes of Mfumbiro, and must have been at one time sufficiently near to Ruwenzori to get a
glimpse of its snows. Baker wrote of the Blue Mountains which lay to the south of the Albert
Nyanza, but he may only have meant the high plateau wall on the south-west coast of that lake.
Subsequently, Gessi Pasha, exploring the Albert Nyanza, heard native stories of white-crested
mountains in the sky.

But it was Stanley — the late Sir Henry Morton Stanley — who discovered Ruwenzori, in 1888,*
* He had, perhaps, really discovered it in 1876, when he camped ^at its "eastern base, guessed iis altitude at. I5,cxx) feet
(clouds hid the snows), and named it Mount (Jordon Bennett.

Africa

473

and an attempt to scale the mountain was first made (in 1889) by one of his officers, Lieutenant
Stairs. Stanley's pictures of this wonderful mountain range attracted much attention, but several
years had to elapse before his exploration work could be followed up. The botanist, Scott Elliott,
was sent out to Ruwenzori in 1893, to explore its flora, but was not able to ascend the mountain
to a sufficient height to reach the alpine zone with its peculiar plants. Before that came Dr. Franz
Stuhlmann, who gave an excellent description of the western side of Ruwenzori. Stuhlmann was
followed by J. E. S. Moore (in 1900) and by the present writer, who was accompanied by a natural
history collector, Doggett. Moore and Johnston succeeded in cHmbing Ruwenzori till they were
well amongst the snow and ice and able to take photographs of the glaciers and to collect samples
of the extraordinary alpine flora.

But the altitude of the highest summits of Ruwenzori remained undetermined. Stanley's
original guess was nearest the truth, but the appearance of the mountain is so deceptive that the
present writer and several other travellers argued that its extreme altitude could not be much
under twenty thousand feet. Finally, there arrived on the scene, in 1906, H.R.H. The Duke of the
Abbruzzi, with a splendidly equipped expedition, and each one of the six groups of snow-crowned
peaks of Ruwenzori was scaled and measured, besides being photographed. We now know that
the highest summit — Mount Margherita — is only sixteen thousand eight hundred and fifteen feet
high. A very beautiful moun-
tain in this range is Mount
Edward, with its crater lake
not far below. Tlie strange
plants growing by the edge of
this lake are a gigantic species
of groundsel (Senecio), closely
allied to the Senecio johnstoni
discovered by the present
writer at similar altitudes on
Mount Kilimanjaro.

The Temple of Deader a. -
Dendera is situated on the
west bank of the Nile in
the northern part of Upper
Egypt and close to where
the Nile in its Koptos bend
approaches nearest to the
Red Sea. Dendera, in fact,
is nearly opposite Kena or
Keneh. It is one of the
best preserved of the ancient
edifices, and, being very acces-
sible, is visited by large num-
bers of tourists. The modern
name is derived from a late
Egyptian word " Tantarer "
(the Greek " Tentura "), but
anciently it was called " Ant."
Dendera was traditionally the
scene of one of the numerous
fights between the followers

From Slermijraph copyright hy'i iUndermod i: Underiiood.

PORTICO OF THE TEMPLE OF HATHOR. DENDERA.
The first temple at Dendera — anciently called Ant was probably built in pre-
historic times by the kings of Upper Egypt; but even parts of the present building
are extremely old, dating back about 2.500 years.

474

The Wonders of the World

I'holo hy'] ytonflh.

BAS-RELIEFS ON THE BACK OF THE TEMPLE AT DENDERA.

Dating from the Ptolemaic period, these wonderful reliefs show the worship of Halhor by the famous Cleopatra and her

son, Caesarion, whose father was the "dull, cold-blooded Caesar."

of the god Hor and the god Set, and when the dynastic Egyptians were well established
in this part of the Nile Valley they dedicated their temple at Dendera to Hathor, the celebrated
cow-goddess, " the cow which issues from the western hills," At Dendera she is celebrated as the
beneficent goddess of maternal and family love, of light and of joy, her form being that of a woman
on whose head rises the disc of the sun, fixed between a pair of cow's horns. But in earlier
representations she is given the head of a cow, and, later on, a woman's head with a cow's ears.

A new temple, or a modification of the old one, was built at Dendera by Khufu, the Pharaoh
of the Fourth Dynasty, who erected a great pyramid at Giza, A plan of the building drawn upon
ox-hide is said to have been found by King Pepi of the Sixth Dynasty, who rebuilt the temple, which
had fallen into ruins. The temple was again restored under the Eighteenth Dynasty by Tehutimes
III., and in its present form is mainly the work of the Tenth Ptolemy (Soter II.), It also contains
records of the great Cleopatra and of her son Caesarion, the last of the Ptolemaic Pharaohs and reputed
to be the son of Caesar. Additions were still made to the temple under the Roman Emperors until
the verge of the Christian period. Under the Romans, Hathor was changed into Venus or
Aphrodite.

In the centre of the wonderful bas-reliefs on the outside of the temple is the remains of a large
head of Hathor crowned with the sun rising between the cow's horns. To the right of this deeply
indented face is a damaged portrait of the famous Cleopatra, and beyond her, Caesarion, whose
father was Julius Caesar. They are shown worshipping a number of Egyptian gods and goddesses.
On the left-hand side of the central head of Hathor, Cleopatra appears again, and next to her the

'.m

t-luiw t/yj IDiltfich.

BAS-RELIEFS ON THE TEMPLE AT DENDERA.

Showing; a Ptolemaic Pharaoh being crowned by the goddesses NeUheb and Wazet, patronesses resjectively of Upper

and Lower Egypt, with the double crown of these dominions.

476

The Wonders'] of the World

hawk-headed god Horos Behudet, or Hor-sem-Teu (of Edfu). The columns of the great Hypostyle
Hall of this temple are noteworthy objects. They are eighteen in number, and are shaped in the
form of the totem of Hathor, which was a pole surmounted by a cow's head.

TTie Temple of Edfu in Upper Egypt. — Edfu is situated on the west bank of the Nile not quite
midway between Thebes- Karnak on the north and Assouan far to the south. It is supposed to have
been the site of a great battle in remote prehistoric times between the followers of the god Horos
and those of the wicked god Set. The followers of Set seem to have been a race that occupied the
Valley of the Nile anterior to the dynastic Egyptians : they may have been negroids or
early Libyan settlers. But, hke so many tribes of Central and South Africa at the present
day, they had a particular reverence for the crocodile,* which in a way had become their
totem or the sacred symbol of their tribe, and gradually grew into a god that was
identified with darkness and monstrous wickedness. Set is identified with the tribe, or the
deity governing the tribe, which killed the great man-god Osiris, probably the deification
of some wonderful white man who entered the land of Egypt with new arts and industries

and who perished under some
reactionary attack of an abori-
ginal race. The followers of
Horos were hawk-worshippers,
that is to say, they adopted as
their totem or emblem some
bold-eyed species of hawk
which could look fearlessly
at the sun, for Horos-worship
soon became a part of sun-
worship and was identified
with the " Sun on the Hori-
zon." The followers of Set
were certainly the predeces-
sors of those who worshipped
Har, or Horos, and may have
been living in a condition of
Palaeolithic culture, using very
primitive stone implements.
As actual events grew into
legends and myths, the Egyp-
tians supposed that Horos
was the brother of Set, though
forced by circumstances to be
his enemy and opponent, and
at Edfu tlie followers of the
hawk and the crocodile gave
battle in some remote time,

• This cult extends far over
negro Africa and reappears on the
sculptured monoliths of Rhodesia
(Zimbabue). The common symbol
of Set was a monstrous animal
like an ass seated on its haunches
with its tail erect. Nevertheless,
the creature regarded as most typical
of Set was the crocodile.

Pholo by']

llHtlrich.

THE GIANT COLUMNS AT DENDERA.

These mighty columns are shaped in the farm of the tDtem of ths goddess Hathor,
{ e,, a cow's horns or head fixed on a pole. These columns aie painted in brilliant
colours.

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478

The Wonders of the World

perhaps coincident with the rise of the first dynasty ruUng over United Egypt, some seven
thousand years ago. Under the Third Dynasty a temple was erected at Edfu in imitation of
the architecture of Memphis and dedicated to the hawk, Har or Horos. In the course of time,
especially after the expulsion of the Hyksos and the prosperous days of the Eighteenth and
Nineteenth Dynasties, the goddess Hathor was brought on solemn visits from Dendera to Edfu
and became associated with Horos as his consort. Then, it was theorized, a son must be the
result of this union, and so at length in the times of the Ptolemies another of the many

Photo by'\ [Fhotochrom Co. Ltd.

THE ENTRANCE TO THE GREAT HYPOSTYLE HALL OF THE TEMPLE OF EDFU, UPPER EGYPT.
The roof of this hall, allowing for an opening for light in the centrs, is intact, and is supported by eighteen columns
of variously formed capitals. Until recently this temple was entir.;ly buried in rubbish, which accounts for its good state
of preservation.

trinities of Egypt was founded at Edfu, including Horos, Hathor, and their son Hor-sem-Teu, or
Hor-sma-Tawi, = " Horos, Uniter of the Two Lands."

Thousands of years ago, at the commencement of the dynastic period, when Upper and Lower
Egypt were united under one king of the dynastic race, Edfu was already a wealthy place and with
a well-developed civilization. It not only possessed the germ of a municipality, but a civic official
corresponding to a mayor, and a judge who is styled " Recorder " in the English translatiqns of the
local inscriptions. Already at this remote time in the history of Egypt — some seven thousand
years ago- — gold was much prized, and Edfu for some reason became a " gold city," receiving and
storing gold from Nubia. Consequently its tribute or tax to the reigning Pharaoh was computed
in so much weight of gold, as well as in oxen.

Africa

479

But about its temples hung an evil renown of human sacrifice which lasted right down into
Roman times. For something hke five thousand years victims representing the defeated god Set
were sacrificed on the altar of the victorious Hawk-god Horos.

The Premier Diamond Mine of the Transvaaf. — Reference has already been made to the dis-
covery of diamonds in South Africa and to the stupendous works for their extraction erected
at Kimberley (the De Beers
Mines). But pipes of blue
ground were gradually dis-
covered in other parts of
South Africa, in the Orange
River Colony and in the
middle of the Transvaal. The
Premier Mine is as much as
three hundred miles to the
east of the Kimberley dia-
mond mines. It was dis-
covered in 1902 and occupies
an area of about seventy-five
acres. It is considered to be
the largest of all the pipes
of blue ground liitherto dis-
covered, though only a few
of its pipes have been found
to be rich in diamonds, many
being quite barren or with
rock so hard that it is too
expensive to work. Never-
theless, the Premier Mine pro-
duced the record diamond
of the world, which is now
inserted into the Imperial
Crown of Great Britain and
Ireland. This " CuUinan
Diamond," when first dis-
covered, weighed three thou-
sand and twenty-five carats
(equivalent to one pound five
and a third ounces). In 1908
it was cut up into nine large
stones and a number of small
brilliants, all flawless and of
the finest quality.

The blue ground of which such frequent mention is made in connection with South African
diamonds, is generally supposed to be a volcano breccia " much serpentinized." In appearance it
is a hard, bluish-green, serpentine rock, which is found at a certain distance below the surface.
Above the blue ground is a layer of yellowish clay about fifty feet thick, and above that again a
calcareous deposit, and on the surface red clay. The yellow clay is thought merely to be decomposed
blue ground.

The mines are really huge, vertical funnels or craters of this bluish-green rock descending to an

Photo by pettnission of the *' African World "] \hy Leo Weinthal.

A VIEW IN THE PREMIER DIAMOND MINE OF THE TRANSVAAL.

This mine is situated near the Orange River in the Southern Transvaal, about
300 miles E.N.E. of Kimberley. It has only been worked since 1902, but in the
early days of its operations it produced the biggest diamond ever recorded in the
world's history — the Cullinan, which is now set in the ciown of King George V.

48o

The Wonders of the World

unknown depth, and are believed to be eruptive rock forced up through the strata by volcanic
action ; and it may be that this action, accompanied by tremendous heat, has fused morsels of
carbon imprisoned in the blue ground and turned them into diamonds.

Wine-cellars of Ramses II., near the Ramesseum, Thebes. — These vaulted buildings of brick
have only recently been excavated with any completeness by Professor Flinders Petrie. At one
time, when little was known about them, they were believed to be granaries, and in the unenlightened
days of Egyptian exploration whoever said " granary " at once suggested memories of that
legendary person Joseph, who in all probability never entered Upper Egypt in his life, but, if he had
an actual existence, was the steward of a Hyksos chief in the Deltaic region of the Lower Nile.
These brick buildings date from the reign of Ramses II. A portion of them certainly was used for

Photo bii'i t William Cutlack, F.R.il.S.

THE WINE CELLARS OF RAMSES 11. AT THE RAMESSEUM, THEBES.
These strange brick buildings were described at one time as Joseph's Granary. Though now usually called the wine-
cellars of Ramses, they were probably used as schools for the temple-priests as well as for storage purposes.

the storage of provisions and wine. Professor Petrie found in these vaults many of the wine jars
entire with their corks undrawn, still sealed with the king's seal, and the name and date of the
vintage rudely inscribed on the outside, but they were absolutely empty of wine. Whether the
fluid had gradually evaporated in the course of the three thousand three hundred years, or whether
it had been cunningly withdrawn and the seal replaced — or more probably the offerings had been
frauds to begin with, and empty jars had been solemnly sealed and stored — is a matter of guess-work.
But these vaulted buildings must have subserved more important purposes than mere cellarage.
They formed places of residence for the priests and slaves attached to the temple — the Ramesseum
■ — and there was probably a school here or a seminary for the priests. The earth and rubbish which
have been withdrawn from these ruins since 1895 have been gradually formed into an embankment
passing round the whole area.

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NORTH AMERICA.

CHAPTER XVI.
By GEOROE WHARTON JAMES.

The Grand Canyon of Arizona.- — Of all the wonders of North America it will scarcely be
questioned that the most wonderful of them all is The Grand Canyon of the Colorado (Red) River,
located in Arizona, one of the Western States. It will be noticed that it is called " the " Grand
Canyon. The name has been appropriated to other and lesser gorges, but it should be distinctly
understood that there is but
one Grand Canyon, and that
is the Grand Canyon of the
Colorado River in Arizona.
To most readers the first idea
of a canyon that will arise
in their minds is of two
steep walls, not far apart, be-
tween which sinks a profound
abyss. This is the popular
conception of a canyon. But
it does not serve to describe
the Grand Canyon of Ari-
zona. This is in reality a
series of canyons, each one
wider than the one just below
it, growing wider and wider
until at the summit, in its
narrowest part, it is twelve
miles wide.

Imagine the two banks of
a river — the Thames, for in-
stance, at the Embankment —
being twelve miles apart, and
the top of the Embankment
from six to eight thousand feet
above the level of the river.
This is the Grand Canyon. The
Colorado River flows through
a great V-shaped trough in
a crystalline mica schistose
rock, commonly and locally
called granite. The river is
about two hundred to three
hundred feet wide ; the granite

Photo ly permission of] [L. Meinei-nhagen.

GRAND CANYON OF THE COLORADO RIVER.
Flowing at the base of these gigantic cliffs, the Colorado River traces the
course of a mighty primeval river which chiselled out a road through the lime-
stone mountains with the force of a Titan.

482

The Wonders of the World

from fifty to one thousand feet in height. Interposed upon the granite is a series of stratified rocks
— the earUest so far discovered — known as the Algonkian. These originally were ten to twelve
thousand feet thick. They are now only about five hundred, and are tilted to such an angle as to
show great unconformity to the strata above. These latter strata follow in regular sequence, varying
in thickness from a score of feet to a thousand, each stratum, however, irregularly receding from
the centre of the canyon, and thus making it wider at each uplift. In several instances the recession

of the cliffs is so great as to have
left a wide plateau, and these
plateaux add an effective charm
to the stupendous scenery, and
afford visitors considerable oppor-
tunity for sight-seeing that other-
wise would be lost. The upper-
most stratum now found at the
Canyon is the cherty limestone of
the Upper Carboniferous period.

Stand upon the "rim" with
me and let me attempt to describe
what can be seen. Here one never
speaks of the " edge " of the
canyon. We are on the south
" rim." Just behind us is the
magnificent hotel. El Tovar, built
at the expense of a quarter of a
million dollars. Before us, sinking
at our very feet, is the vast abyss.
No river is in sight. It is com-
pletely lost in the rocky depths.
We are partially hidden in the
curve of an amphitheatre, the two
arms a mile or two apart, and
each jutting out for half a mile or
more into the canyon, and forming
two striking scenic points. The
one to the west is called Maricopa
Point, and the one to the east. El
Tovar Point. Let the eye follow
down the layers of rock of either
of thesd points. On the top the
creams-brown strata of the lime-
stone are about six hundred feet
thick ; just below are another six
hundred feet of a beautiful brpwnish sugar}^ sandstone. Then there comes a sloping talus, upon
which ragged junipers grow, leading the eye down to a rich chocolate sandstone some three or
four hundred feet thick. Below this is more talus, and then a stupendous wall nearly a thousand
feet high, locally called the red-wall hmestone. In reality it is a beautiful cream colour, but the
red oxides from the strata above, washed down by the rains of many centuries, have stained
the limestone so that it is likewise red.

At about the foot of this steep wall a plateau extends, two or more miles towards the heart of

Photo '.!/]

HANCE'S TRAIL. CANYON OF THE

IT/te riiolochrom Co. Ltd.
COLORADO.

A topical scene of the Canyon. When the sun lights up {hesfc turrets
peaks, the eye can scarcely bear the tiaze of gorgeoUBy ^lendaur.

^'^^^m

View of the Canyon from Hance's Cove.

Ayer's PeaU, towering 3,500 feet above the Plateau.

From Stereo copyrights hy]
Faults in the Serpentine caused by volcanic disturbances
of the stiatd.

THE GRAND CANYON. COLORADO

[77. C. White Co.

Cliff at Bissell's Point, looking down on the most wonder-
ful watercourse in the world.

484

The Wonders of the World

the canyon, and then seems to drop into the deepest recesses, known as the " Inner Gorge," through
which the river sullenly roars on its way from the mountains to the sea.

But while I have thus calmly described the rocks the eye has seen far more than my words have
conveyed. The sun has lit up the vari-coloured rocks until they have blazed in a gorgeous splendour
unknown to the ordinary mind, and associated only with dreams of the Arabian Nights. To the
opposite wall in a straight line it is ten miles, and the space below us, though an abyss, is thronged
with a vast multitude of objects so vast in size, so bold and majestic in form, so infinite in details
and so striking in colour that, as the truth of them enters the mind, it is aroused to the keenest
emotion. The chief over-ruling feature is the colossal wall on the opposite side, and yet the word
" colossal " must be stretched to make it convey a sense of four thousand, five thousand, or even
more thousand feet in height. How insignificant the Colossi of the ancients beside this marvellous
work of the ages ! Ordinary words mean nothing in its presence. One needs a new coinage.

How came this stupendous canyon into existence ? The commonly accepted theory is that the ten
to twelve thousand feet of Algonkian strata were deposited soon after life appeared upon the Earth,
and then an epoch of degradation occurred when these strata were cut down to their present
thickness of five hundred feet. Then in some great cataclysmic disturbance, the strata were twisted,
tilted and curved out of all semblance to their original form. Sheets of lava overflowed some
portions and then the whole mass slowly sank into the deep bed of the primeval sea. As the sinking
continued during long ages of pre-historic time the later strata were deposited until not only the
vast sheets of the Upper Carboniferous we now find on the rim were there, but several thousand
feet of later strata of the Permian, Jura-Trias and Eocene periods were superposed.

Photo by']

GRAND CANYON. COLORADO.

There is no view in the v\rorld so be'wildering as that of the Grand Canyon
buttes arise everywhere in masnihcent confusion:
mountain.

IThe Photochrom Co. Ltd,

Pinnacles and towers and gigantic
each one dwarfing his neighbour Into insignificance, yet each one a

North America

485

Now there began a reversal of the
process. Uphft commenced, and it
was at this time the Colorado River
was born. Its waters condensing
upon the first peaks that emerged
from the vast sea, it made its own
irregular channel. As the uplift con-
tinued, the channel it had made
persisted and cut deeper and deeper.
Earthquakes, titanic struggles of the
elements, shatterings of lightnings
and thunderbolts all did their
deadliest work, but the river re-
mained — its course slightly changed
now and again by some unexpected
split in the slowly-ascending mountain
masses. Millions of tons of shattered
rock, sand, silt and other debris were
swept into the river's channel by the
tremendous storms that at times
flooded the face of the country, and
this only served, by its rasping power,
to help the river cut its pathway
down deeper. The Eocene strata
were carried away, and so were those
of the Trias, Jurassic and Permian
periods, save for fragments found
north and south of the canyon, miles
away. Sometimes the uphft ceased
for a longer or shorter period, and it
was at such times as this that the
river attacked the bases of the chffs
in the gorge it had already carved,
and thus widened out the canyon
and constructed the plateaux we now
find. At last the work was con-
cluded, and when man came upon the earth he found this canyon ready for his exploration —
at once his despair, his delight, his allurement and his wonder.

As far as is known the first white man to gaze upon the Grand Canyon was Cardenas, one of
the lieutenants of Francisco de Coronado, that favoured son of fortune who came from Spain,
expecting to emulate Cortes and Pizarro in the gaining of fame and untold wealth in the new land.
But in the New World his fortune changed, and he gained nothing but knowledge (which he did
not value) and disgrace, which sent him to his grave a broken-hearted man. It was in 1540 that
he started from New Spain, with as gallant and gay a band of Conquistadores as the land had ever
seen, to go in search and conquest of the far-famed " Seven Cities of Cibola " that Marcos de Niza
had reconnoitred, and where wealth and fortune were supposed to abide. He ultimately reached
the seven cities of Zuni, and discovered the peerless cliff-city of Acoma, and sent his lieutenants,
Cardenas to the discovery of the great river and canyon to the north (the Grand Canyon of the
Colorado River), and Tovar to the discovery of the villages of the Hopituh Shinumo (the People of

From Stereograph copyHght &y] [//. C. VHiite Co

POMPEY'S PILLAR. THE GRAND CANYON.
Pompey's Pillar stands out on a snnall spur of rock on the "South
Rim." It is evidence of the great forces that have gone to the making
of the mighty gorge, and remains a weather-beaten giant who has out-
lived the passing of aeons.

486

The Wonders of the World

Peace), whose wonderful cliff-homes and religious ceremony, the Snake Dance, I shall presently
describe.

Cardenas and his men reached the " rim " of the canyon, " which seemed to be more than three
or four leagues above the stream," and he pathetically describes the attempts of some of his men to
reach the river. They climbed down the cliffs with incredible daring and spent three or four days,
only to find themselves apparently as far from the river as before.

Little or nothing was really known of the canyon, however, until 1869, when Major J. W. Powell,
who was just about to be appointed to the high position of Director of the United States Geological
Survey (which he completely organized), determined to run its complete course from Green River,
Wyoming, to its mouth at the Gulf of Cahfornia. It should first be explained that the Grand

Canyon is but a small portion of the
whole canyon system of the great Colorado
River and its tributaries. The name
" Grand," however, is given only to that
most stupendous part of the system found
in Arizona, where the gorge is deepest,
widest and most sublime. This portion is
but two hundred and seventeen miles long,
and begins at the end of Marble Canyon (at
the junction of the Little Colorado River),
and terminates in the desert at the Grand
Wash.

With specially constructed boats Powell
and his brave band of explorers, on the
i6th of May, 1869, left Green River
City. For three months they braved
the unknown dangers of rapids, cata-
racts, whirlpools, eddies and jagged and
cruel rocks. For days and nights at a
time they were wet through and shivering
with cold. Occasionally their progress
was so slow that they made only a mile
or two a day- — having to carry all their
supphes over the rocks, make a portage,
— and again they went with such fearful
rapidity that eight or ten miles would
be made in an hour. Several times their
boats were overturned and their lives jeopardized by the dashing waves, andj three times their
boats were smashed, finally one of them being so dashed upon the rocks as to float away
in splinters and matchwood. Their provisions almost gave out, and the few they had were mouldy
and rotten with constant soaking, which no care or forethought seemed to be able to prevent.
Three of the party determined to go no further (when they had almost accomplished the dangerous
part of the journey), and they were permitted to climb out and seek to return to civiHzation.
Poor fellows ! they were the only ones to lose their lives, for they came to the camp of some Indians
in Southern Utah whose squaws had been badly treated by some evil miners, and they were taken
for the " white brutes " and slain.

Later, Major Powell made another expedition and the records of his trips read more thrillingly
than the wildest romance.

Now, the Santa Fe trans-continental railway from Chicago, Illinois, to Los Angeles and San

stereograph copyright by]

THOR'S HAMMER. THE

Pompey's Pillar and this rock, which has been given its name

on account of its liUeness to the weapon of the Thunderer, are

two of the most striking examples of erosion

Canyon affords.

[//. V. While Co.
GRAND CANYON.

that the Grand

^'"-"^ ^y] [[/nderwood <t- Underwood.

THE GRAND CANYON. COLORADO.

Terrace upon terrace, curved out of the brilliantly-coloured strata of the Canyon, tower one above the other to so great
a height that the river is lost in the precipitous depths of the lowest gorge.

488

The Wonders of the World

I^hoto by} ITfie Fhotochrom Co. Ltd.

A VIEW OF NEW YORK FROM JERSEY.

A remarUable view of the city of sky-scrapers. It is the immense value of land in New York City that has called the

sky-scraper into being, and great is the economy of space effected by these gigantic structures.

Francisco, California, passes within sixty-three miles of the south rim. At Williams, Arizona, a
branch line starts and conveys passengers to El Tovar Hotel, which is situated on the very brink.
Thousands of visitors, therefore, are now annually enjoying the sight of this incomparable " Waterway
of the Gods," which is one of the greatest things the eye of man has ever gazed upon.

The Sky-Scrapers of NeTV York City, — Over thirty years ago, when a Cunard steamer first bore
me into the harbour of New York, the tallest building that arrested my attention was one upon
which the great advertising soap-maker, B. T. Babbitt, had placed his name, and within the walls of
which his famous soap was being made. To-day that building is so dwarfed that one can scarce
find it in the perfect forest of elevated buildings which tower heavenward, as if the modern man
were certain that he could accomplish that in which the builders of the Tower of Babel failed.

To many people, who are not famiUar with the existing conditions, sky-scrapers are an archi-
tectural blot, a disgrace, a confessed retrogression. To thus argue is to reveal oneself ignorant of
the fundamental principle upon which all architecture is based, viz., that of meeting the actual
necessities of mankind. Utility is the first essential of beauty, and the latter without the former
is false, is pseudo-beauty, which cannot stand the test of critical examination and analysis.

The sky-scrapers of New York directly meet this fundamental necessity. They demand
recognition as beautiful structures because they first of all meet, with marvellous adequacy, the
pressing needs of mankind. Whatever we may say of the wisdom or error of men herding in cities
to transact the business of the world, none can question that it is the only way, as far as we are now
able to see, that it can be done. As the populations of cities increase the superficial areas of the
cities correspondingly increase, until distances become destructive to the speedy transaction of those
elements of business that require personal attention. Hence some method was necessary by means
of which vast business interests might be attended to in exceedingly circumscribed areas. The
development to its present perfection of the elevator (American for lift), and the sky-scraper have
made this possible.

One of the earliest of the sky-scrapers was the Owings building in Chicago. Here was thoroughly
tested the steel-frame structure. For in this steel frame was the solution of the whole problem.
These buildings are, in the main, nothing but shells of brick, stone, marble, porcelain or terra-cotta

North America

489

facing, placed over a skeleton frame of structural steel-work, of exactly the same kind of construction
that we see in the great steel railway and traffic bridges across ravines and rivers.

New York was not long in noting this new architectural departure, and one by one, with startling
rapidity, sky-scrapers began to spring into existence, until now, the traveller crossing the Hudson
River from Jersey City and approaching New York for the first time, is amazed at the white forest
of peerless structures that indicates the business portion of America's commercial metropolis. Before
October i, 1909, there were fifty-one of these towering buildings actually erected and occupied, the
lowest ' number of stories being Wanamaker's Store, on Broadway, at Eighth and Ninth Streets,
fourteen stories, though its height, two hundred and seventeen feet six inches, is higher than the
Ansonia Hotel, on Broadway, at
Seventy-Third and Seventy-Fourth
Streets, with its sixteen stories and
one hundred and eighty feet.

From October i, 1909, to De-
cember I, 1910, plans were filed
with the City Building Commission
for sixteen more of these majestic
structures, ranging from fourteen
stories to forty-two, and from one
hundred and sixty-five feet high to
six hundred and twenty-five feet.
These buildings are all under con-
struction, and many of them ere
this time (April, 191 1) are being
actually occupied, such are the
rapid modern methods.

The Flaiiron Building. — One of
the most unique of all the New-
York sky-scrapers is the so-called
Flatiron Building, which stands
at the south-west corner of Madi-
son Square Garden, at the inter-
section of Fifth Avenue, Broadway,
and Twenty-Third Street. Fifth
Avenue and Broadway are not
parallel streets, though they run
north and south, and, crossing each
other at this point, they make a
narrow X. The northern half of
this X, which, of course, is a V, is
unoccupied, and is converted into
an open space, thus connecting and
widening both Broadway and Fifth
Avenue for the short distance it
covers. But the southern half of the
X, the inverted V, belonged to an
owner who determined to erect there-
upon a tall office building, which
should be its own best advertisement

from tilereoj/raph mpniight by'i [UnderuKiod <t l/nderwood.

"THE FLATIRON" BUILDING. NEW YORK.

This structure is exceedingly popular in New York, both as a remarkable
building and as a convenient centre for offices. Originally named after tKe
owner, it was popularity that dubbed

' The Flatiron

490

The Wonders of the World

by its peculiar shape. This is the real origin of the Flatiron Building. Grotesque though it is,
it is one of the most successful and sought-for office buildings of this section of the City. The " nose "
of the structure is but a few feet wide, and even at Twentieth Street, where it occupies all there is
of its complete block, it is only wide enough to allow of eight windows of ordinary size. It is twenty

stories in height and from pavement to cornice
is two hundred and eighty-six feet high. Its
grotesqueness and its isolation seem to emphasize
its towering height, for it looks down in insolent
superiority upon fine buildings, which, when first
erected and long after, were deemed arcliitectural
triumphs.

When its owner, Fuller, first named it, he called
it after his own name, but the pubhc would have
none of his name — the building was the " Flatiron,''
so wisely yielding to the popular clamour, the Flatiron
is now its official designation.

The Singer Manufacturing Company's Building. —
When this stupendous structure was first projected,
its architect was denounced as visionary, and there
was a general call upon the City Council to limit the
height of such buildings and refuse the Singer
Company and its contractors a permit. But after
full discussion the architect showed the practicability
of his ideas, and he was allowed to go ahead and
demonstrate them. The main building is a striking
structure, even though it stood alone, but rising above
it, like a new style of delicate and artistic minaret, is
the tower, twenty-five more stories in height, and
giving the whole building a total of forty-one stories and
six hundred and twelve feet one inch in elevation above
the side-walk. In the tower alone there are over one
thousand different offices, and there are as many more
in the main building. It is hard to contemplate what
a vast hive of industry a building must be that contains
two thousand offices, each one the radiating centre of
business that perhaps encircles the globe, or reaches to
the heart of the darkest corner of darkest Africa.

The view from the summit of the tower is as
near to that of a balloon or an aeroplane as most
ordinary mortals so far have attained. The
wliole of Greater New York, with its boroughs of
Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queen's, the Bronx and
Richmond, is spread out hke a map at one's feet.
The cars and elevated trains seem like the toys of children, and the men and women walking about
like the microscopic creatures of an anthill. The river, with its spider-web-Hke bridges — the great
Brooklyn Bridge, the newer and later bridges of Manhattan, Williamsburg and Queensboro^ — and
its arms, encircling the humming hives of industry, lead the eye away to the far-away ocean, or the
near-by Jersey Heights and the Palisades. Beyond stretch the Jersey marshes and the cities of
Newark, Paterson, the Oranges, etc.

Photo hy^ li/ittifritood (t Underwood.

THE SINGER MANUFACTURING CO.'S
BUILDING.

This gigantic building was denounced first of
all by the City authorities as " visionary, *' but the
architect was able to demonstrate its practicability,
and it has become one of the boasts of New York.

Photo hy] [/ii/ron.

THE METROPOLITAN LIFE BUILDING AT NIGHT.

This is the most magnificent buildin? of New York and is the highest in the world. The tower, of white marble
■with a silded dome, reaches a height of 700 feet 3 inches. The terminal consists of an eight-sided lantern, from which
a- powerful flashlight gleams throughout the night.

,0^^^^^

«sfi2S|^^.-,,- '

photo ly'\ [11'- /'■ "I"-

THE METROPOLITAN LIFE BUILDING. NEW YORK.
The immense size of the buildine and the stupendous tower, encased as it is in white marble, make this sky-scraper
a conspicuous feature of New York. It is only through the employment of a steel framework that the erection of such
a structure is made possible

North America

493

In a windstorm the sway of the tower is distinctly to be felt and seen, though I am not sure
whether any measurements have been taken to determine the actual sway during certain wind
velocities. All this, however, has been perfectly provided for in the steel skeleton of the structure,
and in the joints of the sheathing, and as yet everything has worked out as successfully as the
architect planned and prophesied.

Metropolitan Life Building, — But by far the king of all the tremendous and colossarstructures
of New York is the Metropolitan
Life Building, situated not far
from the Flatiron Building on the
eastern flank of Madison Square
and on Twenty-Third Street.
The main building occupies the
entire block bounded by Madison
and Fourth Avenues and Twenty-
Third and Twenty-Fourth Streets.
It contains eleven stories and
is one hundred and sixty-four
feet high; the tower, containing
fifty stories above the sidewalk
level, reaches an altitude of
seven hundred feet three inches.
Each avenue front is two hundred
feet and each street front four
hundred and twenty-five feet
long, and the building has a girth
of one thousand two hundred
and fifty feet, and a total super-
ficies of three hundred and forty-
five thousand square feet. The
entire exterior is faced with pure
white Tockahoe marble, requiring
for that purpose about half a
million cubic feet.

The dimensions of the tower
are seventy-five feet on Madison
Avenue and eighty-five feet on
Twenty-Fourth Street. In its
general design and outUne it is
affiliated to the famous Campanile
of St. Mark at Venice, which has
been taken as a prototype. It has
been harmonized, however, with

the main building. The main shaft extends from the sidewalk to the twenty-ninth and thirtieth
stories, where boldly projecting, double-bracketed galleries, with deep arched loggias of the Ionic
order, with a broad frieze cornice and balustrade, mark the crowning adornments. Below this, at
the twenty-fifth, twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh stories, great clock dials twenty-six and a half
feet in diameter are inserted on the face of the main shaft at all four sides, each one framed in
elaborate and clever carving.

The loggia section extends through the thirty-first to the thirty-fifth stories. Over its balustrade,

Photo hyl [//. C. White Co.

CLEOPATRA TERRACE. YELLOWSTONE PARK.

These famous sinter slopes are the result o( the mineral deposits of hot
springs. The formations of Cleopatra Terrace are the most recent, and are
considered the most beautiful of the terraces in Yellowstone Park.

494

The Wonders of the World

four hundred and fifty-four feet from the side-walk, the walls of the tower are set back, and continue
thus for four stories, forming a massive phnth or base to the pyramidal spire which supports an
octagonal turret, whose gilded dome contains the forty-eighth and forty-ninth stories.
"' The exterior marble-work ceases with the windows of the forty-eighth story, from which level
up the tower is cased with gilded copper.

The highest look-out is reached at the balcony of the fiftieth story, six hundred and sixty feet
above the side-walk level, whence one of the most wonderful views in the world may be obtained.
Here are visible the homes of over one-sixteenth of the entire population of the United States. The
terminal feature consists of a great electric eight-sided lantern, eight feet in diameter, from which
powerful flashhghts mark the hours of the night.

In this tower there has been no striking departure from precedent other than in size. Its ratio

of height to width is as
f/'^ST-jp h'^Kf^ifF one to eight and a quarter,

nearly the same as its
prototype at Venice, and
about the proportion of
a sturdy Doric column.
The monument at Wash-
ington has a ratio of one
to eleven ; the Campanile
at Florence, as it stands,
one to six and a half, or
had the pyramidal termi-
nation originally designed
been built, one to seven
and a half ; the Tower at
Cremona, one to nine and
a half; the Campanile at
Pistoia, one to nine ; the
Belfry at Bruges, one
to nine ; Madison Square
Tower, one to nine, and
its prototype at Seville,
one to six. Comparing
the relation of height to
environment, the Victoria Tower, London, is four and one-fourth times as high as the Houses
of Parhament ; St. Mark's Tower was five and a half times as high as the adjoining Liberia, five
times as high as the Doges' Palace and the buildings surrounding the Piazza, and twelve times as
high as Sansovino's Loggetta that nestled at its base ; the lantern of the Capitol at Washington
is three and one-half times the height of the main building.

The Metropolitan Life tower is four times the height of the main building. It contrasts favour-
ably, therefore, with the examples cited, in its ratio of bulk to height, and fits well in its own pecuhar
environment.

The Mammoth Hot Springs, Yetlomstone National ParL— The Yellowstone is the largest
of the National, or State, parks of the United States, comprising three thousand three hundred
and twelve square miles, not including the forest reserve which adjoins it. It is a veritable wonder-
land and stands unique in its fascination. It was first seen by a white man in 1807, but little
was known of its marvels until 1870, when the Surveyor-General of the new state of Montana,
H. D. Washburn, with a party of citizens and a small escort of United States cavalrymen, under

From Slereo eopynghl byl [//. C. White Co.

PULPIT TERRACE, YELLOWSTONE PARK.
The beautifully sculptured masses of these terraces are shaded from pale cream to rich

chocolate colourings.

496

The Wonders of the World

Photo by']

[Thf Pholochi-om Co. ltd.

THE MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS. SUMMIT POOLS.

The visitor gazes down upon acres of water, divided, subdivided and re-subdivided into basins of every size and sfiape

and of the most brilliant hues.

Lieutenant Doane, made an extended tour of the region. Lieutenant Doane made a report to his
superiors which is a classic. The result of this exploration was that it was duly set apart by Congress
as a National Park for the enjoyment of the people for ever.

It is a land of geysers, hot-springs, waterfalls, obsidian cliffs, coloured terraces, mountains of
petrifactions, hills of brimstone, forests, streams and a canyon as picturesquely vivid in colour as
the Grand Canyon of Arizona is overpowering in majesty. It embraces in its limits snow-clad
mountains which tower into the pure blue of this ineffable sky from ten to fourteen thousand feet
above the sea. It has one valley with an elevation of not less than six thousand feet, and contains
a hundred geysers, over three thousand six hundred springs and pools, besides mud-springs, or
paint-pots, as they are commonly called.

While fascinating to the mind, the Mammoth Hot Springs are the least interesting of all the
varied scenes and phenomena the Yellowstone Park presents. Hot water is hot water, whether in
a bath-tub or in the Yellowstone Park. The only difference between the one and the other is that
in the latter region the hot water is highly impregnated with calcareous matter, mainly carbonate
of lime and hydrate of silica. When this hot water bubbles out from the interior of the earth in
the form of springs, some of it evaporates and thus speedily deposits on the surface a sediment
of the calcareous and other matter it holds in solution. The result is the building up of pools, walls,
embankments, terraces, etc., of most wonderful form, structure and adornment. The major
portion of these are found on Terrace Mountain, which is in full view of the Hot Springs Hotel,

North America

497

near which is the administrative centre of the Park. Being a National Park, it is under federal
control, and its affairs are administered by officers of the United States Army. Here is a green
plaza, flanked on the east by the officers' quarters and the barracks of the soldiers. On the
opposite side rises Terrace Mountain with its richly-coloured, steaming, marvellously sculptured,
carved, traced and embroidered terraces. To the north is the hotel. The chief terraces are Jupiter,
Pulpit and Cleopatra. The latter is the latest of the formations and consequently is one of the
highest, for the evidences are clear that these terraces have been slowly built up from the level of
the Gardiner River. Doubtless the hot springs made their first outlet there, and as the hot waters
slowly trickled out of their basin they deposited the mineral which little by little heightened the
basin's edge until the water had to find another course. Thus another elevation was erected, and
then another and another, the spring moving its outflow to overcome the obstacles of its own creation.
To many visitors Cleopatra Terrace is the most beautiful of all, but that may possibly be because
of its newness. Pulpit Terrace, as its name implies, is shaped somewhat like one of the old-
fashioned pulpits. Its colours
are of delicate cream and
a rich chocolate. Jupiter is
the one oftenest visited and
described.

Some of these terraces, as
I have before stated, are bril-
liantly coloured. When first
discovered, this was assumed
to be the result of decomposed
mineral substances held in
solution by the water, but
scientific investigation has re-
vealed that it is caused by
the presence of minute or
microscopic plants, known as
blue-green algae, which can exist
in water at a temperature of
185° Fahr. These are red, pink,
black, canary, green, saffron,
blue, chocolate, orange, violet
and yellow, with infinite grada-
tions of hue and shade. To
those who know, each of these
colours denotes a certain tem-
perature, the range of colour cor-
responding to the range of heat.

One may climb the slopes
and view the pools of vari-
coloured waters, and examine
closely the fine work of Nature's
accomplishing, and the higher
one gets the more interesting,
in some regards, does the en-
larged view become. And here
one discovers another fact ; that

\ ^- Htm ■

'J/. I'. While Cn.

LIBERTY CAP. YELLOWSTONE PARK.

This enormous sinter husk of an extinct gevser derives its name from its
likeness to the headgear of the American soldiery of 1774. The diminutive
appearance of the spectator demonstrates the vast size of the "Cap."

498

The Wonders of the World

is, that there are often several different colours in the same pool. This suggests different
temperatures, caused either by springs of varying heat, or else it is that the water from the same
spring suffers quick and marked clianges according to the varying distances from the outlet.

That these pools and terraces are akin to the geysers (which we shall later visit), is proved by the
fact that not far from Jupiter Terrace is Liberty Cap, a standing monument-hke shaft, shaped some-
what like the old-fashioned liberty-cap of the American revolutionists of 1774, and which was
unquestionably at one time the shaft of a geyser. The Giant's Thumb, near by, is a similar but
smaller object.

In some cases there are vacant spaces or caves under the terraces and several of_^these can be

seen or entered. There are
Cupid's Cave and the Devil's
Kitchen, into the latter of
which a ladder is placed for
those who wish personal inter-
view with his Satanic Majesty's
cook.

The wonder of the traveller
is excited by this introduction
to the Yellowstone Park, which
is thest orehouse of many
further wonders that are yet
to be revealed.

The Cliff DivelUngs of
Mancos Canyjorif Colorado. — In
the south-western corner of
the State of Colorado, some
twenty-five years ago, two
cowboys, one of whom I knew
well, Richard Wetherill, were
riding over the Mesa Verde,
hunting for stock which had
eluded them. The whole
region was a somewhat ele-
vated plateau (as the term
mesa implies), cut up and
seamed by numerous ravines
and canyons which made it
almost inaccessible, as many
of these gorges descended in abrupt precipices, down which there seemed to be no available
means of descent ; while, on the other hand, if one were in the canyons below and wished
to gain the summit of the mesa, there was no means of ascent. The whole mesa was
covered with a dense growth of pine, cedar, juniper and spruce, through which it was impossible
to see far ahead, and suddenly the two cowboys were startled to find themselves on the very edge
of a precipice. Impatiently reining in their horses, and angry at finding their search for the
stray cattle again arrested by a useless canyon, they began to look for signs which might indicate
in which way their animals had gone. While they were doing this the eyes of one them happened
to fall upon the underside of the cliff on the opposite wall of the canyon, and there, to his wonder
and amaze, he saw the ruins of a number of walls and towers, with windows, doorways, etc., clearly
denoting that they were once the habitations of man. This was the discovery of one of the most

From stereo copyright by']

THE DEVIL'S KITCHEN.

[//. C. White Co.

YELLOWSTONE PARK.

Occasionally the mineral deposit of the hot springs has settled in such a way
as to form caves and spaces underneath the terraces. Some of these caves, of
which the Devil's Kitchen is chief, can be entered and examined by the ad-
venturous.

500

The Wonders of the World

important groups of cliff
dwellings yet found with-
in the boundaries of the
United States.

At the very outset, let
me disabuse the minds of
my readers of the notion,
made too common by
sensational and excitable
writers, that these cliff
dwellings are of re-
markable 'size, wonderful
architecture, or imposing
grandeur. They are simply
rude, crude, aboriginal
dwellings, full of a pathetic
interest, and, therefore, de-
serving the most thorough
and careful attention of
the thoughtful reader and
student. Their extent is
remarkable, many of them
being capable of housing
from five hundred to a
thousand souls : but it is
the "deliberate choice of
such inaccessible sites that marks them with such tremendous pathos. Why choose homes in the
face of cliffs that only birds can ascend ? Why hide in this fashion from all ease, comfort, beauty
and outlook ? What motive could there possibly be for such hiding and such inaccessibility ?

Before giving a brief description of the cliff dwellings here pictured, let me state that it is now
definitely known that the cliff-dwellers were the ancestors of the present pueblo Indians of Arizona
and New Mexico. The term " pueblo," however, is a general term, with great latitude in its
application. It is simply the Spanish term for " village " or town. Hence, any Indians who live
in towns are pueblos, such as the Hopi, the Zuni, and all the Indians who occupy towns on the
Rio Grande River (over twenty in number).

Every tribe has its men and women who are the repositories of its past history. Much of this
legendary history has been gleaned in recent years, and from it a reasonably accurate general account
has been gathered of the migrations of these peoples, their occupancy of the cliffs, and the reason
thereof, prior to their settlement in their present locations. The Hopis can clearly be traced for
a thousand miles from the south — or, at least, certain clans of their race — and at the time they
built and occupied the cliff dwellings they were being crowded on every side by nomad foes, who
swarmed upon them, pillaged their cornfields and robbed them of every means of subsistence. Not
being a warhke people, they were compelled to solitude and strategy. They learned to climb hke
the goats ; they trained themselves, as a matter of religion, in athletics, so that they could run like
the deer ; and they then established themselves in these remote and inaccessible places. Towers
were built on look-out points that would also answer as places of defence in case of surprise. Their
only weapons being bows and arrows, stone-axes and hammers, and possibly a rude kind of lance to
which a flint head was affixed, defence was comparatively easy. Their doorways were not closed
with wood, for they had no tools with which to saw or cut wood to the required shape. They took

Photo hy'i

[Keystone Vieui Co.

Another view of the cliff-dwellinBs of Arizona.

North America

501

such slabs of flat rock as they found in the region and used those for doors ; hence the necessity for
making doors as small as possible for two reasons : one, to fit the size of the stone slabs available
and to be found, and the other, that the slabs were small enough to be removable. Here, then, is
the secret of the small doorways.

They made rude pottery, many specimens of which have been excavated, some of them large
enough to hold ten, twenty or more gallons of water, which they gained from near-by springs and
stored in their houses in case of surprise or assault. They planted corn in the canyons and on the
mesa heights, close at hand, and watched it grow from their outlook points.

In each set of ruins is found a kiva, or estufa, the former being the aboriginal term for a sacred
rehgious chamber, and the latter being the Spanish term signifying a stove, applied to the same
places. These kivas were the assembling- places of the clans for religious purposes, and as many
of them were closed in, and even below the ground and without ventilation, they often became so
hot and close as to suggest to the old Spanish explorers of three hundred and fifty years ago their
name estufa, or stove.

Except in a very few cases, all the cliff ruins of the South- West are built of the rude undressed
sandstone, or other rocks that were found in a disintegrated condition, or that could be quarried
with the rude and simple tools of the aborigines. In the few exceptional cases — one or two of
which occur in the Mesa Verde ruins — the stones were carefully selected and then hewn into the
exact shape required, doubtless by flint hammers and hatchets, and tlien dressed by being pounded
with round-headed flint hammers.

When the pressure of life upon these poor hunted people was somewhat reduced, they abandoned
their cliff dwellings and moved to less inaccessible regions upon the tops of the high mesas, where

Pholo by'\

in, J'/,<'l(ir/irom Co. Lid.

THE CLIFF PALACE, .MESA VERDE.

These are ihe dwellings of a non-warlik.: race. who. in order to save themselves from extermination, built their
communal houses in the most inaccessible and so most easily defended positions

502

The Wonders of the World

their descendants are found to-day. The instinct of self-preservation, so deeply ground into them,
however, by stern necessity, led them even in their new homes to clioose the places most easily
defensible, and construct their houses so that by the mere Ufting up of the outside ladder they could
instantaneously be converted into forts.

Tree-tike Stalagmites in Ca-ve, Gran J Cany)on of Arizona. — Wlierever those displacements and
shatterings of the earth's crust called fauUings have taken place in the region of the Grand Canyon
of Arizona, there it is possible to build " trails " from the rim down to the river in the abyss below.

This is because the faulting breaks
down the massive walls and scatters
them in sloping " talus," over which
trails are built with comparative ease.
In that part of the Grand Canyon
reached by the railway, on the south
rim, there are five trails that are
regularly used, tiie chief one, of
course, being that located nearest
to El Tovar, viz., the Bright Angel
Trail. A few miles to the west is
the Boucher Trail, and twenty miles
further the Bass Trail. To the east,
sixteen miles away, is the Grand
View Trail, and about twenty miles
the Red Canyon Trail. Near the
Grand View Trail, slightly below
the plateau two thousand feet from
the " rim," there was discovered,
in 1897, by Joseph Gildner, a cook
employed at the mining camp of
Messrs. Cameron and Berry on the
plateau near by, a series of caves of
great interest. These caves are in the
thickest member of the Canyon walls
— the so-called " red-wall limestone,"
described in the section devoted to
the Grand Canyon. They were un-
doubtedly formed in the earlier his-
tory of the Canyon by some chemi-
cally-charged water which decomposed
the limestone rock, and, carrying it
away in solution, left the vacant
spaces to be discovered in after ages.

Photo Sy]

STALAGMITES IN A LIMESTONE
There are few more beautiful specimens of limestone
than tfiese glistening white spires that are hidden in a c
ads

II hit,: C(i.
CAVE. ARIZONA.

formations
ave on the
Grand View Trail which leads into the Grand Canyon.

The Grand View Caves connect one with another, and I have had the pleasure of exploring and
visiting them on several different occasions. The dendritic, or foliage-like mass, here pictured
occupies a spot near the mouth of the cave, within a few feet of the entrance, which, however, is so
small as to admit no direct rays of hght upon the object. The first photograph tliat was ever made
of it was interesting. I had no " flash-light " powder, and it seemed an impossibility. But cutting
up all the candles I could spare, I found I had twenty-seven pieces, each of which would burn for
a full hour. Focussing the camera, lighting the candles and then opening the shutter, we left the
candles to do their work, as we explored the deeper recesses of the caves. On our return the candles

504

The Wonders of the World

had all burned away. I finally
developed the plate and found
as excellent a picture there as
is the one from which the ac-
companying print is made.

The Capitol at Washington.
— When the Colonies revolted
from the Mother Country, and
in 1776 declared their inde-
pendence, her statesmen de-
cided that the capital city of
the new republic must be
away from any of the im-
mediate centres of popula-
tion. Accordingly, July 16,
1790, Washington was chosen
as the site, and a certain dis-
trict purchased for purely
federal purposes, and named
the District of Columbia.
This district is therefore under
the control of no state. Its
ijjovernment is solely federal.
The city proper now covers
an area of about fourteen
miles in circumference, and in
the past ten years has grown
and improved with amazing
rapidity.

Its government was, in
1874, vested in three Com-
missioners, under the juris-
diction of Congress. Its
population is now {1911)
nearing the four hundred
thousand mark.

The most imposing structure in the group of buildings used for the administration of the affairs
of the United States is the National Capitol Building. Its entire length is seven hundred and
fifty-one feet and four inches. Its width is three hundred and fifty feet, and it extends over three
and one-half acres in area. Superbly kept grounds, laid out in drives and terraces, surround it,
while to the west stretches out the Mall, a park extending to the Potomac River, about a mile away.
Many notable pieces of statuary dot the beautifully kept lawns.

The central portion of the Capitol Building is constructed of Virginia sandstone, painted ^a
ghttering white. It is upon this section that the great dome is built. Surmounted by a statue
typifying Freedom, i; lowers nearly three hundred feet above the esplanade. It may be ascended by
a winding stairway, and the view from the top is well worth the exertion of the climb.

In this central portion of the building are the Rotunda, the Supreme Court Room and Statuary
Hall. In this hall have been placed many notable examples of the sculptor's art. Hundreds of the
most beautiful paintings adorn the walls of these three rooms. Two massive bronze doors, weighing

;,■-./. .^../... .L.y., <,/.;,/(/ /'(/] [Ctulericood it VndertttoJ.

A HOPI INDIAN VILLAGE. ARIZONA.

A Hopi village occupies the most inaccessible position on a "mesa." or plateau.
The walls of the houses are made of a rude mud mortar, afterwards plastered over
with a smoother mixture and whitewashed.

North America

505

ten tons, and commemorating events in thie life of Columbus, adorn the eastern side of the building.
They cost the Government $28,000. On either side of this main building are wide porticoes.

The buildings, or rather wings of the main building, in which the Senate and House sit, are
constructed of Massachusetts marble, and are of later construction than the central portion. The
pillars supporting the portico roofs of these wings and of the central part are monoliths whose size
creates amazement.

The corner stone of the main building was laid by President Washington on September 18, 1793,
and that of the extensions by President Fillmore on July 4, 1851. On the latter occasion Daniel
Webster was the orator.

Houses of the Hopi Indians, Northern Arizona. — Within a stone's throw of El Tovar Hotel
at the Grand Canyon, is an Indian house, built as the almost exact replica of a Hopi house, in the
village of Oraibi. Though a purely commercial proposition, in that it is a store for the sale of Indian
curios, it lias distinct and
decided ethnologic and edu-
cative value. I know the
original house of which this
is tlie copy. In all save the
electric liglits, the steam heat
and other modern conveniences
this is a true copy, and
affords to those who cannot
go over the Painted Desert
the long hundred-mile drive
through tlie sands to the fasci-
nating Province of Tusayan,
where these Indians reside in
their quaint villages, the op-
portunity to see and know
something of their life, customs
and ceremonials. For there
are several families of Hopi
and also of the Navaho tribes
here, engaged in the making
of baskets, blankets, pottery,
bead - work, silverware and
their other industries. As a
museum the Hopi House is an
important exhibition. Many
European national museums
do not contain as many and
as valuable articles illustrativf
of the Indians' domestic life
as are to be found here. In
the riglit foreground of the
engraving is to be seen a large
and exquisitely made jar or
olla (pronounced " oh-yah ")
of basket - work, so finely
woven that it holds water.

From Stereo copyright hyl, L' iMrritoMi .1- Umiertiood.

A HOPI INDIAN VILLAGE. ARIZONA.
This stairway through the cliff leading to the Hopi village could be easily defended
in time of assault, and for this reason is chosen by the Hopi Indians as
entrance to their village.

suitable

5o6

The Wonders of the World

But however true to the reahty the Hopi House at the Grand Canyon is, the real way to know the
Hopis is to visit them in their own quaint and interesting villages. They reside in nine towns, seven
of which occupy almost inaccessible sites on tlie summits of three mesas, or rocky table-lands, which
rise from five hundred to eight hundred feet above the level of the surrounding desert. Imagine
a rude and misshapen hand with but three fingers, and these ten miles apart ; the arm being the
main table-land and the three fingers being the sites of the seven Hopi villages. On the eastern-
most mesa are three towns; viz., Tewa, or
Hano, Sichumavi and Walpi. Each is reached
by a steep and precipitous trail, in many places
steps being hewn out of the solid rock. The
most northerly town is Tewa. Within a stone's
throw is Sichumavi, and yet, strange to say,
t]ie people of the two towns speak entirely
different languages. The reason is that about
the year 1700 the Sichumavi and Walpi Indians
were much beset by nomad Indians who
harassed them considerably, stealing their
flocks and herds, and occasionally their wives
and children. At this time a band of Tewa
Indians from near the Rio Grande, several
hundred miles to the east, were driven from
their homes by other hostile Indians, and at
the request of the Hopis they came and settled
upon this unoccupied site on the mesa to act
as allies. In return for their warlike aid they
were accorded the right to remain, which they
have ever since done. Their own name for
their village is Hano, but when the Hopis were
asked who they were they replied " Tewas," so
that name was also accorded their village, and
by it it is generally known.

The houses of all these Hopi villages are
built of the " chips " of sandstone found loose
upon the top of the disintegrating mesas. The
walls are laid up in a rude mud mortar, and
generally plastered over with a thick mud
known as adobe (pronounced " ah-do-by "),
and then whitewashed. The architecture is
very simple and primitive, yet most interesting.
The first remarkable fact about it is that the
houses are designed and built throughout by
the women. I have seen thirty-six women
at one time engaged in building a house. The men sat by in contented restfulness, smoking their
cigarettes, while the women were their own paddies, mortar- mixers, hod-carriers and "bricklayers."
After considerable persuasion I got the whole thirty-six to consent to my photographing them on
condition that I gave to each one calico for a new dress. That night when I distributed the calico
at my camp I expressed to the women the pity white women so often give voice to, that they have
to do the hard work while their lazy men sit by and do nothing. With spirit these Indian women
replied and asked me if our white women were all fools. I responded with a vigorous negative.

From stereo copyright hy^ lU/utertrood li' Under isootl.

THE DANCE ROCK OF THE HOPI INDIANS.

Dencing plays an irrportant part in the leligious ceremDnies
or the Hopi Indians, and this stone, which is the "Dance Rock,"
is an object of great veneration amongst them.

Fi'om Stare J copynjhi hy'\ [ htdertcood <& Undertcood.

A HOPI INDIAN HOUSE INTERIOR.

These hous^es are designed and built throughout by women, and furlhermore they are owned by the wcm*n. together with all
the chattels contained in them. Even the crops, t.6 socn as they dre harvesltd. arc th^ properly of the women.

5o8

The Wonders of the World

"But," said the spokeswoman, "they
must be. Why should they sympathize
with us. We do not need their sym-
pathy. The men have their work to
do, and they do it without our inter-
ference or help. This is our work.
We neither need nor desire their help.
Those Above " (they always speak of
the Supreme Powers as " Those Above ")
" have given us the work and strength
to do it, and let the men who attempt
to interfere with us in doing it beware."
But not only are the houses built by
the women. They are owned by them,
and, what is more, as soon as the crops
of corn (maize), melons, onions, chilis,
peaches, etc., are brought in from the
fields and orchards by the men, these
become the property of the women, so
that a man may not sell a shilling's
worth of the crops he has himself grown,
without the consent of his wife, once
they have been put into her care.

As one stands in the public plaza
and looks at these houses, he sees
that they are built in terrace fashion,
generally three stories high, so that
they appear to be in three gigantic steps.
They were originally without doors or
windows in the lower story, and the
only way to gain access was by means
of rude ladders. One climbed the
ladders, and then dropped through a hole in the roof. This arrangement was for purposes of defence.
When attacked, the villagers could pull up their ladders and thus their houses became their forts.

Ten miles away from the First, or eastern, mesa, is the Second, or Middle mesa. Upon this
are the three towns of Mashonganavi, Shungopavi and Shipauluvi. The Illustration on page
505 is of the stairway leading up to Mashonganavi. Ten miles further west is the seventh
village of Oraibi, the largest of the seven. It used to have a population of about a thousand souls,
as compared with two thousand aggregated in the other six villages, but owing to internal dissen-
sions a new village has sprung up from Oraibi in the past ten years, Hotavila, hence Oraibi now
does not have more than five to six hundred souls. The ninth village is Moencopi, the agricul-
tural resort of the Oraibis, forty miles away.

The Mjuni of t'lz H}!y C-oss. — Tlie State of Colorado is in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. It
is a State of sublime scenery. Pike's Peak, Long's Peak, Old Ouray, the Sangre de Cristo range,
the Spanish Peaks, Crested Butte, and a score of other mountains — aye, a hundred — give majesty
and sublimit}' to every landscape. Although not so towering in its height, nor so massive in its bulk,
nor so impressive in its mighty slopes as some of the others, there yet stands one peak in Colorado
that perhaps is better known than all the rest combined. Why is this ? It is because, near to its
summit, as if especially emblazed by the Divine Creator for a purpose, is the Cross, the symbol of

From Utereo copyright lul [''iidfricood <(■ Viide''icood.

ANOTHER INTERIOR OF A H3PI INDIAN HOUSE.
Notice the baskets, the blankets and the pottery that the women
make and sell. The weaving of the Hopi Indian is so fine that the
basket-work jars, such as are seen here, will hold water.

North America

509

Christianity, thus giving its name to the mountain — the Mount of the Holy Cross. As one rides on the
hne of the Rio Grande Railway, slowly mounting higher and higher towards Tennessee Pass, one
enters a side valley, from which the eye is led upwards to where a majestic peak, like a giant
cathedral, pierces the sky, overlooking a wide scene of alpine forest, verdant meadows, sparkling
streams and quiet picturesqueness. Seen anywhere it would be attractive, for it presents a noble
front of almost unbroken aspect, in marked contrast to the wild ruggedness of the jagged boulders,
tossing foothills and mountain torrent which occupy the more immediate foreground. But it is
more than the mere mountain that arrests our attention. Carved on its very summit, as if in proud
acclaim to the world, is the sacred s3'mbol of Christianity, graven in such colossal size, as though to
challenge the attention of every human being within two hundred miles or more.

The Jesuits, the Dominicans, the Franciscans, and other Catholic orders brought the Cross with
the Conquistadores and planted it, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, in Mexico, and in the
heart of what is now United States territory. In Florida, in Texas, in Arizona, in New Mexico, even
in Kansas, Jesuit and Franciscan
wandered ; the Puritan came
and brought his stern worship
of Christ to New England ; and
even the freebooter. Sir Francis
Drake, allowed his chaplain and
men to worship on the shores of
San Francisco Bay. For two or
three centuries men took posses-
sion of parts of this new land in
the name of their king and of
the Christ who sanctified tlie
hated Cross of Calvary, and yet
ages and ages before these men
were sired the Divine Father
Himself had placed this symbol of
His crucified Son upon the brow
of this majestic summit in the
heart of the country, thus declar-
ing His supremacy and purpose.

Call it chance — the blind
working of earthquake, thunder-
bolt and Nature's sculpturing,
that these ravines were so
carved as to make them de-
positories of winter's snows, so
deep that they remain through-
out the larger part of the
year shaped after this universal
symbol. Chance is merely the
name we give to the working out
of great forces that are beyond

our puny ken. Here is the fact : ^^^^^^^^ ^ne rnotockron, c. ua.

for countless centuries this ^^^ ^^^^^ ^P ^^^ ^^^^^ cross. Colorado.

Divine symbol has been Hfted on ^^^^^^ ^^ ^_^,^^^ ^^ ,^^ .^„^.. „, .^j. „.;„,;, p„t. .^^ coicai .ymboi ,{

high and reflected to the clouds, Chiislianlly dominates a scene of exquisite grandeur in the Rocky Mountains.

5IO

The Wonders of the World

remi iding the thoughtful man of those words of Holy Writ spoken by the Crucified Himself : " And
I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me."

The Clouds of Californta, &c. — Few people unfamiliar with travel in certain regions can dream
of the exquisitely beautiful and marvellously strange clouds that now and again dot the sky in these
particular lands. Take the United States, for example. In crossing from the Atlantic Ocean to
the Pacific the traveller begins in a region where the sky is generally grey and with clouds similar
to those seen cont nually in England. But as soon as he reaches Colorado and New Mexico the
grey sky disappears, scarcely to be seen a dozen times in a year, and in its place appears the clear
turquoise sky that for days at a time is perfectly cloudless. Then suddenly, apparently without
rhyme or reason, clouds beg'n to appear of forms, movements and fleeciness totally beyond the behef
or comprehension of the man familiar only with the sky of the Atlantic coast.

Photo by}

\_Undericood ti- Underuood.

A REMARKABLE CLOUD-FORMATION, CALIFORNIA.

This photograph was taken in the Sierra Madre Mountains, South California, and is an excellent example of a cloud-

foi mat ion totally unknown in this country

The southern portion of the great State of California possesses this exquisitely clear sky for,
say, three hundred days in the year. Imagine a sky, as pure a blue as the mind can conceive, that
for three hundred days in the year sees never a cloud to mar its spotlessness. Yet there are certain
meteorological conditions in this region that produce clouds and fog which are as interesting as
they are peculiar. For two hundred and fifty miles Southern California lies open to the Pacific
Ocean. That is, there is no mountain range between the valley land and the sea. This allows
free and easy access of the breezes from the ocean, without any of the winds that are caused when
a mountain barrier, with its passes, stands between the ocean and the land. This open region
varies in width from a mile or two to fifty and a hundred miles, and is then arrested by a high
mountain chain with peaks six, seven, eight, ten and even twelve thousand feet high. Imme-
diately on the other side of these towering heights the mountains decline rapidly to the sands
of the Mohave, Colorado, Arizona and Sonora deserts, some portions of which are below sea-level,
and all of which contain little verdure above the hardy desert shrubs, such as the creosote bush,

North America

511

the salt bush, the yucca, cactus, etc.
Here, then, are wonderful conditions
for the manufacture of climate that
scarce exist anywhere else in the world.
When the sun shines upon the sandy
face of the barren desert the rapid as-
cension of the heated air causes a gentle
current slowly to flow from the ocean.
This invariably begins in the forenoon
and moves inland until evening, when
there is usually a season of calm.
Then, later, the current is reversed and
the land breeze comes gently over the
slopes of the snow-clad mountains.
Under certain conditions of barometric
pressure these ocean and desert breezes
come laden with moisture, which
changes into clouds and fog. There
are two kinds of fog generally known
in this region^ — low and high. The
low fog seldom rises above two thou-
sand feet, and if one ascends to an
elevation over that, he can look down
upon the fog and see it in all its
peculiar beauty. Like a fleecy white
sea, silent and still, it covers the land
below.

The high fog, on the other hand,
generally ranges from six to eight
thousand feet in height, and one must
be on a mountain peak higher than this
to be able to look down upon it. A
most singularly beautiful effect is
produced when there is both a high
and a low fog, and the sun shines
down through a portion of the high
fog upon the surface of the low
fog.

The Washington Monument. — The
greatest memorial shaft of the world
is that erected by the American
people of the United States to George
Washington, the " father of his
country," and first president, in the
city which also bears his name — the
capital city of the American Re-
pubHc of the United States. It is
five hundred and fifty-five feet high
and was thirty-seven years in building.

Photo by'] [?%^ Photochrom Co. Ltd.

THE WASHINGTON MEMORIAL.

The site of the greatest iriemorial shaft in the woild was chasen by

the great President Washington himself. This great white marble

column is crowned with a tip of aluminium, so that it never tarnishes

512

The Wonders of the World

Its site was chosen by Presi-
dent Washington himself.
The foundation was laid in
1848, and the capstone, a
conical block of American
aluminium, was set in place
in 1884. The lower portion
of the monument is built of
New England granite, faced
witli crystal marble ; the
upper part of pure white
marble. The top is reached
by an elevator or by a
flight of nine hundred steps.
It has been well said that
" the dignity, symmetry and
towering height of Wash-
ington's character, as it
now presents itself to the
minds of his countrymen,
are well exemplified in the
majestic simplicity of his
monument."

It is the realization of
a popular movement for a
national memorial to Wash-
ington which began before
his death, and crystallized
sufficiently to enable him
personally to indicate his
preference of site. Republics
are tardy, however, very
often, even in their recognition of the men they most dehght to honour, and it was not until the
wave of patriotism developed by the year of the Nation's Centennial that Congress determined to
finish the shaft begun in 1848. To General T. L. Casey, Chief of the U.S. Engineers, the work
was entrusted of enlarging and strengthening the foundations, which he successfully accomphshed,
making of them a sohd mass of blue rock, one hundred and forty-six feet square.

The keystone that binds the interior ribs of stone that support the marble facing of the pyramidal
cap of the monument weighs nearly five tons. It is four feet six inches high and three feet six inches
square at the top. The capstone, which is five feet two and a half inches in height, and about three
feet square at its base, was laid December 6, 1884. Its summit was crowned with a tip or point of
aluminium, which never oxidizes and is always bright.

Victoria Regia, The Gigantic Water Lily, — There are many marvellous water lilies in the
world that have excited the admiration of mankind, and most of them have been found to flourish in
some parts of the United States. But most wonderful of all in size is the Victoria Regia, here
photographed as it grows in Como Park, near to Lake Como, a favourite resort of the residents of the
north-western section of the city of St. Paul, Minnesota. This particular hly finds its original habitat
in the marshy ponds which cover hundreds of miles of the Amazon Valley. While in the picture
leaves are shown from seven to ten feet in diameter, they are known to grow to twice that size in

From Stereo copyriglil hy\ [Uiuleruood it Underwood.

THE VICTORIA REGIA.
This gigantic water-lily thrives in the tropic heat of the Amazon Valley. The
upturned leaves are characteristic of the species, and their vast green surface is
supported underneath by a strong framework of twisted tissues.

(By the Photochrom Co., Ltd.)

THE GREAT FOUNTAIN GEYSER, YELLOWSTONE PARK.

This fountain, situated in the Lower Geyser Basin, is one of the most beautiful sights in the celebrated Park.
A shaft of boiling water rises to a height of ISO feet, when it is dispersed in a rainbow spray.

North America

513

the heat of their native tropical habitat. The stem is hollow, but solid and firm, and it sends out
its framework in such fashion as to securely sustain a larger weight than that of the little maiden
who so serenely uses it as her fairy raft. The strength of the leaf is enhanced by the upturned
edge, which is a distinguishing feature of this species, and adds in no small measure to the
striking beauty of the plant. The blossoms are large and fragrant, of a dehcate pink and from
eight to twelve inches in diameter.

CHAPTER XYII.
By NUGENT M. OLOUGHER, F.R G.S.

Mont Pelez, — -It will take many years to obliterate the shudder which ran through the civilized
■world when, in May, 1902, the news of the eruption of Mont Pelee, with the accompanying loss of
life, became known. The reports were at first discredited, but when the story was officially confirmed,
iunds were rapidly organized in every quarter of the world for the relief of the homeless in the
French island colony of Martinique.

According to scientific experts, the eruption at Martinique was not so great as that in the island

of St. Vincent, which took place in the same month. The area devasted at the former place was

certainly not so great, but the terrible loss of life at St. Pierre intensified the horrors of the eruption

in Martinique. This city, at one time the chief commercial city of Martinique, was completely

levelled to the ground in a re-

markably short space of time
— destroyed by its proximity
to the volcano at the foot of
Mont Pelee. One day the
•streets were thronged with
people, business being trans-
acted and life progressing in
the usual way ; the next day
between thirty and forty
thousand of the inhabitants
were, almost in an instant,
lying dead — buried beneath
the ruins and piles of ashes.

During the early months
■of the year the volcano had
shown signs of activity, and
on the second and third days
in May small eruptions took
place, destroying some planta-
tions. On May 8th the final
and fatal eruption occurred,
devastating one-tenth of the
whole island. Great clouds
of smoke and a mass of fire
appeared, whilst molten lava
and ashes fell on the city
and its surroundings, destroy-
ing, indiscriminately, people.

Photo by'\

[Kevstone View Co.

The

ale

MONT PELEE
This view of Mont Pelee was taUen within 800 feet of its riven crest. 1 he volcano
was dormant for many years; but since the eruption of 1902 it has remained in a state
of continual activity

The Wonders of the World

buildings, and ships, only one of the latter escaping. Then, many of those who had escaped
the lava and ashes were caught in the merciless toils of the dense gases that settled upon the city,
and suffocated by the noxious fumes.

In addition to the loss of human life, the financial loss is said to have amounted to four million
pounds !

The north end of the city was buried with ashes, the demolition being so complete that the
remains of the houses could not be seen by those who afterwards visited the scene.

As early as April 25th sulphur vapours descended on St. Pierre, the air becoming so charged that
many animals fell down dead in the streets. On May 2nd, the deposit of ashes became sufficiently
deep to stop traffic, and yet comparatively few of the inhabitants attempted to flee from the doomed

area. During the few days preceding
the great calamity a deluge of water
from the volcano also assisted to
destroy many of the surrounding
villages. The lava, ashes and water
were not the only destructive agents,
however, for on May 5th mud flowed
down the side of the mountain with
great velocity, burying many of the
buildings in its path.

The early morning of May 8tb
seemed no worse than some of the
preceding ones, but at eight o'clock
great clouds issued from the mouth
of the volcano, and within two minutes
the city was destroyed and the populace
lay dead.

On the 20th of the same month a
second eruption took place, which is
said to have been as violent as the
first, although the damage done was
small compared with that of the
previous devastation.

Mexico. — For centuries the early
civilization of Mexico has been a
mystery. Theories have come into being, lasted for a time, and then disappeared as unlikely
or impracticable. In the sixteenth century, when the Spaniards came into the mainland from,
the islands of the West Indies, they wondered at the ruins they found — great temples with
massive columns, an old civilization with official administration and Courts of Justice, arts and
crafts of no mean order. They wondered then — we are wondering even to-day !

It is now considered most likely that the old races of America are connected in some-
way with the Tartar tribes of Asia, perhaps long ago, when Asia and America were connected by
land.

Explorers such as Humboldt have investigated the matter, and find that the peculiar animal
calendar of the tribes of Asia is reproduced in Mexico. There are many other points of similarity
between the ideas of the inhabitants of the two continents which lead to the opinion of to-day that
there has been some connection at a remote date.

The name Mexico itself takes us back to the old days, for its origin was due to the existing tribes-
who called themselves Mexica or Asteca.

From Stereo copyright lyl IVnilerwooi <t Underuood.

MONT PEL^E IN ERUPTION.

This outburst of smoke was computed by eye-witnesses to have attained
a height of over three miles

From Ht€7-eo copy?'ight by

\_Underuood A' Vnderuood,

MONT PELeE in ERUPTION.

A striking view of a grand column of smoke issuing from the volcano. Terrible as this eruption appears, it is nothing; to the
greater outburst of lava and volcanic ash which swept away the city of St. Pierre and destroyed its 30.000 inhabitants in an
Instant*

5i6

The Wonders of the World

These Aztec Indians
moved from place to place
over the Valley of Mexico,
and in 1325 formed a settle-
ment that has through the
years grown to be the
Mexico City of to-day, the
capital of the country.

The reign of the Aztecs
was comparatively modern,
for long before them were
the Toltecs, noted for their
knowledge of the gold-
smith's and silversmith's
arts and picture writing.
It is probably due to these
people that we have por-
tions of the fine temples
and writings that still re-
main for our wonderment.
Wliere they obtained this
knowledge takes us to ages
that are lost in mists of
antiquity.

The picture writings are
particularly interesting, and
it is said that liad the
Spanish not landed in the
country the writing would
have been discovered again,
for, much the same as the
Egyptian hieroglyphs gave
place to the phonetic signs,
and were able to be traced,
these'writings, too, would have developed into a script that the scholar could have translated and
which would have given a key to the picture language. By means of these pictures names of
persons and places were recorded as well as dates.

Not far from Oaxaca, in the southern part of Mexico, and almost due south of Vera
Cruz, is situated the village of Mitla. Here is the home of some of the finest remains
of Mexico's past civilization. Yet these ruins possess no definite history. We do not
even know the causes which went to the building of so great a city or the reason of its
importance ; we are forced to be content with conjecture, which is a poor substitute for
historical accuracy.

For this reason they remain unmentioned while ruins in other countries of far less interest are
the subject of much learned discussion and many valuable treatises.

A considerable portion of the ancient site is occupied by the present village, yet much of the
old work remains, owing, probably, to its distance from the creek, which, flowing through the valley,
attracted the inhabitants to place their thatched houses along its banks and left the older town
undisturbed, but disrespect for history has had a share in demolishing some of the old buildings,

Photo by^ li'ie/re Co., Washiniiton.

AN ICE CAVE. PARADISE GLACIER.
Paradise Glacier is one of the fourteen living glaciers on Mount Rainier or Tacoina,
one of the highest peaks of the RocUy Mountains. The interior of an ice grotto is usually
flooded with a brilliant effect of blue and green light.

North America

517

for the churches, the market-place, as well as the principal buildings of the newer town, are of
stone, and it is not unlikely that much of this stone was brought from the nearest source of
supply — the ancient ruins.

The ruins represent cities of less extent and of less importance than many in Yucatan, but
the preservation is far superior, which thus renders the present interest considerably greater.
The ornamentation here is different from elsewhere. The decorations are, in many cases,
geometric, and this is not the case with the ruins of Monte Alban, etc.

The buildings themselves have been erected in groups of four, which, placed in the form of a
square, formed a central court, from which the various chambers were entered through small doors.
There are, altogether, five clusters of these buildings. The walls are frequently four feet thick,
and are finished on both sides either in plaster or dressed stone. Frequently mosaic work was
used for ornamenting the interiors of the long, narrow rooms, and this was usually in geometric
patterns.

There is much conjecture regarding the construction of the roofs, but it is generally thought
that they were built of wood and supported on wooden beams. This was probably the use of
the fine columns, which in Mitla alone are to be found inside of the rooms. It is thought that,

liy permission o/]

THE RUINS OF MITLA.

The southern subterranean corridor of the north group of luins. The pillar is
These monoliths are of roushly hewn stone, and probably supported the joists of a
building.

IT/ie yafi

oua/ Unilunys of Me.cico.

one of the ftw that

still remain in position.

wooden roof sloping

to the two sides of the

5i8

The Wonders of the World

erected as they are down the centre of the room, beams were placed along their tops and other

beams were then put across from this centre row to each side wall.

Of the three or four halls which must have originally contained these columns, only two have

them in their proper position to-day ; of tliese, one contains six, the other but two. The columns

were let into the ground to the extent of four or five feet, leaving eleven feet above the floor. They

were very massive, frequently having a diameter at the base of three feet.

Probably the reason why Mitla has been favoured with such good work is due to the quality of

the local stone, which is excellent for carving, being durable and yet easily worked.
. The decoration on the walls consists, besides the sculpture and mosaic work, of painted designs.

These are finished in red on a grey background, and, unlike the carvings, represent figures of men

and animals, which are
worked in with the general
decorative design.

The ruins have suffered
much in the past, for, ac-
cording to Charney, who
published his valuable book
in 1887, the Indians re-
moved many of the smaller
stones in the belief that
they would some day turn
to gold. This desecration
has, however, at last ceased,
and to-day, besides pre-
venting further destruc-
tion, much is being done to
restore many of the temples
and strengthen parts that
have been broken up by
earthquakes and other
causes. Attention is also
being paid to the further
discovery of the tombs
and chambers that have
for centuries remained in
an uncared-for state of

vanishid Toitecs. buricd silcuce.

The Norris Basin, Yellcnusione Park. — On March ist, 1872, the President of the United States

placed his signature to a Bill that had passed the Senate and the House, for the setting apart of

the Yellowstone National Park for ever for the people.

Niagara and the Yosemite Valley were already known as wonders of the North American

continent, but what is now the Park had been viewed by none save a few trappers and prospectors

seeking for traces of gold.

George Catlin, whose life was given to the recording by pen and painting of Indian customs and

characteristics, was one of the first to conceive the idea of a national park. He desired that a large

area should be set aside by the Government for the preserving of Indians and animals in their then

existing state, unaltered by the attack of civilization.

Years passed, his six hundred paintings were preserved in the Smithsonian Institute, and it was

not until 1872 that his desires of forty years before were realized.

/. 1/ i)friitission of\

IT/ie yational Hailicays of Me.cico.
THE RUINS OF MITLA.
The Hall of the Monoliths in the Palace of the Columns is so called on account of the
six great pillars (of which five can be seen here) placed at intervals down the centre of the
Hall. This ruin affords the most accurate details of any of the dwellings of the long since

By permission o/}

{The National Kailways of Mexico.

THE RUINS OF MITLA

Two views of the principal (acade o( the Palace of Columns, the most complete ruin in Mitla. This small town possesses the
finest of any of the Toltec ruins in Mexico, and demonstrates the reason tor the employment of the word " Toltec " by the
Mexicans of to-day in its meaning of "a good architect ^

520

The Wonders of the World

;v^-w**t»«^>«

The name of the Park
was derived from the Hteral
translation of the words
" Roche Jaune," or " Pierre
Jaune," whicli was the title
given by the French trappers,
to this district. These men
probably handed down in this
way the older Indian name
for the place, and it is a good
name too, for the stone walls
of this caiion are of a vivid
yellow colour. The Park is
situated in the north-west
corner of the State of Wyo-
ming, on the eastern side of
the Rocky Mountains.

The geysers for which
the Yellowstone is peculiarly
famous are here extremely
numerous. Often the cones
that are formed round the
apertures of these springs are
of the most beautiful designs,
which are but inadequately
described when they are com-
pared to rocky flowers, vege-
tables or sponges. Many
are of a mineralized silica,
which is almost as hard as flint. The routine of a geyser is not without interest. At first there
is a period of quiescence ; then, after the temporary rest, there is a gurgle, and high into the air,
perhaps to a height of two hundred and fifty feet, a column of boiling water is thrown. When the
eruption again ceases, there is usually an escape of steam to take the place of the scalding fountain.

The geysers of the Yellowstone National Park divide themselves naturally into sections known
as basins, such as the Norris, the Lower, and the Upper Basins, each with its attractions and
fascinations for scientist and tourist alike. The Norris Basin in some ways is less interesting than
the others, but is to a certain extent compensated in being one of the first sections of geysers seen
by the visitor in his tour of inspection. The attention of the traveller is divided between the geysers
and hot springs, whose waters, almost at the boiling-point, are coloured by the metallic suspended
particles and deposited on the crater's edge in a way that renders their appearance indescribably
beautiful. If this scene be at all comparable, it can only be likened to the multi-coloured tints of
some rainbow as the sun's rays are split up by the mist above a great waterfall.

The Norris Basin was named after Mr. Philetus W. Norris, who was in 1877 appointed Superin-
tendent of the Park, and who was the first to explore its wonders, although it had been discovered
five years previously, in the year 1872, by Mr. E. S. Topping and Mr. Dwight Woodruff.

The greatest geyser of this formation is the " Valentine," which discharges a column of water
into the air to a height of one hundred feet at intervals of about an hour. The uncertainty of
the time of discharge of the " Valentine " is well atoned for by the " Constant," whose eruption
takes place regularly every three minutes and lasts for ten seconds ; however, in this case the water

Bt/ perinission of]

[Thf Snhi'mtl Hmhcnys of Mccico.
MITLA.

THE RUINS OF

One of the carved antechambers of the Palace of Columns. All Toltec carving is
geometrical, but nowhere is it so plentiful as at Mitla. This is probably due to the fact
that here the builders found a yellowish stone, durable yet soft, and admirably adapted
for working upon.

North America

521

rises to a height of only ten feet. This geyser is easily seen in the illustration, as is also the " Black
Growler," a steam vent, situated close beside the roadway.

Even better known than the geysers are the hot springs in the Basin, where are the " Arsenic,"
the " Congress," and the " Pearl," each distinctive and with its own share of interest ; then there
are the other attractions, which for the sake of distinguishing between the greater and the lesser
springs must be described as " pools," such as the one illustrated, the " Devil's Inkwell," or else
the " Emerald."

TTie Lotver Basin, YeLoTvstone Park. — Much has been said about the wonders of the Yellowstone
National Park, but there is much still to say ; for there is no place in the world so replete with
interest as this huge national property of three thousand three hundred and forty-eight square
miles. Amongst the chief of these wonders must be placed the Lower Geyser Basin, which includes
about seven hundred known hot springs and a score of geysers, including the famous Great
Fountain. Before passing to this splendid geyser, let us stop first at the Fountain, for although
thrown somewhat in the shade by the imposing Great Fountain, it is of itself particularly worthy of
our attention. Discharges take place every two to four hours and make a splendid spectacle, for
the mingled water and steam issue out in various jets, crossing and re-crossing each other, spreading
out like feathery fans in every direction and catching the light at various angles. In this way the
variety and beauty of the outbursts of the Fountain Geyser have gained for it the deserved
renown of being the loveliest in the Park.

But if the Fountain be the most beautiful, the Great Fountain is the most magnificent of the
geysers. It is, besides, of unusual formation, for no cone or mound is found at its mouth, but only
a large pool, which, when the geyser is at rest, represents a great peaceful spring. The discharge.

Vboto by perm'LMon o/]

[77(f Sii/.oit'il lii'Jways of Mexico.
THE RUINS OF M.TLA.

The masonry on the eastern side of the block of buildings at the entrance to the criiciform underground chami>:r. Notice the
finely carved ornamentation: probably due to the excellence of the stone, which is yellowish in cdIou". and although soft very
durable.

522

The Wonders of the World

which rises to a height of about one hundred feet, takes place in impulses following each other
in rapid succession during the duration ; after which the water remains quiet for another eight to
twelve hours, till the gathered strength causes another display of wondrous beauty — a great
fountain, indeed, and one erected by the hand of Nature.

The Firehole, a hot spring — one of the seven hundred in the Basin^ — is of interest, particularly
for the illusion which it contains. There appears to be a flame at the bottom of the clear water
contained in the spring, and this, rising towards the surface, seems to be extinguished just before
reaching the air. The peculiar effect is produced by a stream of gas issuing from the rocks at the

bottom and rising to the
surface.

The Mammoth Paint
Pots. Before leaving the
Lower Basin, we must re-
member to point out the
famous Paint Pots, or Mud
Puffs; for, besides being
remarkable formations,
they possess a curious
fascination. There are
springs of various colours
— pink, yellow, red, and a
variety of indescribable
shades. Look down into
them and you see the
tinctured mud puffing out
into bubbles, then subsid-
ing with a curious " ploff,"
and forming as it does so
rings and curves which
take the shape of flowers
or of weird creations that
baffle the imagination to
find a name for them,
ere they are lost again
in the mud. Pattern after
pattern is formed, and it
is easy to forget that
time is passing as one
watches the convolutions
in one of these Paint
Pots.

Lake Superior. — Lake Superior, though remarkable in many ways, is particularly worthy of
note on account of its vast size, for it can boast of the largest expanse of fresh water in the world.
The supply to fill this immense reservoir is drawn from two hundred rivers, which drain an area of
nearly fifty thousand square miles. The size of the lake can be better appreciated when one
remembers that Ireland could be dropped into it with the greatest ease, and even then it would be
an island sufficiently distant from the mainland of America to require a considerable marine service
for purposes of communication with the continent. Another remarkable fact is that here the
inhabitants, dwelling in the very centre of North America — as far as it is possible for man to be

From Stereo copyri<jht liy'\

THE DEVIL'S INKWELL,

[Unili'i-imod .t Under wood.
YELLOWSTONE PARK.

One of the best known of the mineral hot springs in the Park. The sinter formations
round the edges of the well take on an iridescent colouring, owing to the presence of
mineral substances in the deposit of lime.

524

The Wonders of the World

GREAT

\_H. V. White C,

YELLOW-

distant from the sea — can welcome west-bound
ships which liave made their way under their
own steam through the heart of a country to a
township distant fifteen hundred miles from the
Atlantic. This is made possible by the chain
of lakes which form part of the boundary be-
tween Canada and the United States, and
together constitute the greatest series of fresh
water formations in the world. To this is due
their collective name of the Great Lakes.

There are five altogether — Lake Ontario, Lake
Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan and Lake
Superior, varying in size from Lake Superior,
which has a surface of thirty-one thousand two-
Imndred square miles, to Lake Erie (nine thousand
nine Imndred and sixty miles). Various rapids
and falls occur at the junctions of some of the
lakes, and to circumvent these a number of canals
liave been constructed, such, for instance, as that
at Sault Ste. Marie— where Lake Superior empties
its waters into Lake Huron — or the Welland Canal
between Lakes Erie and Ontario, which was made
for the purpose of avoiding the fall of three hundred
feet between the two bodies of water represented
by the Niagara Falls and River. The waters of four

of the great lakes are forced through the narrow caiion of the river and out into the quiet Lake

Ontario, where passenger and freight boats ply between the many cities which have arisen on the

borders of this inland sea.

The last series of locks —

the Lachine Canal — bring tlie

vessels to Montreal on the

St. Lawrence River. From

this point there are no further

obstructions for vessels on

their way to and from the

Atlantic.

A great part of the traffic

is connected with the trans-
port of grain. The ships used

for tliis purpose are termed

whale-backs, and the title is

by no means inappropriate,

for they are built of steel

plates in the shape of an

elongated egg, and bear a

striking resemblance to a

whale without a tail.

The wheat is run into the

holds of these boats from the

FOUNTAIN GEYSER,
STONE PARK.
The outburst of water often rises to a height of 130 feet.

^Stereo hi/]

THE MAMMOTH PAINT FOTS.

Th.

YELLOWSTONE PARK

"Paint Pots" or "Mud Puffs" are r group of mjd springs of different
colours within a crater 40 feet in diameter.

North America

525

large grain elevators, and when they are full the hatchways~are closed down and the long journey
is commenced.

The northern shore of Lake Superior and the north and eastern shores of Lake Huron are broken
up into many hundreds of islands, varying in size from insignificant rocks to the Island of Grand
Manitoulin, eighty miles long. These are becoming more and more sought after as sites for summer
homes by the dwellers in many Canadian and United States cities. Particularly is this so in the
eastern part of Lake Huron, which is known as Georgian Bay — ^now one of the most popular holiday
districts in Ontario. It is only natural that on such large bodies of water as are contained in
these lakes there should be storms. These are most prevalent on Lake Superior, where the waves
are sometimes as great as those on the Atlantic Ocean. Fogs are also more frequently encountered
on this than on the other great lakes. One of the most conspicuous points on the shores of Lake

Photo by'] .'■''-

LAKE SUPERIOR.
This laUe can boast of the largest expanse of fresh water in the world. It is more like an inland sea, subject to violent

storms and dense fogs.

Superior is Thunder Cape, which is situated to the north. It towers to a height of two thousand
feet above the water, and watches like a silent giant the passing and re-passing of the wheat vessels
between Fort Wilham and Port Arthur, the two great shipping centres of the Canadian wheat trade.

Popocatepetl. — At a distance of about fourteen miles south-east of Mexico City, near the town
■of Amecameca, stands the volcano of Popocatepetl, one of the finest mountains in Mexico. The
peak is more than seventeen thousand feet in height, and was first ascended soon after the discovery
■of the country. The crater is over half a mile in diameter, and has a great depth, although authorities
differ as to precisely how deep it actually is. The name " Popocatepetl " means " smoking
mountain," but this is scarcely correct at the present time, as smoke is seldom seen rising from
the crater now, and there have been no eruptions for many years.

The lower slopes of the mountain are covered with forests, although at the crater the cone is snow-
capped. Here and there the ice is divided by huge deposits of sulphur. As the snow melts much of
the water runs down the inside of the crater, causing, at its base, the formation of a lake.

526

The Wonders of the World

At the foot of the eastern side of the mountain is situated a great bed of lava, known as the
" Malpoys," the bed having an area of about six square miles.

Close to Popocatepetl, and connected with it by a ridge twelve thousand feet high, is the sister
mountain of Ixtaccihuatl, the height of which is slightly less than that of the volcano.

Silk Cotton Tree, Bahama. Islands, — Every species of tree or shrub has its own distinctive
shape and generic characteristic, but thsre are few which possess so striking a form as the Ceiba,
or silk cotton tree. When once the traveller has noticed a member of this species, he is not likely to
have any difficulty in recognizing other specimens of the same family. The top of the tree spreads
out like a huge umbrella, and the branches often reach to over a hundred feet from the main stem.
The trunk itself is of huge girth, but it is the peculiar growth of the immense roots that is the
distinctive feature of the tree. These roots, diverging from the main stem long before they strike

Photo hy pet-mission of~\

POPOCATEPETL.
This volcano is the finest in Mexico, rising to a height of 17.000 feet. Its name signifies "The Smokin

Popocatepetl has been practically quiescent for many years.

\^The National Railways of Mexico,
Mountain," although

into the ground, form great buttresses and flank the tree on all sides, giving to the Ceiba the charac-
teristic appearance of unassailable strength.

Many fine specimens of this tree are to be found in the Bahama Islands, but the finest and most
perfect known is that at Nassau, situated behind the Post Office. It is said to have originally been
brought from South Carolina, but no accurate information can be obtained as to its age ; never-
theless, it must be centuries old, for a sketch of the tree made in the year 1802 might be a picture
of it as it stands to-day, so little has the passing of a century affected its appearance.

Pods grow on the tree, and from these is obtained a silk-like substance, which may be used as a
padding or stuffings for cushions, etc. This was the material that gave rise to the peculiar name
by which the tree is known.

Totem Poles of the Indians. — North America is less noted for the ruins of bygone ages which
make Europe and Asia famous ; perhaps it is because the abundance of natural wonders has caused
the works of men's hands to be forgotten. Mountains, valleys, gorges and rivers render the less

528

The Wonders of the World

obtrusive remains of Indian life unnoticed, yet in the
comparatively few relics of the past there is an interest
that must be acknowledged by even the most casual of
observers. And liere in the North tall grotesque carvings
are to be found standing on the bank of some wide river
miles away from any Indian liabitation, a silent history-
post of former revels, or power, or death.

All through the West, where forests grow and wood is
available, wliere Indian tribes have lived and hunted and
fished, we find these totem poles. Sometimes they rise to
a height of fifty or sixty feet, but more often the tops are
not more than twenty feet above the ground. In few
cases is the colouring well preserved ; sometimes only an
indication of the red, yellow, blue or black is to be found,
or else even this may have disappeared to leave just the
bare carving, much weathered, often with the pattern
scarcely discernible.

These totem poles are by no means difficult to find, for
almost every city on the Pacific Coast has at least one
good specimen close by. At Seattle, a fine, well-preserved
totem has been placed as a pillar in one of the small parks
in the heart of the

Photo i'«l [/>;■. U. W. Hhiifeldl.

TOTEM POLES. FORT WRANGELL.
A totem atnongst the Indian tribes fulfils
the same ofHce as a crest does in English
custom.

city, while in Vic-
toria, the capital of
British Colombia,
the Provincial Gov-
ernment has pre-
served a splendid
specimen in the museum of the Parliament Buildings.
Some miles north of Vancouver up the coast is the
small Indian town of Alert Bay. Here many totems may
be seen, and also some that have been painted on the
more modern Indian buildings. These are executed in
brilliant colours that at once attract the attention of
the tourist, as the boats plying between Vancouver
and Prince Rupert stop at the small wharf to land
supplies.

Every Indian tribe has two or more chief crests, ful-
filling the same purpose as family crests in Great Britain ;
these chief crests are again divided into sub-crests. Totem
poles which are made up of various crests are erected to
mark notable events, as, for instance, on a great feast.
It may be mentioned here that these feasts are often of
several days', even months', duration, and are the occasion
for the destruction of much property of the chief of the
tribe, in order that he may prove in this manner his pre-
tensions to wealth.

There are two portions to a totem ; the upper con-
sisting of the chief's crest, with sub-crests of his ancestors

From sii'i-i'o fopijriijhf hy'] [Underwood & Underwood.
TOTEM AT FORT WRANGELL.

These mysterious tribal monuments of the
old Hydah Indians are by no means uncommon
in North America

North America 529

on his father's and mother's side. The lower portion is similar, only it contains the crest of the
chief's wife, with the sub-crests of her parents.

Frequently totems consist of large tree-trunks from which the bark lias been removed and the
wood then carved with strange yet interesting figures. A face or an animal is most often depicted,
or yet again a figure which may be said to resemble neither man nor beast, or sometimes looking
like both. Usually a person will not kill or eat the animal or bird (if it be a distinct species and not
an invention), that he has as his totem, though this is not a strict rule.

Projections from the tree from which the pole has been made are quite common. Sometimes
there will be a long piece of wood inserted on one side to represent a nose, or else on the top may

TOTEM POLES. ALERT BAY. ALASKA.

Totemism is morj than a custom: it is a creed, a moral code, by which all tribal intermarriage is regrulated. Often the totems

take the form of some bird or animal which is sacred to the individual or tribe to whom the totem belongs.

be fixed a great figure of some kind ; but the eagle and the toad are the greatest favourites, being
rendered in many sizes and colourings and styles, but seldom lifelike, recognizable, or in anything
approaching correct proportions. In one case, at least, a cross-piece has been added to the top
of a totem and a pair of carved toads placed one at each end. The whale is occasionally depicted,
and frequently fishes.

There are four kinds of totems in use, namely, clan, family, sea and individual totems, and all
of these are used by each person. The clan totem is that of, and used by, the whole clan and is
the crest of the largest collection of people. This has sub-divisions known as family totems, which
may be used by all members of the same family. Then there is the individual totem, which is
different for the various members of a family, and is usually taken from some bird or animal. When
the young Indian retires to the forest and there starves himself for many days, he decides on what

530

The Wonders of the World

is to be his totem, and this is usually the living object (not human) that frequents his dreams

most often.

There are, besides the above, two sex totems which are used respectively by men and women.
The laws of intermarriage are very strict and it is prohibited that members of the same clan

should marry. With some tribes the breaking of this law has meant the paying of the penalty of

death.

The complete totem of each person is thus composed of four natural objects which are used as a

mark of the owner, and these
are painted on canoe-paddles
and other possessions. Fre-
quently large totems are
placed in front of the dwell-
ings as a sort of name-plate,
a somewhat clumsy method,
perhaps, although it has the
advantage of being readily
seen, even at a considerable
distance.

The members of a clan con-
sider themselves very closely
related, for they imagine
that they have descended
in some way from the animal
that they use as their clan
totem.

The word totem was taken
originally from the Ojibway
language, but it was adopted
by the English and has
now its particular significance
throughout the whole con-
tinent, thougli it varies in
nearly every Indian dialect.

Another use of totem poles
is for burying the common
people, whom it is customary
to burn. The ashes of the
deceased are placed in a hole
that has been made in the
base of the pole.

While only some tribes of

Indians burn their dead, the totem yet plays an important part when the dead bodies are merely

buried, for frequently the interment takes place at the foot of a totem pole, which in this way acts

as a kind of tombstone.

Ornamentation by means of these grotesque carvings is not restricted to the exterior of the

Indian dwellings, for in many cases, in Alaska and elsewhere, very fine totem decoration is observed.

The large upright pillars which support the ends of the roofs on the inside frequently are carved

with the particular crest of the occupant of the house. These ornamentations are naturally

better preserved than those exposed to the fierce ravages of the elements, but the colours

Photo copyri'jht by'] lUiidertrood A: Underieood.

A TOTEM IN ALASKA.

Totems are not only used as distinctive marlts of individuals or tribes ; they are
also erected to commemorate great feasts, or to honour the departed. This particular
totem is placed over the tomb of a medicine-man, an important personage among his
tribe.

From fVereo cnpyririhl'hy] [Undericood <£• Underuood.

THE LEAPING CHASM. WISCONSIN
It was probably the resistless force of a glacier that chiselled out these strangely eroded rocUs in the Dalies of the Wisconsin
River. Although separate from the main rock at the top, the base of this curious formation is connected with the neighbouring
cliff.

532

The Wonders of the World

though consequently retaining
more of their brilliance, are
less visible for study than
those in the outdoor sunshine.
A rather exceptional pole
is found in Alaska, where a
hole has been cut in its side
near the top and in it inserted
a carved figure of a bear with
only its head and shoulders
projecting ; marks have been
made to indicate that the
bear has climbed up to its
snug point of observation.

The greatest quantity and
best specimens of tolem poles
are found in Alaska and on
the northern coast of British
Colombia. Here they occur
in great numbers both along
the sea coast and on the
banks of many of the rivers
iiowing into the Pacific. They
are nearly always situated on
the site of an Indian village
or at some point with promi-
nent geographical features, as
a caiion or rapid.

In order that these relics
of a primitive people may
be understood and valued ac-
cordingly as historic evidence,
it should be pointed out
in conclusion that totemism
deals in particular with
rights of communication be-
tween the members of tribes,
and formulates rules as to
who may and who may not
marry. Totemism, in fact,
brings in the considerations
of the laws of heredity as
crudely understood by the various races. The social and religious laws introduced in totemism
are best encountered and studied in connection with the Red Indians of North America and
the natives of Australia, and to a certain extent in South Africa.

Leaping Chasm, Wisconsin i?fwr.-The Wisconsin River of to-day is navigable for two hundred
miles, yet it is Uttle more than a stream in comparison with its condition of existence m the remoter
ages of the earth's history, when what are now the famous Dalles of the Wisconsin River formed
the bed of a mighty river, and the crests of the sandstone hills that now rise abruptly out of the

'|»v

I'nim fitereo mpyriijlil hi/'] \_Uni3erwood ik Underwood.

THE CAVES OF BELLAMAR. CUBA.
These caves, noted for their stalactites of snowy whiteness, were discovered by a
Chinaman when searchin? for some lost tools. They have not yet been explored to
their full extent, but are known to stretch for several miles.

North America

533

surrounding level were mere islets standing out against the flood. Yet water was not the factor
that scooped out this valley in the ancient plateau. The rocks themselves, scoriated and marked
as they are, bear witness to the fact that the formation was due to an immense glacier. The
irresistible force of these masses of packed snow broke up the rocks, carried them along, and used
them as files to wear away a path in the soft sandstone. These are the causes that went to the
making of the Leaping Chasm, which is a notable monument of Nature's handiwork, for, isolated as
the pillar which forms one side of the chasm appears to be, it is, nevertheless, connected with the
main rock at the base.

Some idea of the height is gained from a comparison of the size of the man in the picture with
the total height from the valley bed to the crest of the cliff.

Betlamar Caves, Cuba. — About two and a half miles from the city of Matanzas, in Cuba,
are situated the Caves of Bellamar. Their fame has spread abroad, not so much for their size —
for they are small when compared with the Mammoth Caves of Kentucky — as for their great delicacy,
beauty and whiteness. They are glistening white as Carrara marble. At present they have
been opened to a distance of three miles, revealing halls and passages sparkling with the hanging
stalactites and the stalagmites which rise from the ground, as it would seem, in an endeavour to
reach them. When, sometimes, these stalactites and stalagmites meet and thicken out to form
massive pillars joining roof and ground, it requires but little imagination to fancy them columns
in a great cathedral crypt — the work, let us say, of some Norman artist-mason.

The largest of these halls is the Gothic Temple, which measures two hundred by seventy feet
and has a great domed ceiling.

The caves extend through the white limestone to a considerable depth, as much as five hundred
feet below the surface. They were discovered by a Chinaman, who, while working above with a

IS!^;

Photo by"]

IDoubleJay, Paije & Co.

THE ASPHALT LAKE. TRINIDAD.

An apparently limitless supply of pitch is to be (ound in this lake. The thick viscous substance gradually cools as it gets
farther away from the centie lake, till at the edges it is become a hard stone-like substance.

534

The Wonders of the World

crowbar, suddenly lost his tool in the ground, and in his search chanced upon these hidden treasure-
halls of the earth.

Pitch Lake of Trinidad. — The island of Trinidad — next to Jamaica the most important in
the West Indies — possesses several interesting natural objects, but the one to which most attention
is turned is La Brea, the great Pitch Lake. This lake, besides being a sight for tourists, is a source
of considerable revenue to the Government, who receive a royalty on all exported asphalt. Not
only is the lake composed chiefly of asphalt, but the surrounding country also seems to be im-
pregnated with it. Fortunately, this has not had a bad effect on the soil, which is extremely fertile.

The lake itself is circular in shape and about one mile across, having an approximate area of

Photo by]

[_Thf Del roil Photographic Co.

THE ASPHALT LAKE. TRINIDAD.

A certain tax is levied by the Government on every ton of pitch taken out of the lalcc. which, although it has been
exploited for several years, has not sunk to any appreciable degree.

one hundred acres. The centre is an almost liquid mass, bubbling and viscous, the latter increasing
towards the edges, where the pitch is almost hard. The hot sun has the effect of somewhat softening
the pitch, so that anything thrown on to the surface readily makes an impression. This surface is
very uneven, containing many small hills where the pitch has been forced up, allowing water to collect
in the channels. After pitch has been removed from the lake to a depth of about a foot, the soft,
viscous mass below rises to fill the hole, and again the surface hardens.

Attempts have been made to calculate the quantity of asphalt in the lake, but no definite
statement can be made on the point, as there is no certainty as to the depth to which the pitch
descends. Although the industry has been carried on for some years, there is but a slight alteration
in the level of the lake.

536

The Wonders of the World

There is an interesting natural phenome-
non to be seen in the district near the
lake. The road to La Brea has been con-
structed on a bed of asphalt, and the latter
has commenced to move very slowly away
from the lake, mucli in the same way as a
glacier slides down a mountain.
^^^^ ^^^H-' ''''^';^^^^H Some authorities state that the pitch lake

L^^V^^^^K,:. ^'I^^^^l ^" Venezuela is far more extensive, since it
I ^B ^^^^^ "^IS^^^I ^'^^ about ten times the area, but it is
f ^g ^^^Ki^^lj^^^l gs"ei"ally thought that its depth is by no
M V ^^^HHH^^^^H nieans as great as that of La Brea.
■ m ^^^HHf^^^R^^I Rocky) Mountains. — If the great chain of

I m ^^P^l^ ,^^^1 mountains which extends from Alaska to

<^ 'f ^B __^^^^^^^ Cape Horn were divided into two equal parts,

we would find in the northern part, following
the Pacific coast of North America, the Rocky
Mountains.

These mountain ranges are the back-
bone, not of a country, but of a continent ;
they enclose world-famous valleys and rivers ;
their great rugged heights are fabulously
rich in mineral resources, yet they are scarcely
ever explored ; nothing is traversed, unless,
perhaps, by the explorer and prospector,
but the very edges of these ranges, where
the hill-slopes are clothed with forests of
cedar and pine.

Nevertheless for some years railways have

been gradually penetrating further into the

midst of the mountains, and more wonders are

being exposed to the view of the traveller.

Only a decade or so back the world in general

was ignorant of these hidden beauties, but now

each succeeding year records some advance

into these hitherto inaccessible regions.

With more tlian two thousand miles of mountains, the scenery is varied. In the northern

extremity in Alaska there is the land of glaciers, a realm wholly under the spell of ice and snow,

which, as we progress further north, develops into a country subject to arctic conditions, for the

mountains terminate close to the Arctic Circle.

As if forming a natural contradiction to any thought of perpetual cold, the summer brings forth
within the northern cities great beds of flowers of most brilliant colourings to vie with and even
surpass the products of the more sheltered valleys of the soutli.

The Rocky Mountains abound with lakes, some large, some small, some high up the mountain-
side, others in the valleys below. One example will show the beauties of many.

At the foot of a great glacier lies Lake Louise ; and in its deep, unruffled waters are mirrored
the beauties of surrounding Nature, high peaks tipped with snow, brown rocks and green pine forests
blending together with the blue sky above.

As if to bring outside~civilization to the very heart of this wild land of mountains, the traveller

J'/iofo by} [Nat man ti- .Son.

THE TWIN FALLS. YOHO VALLEY.
One of the most beautiful of Ainerica's falls, set in the midst
of a scene of mountain grandeur. Notice the deep channels worn
by the river in the cliff.

North America

537

finds that at the northern extremity of the lake a chalet has been built, and here he can gain rest
and wonderment over and above sufficient for any man's desires.

This lake, which, year by year, is gaining greater fame the world over as one of the finest gems
to be found in a continent noted for grandeur and loveliness, is a drive of but a few miles from
the town of Laggan, in Canada. The road passes through one of the wide mountain valleys
and terminates at the lake whose mysterious loveliness and magnetic fascination lie not in one,
but many, fine views over the expanse of water.

Near by us is a trail up the side of a mountain. Up and up the path rises, revealing in its progress
scene after scene, each one finer than the one before, and giving promise of yet another spectacle,
something different, more vast and awe-inspiring, a scene beyond the limits of a man's
expectations.

Coming out at last some hundreds of feet above Lake Louise, and crossing a rock-strewn path,
we stand on the edge of another lake, smaller and entirely different. The trees have all vanished,
and here we are confronted with what resembles a huge pool resting in a large stone basin, rather
than a lake.

Turning round, the scene changes from a picture at one's very feet to a distant panorama, the
reproduction of which baffles the photographer and leaves the landscape-artist to meditate on the
impossibihty of depicting such a view. There, some feet lower down the mountain-side, is another
lake surrounded by dark green trees, and yet farther away, and hundreds of feet below this, again

r - - - ■ ■ - . ■- V . • ^

Photo by'\

[N. P, Kdwards,

THE EFFECTS OF AN AVALANCHE

In a land where deep masses of snow often collect above the wooded zone of the mountain side, such phenomena as thlj
are not unccn^mon; but the destruction of forest life so often caused by an avalanche is appalling.

538

The Wonders of the World

Lake Louise is seen at its extremity ; and yonder,
a mere speck in the distance, is the chalet we left
such a sliort time before.

Looking up, there appears to be a line of
low white clouds in the distant heavens. A
second glance reveals the fact that it is the snow-
covered crest of mountains, not of some other
range, but on the opposite side of this great valley,
the magnitude of which was not appreciable from
our low station on the shores (now far below us)
of Lake Louise.

Mount Robson. — In the province of British
Columbia, near the Alberta boundary, and not
many miles from the source of the Fraser River,
stands Mount Robson, a mountain unknown
until a few years ago. For long ages it had
been lost on account of its distance from civili-
zation, but now that the steel rails of the new
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway are passing right
at its very base, the lovers of Nature are brought
into touch with the very heart of unspoiled
wonderland, where mountain, glacier, lake and

MOUNT ROBSON.
A view of the mountain taken at close range.

one great mass of wild

stream meet
beauty.

The general awakening of the world to the
beauties of Mount Robson was soon followed by the
news of its conquest by man. On August 13th,
1909, the Rev. G. R. B. Kinney, of the Alpine Club
of Canada, after several previous failures, succeeded
in reaching the peak of the mountain. Weather
and circumstances did not permit of more than a
few moments' glance at the magnificent panorama
below, for the explorer and his party were almost
at once surrounded by a storm. Short, however,
as was the glimpse of the Fraser River eleven
thousand feet below, it was one worth days of hard-
ship and weeks of delay. There, far beneath
them, were the tops of mountains, which, from the
level of the railway tracks, appeared as rocky
towers extending up into the very clouds. Now,
looking down from the altitude of the great peak
of Mount Robson, they appeared as islands in
a sea of clouds, and the mists when cleared away,
like a receding tide, disclosed to view more of the
rocky structure below the snow-capped summits.

Photo by permission of] IThf Grand Trunk Pacific naihmy.

MOUNT ROBSON.

A. glacier on the east side. The size of the man in the fore-

eround indicates its vastness.

North America

539

Crater Lake. — Formed in the crater of an extinct volcano in the Oregon National Park is Crater
Lake, one of the many beautiful and wonderful lakes to be seen in the Cascade Range.

The lake is enclosed by a steep wall of rock, the height varying from about five hundred to two
thousand feet, with but few openings. It is about iive miles across, and has a depth of two thousand
feet. It is said to be the deepest fresh-water lake on the North American continent.

The lake itself is over six thousand feet above sea-level, and is of an ultramarine colour.
Originally there was an absence of hfe in the water, but fish have recently been introduced. The
water is quite fresh, although no inlet or outlet is perceptible.

In the centre of the lake, rising like some great cone over eight hundred feet above the level
of the water, stands
Wizard Island.

Coral ReefSf Bermuda.
— ^The Coral Reefs of
Bermuda are particularly
interesting, on account
of the fact that they
are farther from the
Equator than any other
reefs of comparatively
recent formation. The
amount of coral in the
Atlantic Ocean is small
compared with that in
the Pacific, where coral
formations surround the
many islands which dot
that ocean.

The Bermudas con-
sist of a large number
of islands, but only
nine are inhabited, the
majority being but coral
reefs with a small area
projecting above the level
of the sea. Although
the formation is so
rocky, there is a fertile
deposit on the surface suitable for vegetation. In the poorer soil a proportion of coral
sand is found.

The areas of the islands are so small that altogether they only amount to twenty square miles.
They are supported by a mountain resting on the bed of the ocean, the summit of which is below
the surface. The coral formation has grown around the mountain until, projecting above the
surface, islands have been formed. Most of these are shaped like rings, with lagoons in the centre,
the reason for this being generally attributed to the more rapid growth of the coral on the outer edge,
as this is the first part to reach the surface.

The islands consist of brown coral sand and white limestone, surrounded by a hving coral reef.
The minute marine animals fasten themselves on to the rocks, and then absorb lime from the water.
This is formed into their skeletons, on which, in turn, others fasten and die. In this way the
islands of the Bermuda have slowly come into being in the Atlantic Ocean.

From Stereo copyriijhi bt/} {Underwood & Underwood.

CRATER LAKE, OREGON.
This lake lies on the summit of the Cascade Mountains, and occupies the hollow caused by
the sinking of an extinct volcano. It is 2,000 feet deep, and its waters are of a pariicularly deep
clear blue.

540

The Wonders of the World

The Pyramid of the Sun. — The ruins of a mighty city are situated thirty miles north of the City
of Mexico, on the Vera Cruz Railway. They are all that is left of Teotihuacan, one of the chief
centres of Toltec or pre-Aztec civilization.

Various conjectures have been made as to the date of its foundation, some ascribing it to the
time of the Totonacs, others to that of the fourth of the nine mysterious kings of the Toltecs. The

foundations of this ancient

city have
of twenty
two chief
place, the
cated to

a circumference
miles, and the
temples of the
Pyramids dedi-
the worship of

04«uWffwwaSf««AtfMV9:>«n«»V.v'

Tonatiuh and Metztli, the
Sun and the Moon, are still
extant. The greater of
these temples is that of
the Sun, which stands on
a base six hundred and
eighty - two feet square.
It is in the form of a
truncated pyramid, reaching
to a height of one hundred
and eighty feet, and is sup-
posed originally to have been
surmounted with a colossal
stone statue of the Sun-God,
whose breast was covered
with a plaque of polished
gold. This gold breastplate
was intended to catch the
first rays of the rising sun,
so that the figure should shine
out in awe-inspiring splen-
dour, a worthy representa-
tion of the great Tonatiuh.

The Pyramid of the
Moon is somewhat smaller,
and is connected with that
of the Sun by the " Path
of the Dead." On either
hand of this route, strewn
thickly over the plain for
an area of about nine
miles, are the tumuli of the departed ; this, perhaps, was the reason for the naming
street the " Path of the Dead," although it is not improbable that the name was

The religion of

Photo by']

THE CORAL ROCK
The whole of this group of islands
are chiefly of the "organ-pipe" variety,
life-work of many scores of animaiculae.

FORMATIONS. BERMUDA,
may be said to be composed of coral,
one single *' stem *' of which is the

\_Iiau,

The rocks
result of the

square

of the

derived from the circumstance that here was the road for all religious processions

these people was barbarous in the extreme ; life was of little price, and thousands of victims were

slaughtered annually to their rapacious', gods. The processions, therefore, invariably consisted

chiefly of unhappy victims doomed to an inhuman sacrifice, and to these, indeed, as well as to those

who witnessed the progress, this road was a "_Path of the Dead."

V" ^ r:S

Photos by permission o/] [7V(^ Mexican liailicai/ Co.

THE PYRAMID OF THE SUN.
This splendid monument of the Toltec occupation of Mexico was erected at Teotihuacan foi the worship of the Sun. On it«
summit was a stone figure of the deity with a golden breast-plate, intended to catch the first rays of the morning: aun. Like
every Toltec tenriple. it was the scene of much human sacrifice.

542

The Wonders of the World

By the word " pyramid," the reader must not be misled into thinking that the formation was
similar to the better-known structures of ancient Egypt. Rather, these temples were a series of
square terraces, one on the top of the other, gradually diminishing in size, as the accompanying
illustration clearly shows. A series of steps in the centre led from terrace to terrace until the
final pyramid was reached. Here were the stone figures of the gods and the horrible humped
stone of sacrifice. It was up these steps that the victim was led, sumptuously arrayed,
garlanded, and attended by a noble retinue. On the humped stone he was stretched, with his
bosom bared for the priest. In an instant the sacrificial knife ripped out the heart, which,
bleeding and palpitating, was offered as a peace-offering to the god. The body of the victim was
then hurried away to be eaten, and as these poor unfortunates were generally prisoners of war, it
was the captor who claimed the spoil.

But all that is known of these early monuments in Mexico is slight and uncertain. Of accurate
history there is scarcely a record, and conjecture has to fill up the blanks in this " ancient tale."
The result is that there are many unsolved puzzles in Teotihuacan ; for instance, the whole of the

■- i'lioio by pertHiuioii of}

IThe Sphere.

A TYPICAL ICEBERG OFF THE LABRADOR COAST.

space within the borders of the city was overlaid with three successive layers of concrete floors,
for what reason it is impossible to say ; again, myriads of tiny clay heads, some of which are clearly
imitations of the prevailing types of natives, have been turned up by the plough. The use and
significance of these little figures have never been ascertained. Let us hope that before long a
discovery may be made which will give us a clue to the meaning of these mysteries.

Icebergs of the Arctic Ocean. — The iceberg of the Arctic Ocean is indeed a wonder, and one
that can rank with the very few natural objects that are untouched by the hand of man, and
unspoiled by any attempt to beautify. In its journey southward from the cold waters of the Arctic
seas down to the oceans warmed beneath a tropical sun, it undergoes a process of constant change ;
pieces break off and the warmer wate-s and air cause it to diminish and grow feeble, until at last
it dies away, returning to its original state of hmpid water, from which perhaps it will some day
be again transformed to the marble-like beauty of an iceberg and float a cathedral of whitest
pinnacles and towers on the dark waters of mid-ocean. It is impossible to say of an iceberg what
is often said by the traveller of the temples and cathedrals that are made with hands : " I shall visit
it again, and in a fuller manner study its beauties ; " for no anchor chains it to its place, it has the

Photo hy permission of'\

[The Sphere.

AN ICEBERG NEAR ST. JOHN

Photo hy permission ofl

[The Sphere.

AN ICEBERG OFF FRANCIS STRAIT. LABRADOR

544

The Wonders of the World

whole sea in which to roam. But there is no difficulty in saying where these ever-changing icebergs
will be found, if visited in the right season. A trip across the Atlantic in certain months will
most likely reward the traveller with at least a glimpse of some magnificent icebergs when off the
Newfoundland and Labrador coasts. Sometimes they resemble a seal resting on a mass of rock,
and at other times a great white bird with extending wings ; or yet again, an arch or massive
gateway, a castle with polished walls and towers.

These bergs are, to the passer-by, beautiful, but to the thoughtful man they reveal a special
wonder as he considers that only a fraction of the ice is above water, and that down below the
surface is a block, a veritable foundation for the structure that is apparent.

In winter, along the coast of Labrador, are found great floating icefields, brought down from

Photo hp permission of] [T/ie Sphere.

A LARGE BERG OFF THE NEWFOUNDLAND COAST.
Large as the berg appears above water, it must be remembered that four times its apparent mass is hidden beneath the waves.

the north, while in the summer much of the coast is blocked with icebergs of vast size and great
beauty. There are gaps between these which allow the fishing vessels to pass in and out of the
numerous harbours along the coast.

Ice Grottos. — Amongst the many beautiful formations of ice, mention must be made of the ice
grottos. These are formed by great masses of packed snow, often at the foot of a glacier. But it
is not so much the formation that is marvellous as the effect of light that an ice-cavern produces.
Anyone who has entered one of these grottos has received an impression lie is never likely to forget.
For there is nothing comparable to the blue light that fills the caves. It is unearthly in its depth
and brilliancy. Sometimes it gives place to the vivid green of the cat's-eye ; but always it is
dazzling and bewildering, and when the traveller emerges once again into the white light of day he
feels that he has just passed out of the ante-chambers of the skies.

{By the Photochrom Co., Ltd.)

THE FALLS OF NIAGARA IN WINTER.

The Horseshoe Falls as they appear from the Canadian side, when winter has frozen to silence its mighty rush of
waters, and transformed the spray to a myriad of crystals on rock and tree.

North America

545

Niagara Falls. — Long regarded as one of the wonders of the modern world, Niagara Falls has lost
none of its charm and supremacy in public estimation as the years have progressed. It is more
popular to-day than ever, and its number of visitors, both on the American and the Canadian sides,
is constantly increasing, many of whom come embued with the spirit expressed by Nathaniel
Hawthorne :

" Niagara is a wonder of the world, and not the less wonderful because time and thought must
be employed in comprehending it. Casting aside all preconceived notions, and preparation to be
dire struck or delighted, the beholder must stand beside it in the simplicity of his heart, suffering the
mighty scene to work its own impression. Night after night, I dreamed of it, and was gladdened
every morning by the consciousness of a growing capacity to enjoy it."

The fact that geologists and other scientists have written learned monographs of not scores,
but hundreds, of pages to account for the present condition of the Falls should deter the reader from
expecting too detailed an answer to all the questions he might like to ask, or that will occur to
him. One of the most careful writers has thus succinctly stated the main proposition, however,
which gives reasonably satisfactory explanations :

When even Time was young, a mighty ice-cap, mountains thick, covered the northern part of
the continent. In melting along its southern edge, it formed the body of water which has since
separated itself into the system of great lakes now known as Ontario, Erie, Huron and Michigan. The
flood of waters sought outlets — naturally toward the south — and found them, first through the
Mississippi Valley and then through the lowlands of the Mohawk. Later, as the ice-caps farther
north melted, the rushing torrent made
a path St. Lawrence way. When the
ice had finally disappeared and the
various lakes had reached their level,
Ontario was many feet below Lake
Erie, and the two were separated by
a great watershed. As the lakes must
have a sufficient outlet, the waters
wore through the upper part of the
barrier and plunged over the water-
shed forming what is now the Falls
and the Niagara River.

But all this was centuries ago, and
wise men tell us that the river made
its first great leap at a point about
where we find Lewiston and Queenston.
Time and the swirling waters have
worn away the rocks back to the
present location of the cataract. This
wearing away process has done curious
things, and many and varied are the
theories. One supposition is that in
its rush the river encountered many
islands. Earthy ones could not with-
stand the force and gradually dis-
appeared, while rocky ledges held their Hy permission o/-\ me omano aorenimem.
Q^n TUNNEL IN A ROCK BORED BY THE NIAGARA RIVER.

,.,,., . •■ This bore is situated twelve miles below the piescnt site ot the Falls.

An illustration shows a natural ^^^ ^,^^^|^ ^^^^^^ ,^^^ ^^^ ^_^,_,^^^, .^ ^.^j^^,,^ „,„;„, , p,,h .hrou.h .he
tunnel bored by the waters of the rocky plateau of its higher level.

546

The Wonders of the World

Niagara and twelve miles below the present location of the Falls, clearly showing the retrogression
that has taken place.

It is reasonable to believe that there was once an island similar to Goat Island at the " parting
of the ways " — the whirlpool rapids on one side, and on the other the deep ravine which scientists
say was the old bed of the river. The theory is that this island was made up partly of soft material
and partly of a great shaft of limestone. In time the former was washed away, and after a while
the rocky backbone toppled over, blocking the path of the waters, sending them down the right-
hand way and thus abandoning the original course. The turbulent stream, meeting with the rocky
barrier, was thrown back on one side and whirled about, completely washing out the yielding
material which has left the huge basin of limestone where the left-hand current goes round and
round and forms the great cauldron which we call the Whirlpool. After a time this struggling part
of the stream finds a way out of the maelstrom, joins the right-hand current and leaps and plunges

Photo by permission of'\

IThe Sphere.

NIAGARA BY NIGHT.
This pholograph shows the wonderful effect obtained by the illumination ot the Falls by night.

along. It is also supposed that the stream carried on much of the debris, and finding another rocky
ledge on the left, deposited there the shale-like material, making the point of lowlands called Foster's
Flats, which is a short distance below the Whirlpool. Here the river found a course with greater
difftculty, but the mad waves have succeeded in dashing through the Gorge, the narrowest part of
the seven-mile path which Niagara has taken thirty-five thousand years to wear away. Gradually
the bed widens and the pent-up torrents leap as highly and plunge as deeply, but withal more
joyously, until broadening out at Lewiston on the right and Queenston on the left, they present
a calm surface whose little eddies look like dimples in a smiling face.

But it is not with the history of the Niagara region that these pages must principally deal. The
scenic features are those that attract our attention. He who sees Niagara from one view-point must
not think he has thereby exhausted the scene. Nay, he has but begun what should be a perpetual
deUght. Naturally there are certain specific places from which the photographs have been taken that
have familiarized the world with definite views of the great cataract, but these should be considered
as but starting-points for personal explorations which shall discover new, startling, delightful and

548

The Wonders of the World

thrilling aspects. The view from Prospect Park is
entirely different from that of the Canadian side.
Goat Island divides the Falls into two great divisions
— the Horseshoe Falls and the American Falls. The
former is by far the more majestic, grand and scenic.
The curve of the rock over which the water descends
gives a charm to it that is lost in the simpler and
more uniform flow of the American Fall. Yet if
one could see but the latter he would go away
overwhelmed with the conception of its tremendous
beauty.

The bridge from the mainland to Goat Island
affords one the opportunity of standing close to the
lip, or edge, of the Fall in a variety of places, and
there the stun and roar of it almost overwhelm the
senses.

But to the generality of people, however, the most
thrilling experience is to ride in the tiny steamer,
The Maid of the Mist, and come close to the boiling
waters at the foot of the Fall. The passengers are
taken aboard on both sides of the river, and then the
brave little steamer, bobbing up and down like a cork,
now and again swathed in mist and spray made
brilliantly opalescent by the rays of the sun, ploughs
her way through the seething and pouring waters to-
wards the Falls. The ears are deafened and the senses
awed into forgetfulness of everything else by the

powerful majesty of it all, and the human mind

is, indeed, insensible to outward impressions if

it can experience this trip without deep emotion.
It is in winter, however, when the wizardry of

the touches of King Frost is seen on every hand

that one appreciates anew the powers of Nature

to produce the delicate and beautiful.

Imagine, if you can, the most dehcate twigs,

shrubs, bushes and great trees, big rocks and

shapely raihngs, all hewn from purest marble.

Conceive of the beauty and whiteness, and finish

them with the most clever touches that a hand

more skilled than man's is able to give to them.

Picture this all in reahty ; and, over all, the

smothered roar of the cataract, as though angered

at the apparent effort of winter's grasp to make it

prisoner. Each day the superb whiteness is re-
newed in all its purity, and thus, while it lasts,

the spectacle is one of dazzHng beauty. In fact,

Niagara in winter is fairyland's very self. ''''"" •'«"■«<' copyright by-^ [//. c. wnue co.

T , • ,, J f ^ ™ T .,1,^ JTr-;^ o i-r-^ HORSESHOE FALLS. NIAGARA.

In time there comes down from Lake brie a tre- ^, , , , ,

These rorm the most majestic rush or waters or any part

mendous floe of ice. It covers the Upper Niagara, of the Fails.

Ffom stereo copyn<jht hy'\ \^Umiertcood d: l/ndei-uood.

THE KING OF ICICLES, NIAGARA.

One of the immense icicUs that hang ovei the rocky
ledge of the Niagara cliff

North America

549

from the Falls to the lake, and. plunging over the precipice into the gorge, lodges in the eddies close
by, soon forming a bridge over the rapid-running stream with its small pieces of ice. These pieces
are caught in a jam by the rushing waters, and before many hours venturesome humanity is
speeding across it from shore to shore, from country to country. The Niagara ice-bridge is a
mystifying structure, and it is diihcult to understand how tiny particles of ice can form
a bridge of such wonderful strength over a roaring river like the Niagara. The bridges
are not formed by the stream freezing over, but rather by the ice flakes that are tossed up
in the air and then held in suspension on the surface of the river, which rushes along
at its customary flow below. Deep crevices form in the bridge, each one reveaHng the mar-
vellous creation of the mass, for one may look far down into them and not see any water. But
as one walks to and fro he soon discovers why this ice mass is called a bridge. It really is a
bridge, for at the foot of the Falls the water is seen boiling, bubbling, seething, roaring, as it dashes
underneath where the sightseer stands. Then a quarter of a mile down the gorge the water emerges
again from under the ice-bridge in great swirls and pools, bringing blocks of ice along, which it
dashes down towards the rapids and whirlpools below. When it is evident tliat the ice-bridge is
substantial, many rough wooden shanties are erected on its surface, between the two shores, and
the view of the Falls of Niagara from the centre of this ice-bridge is one never to be forgotten.
It is beyond description !

Photo hy] ["• "■ ^'"<'-

NIAGARA. THE HORSESHOE FALLS IN WINTER.
For many weeks a wide stretch of these Falls is {rozen over, and myriads of icicles hang over the precipice. Day after day the
glacial beauty of the congealed sprjy covers rock and tree, and this white silence is broken only by the smothered roar of
the cataract.

550

The Wonders of the World

No fairy-tale ever described more exquisite and delicate beauty. The spray fills the air, as in
summer, but is immediately crystaUized into ice on twigs, limbs and tree-trunks, until they seem
to be living things made of ice. When the sun shines they become trees of diamonds, opals,
garnets, gems of every colour, tint and shade, shot with living fire that dances and scintillates
as the wind makes the branches move. Rainbows are scattered here and there, as if in a
tangled heap, and all the colours of flowers, sunrises and sunsets are mingled and interwoven in
rich and glowing splendour. The trees give forth strange and peculiar sounds, sometimes cracking
like the firing of pistols, again squeaking, creaking and scraping as the ice is rubbed by the
movements caused by the wind.

Icicles form on every hand, and some of these are a hundred or more feet high. The " king
of the icicles " is the one that forms where the rocks overhang and there is a large space between
the rock above and the floor beneath. It is of a unique and strange style of architecture never
dreamed of by man ; fretted, ribbed, tooled, embossed, with offshoots, long and short, pointed
and stubby, pure white, creamy yellow, or water crystal, but all uniting to make that one fantastic
and peculiar Moorish, Persian, Arabian and Gothic pillar, plus elements foreign and strange to all
these styles, and yet harmonizing in the one vivid, bizarre and beautiful column that Nature offers
as a sample of her individualistic powers.

How the snow and icicles change their appearance ! Here and there the black of a tree-trunk
still exposed gives vivid contrast, and the blue, green and black water, ever pouring, ever moving
towards the lip of the Falls, with its rising spray, adds living charm to the picture.

Perhaps the most wonderful view of all the Falls afford is to see it from the rear in the Cave
of the Winds. To enter this cave, one crosses to Goat Island to the dressing-house, where one
exchanges his ordinary clothing for a special suit. Then, in company with a guide, he circles down
the cliff by a small, winding staircase, occasionally losing his breath as the spray dashes over him.
until he emerges upon a ledge of rock, with the dark green waters of the river below and a vertical

Fholo by'] il'he Detroit Photographic Co.

THE WHIRLPOOL RAPIDS. NIAGARA.

A hard shaft of limestone has turned the flow of the river from its straight course, and has caused the swirling waters, as

they flow downwards, to curve out a sharp bend to the right.

Fhoto i/y]

IThe Delroil Pliotographic Co
THE HORSESHOE FALLS, NIAGARA.
ThisLphotograph of these tremendous Falls is taken from the foot of the Stairway

552

The Wonders of the World

Photo by'i

THE PETRIFIED FOREST OF ARIZONA.

iVmirricooil <(■ Undericood.

Over ten square miles of country is covered with these fallen trees and stumps, which, in the course of ages of

petrifaction, have become solid masses of stone.

wall of granite towering above. Another score of steps brings him in front of the sheet of water
which curtains the cave. It is about one hundred and fifty feet in height, and as much in breadth,
and descends between Goat and Luna Islands. It is well that the new-comer generally is in ignorance
as to the sensations he will experience as he enters the cave. Standing there and looking in, he
observes a patch of blue sky at the further side, and all the space between is one mass of criss-
crossing blasts of sleet, shooting like frightened comets hither and thither, as if in wild terror.
Taking a few steps forward, the battery of the Fall seems to have descended upon his head — yet it
is merely a few drops, comparatively speaking — and for some moments Terror grips the throat. Then
Beauty asserts her power to charm, in spite of discomfort and fear ; for immediately around his feet
rainbows form — one, a great circle, through which he descends to the rocks beneath. Everything
seems black and forbidding. The rocks are shppery, and he clings desperately with hands and toes
wherever he can. Half blinded, quite deafened, gasping for breath, he wishes he hadn't come ;
and then all at once the curving inner surface of the falling water attracts the eye, the sun
making it half translucent and filling it with fire and shifting rainbow- colours. Ah ! how grand,
and at the same time how beautiful ! Now he looks around and sees the black-terraced rocks,
bathed in sleet, of which the cave is formed. Then, as full courage returns, he walks fearlessly to
the Fall, even into the water itself, for there is no danger of being " sucked in," the rebound
driving him the other way. Here are sensations and emotions never dreamed of before. The
deluge is occurring before his eyes and he is a fascinated prisoner.

The real delight of this trip, however, is experienced on leaving the Cave on the rocks in front
of the Falls. Here are rainbows, half rainbows, quarter rainbows, literally at your fingers' ends,
" around your head, bathing your feet, and the pot of gold has become a cauldron of molten silver,
foaming and rushing about your knees, and tugging at you with an invitation that is irresistible."

North America

553

By far the best way to see the river below, the Gorge and the Whirlpool with its Rapids,
is to take the round trip ride on the electric railway. It is a two hours' trip, every moment
of which is full of interest and fascination. The rapids above the Upper Whirlpool are the chief
feature of the lower Niagara. They are far wilder, more turbulent, more dominating than those
above the Falls. Take a stop-over from the car and descend to the rocks overlooking the seething,
boiling mass, and sit down. As you watch the leaping tongues of white-lipped water soaring high
into the air, you will recall those lines of Matthew Arnold :

" Now the wild white horses play
Champ and chafe and toss the spray."

Then suddenly the roar and rage ceases as the waters enter the Whirlpool. Here is a calmness,
a dignity, a solemnity that awes the beholder. The excitement of the Rapids is gone. This brings
a sense of stately restfulness over the feelings, just as one might experience in suddenly leaving a
mercurial Spanish dancer, leaping high in air and striking her castanets or tambourine, and being
ushered into the presence of a tragedy queen. The whole river is caught in a circular trap of massive
rock. It is a circle without an outlet. Yet it is no seething maelstrom of maddened waters,
furiously raging at their confinement. No ! it is as if the great prisoner had calmly accepted his
imprisonment and deliberately settled down with kingly dignity to circle his allotted treadmill task.
How strong it is ; how majestic ; how fascinating ; how suggestive ! To me the Whirlpool is the
outward manifestation of the steady, calm, resistless power within the soul of a strong man that
keeps him at a thankless task because it should and must be done.

Fmm Slei-eo copyright by] [UndericooA <f Underwood.

LOOKING ACROSS A DESERT OF THE PETRIFIED FOREST OF ARIZONA.

Hundreds of thousands of these remains of trees arc scattered over this desert, which is composed of sand. clay, and volcanic ash.

Certain portions of the trees have changed in the course of mineralization to chalcedony and agate and onyx.

554

The Wonders of the World

Photo }iy^ {^The Detroit J'hototjraphic Co.

THE BRIDGE. PETRIFIED FOREST, ARIZONA.

This tree-trunk lies across a canyon and is the completest fossil in the forest, measuring III feet. It should be observed that

it has no branches, and this peculiarity, noticeable in all the rennains. has given rise to much speculation amongst scientists.

From every standpoint — scenic, geologic, scientific — Niagara is interesting and alluring, and no
traveller can be deemed " educated " until he has beheld it, studied it, and in a greater or less
degree, come under its spell.

The Petrified Forest of Arizona.. — The Petrified Forest is certainly one of the " wonders of the
world." It is an area over ten miles square, covered with fallen trees, generally broken into
somewhat irregular lengths, scattered in all conceivable positions, and in fragments of all sizes,
the sections varying from two to twenty feet long, and in some places piled up and looking almost
Hke a lot of children's cart-wheels jumbled up together.

This Petrified Forest area is about twenty miles from Holbrook, Apache County, Arizona, and
while it is all one area, it is naturally subdivided into five parts, commonly known as the " Petrified
Forest," " Chalcedony Park " and " Lithodendron (stone trees) Valley," the Blue Forest and
North Sigillaria Forest. The further we go, the greater the quantity of specimens found, until at
last we are surrounded literally by millions of pieces. Some of the fossil trees are well preserved,
and of these the exposed part will measure as much as from one hundred and fifty to two hundred
feet in length and from two to four and a half feet in diameter. The roots of some are fully ex-
posed, and the diameter of these portions is not less than ten or twelve feet.

On the other side of one of the slopes we come to the interesting Petrified Bridge. This consists
of a great petrified tree-trunk lying across a canyon and forming a natural foot-bridge on which
men may easily cross. I have ridden across it on horseback. This bridge is on the north-east
side of one of the " mesas " near its rim. The trunk is in an excellent state of preservation, and
is complete to the base, where it is partially covered, though it shows clearly the manner in which
the roots were attached while the tree was still growing. The total length of the tree that is

556

The Wonders of the World

exposed is one hundred and eleven
feet, and as the canyon across
which it hes measures, at this
point, exactly forty-four feet be-
tween the points on which the
tree rests, more than sixty feet of
the upper part of the tree lies out
upon the left bank of the canyon.
At about the middle of the canyon
the tree measures ten feet in cir-
cumference, giving a diameter of
about three feet. Its diameter at
the base is about four feet, and
at the extreme summit is reduced
to about eighteen inches. It is
possible that the tree when grow-
ing measured one hundred and
seventy-five feet or two hundred
feet in height.

As the accompanying photo-
graph shows, most of the trees
have been split across into sections
or blocks. There are four of these
transverse cracks in the tree of the
Petrified Bridge.

A great many scientific and other
writers have stated that there are
a number of stumps to be found
standing erect, with their roots in
the ground, showing that they
were growing and were buried and
petrified on the spot. But those
who, like myself, have rambled
over these forest areas many times during the past thirty years know that there is not found
a single tree-stump so situated.

There are several theories propounded as to how this Petrified Forest came into existence, but
this is the theory which alone seems satisfactory :

Many, many millions of years ago, in the far-away dim ages of what geologists call Triassic and
Mesozoic times, these trees grew, just as trees grow in our forests to-day. Evidently the climatic
conditions were such in those far-away early days as to be highly suitable for tree growth, or these
great trees could never have attained the height and size in which we find them. Those were the
days in which the world was in the process of making, and earthquakes, uplifts, and subsidences
of the earth's surface were much more common than they are now, since the crust of the earth has
become more stable. In some convulsion of Nature — possibly a great tornado or flood — the whole
forest-area where these trees grew was flooded to such an extent and for so long a period of time
that the roots of the trees rotted and allowed the trees to fall, or else the flood was so tremendous
in force that it washed away the earth around the tree-roots and tore up the trees themselves,
floating them away from the place where they grew to this region where we now find them. The
reason we assume they were thus carried away from the place where they originally grew is the

Pholo ly] [C. C. Pierce <t Co.

THE EAGLE-S HEAD. PETRIFIED FOREST.
One of the strange formations to be found in the "petrified" area of
Arizona. It is due in all probability to the volcanic disturbances that at one
time must have prevailed in this region.

North America

557

fact that most careful searching has failed to find few, if any, branches of the trees, and but

very few of the cones that they used to bear. It is assumed, therefore, that the branches were

broken off by the turbulent movements of the flood, and that when the damming up of the

course of the stream occurred, which located the trees where we now find them, the lighter

branches and cones were carried away on the surface of the swirling waters.

It seems very probable that all the trees, lodged in a place where they could not escape, were

submerged in water for many centuries. The land surrounding the area of submergence

undoubtedly contained many minerals, and as these were exposed to the atmosphere and

disintegrated and rusted, they

coloured the water in which

the trees were lying. It is

well known that iron rust is

a deep red ; copper gives

brilliant yellows and purples,

while other minerals give

equally vivid and beautiful

colours. Combined with the

colour-giving minerals was

a good deal of sihca, or lime,

also held in solution in the

water. By the exercise of

that wonderful law, called

capillary attraction, the wood

fibre, as it decayed and

washed away, left place for

the water charged with lime

and the brilhant colouring
matters. Day by day, week by
week, month by month, year
by year, century by century,
the process of change from
wood fibre to sohd stone,
beautifully coloured, was
going on, until all the wood
fibre was gone and nothing
but stone left in its place.

In the meantime, there
were great volcanic disturb-
ances in this region, and vast
quantities of volcanic ash
were cast out over the whole
area of this forest, until
finally the trees were buried
in it many feet deep. Then,
as more millions of years
slowly wore away, the region

•' ° Pholo by] [The Kevstone View Co.

sank, until sandstones, lime- la soufriere. Guadeloupe.

stones more sandstones and ^ view of La Soufriere when looking down 2,000 feet into its crater This volcano

is situated on Basse Terre. the western side of the island, and rises to a height of
more limestones, were washed 5,497 feet, it derives its name of "The Sulphur Mine" from its pungent sulphur fumes.

558

The Wonders of the World

over the area, and the forest was buried, some scientists say, to a depth of over twenty thousand
feet.

Then this period of subsidence was arrested and reversed. Mother Nature now began to hft
the area again out of the great inland sea where all these layers of sandstone and limestone had
slowly been accumulated and deposited, and the Petrified Forest region began to emerge higher and
higher. But this must have been a time of great storms and atmospheric conflicts, for little by
little these sandstones and limestones that had so slowly and patiently accumulated were
disintegrated and carried away, probably to form the sands of the Mohave and Colorado deserts
of Southern California. Finally, previous to our own historic age, this process of disintegration
and washing away of the accumulated strata of the Petrified Forest region was arrested, just at the

exact time required to leave these trees
exposed to man's vision.

The Crater or La Soufrfere, St.
Vincentf British West Indies. — No
picture can possibly do more than
give the faintest conception of the
interior of a volcano. It would require
a moving picture, with native colours,
to even suggest wi^th adequate fidelity
that which arrests the eye, almost
paralyses the mind, and entirely awes
the soul of a man when for the first
time he gazes into the depths of an
active volcano.

One of the great craters of the
world is that of "La Soufriere " — the
" Sulphur Mine " — on Saint Vincent,
one of the islands of the British West
Indies. This island is one of the
Lesser Antilles, in the colony of the
Windward Islands, and is about
cwenty-five miles south of St. Lucia.
Though it is only seventeen miles
long and ten miles broad, with an
area of one hundred and thirty-two
square miles, the volcano is the
summit (at about four thousand and fifty feet elevation) of a lofty ridge that reaches from north
to south.

The island itself is highly productive, the soil being rich and easily worked ; sugar, rum, molasses,
arrowroot, cacao and spices being the chief products.

The crater of La Soufriere has many times been in eruption, notably in 1718, 1812, 1814, 1880,
and May, 1902. The population of the island was estimated, just prior to the 1902 eruption, to
be about forty-five thousand, of whom at least sixteen hundred lost their lives in that dread
outburst, when Mont Pelee erupted and slew thirty thousand people at the same time, completely
wiping out of existence the town of St. Pierre. Though Pelee was far more destructive to human
life than La Soufriere, the latter, as a volcano, was immeasurably more interesting, and also much
larger. Dr. J agger, who made the ascent of both craters, declared that it was twice the size of
Pelee, and that the eruption was " phenomenally much more violent than the eruption of Mont
Pelee." The reason less lives were lost was owing to the fact that there was no populous city at

Pholo 6»]

IThe Keystone Vieic Co.
JUANACATLAN FALLS, MEXICO.

These Falls, on the Lerma River, are 70 feet high and 600 feet wide.
The waters come direct from Lake Chapala and tumble over the lip of
the precipice in such grand confusion that they have been termed " The
Niagara Falls of Mexico."

'l■■^i*^'.y.■■''^s^■J

™

■^

56o

The Wonders of the World

the base of La Soufriere as there was

at Pelee. When Mont Pelee first

showed signs of activity the people

were unable to flee, but on the St.

Vincent island the people were able to

escape ; yet even then sixteen hundred

r ^r>s^ l^^^gt^K^ 'W^^^^^^^^Mt po<3r wretches perished in the lava and

■■^Pj. '*' \m^^^Kl^^^m ''°^ blasts that poured their death-

^^ ''iWm^^mim deahng air over the region.

There are two craters at La Sou-
friere, the "old" crater, the scene of
the 1902 eruption, which at that time
had a diameter of four thousand one
hundred feet, and the "new" crater,
to the north-west, which was opened
in 1812.

It is a terrible experience to enter
the heart of an active crater, and, of
course, one perils his life in so doing.
Yet human beings are daring and
adventurous even to the gates of death,
and many vivid accounts have been
given of the activity of craters by those
who have thus happened to witness
their demoniac ebullitions.

The following is a description by
Mr. George Kennan of the clouds and
explosions of Mont Pelee, at the time
La Soufriere was in active eruption.
Doubtless the description of the one
fully answers for the other : " The morning of May 8 (1902) dawned clear ; but a column of vapour
was rising to a great height above the main crater of Pelee, and ashes were falling all along the line
of the coast from St. Pierre to Precheur. An occasional detonation could be heard in the direction
of the mountain, but there was no other sign of forewarning of the impending catastrophe. About
eight o'clock, with a rending, roaring sound, a great cloud of black smoke appeared suddenly on
the south-western face of the volcano near its summit, and rushed swiftly down in the direction of
St. Pierre as if it were smoke from the discharge of a colossal piece of artillery. There was no sharp,
thunderous explosion when the cloud appeared, nor was it preceded or followed by an outburst
of flame ; but as it rolled like a great torrent of black fog down the mountain slope tliere was a
continuous roar of half-blended staccato beats of varying intensity, something like the throbbing,
pulsating roar of a Gatling-gun battery going into action. The time occupied by the descent of
this volcanic tornado-cloud was estimated as not more than two or three minutes ; and, if so, it
moved with a velocity of between ninety and a hundred and forty miles an hour. It struck the
western end of Mount Parnasse about half a mile from the place where my friend was standing ;
swept directly over St. Pierre, wrecking and setting fire to the buildings as it passed, and then went
diagonally out to sea, scorching the cocoanut palms and touching with an invisible torch a few
inflammable houses at the extreme northern end of the village of Carbet."

TTie JaanacatUn Falls, Mexico. — ^As one travels from El Paso to the City of Mexico he should
not fail, when at the city of Guadalajara (pronounced Wah-da-la-ha-ra) to go out to El Castillo,

From i^tereo copyright hy'] [Vmi^rtcood & l/nderirood.

THE CATACOMBS OF GUANAJUATO.
Ab long as a yearly fee is paid the bodies of the dead are numbered
and registered and cared for in this way ; but if paytnent is discontinued
the bodies are cast on a heap of bones and skulls.

North America

561

some twenty-five miles, and then take the car to the Juanacatlan (pronounced Wah-na-cat-lan)

Falls, which are commonly termed the " Niagara Falls of Mexico." They are on the Lerma river,

and are seventy feet high and six hundred feet wide. It will thus be seen that in their dimensions

they are lesser than Niagara ; nor do they possess so varied and picturesque features, either in the

Falls themselves or in their environment. The waters are clear, fresh, pure and sparkUng, direct

from Lake Chapala, and they come with'great rush and roar down the river, here dotted into

picturesqueness with several small, though well-wooded islands. The Falls are made more

interesting by the irregularity of the Hp of the precipice over which the waters tumble into the

seething pool beneath. Some portions

of the rock rise above the water ;

others jut out beyond the Falls ; still

others are hidden a httle below the

edge, so that the flood falling upon

them is dispersed in foamy spray and

mist to add a new and charming effect

to the scene. The actual Falls are

more beautiful though not as majestic

as Niagara. But there are no great

whirlpools and no rapids below, such

as -give dignity and awe to the

American falls.

Gallery) of the Dead. Catacombs
of Guanajuato, Mexico.— Orve of the
most grotesque, quaint, old and fasci-
nating towns of Mexico is Guana-
juato, pronounced " Whan-a-wha-to,"
near the Une of the Mexican Central
Railway and within a day's journey
(two hundred and thirty-eight miles)
of the City of Mexico.

The churches and paintings of this
city have made it world-famous,
but the most pecuhar and strangest
of its attractions is found in its
catacombs, or mummy chamber, here
pictured. On the hillside overlook-
ing the city is the Home of the Dead
— the graveyard — and yet it is not
a graveyard : it is a veritable Pan-
theon, or House of Burial. The
tombs are arranged in the thick
walls, tier upon tier, of identical
size, Hke so many pigeon-holes, each
recess being numbered. Wrapped up
hke mummies, the bodies of the
dead are here placed, registered in a
book, and known by the numbers of
the recesses. A certain fee is ex-
pected yearly for caring for these

THE MAJOR DOMO. GARDEN OF THE GODS.
Situated in Glen Eyrie, the Maior Domo i> particularly noticeable, as
it stands out a f.,nla8tically-c»rvei pillar over 120 teet higK of blood-red

sandstone

562

The Wonders of the World

bodies, and if, after a period of five years, payment is discontinued, the bones are taken from tlieir
pigeon-lioles and thrown in a heap in the catacomb below with countless other fleshless bones and
skulls. Another body takes the recess with its number, but the former occupant cares not. His
earthly concerns are ended.

In a moist climate such treatment of the dead would, of course, be impossible. But here, at
this great elevation, and with an air as dry as an oven, as clear as crystal, and with rare aseptic
qualities, the flesh dries up and ultimately crumbles to dust, giving out no odour of decay or
suggestions of death. Now and again a tenant does not dissolve into his original elements. The
dryness of the atmosphere simply mummifies him, and his perishable clay puts on the appearance
of immortal age. In such a case the body is saved from the pile of bones. It is taken through the

trap-door down the spiral staircase to
the grim corridor beneath, where, with
a grisly army of other mummies, it is
stood up against the wall to await the
blowing of the last trump. It is a
ghoulish company, yet many are the
visitors who go up the hill merely to gaze
upon so strange and unusual a scene.

The Garden of the Gods, Colorado. —
Colorado is a State of mountains,,
plateaus, " parks " and such rugged
scenery that one born and reared in
a country like England has no possible
conception of. One of the most ac-
cessible and popular places of wild and
picturesque grandeur is the Garden of
the Gods, five miles from Colorado
Springs and about seventy-five miles
from Denver. A fine road has been
constructed over the mesa, or table-
land, and four miles away Glen Eyrie
is reached, where, through a private
estate, visitors are allowed to enter
and see the sandstone monuments —
some of which are generally sup-
posed to belong to the Garden of
the Gods. The two chief rocks are
the Major Domo and Cathedral Rock. The former a fantastically-carved piece of almost blood-red
sandstone, one hundred and twenty feet high, with a rude knob or head, has a commanding or
half-ferocious presence, which has been the cause of its title. It is only about ten feet in diameter
at its base. A mile further on the splendid Gateway to the Garden is reached. The pillars that
compose it are three hundred and thirty feet higli, and just wide enough apart to allow space for
the carriageway ; in the centre of this is a red pillar twenty-five feet high, naturally dividing the
roadway into an entrance and exit. Towering above us as we enter the garden, the majestic and
snow-crowned summit of Pike's Peak, over fourteen thousand feet high, fills the horizon, and is
beautifully framed in a rich setting of red sandstone.

The Garden of the Gods is a tract of about five hundred acres, thickly strewn with these fantastic
and majestic natural monuments in red and white sandstone. The colouring of the rocks adds not
a little to the effect, and to be properly seen the Garden should be visited in the morning or evening,,

From iSlereo by] yi. C, iy/iite Uo.

THE GARDEN OF THE GODS, COLORADO.

These two rocks are named "TKe Twins." Behind them can be seen

Pike's Peak, a mountain over 14,000 feet high.

564

The Wonders of the World

when the shadows are long, and so add variety to their charm. Immediately after a rain the
hues are deeper, and the red becomes so vivid that the truthful representations of the artist are
taken for rude exaggerations.

Immediately the traveller finds himself within the Gate he is in an enchanted region, where
objects unreal, supernatural, mighty and strange overwhelm the senses. The road winds between
every conceivable and inconceivable shape and size of rock, " from pebbles up to gigantic
boulders, from queer little grotesques, looking like seals, cats or masks, to colossal forms, looking
like elephants, like huge gargoyles, like giants, like sphinxes, some eighty feet high, all motion-
less and silent, with a strange look of having been just stopped and held back in the very climax
of some supernatural catastrophe. The stillness, the absence of living things, the preponderance of
bizarre shapes, the expression of arrested action, give to the whole place, in spite of its glory of

colouring, in spite of the grandeur
of its vistas ending in snow-covered
peaks only six miles away, in spite
of its friendly and familiar cedars
and pines, in spite of an occa-
sional fragrance of clematis, or
twitter of a sparrow — spite of
all these, a certain uncanniness
of atmosphere, which is at first
oppressive. I doubt if ever any-
one loved the Garden of the Gods
at first sight. One must feel his
way to its beauty and rareness,
and must learn to appreciate it
as one would a new language ;
even if a man has known Nature's
tongues well, he will be a helpless
foreigner here."

Two of the mystic figures are
much alike, and being anchored
together at their base by the
same rock stratum are called
"The Twins." Their ogre-like
heads remind one of Dickens's
description of the dwarf Quilp, or
of Victor Hugo's Hunchback of
Notre Dame ; ugly faces, with
rude protruding lips, their heads
swathed in grey turbans. Seen
in the moonlight, and especially if
the stranger's eyes should happen
to fall upon them unexpectedly,
they would assuredly startle him
by their weird and uncouth ap-
pearance.

More beautiful and impres-
sive are the "Cathedral Spires,"
slender, slim, towering rocks that

From Stereo topyright by"] lUnderwood ti- Underwood.

THE GARDEN OF THE GODS. COLORADO.

The "Tower of Babel," a' colossal column of rock ihrec hundred feet high.

North America

565

rise to heights varying from one
hundred to about two hundred and
fifty feet, the natural accompaniments
of the majestic Cathedral Rock near

by.

Somewhat similar in general effect,
but more massive and compact, is
the "Tower of Babel." This ap-
proaches three hundred feet in
height, and its spires are not so
pointed as those of the Cathedral,
yet they are fantastic and quaint
and lend themselves with pecuhar
fitness to their name.

Another of the distinctive features
of the rocks is that of the toadstool.
These vary in size from tiny rocks up
to six, ten, twelve and more feet in
diameter. Some of them weigh many
tons each. Others look like quaint
Chinese hats, or a new style of
umbrella. One of these is tall enough
for a man to stand underneath, and
a couple of children, caught here by a
photographer on a rainy day, sug-
gested that it was a land for the
elves where tiny lovers could find that seclusion and shelter which is dear to the hearts of all lovers,
human or fairy.

To many visitors the most interesting of all the rocks is found to be " Balanced Rock," a massive
cube as large as a dwelling-house, balanced on a pivot-like point at its base, as if a child's strength
could upset it. Yet it is solid, fixed, immovable, and has so stood since it was first discovered by
man. At certain angles a fairly good human profile is to be seen upon the face of Balanced Rock
— the eyes, nose and mouth being fairly well adjusted, though the chin is elongated out of all
proportion and the brow and head are " hilly and hollowy " enough to disconcert the most expert
and experienced phrenologist.

All these fantastic and quaint forms have been carved out of the sandstone by the action of
rain, wind, storm, sand, frost, and atmospheric gases. As the gradual degradation and cutting out
and down of the surrounding rocks took place these masses were slowly detached from the parent
stratum, owing to their having been better protected than the rest of the rock, or because they were
composed of more durable substances, more compacted together, perhaps, and thus better able to
resist the encroachments of the gnawing teeth of Time. Possibly the washing down of torrential
waters from the near-by mountains may have helped considerably in their earliest emergency.
Certain it is that water and wind have been the principal agencies in carrying away the dust and
debris of this Nature workshop. Millions of tons have been thus disposed of : some to help fill up
the now level country beneath, others to aid the rivers in scouring out the wild and rugged
gorges, ravines and canyons that have given to Colorado and the adjacent States some of the most
stupendous scenery known to man.

The Natural Bridge of Virginia. — Ever since its discovery the Natural Bridge of Virginia
has ranked as one of the wonders of the United States. It is a solid mass of hmestone, without

Frotti Ste?'€o copyright 61/] [Underuood it Undencood.

THE GARDEN OF THE GODS. COLORADO.
Thes^ " toadstool " formations ars abundant in this park, and are of
every degree of size, from tiny rocks to specimens of twelve feet or more
in diameter.

566

The Wonders of the World

a break in it, carved by Nature out of a bed of limestone that once entirely covered the whole region.
It is situated in Rockbridge County, Virginia, at the extremity of a deep chasm or gorge, through
which flows the little stream called Cedar Creek. The bridge is two hundred and fifteen feet high,
one hundred feet wide, and the span is about ninety feet. The middle of the arch is forty feet in per-
pendicular thickness, which towards the sides regularly increases with a graceful curve, as in an
artificial structure. There can be no doubt that at one time, when the limestone blanket covered

the whole region, a subterranean stream ran
where Cedar Creek now is and carved out the
tunnel, of which the bridge is but the tiny
remnant, with the rest of the rocky stratum
carried away by the wear and tear of the ages.
The ravine throughout its whole length is
most interesting, and one should follow up the
stream until the lofty precipices on either side
turn to steep wooded slopes. On the way up.
Saltpetre Cave and Hemlock Island are worth
visiting, and further up is Lost River. There
is just one spot where it appears, but one must
search carefully to find it. Naturally one is
supposed to drink of its water. It tiien dis-
appears, though its voice can be heard, in the
upper part of the glen, which is pervaded by
its dull rumbling or moaning. The whole glen
is a botanist's paradise, sedges, ferns, flowers
attracting his attention on every hand, when
the fluttering of the butterflies does not hold it.
The brook also seems to attract the Louisiana
water-thrushes in great numbers, and their
loud, ringing, disconnected, staccato song is by
no means one of the least interesting features
of a visit to this enchanting spot.

The Natural Bridge is a bridge in reality
it ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H as well as in name, so, retracing one's steps,

P»^_^A^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H the to the public road, and

there walks over the arch. As the bridge is on
the same plane as the surrounding country, it
would be quite possible for one to walk or
ride over it in a carriage or automobile and be
totally unaware of the fact.

On the abutments of the bridge, as is usual
at such places, many names are inscribed, but
those at the Natural Bridge have special interest, because here, about twenty-five feet above the
stream on the west side, George Washington carved his name. For three-quarters of a century
this stood alone higher than that of any other visitor, until in 1818 a student in Washington
College, James Piper by name, scaled the cliff from the foot to the top and wrote his name above
that of the Father of his Country. This escapade was made the occasion of a thrilling piece of
oratory, which was used by John B. Gough, the great temperance advocate, with telling effect.

The Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone Park.— ^or convenience the Yellowstone National Park
is divided into rather arbitrary parts, as Upper Geyser Basin, Middle, and Lower Geyser Basins,

From ».-/v„ l.m

THE GARDEN OF THE GODS.

COLORADO.

AltliougW it has the appearance of being balanced on a pivot,
the "Balanced RjcU" is solid and immovable.

r/iofo by'] ' Ih-io.rajhic i'o.

IHE NATURAL BRIDGE OF VIRGINIA.
SitLiated in Rockbridge Co'jnlv, Virginia, this bridge, whose spsn reaches to abojt ninety feet, is consiie^ed to be one of the
finest sights of the United States. On the west side of the bridf^e George Washington has carved his na r.e ia the Umest ina
cliff.

568

The Wonders of the World

Gibbon Paint-Pot Basin, etc.
In the Upper Basin the princi-
pal geysers of the Park are
found. It is the principal re-
sort of the tourist and the best
known portion of the whole
region, for it is essentially the
home of the geyser as seen in its
highest development, there being
no less than fifteen examples of
the first magnitude and scores
of less important ones. The
chief springs and geysers are on
the Firehole River. The Basin
itself is almost triangular in
shape, and is formed by the con-
vergence of the Firehole and
Little Firehole Rivers. Its area
is about four square miles, but
the principal geysers are situated
within an area of half a mile or
so on either side of the Firehole
River. When the geysers are
very active this river is materially
increased in volume, and its
temperature is affected by that
of the springs. For instance, in
the distance of a quarter of a
mile from Old Faithful to a point
opposite Grand Geyser, it is often
7° Fahr. warmer than anywhere
else. The surface of the basin consists of a succession of ridges and knolls, crowned with geysers
and boiling springs. On every side are mountains, one thousand five hundred feet in height, the
slopes of which are heavily timbered, although there are occasional outcroppings of rough basaltic
rocks among the pines.

Climb up with me to a suitable height on one of these hills and let us overlook the basin. It
is a clear and beautiful morning. Sunrise is shedding its colour and glory over the scene. " Clouds
of steam ascend from geysers and springs and hang hke palls over the Basin, and columns of vapour
float upward like water-wraiths from between the tree-tops of the surrounding forest. The earth is
full of rumbling and gurgling sounds, and the air is laden with sulphurous fumes. Stupendous
fountains of boiling water, veiled in spray, shoot toward heaven, at varying heights, like reversed
cascades, glinting and coruscating and scintillating in the morning sunlight, until their force is
expended, when they fall in showers of splashing pearls, with a shock that makes the ground tremble."
What is this wonder world over which we are gazing ? It is so different from any other scene. Whence
comes this steam and vapour ? It seems like a vast out-of-door kitchen, where the cooks are
somewhat careless at times and Hquids are allowed to boil over and send up their steam in protest.
Watch again for awhile. Do you see yonder little mound ? That is the cone of a geyser. It rises,
as you observe, gradually from the plane of the formation, and were you to stand by its side and
look down into it, you would find a rudely-shaped orifice out of which issue strange gurglings.

From Mtereo copyriijtit by'\ L' "<h'rwood it Underwood.

SUNRISE IN YELLOWSTONE PARK.
In tKe intense clearness of morning sunlight the glittering steam of the hot
springs and the falling water of an active geyser create a brilliancy that is dazzling
in its intensity.

North America

569

bubblings and even hoarse roarings and grumblings, as if some giant were preparing to eructate.
Now it gives forth a loud roar. Beware ! Stand back ! In a moment, with a rush and power that
at first terrify one, a white obelisk column or shaft of scalding, steaming water shoots up into the
air, sometimes as high as two hundred and fifty feet, and like a fountain is held in swaying beauty
until the original force is expended, when it suddenly drops to the earth and all is quiescent
again.

What is it that makes the geyser. Bunsen's theory was that the geyser makes its own cave and
tube. If it be composed of water that is not alkaline, the spring will remain an ordinary boiling
spring. If alkaline, silica is held in solution, and the silica is deposited about the spring. Thus a
mound and tube are gradually built. For a long time, a spring of this character may boil, but not be
violently eruptive, the circulation maintaining nearly an equal temperature in every part of the tube.
But, as the tube becomes longer, and the circulation more and more impeded, the difference of
temperature in the water in the \ipper and lower parts of the tube grows greater and greater, until
at length the boiling-point is reached below, while the water above is comparatively cool. Then
begins the eruption, to be repeated with more or less frequency for a period of years. Finally, either
from a gradual failure of the subterranean heat, or else from the increasing length of the tube, by
which the formation of steam is repressed, the eruptions gradually cease.

It is interesting to watch the process by which the terraces, cones and chimneys have been built
up. While the methods vary somewhat in accordance with the material held in solution by the
water, the principle of slow accretion is practically the same. If you stand on one of the terraces
overlooking the mammoth hot-springs region you can soon satisfy yourself that the terrace itself
has been built up, even thougli you are three hundred feet above the plateau, by the slow deposits
from the overflowing waters of the boiling hot springs. As the water reaches the cold air outside
a rapid evaporation takes place. This precipitates whatever mineral is held in solution, whether

J'hoto by']

Li/iC Jjelroii i/wtvy/ajjuit: to.

THE GROTTO GEYSER. YELLOWSTONE PARK-
A wonderful formation of snow-white geyserite.

570

The Wonders of the World

silica, as in the geysers, or limestone, as in these springs. For centuries this process continues,
the deposits naturally increasing with the years, no matter how slow the process may be. The
ripples seen in the engraving are made of these deposits. They are called travertine, or, when
made from the geysers, geyserite, and in the course of ages they climb higher and higher until
they form the terraces presented in earlier pages of this work.

From all these remarks, therefore, it will be apparent that even now the Yellowstone Park region
is a region of change. The geysers are not always the same. For instance, after visiting the Biscuit

Basin, in which are the Jewell Geyser and the
Sapphire Pool, the traveller reaches Artemesia
Geyser. This geyser came into action as re-
cently as 1886, while two years later, in 1888,
the Excelsior, at that time the greatest geyser
in the known world, while spouting with more
than its usual vigour, ruptured its crater and
has never spouted since. In its former periods
of activity it is said to have often raised the
Firehole River seven feet in as many minutes
with the rapid outrush of its waters.

The Sapphire Pool is the chief object of
interest in the Biscuit Basin. As its name
implies, it is a pool of rich sapphire hue.
It is not so beautiful in form as the Morning
Glory, but the colour of the water is richer in
places.

Above the Artemesia is the Sentinel, and
then comes the Morning Glory, an exquisitely
beautiful quiescent pool which seems to have
arrested in its limpid waters the translucent
glory of the flower whose name it bears. Its
border is variegated in colour, rich reddish-
browns predominating, but all in perfect
harmony with the deep cerulean hue of the
transparent waters beyond. Some minds find
a far greater fascination in these quiet pools of
colour allurement than in the more noisy,
active and modern spirit of the active geysers,
and it is no uncommon thing to find such
people returning again and again to the
Morning Glory to drink in to the full its
rare and unique graces and charms.
But unquestionably the most powerful source of popular attraction in the whole Park is Old
Faithful geyser. As Captain Chittenden well writes : " Any other geyser, any five other geysers,
could be erased from the list better tlian part with Old Faithful. The Giant, Giantess, Grand,
Splendid, and Excelsior have more powerful eruptions. The Bee Hive is more artistic. The Great
Fountain has a more wonderful formation. But Old Faithful partakes in a high degree of all these
characteristics, and, in addition, has tlie invariable quaUty of uniform periodicity of action. It is in
fact the most perfect of all known geysers. To it fell the honour of welcoming civilized man to this
region. It was the first geyser named. It stands at the head of the Basin and has been happily
called ' The Guardian of the Valley.'

From aiereo copy right hu'] ILhitief iwod A Intdei icood

THE CRATER OF OLD FAITHFUL. YELLOWSTONE

PARK.

The crater of this most famous geyser is en cr Listed with
geyserite, a silica which is deposited when the scalding
mineralized water is evaporated into steam.

The

"OLD FAITHFUL" GEYSER. YELLOWSTONE PARK.

eruption of "Old Faithful" occurs once in sixty to sixty-thre? minutes, and is almost as regu'ar pb the striking of a

clock. It is that regularity which gives the spring its name. Scientists have calcjlated that at each eruption 1,500.000 gallons of
water are ejectsd.

572

The Wonders of the World

From Htereo bill yj, v. WMte Co.

THE PUNCH BOWL. YELLOWSTONE PARK.

One of the hot springs of the Upper Geyser Basin.

"It is located in the centre of
an oblong mound, one hundred and
forty-five by two hundred and
fifteen feet at the base, twenty by
fifty-four feet at the summit, and
about twelve feet high. The tube
which seems to have originated in
a fissure in the rock, has an in-
side measurement of two by six
feet."

Few people can conceive the im-
mense amount of work performed by
this geyser. The United States Geo-
logical Survey, in 1878, made a series-
of extended observations of Old
Faithful, and conservatively estimated
Hj^^ .'"T'<^K^> ■..;,> j^r.^^H^^^J^BII^^^^B that the outpour for an average

^|w i^ - • /,?ii'&^; V^^l^^i ^^'' ^^H eruption is not less than one mil-

P' ;; , SSk^''^" ' ' '^^sHHHr/'-*^^B ''^'^ ^^^ hundred thousand gallons,

w-^ '_ ,-. T^m^- > 4^mS^^Wt^^ms:^- r ■"'- • TiMiBM'ifflB which gives thirty-three millions two

hundred and twenty-five thousand
gallons per day. This would supply
a city of three hundred thousand in-
habitants.

The Claas Spreckels Building (more generatly) knoTvn as the '* Call " Building), San Francisco,
California. — -This building, nineteen stories in height, situated at the south-west corner of
Market and Third Streets, San Francisco, California, has a frontage of seventy-five feet on Market
and seventy feet on Third Street. The design, however, is treated as though both fronts were of
the same width, in such manner as to make this variation unnoticeable.

The building is notable not only for its correct architectural proportions, but for its height in
relation to ground area. It is three hundred and fifteen feet from level of sidewalk to top of
dome, and exceeded in this respect, at the time it was built, any of the previous architectural
achievements in this country. It is also notable for the fact of being located within the earthquake
zone and for having passed through the great earthquake and fire of April, 1906. The following
extracts taken from the United States Government Geological Survey of the San Francisco Fire and
Earthquake, issued by the Department of the Interior, give a brief synopsis of the construction :

" Of all the commercial buildings in San Francisco, by far the most interesting was that known
as the Call (or Spreckels) Building, at the corner of Third and Market Streets. This building is
remarkable for the care and skill shown in the design of its steel work. It is a steel frame building,
all the walls, floors, partitions, etc., being carried on steel work. It has fifteen main stories, in
addition to the stories in the dome or cupola, and rests upon a continuous foundation composed
of concrete reinforced with steel beams. The building proper is about seventy-five feet square,
but the foundation is about ninety by one hundred and ten feet and was carried to a depth of
about twenty-five feet below the sidewalk level. A fairly complete and satisfactory description
of this building was published in the Engineering Record of April g and 16, 1898.

" In the first four stories above the street the bents of the steel work adjacent to the four corners
of the building on each side were braced with solid portal braces. In addition, eight interior bents
were braced with diagonal tiebars from top to bottom. At all junctions of girders and beams with
columns, knee braces were used. The design of this steel work is well worthy of study by anyone

North America

573

interested in such structures. It is probably, on the whole, the best designed piece of such work in
the United States. Another remarkable thing about it is that the execution was apparently as
good as the design. In a number of places where the fireproofing had come off, the connections were
exposed, and the workmanship here seemed to have been practically as good as it could well be
made. I particularly noticed the column bearings, and they seemed to be absolutely close and
true. Inaccurate column bearings in building work are so often seen that one is almost justified in
saying that they are the rule rather than the exception ; but in the Call Building such connections
as were exposed to view had been put together with extreme accuracy. . . .

" The only safe plan in the construction of steel-frame buildings is the one followed in the Call
Building — that is, to brace the steel work so that by itself it is able to resist the stresses due to the
vibration. The engineer who designed the foundations and steel frame of this building may well be
gratified at the admirable manner in which his structure fulfilled its purpose. . . ."

It withstood the earthquake shock without any damage whatever ; but later on the same day
was swept by the fire, which practically destroyed the city, and all the fine interior finish was
burned out. This was restored within a few months, however, and on the 22nd of May following
the catastrophe the San Francisco Call, from which the building derives its popular name, issued
its paper from its own presses in the building, and after a short period no vestige of the ravages of
the fire was to be seen in the structure.

The building is designed in the Italian Renaissance style, and is one of the best examples to be
iound of the adaptation of that beautiful type of architecture to commercial structures.

Photo bjfi •- IThe Detroit Photographic Co.

•MORNING GLORV." YELLOWSTONE PARK.
The sinter slopes of the mouth of this geyser appear stained a deep cerulean blue by the translucent waters, and the fringe of the

pool is a glittering border of metallic colourings.

574

The Wonders of the World

rri r-ii|,
ri i i iiiii

J*holo bt/]

THE CLAUS SPRECKELS BUILDING,
This inaKniBcent buildintr, nineteen stories high, withstood the
quaUe shock of April. 1906: but the interior Bttings were damaged by the fire

I'J'/i'' l>''lroit J'fiUtO'/ rap/tic Co.
SAN FRANCISCO.

arth-

The treatment of the exterior is
the same on all four sides, above the
line of the seventh story, and stands
out as a well-proportioned tower,
noticeable from nearly all points,
within the city, and particularly so
on entering the harbour, over which,
at night, the great lantern surmount-
ing its dome casts its rays at all
hours. The outlook from its upper
stories is unsurpassed, giving as it
does a panoramic view of the bay
and surrounding country for miles
in all directions. Mount Diablo and
adjacent hills, often snow-clad, being
distinctly visible on clear days.

Granary) of the CUff-Dwellers
in the Sierra Madre Mountains of
Mexico, — Wherever primitive man
has sought to make for himself fixed
dwellings one of his first requisites
has been to plan for the safe storage
of his food. Many scores of pages
of this work might be taken up
with pictorial and verbal descrip-
tions of the various storage methods
followed by the North American
Indians alone, from the Meala Hawas,
or corn storage cliff-rooms, of the
Arizona cliff-dwellers to the stilted
acorn-storages of the Yosemite Valley
Indians, and the massive mesquite-
bean pits of the Indians of the Colo-
rado River. Perhaps the quaintest
of these storages, or granaries, are
those found in the cliff ruins of the
Sierra Madre in Mexico.

When Carl Lumholtz, the great
explorer and ethnologist, discovered
tliese people, still dwelling in the cliff
cities their ancestors had constructed,
he found that little or no change had
taken place in their habits for a score
or more of generations. Their food
was largely composed of the seeds of
grasses — which they gathered during
the harvest time, with basketry fans,
by means of which they struck the
seeds into large carrying baskets.

that broke out immediately afterwards
required to restore these completely

Only a few months, however, were

North America

575

manipulated with the left hand — certain edible roots and acorns, as well as the corn or maize grown
to such perfection by the North American aborigine. There were times of drought, however, when
little food was to be obtained ; then, too, their enemies occasionally so beset them as to render the
gathering of their harvests impossible. The wise men of the tribe, therefore, prescribed that a
certain proportion of each crop should be set aside for such emergencies. It was no uncommon
thing to find a supply sufficient for three years set apart in the storage houses.

But how to protect this food from rats, mice, squirrels, and such vermin was a grave question.
The best solution of the problem was found in the construction or erection of granaries of stone
and rude concrete, with few and small apertures, all of which could be covered with rock and plastered

phQlQ /,, lUiulefwood <(■ rnb'rtcood.

GRANARY OF A CLIFF-DWELLING. SIERRA MADRE. MEXICO.
In order to protect their (ood. which consisted of seeds of grasses, acorns, etc.. from predatory animals, the cliff-dwellers built
large granaries. Those of the Arizona and Colorado districts are excavated in the cliff, but the Mexican stoiehouses took the f^rm
here depicted, which, it will be noticed, is really a large inverted water jar.

up. In this way the food was protected both from the elements and from any ordinary predatory
animal.

The engraving shows the appearance of one of these masonry granaries. The shape is peculiar,
but appropriate. The Indians' power to change and adapt forms for differing uses will be readily
apparent when it is observed that this is merely an ordinarily shaped water-oUa, or jar, turned
upside down and enlarged to the required size. It stands nearly twelve feet high and is capable of
holding what, to the provident Indians, was a large store of food.

In the chff-dwellings of the American South-West, in Arizona, Southern Colorado, etc., most of
the granaries are built into the walls of the cliffs.

The Muir Glacter.— While studying the Mountains of California (which studies he afterwards
embodied in a book of this title), John Muir became much interested in glaciers. At that

576

The Wonders of the World

time n» one believed there were any living glaciers in California, but Muir, with the spirit of the
true scientist, set to work to prove the matter. As one result of his word-painting one of the
finest and best of the glaciers of Glacier Bay was named after him, Muir Glacier. Steamers going
north to Sitka frequently enter Cross Sound and proceed by way of Icy Straits and Chatham to
Peril. In the warmest months Icy Bay is filled with icebergs floating down from the many glaciers
to the north. Kate Field thus describes the Muir Glacier : " Imagine a glacier three miles wide
and three hundred feet high. Picture a background of mountains fifteen thousand feet high, all
snow-clad, and then imagine a gorgeous sun fighting up the ice-crystals with rainbow colouring.
The face of the glacier takes on the hue of aquamarine — the hue of every bit of floating ice that
surrounds the steamer. This dazzling serpent moves sixty-four feet a day, tumbling headlong into
the sea, startling the ear with submarine thunder."

Photo hy] {.Dr. A. Shvfeldl.

MUIR GLACIER. GLACIER BAY. ALASKA.

Until the year 1900. when an earthquake broke up its v««t extent, thi« glacier was the largest in the world, with a width of

over three miles. Even to-day it is a magnificent palisade of crumpled ice.

Early in 1900, however, disaster befell this great glacier. Its area was equal to the state of
Rhode Island, and it was one of the most remarkable in extent known, as well as one of the most
majestic and beautiful. In that year an earthquake shattered its glorious frontal face and
completely changed its appearance.

The bergs falling from the shattered front of the glacier completely choked up Glacier Bay,
so that for six years the large steamer Spokane could not approach nearer than Marble Island,
thirteen miles from the glacier's face. Hence visitors were deprived of the pleasure they had
enjoyed in the past. But in 1907 a steamer entered the bay and found it free from ice.
Approaching the great glacier they found it shattered. Its once opaHne palisades are now but
a field of crumpled ice. Its great towers, turrets and walls have fallen, and it is a mere
spectre of its former grandeur.

1) .t:

^ «

o o

u a

PS ■*

North America

577

CHAPTEll XVIII.
By GEORGE WHARTON JAMES.

The Cany)on de Chelty. — Just on the borders of Arizona and New Mexico, within about a hundred
miles of the northern line, is an ancient pueblo region full of fascination and attraction. It is of equal
importance with the Mancos region, before described, though the ruins are not quite as large. At the
time the United States sent its " Army of the West " to the subjugation of California, in 1846, and,
later, when the gold hunters of 1849 rushed across the Continent, vague rumours of wonderful cliff
cities reached the East. But as the Canyon in which these ruins were found was in the heart of
the Navaho Indian country, and these Indians were warlike and hostile, exploration was practically
impossible. It was found necessary, however, to send out an expedition to subjugate the Navahoes,
and the troops were placed under the command of Lieutenant J. H. Simpson, and to this enlightened
officer's report the world at large owes its first real and accurate knowledge of these remarkable
aboriginal ruins. The name " De Chelly " suggests a French origin. This, however, is a pure
error in transcribing the Navaho name for the place, Tse-gi (pronounced Tsay-gy).

The country in which the Canyon de Chelly occurs is a plateau country, the most conspicuous
feature of which is a massive bright red sandstone formation out of which have been carved the
most striking canyons, which for all ages will be a wonder and a delight to the sons of men. These
canyons are the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, the Canyon de Chelly, the Canyon del Muerto,
and the lofty pinnacles, towers and domes of the San Juan Country.

The Canyons de Chelly and Del Muerto run, the former to the north-east and the other almost
due north. From De Chelly runs another canyon to the south-east, known as Monument Canyon.

Photo by]

lUndfricood dc Underieood.
THE CANYON DE CHELLY.
The walls of this canyon range from a height of between twenty and thirty feet at it. mouth to over 800 feel at it.

juncture with Monument Canyon.

578

The Wonders of the World

When it is known that in these three Canyons there are fully one hundred and twenty-eight different
cliff-residences in ruins, and that some of these consist of many rooms, it can well be^seen that quite
a population must, at one time, have found refuge here. For, as I fully explained in writing on the
Mancos Canyon ruins, these cliff-dwellings were the places of refuge of a pastoral people followed and
hunted by nomadic, warlike and hostile foes.

Before proceeding to a description of the ruins of the Chelly Canyon, attention must be called
to the Canyons themselves in which they occur. Under the direction of the United States Bureau
of Ethnology, the accomplished ethnologist. Cosmos Mindeleff, made a thorough study of both
canyons and ruins, and here is his description of the former :

" At its mouth the walls of Canyon de Chelly are but twenty to thirty feet high, descending

Photo by p-'nnUsion uf\ \^the oureau of American Lthnoloiiy,

CLIFF-DWELLINGS. CANYON DEL MUERTO.

Del Muerto is a branch canyon of De CKelley, These ruins in the Eastern Cove, Mummy Cave, were especially constructed for

purposes of defence ; they are built on the upper part of the canyon, and command an extensive outlook.

vertically to a wide bed of loose white sand, and absolutely free from talus or debris. Three miles
above Del Muerto comes in, but its mouth is so narrow it appears like an alcove and might easily
be overlooked. Here the walls are over two hundred feet high, but the rise is so gradual that it
is impossible to appreciate its amount. At the point where Monument Canyon comes in, thirteen
miles above the mouth of De Chelly, the walls reach a height of over eight hundred feet, about one-
third of which consists of talus.

" The rise in the height of the walls is so gradual that when the Canyon (Monument) is entered
at its mouth the mental scale by which we estimate distances and magnitudes is lost and the wildest
conjectures result. We fail at first to realize the stupendous scale on which the work was done,
and when we do finally realize it, we swing to the opposite side and exaggerate. At the junction of
Monument Canyon there is a beautiful rock pinnacle or needle standing out clear from the cliff and
not more than one hundred and sixty-five feet from the ground. It has been named, in conjunction

Photo by pertnission of]

[Thf Hni-fv: ,1/ Ainrri.-nn rjliiu'loiiy.
THE CLIFF-DWELLINGS. CANYON DE CHELLY.
These are some of the finest of the cliff ruins. It is supposed thai the lower house, situated on the bottom land, was four stories
high, and so was continuous with the upper part built upon the cliffs ledge. It is called Casa Blanca. which in the Navahoes'
language is Kini-na e-kai.

58o

The Wonders of the World

Photo by permission of\ {Th^ lim-'-'w vf An

CLIFF-DWELLINGS. CANYON DEL MUERTO.
This cliff-dwelling is composed of about twenty rooms, with three or four circular chambers used as stale roomj for

worship, and called "kivas."

with a somewhat similar pinnacle on the other side of the Canyon, ' The Captain,' and its height
has been variously estimated at from one thousand two hundred to two thousand five hundred
feet." It actually is a little less than eight hundred feet. Its majesty and beauty may well be
seen from the accompanying illustration.

Canyon de Chetty Ruins. — Let us now turn to the cliff ruins whicli have given the canyon its
fame, for here the Indians have built their houses and have lived out their pathetic lives. Many
of them have also found burial within the walls that they themselves had helped to erect.

At the mouth of the canyon the whole bottom land from wall to wall consists of an unbroken
stretch of sand. A little higher up small patches of alluvial and cultivatable lands appear,
generally in recesses and coves in the walls, and but slightly above the level of the stream bed.
But higher up still these areas are much enlarged, and often take the form of terraces or benches,
most of them well raised above the stream bed, even as high as ten feet above. At the Casa Blanca,
seven miles up, the benches are well marked and the land excellent. Three miles above Casa
Blanca, however, the talus begins to appear at the foot of the cliffs, and as soon as this comes into
evidence the patches of alluvium grow less and less, until they finally disappear.

These patches of land gave to the cliff-dwellers their chief means of subsistence, and while
protection in the almost inaccessible cliffs was what they primarily sought, they were equally
anxious to locate themselves near to the land on which they could grow their corn. Yet, strange
to say, these primitive corn-growers in this region have left no sign that they irrigated their crops.
Indeed, it would have been practically impossible in the Canyon del Muerto, owing to the peculiar
nature of the stream that flows down it during the rainy season.

North America

581

The occupation of the chffs was merely for the purpose of greater protection and security from
nomad and hostile tribes. Some ruins are found on bottom land, near to the arable areas capable
of cultivation ; others of an older type are found on open and indefensible sites ; still others, clustered
as villages, and located for defence chiefly ; while a fourth class are mainly cliff outlooks or shelter
places to which the farmers might run in case of sudden attack.

The accompanying illustration on page 580 gives a good representation of the first of this
classification. It is the largest ruin of this character in Canyon del Muerto. There are standing
walls three stories high, and the masonry shows excellent workmanship. The back cliff has not
entered into the plans of the builders to the extent that it generally does. There are about twenty
rooms and three or four kivas — the latter being the circular chambers used in worship or
ceremonials. Most of the rooms are rectangular and fairly regularly arranged, though small. Only
one room still preserves its roof intact. In the centre of the ruins is a kiva, over thirty-six feet
in diameter; this is exceptionally large, and it is probable it was never roofed. Inside this
structure were found several burial cists made by the Navahoes in recent years. West of this large
kiva were two others, about twenty feet in diameter ; one being circular in form and the other
more nearly approaching an oval.

One of the most important and strikingly picturesque of the ruins is called Casa Blanca (Spanish
for " White House "). The ruin consists of two parts — a lower, comprising a large cluster of rooms
on the bottom land against the vertical cliff, and an upper part, which was much smaller and occupied
a cave directly over the lower portion and was separated from it only by some thirty-five feet of
vertical cliff. There is every evidence that the lower settlement was four stories high, and, there-
fore, reached to the upper settlement, so that the house was practically continuous. The lower

I'holo by permission o/] [Tlie Bureau o/ American Ethnology.

NAVAHO BURIAL CIST, CANYON DEL MUERTO.

These burial urns, of wKich one of tfie best-preserved specimens is here shown, were built by a race later than the original cliff

dwellers. There are hundreds of them, and they probably explain the name of " Canyon del Muerto " - the Canyon of the Dead.

582

The Wonders of the World

ruin covers an area of about one hundred and fifty by fifty feet, raised but slightly above the
bottom land. The remains of forty-five rooms and a circular kiva can easily be identified. On
the east side some of the remaining walls are twelve and fourteen feet in height.

From the fact that within
the lower ruins there are found
some adobe walls, and also the
remains of a peculiar construc-
tion known to the Mexicans as
jacal, it has been inferred that
after the ruins were abandoned,
some time, perhaps, in the
seventeenth century, a people
other than the original builders
occupied them. There are four
Navaho burial cists in these
ruins, and while three of them
are broken down and in ruins,
tliey undoubtedly come later
even than the adobe additions
referred to.

Of those ruins unquestion-
ably constructed for defence,
the finest example in the whole
region is in Canyon del Muerto,
and is known as the Mummy
Cave ruin. It is in the upper
part of the canyon and com-
mands an extensive outlook.
The principal structure in the
Eastern Cove is the kiva, around
the interior of which was a
bench of stone, extending com-
pletely around the circuit : and
above this, on the wall, is a
remarkable decorative band,
the purpose of which was
mainly to show the assembled
priests the direction of the
cardinal points. To this day,
in many of the ceremonies of
the pueblo Indians, it is absolutely essential to the right conduct of the worship that at certain
times offerings, etc., must be made to the powers that control the cardinal points. Hence
the necessity of clearly and positively indicating where these are. The ruins have long been
used by the Navahoes for burial places, hence, doubtless, the origin of the name by which
they are known.

In the building of many of the cliff-structures the walls were allowed to rest on refuse, rocks,
etc., without any attempt to clear away the site. This fact and the crude method of building is
easily discernible, though it must not be assumed that all the work was done in this indifferent fashion.
Some of the masonry is beautifully laid, even though the material be not of the best. An attempt

Photo hy"] IT/ie Detroit Photographic Co.

THE AGASSIZ COLUMN. YOSEMITE VALLEY.

Named after the great naturalist, this imposing shaft of granite is eighty-five feet
high. Erosion has worn its base to an apex, which, however insecure it may look.
will yet stand the wear and tear of many centuries.

{The nttroit Phologmphic Co.

Photo byl

THE YOSEMITE FALLS. YOSEMITE VALLEY,

This magnificent body of water fias a width of thirty-five feet at its highest ledge, and descends to the valley in three leaps to a
depth of 2,500 feet The volume of water is greatest in early summer.

584

The Wonders of the World

Photo hy'l

THE THREE

[The lift rait l'liolo;irap/iic Co.
BROIHERS. YOSEMITE.

The Navaho Indian name for these heights is Pom-
pom-pa-8U8, or the Mountains playing Leap-frog.

Photo bt/J [The Lflroil I'hologl-aphic Co.

EL CAPITAN. YOSEMITE.

This north-western buttress of the canyon is one of the
most ftrilcinK objects of the valley. Its bare and almost
vertical cliff allows, only the adventurous to reach its
summit

at regularity, and, possibly, at decorative effect, is
apparent in the uses of courses of fairly uniform
thickness, alternating with other courses or belts
composed of small thin fragments.

The illustration on page 581 shows one of the
Navaho burial cists found in the ruins. The
number of these is remarkable, there being literally
hundreds of them — hence, doubtless, the name of
the tributary canyon to Chelly, "Canyon del
Muerto " — the Canyon of the Dead. These cists
are built usually in a corner, or against a wall of a
cliff-dweller's house, but sometimes against a cliff
wall, and occasionally stand out alone. The masonry
is always rough, much inferior to the old walls
against which it generally rests, and usually very
flimsy. The structures are dome-shaped when stand-
ing alone, or in the shape of a section of a dome
when placed against other walls.

The Yosemite Valley. — Ever since this valley
was discovered by white men in 1850 it has been
regarded as one of the picturesque wonders of the
world.

The name Yo-sem-i-te, is pronounced in four
syllables as indicated, with accent on the second,
and is a corruption of the Indian " Yo-ham-i-te,"
which signifies "the Destroyer" — this being the
poetic way these Indians had of describing their
arch-enemy, the grizzly bear. Hence Yosemite in
reahty means the Grizzly Bear, and in the earlier
days of its discovery many of these giant monarchs
of the High Sierras were found within its borders.
It is only a few years since the Yosemite Valley
Railroad was built, reaching from the main line of
the Southern Pacific at Merced to El Portal, just on
the northern border of the Yosemite reservation.
And now the stage ride into the valley extends for
some ten or twelve miles, although one really enters
the valley within three or four miles after leaving
El Portal. The Yosemite never disappoints. No
matter how exalted the expectation be, it never
transcends the reality. Whether first seen from
Inspiration Point, Old Inspiration Point, or Artist's
Point, a wonderful view always arrests the attention
of the traveller.

On the floor of the valley are trees in richest
leafage and astonishing variety, through the green
of which, here and there, can be seen the silvery
glint of the Merced River. The Bridal Veil Falls, to
the right, descend over the ledge of granite rock

North America

585

white and ethereal, and seem to drop in a
tenuous film into the tree-tops, appearing
small and feeble at first, so overpowering
is the impression of the mightier wall. Its
location is such that it catches the incoming
breezes, and the wind, getting between the
fall and the wall behind, seems to dissipate
the water in lace-like veil, breaking to rain-
bow hues in the fire of the sun, adding
diamond-like brilliancy to the first im-
pression of shimmering whiteness. As
soon as the spectator approaches closer,
however, he gains a new sense — that of its
mighty power.

The Indians call this " Po-ho-no " (the
Spirit of the Evil Wind), in this way giving
expression to the peculiar fact to which I
have called attention. In the ripple of
the water the Indians think they hear
Po-ho-no's voice, and in the spray discern
his mocking features and the wraiths of
the maidens and hunters he has trapped
on the slippery mosses at the head
of the fall and dragged down to de-
struction.

The most dominant feature on entering
the valley, however, is El Capitan. The
Indians call it "Totokonula" (the Great
Chief or Captain of the Valley). It is a
solid mass of granite, without a crack or
break, and if it were tilted forward it
would cover one hundred and sixty acres.
It is an inland Gibraltar, standing so long
as man shall know it as the type of massive
stability reinforcing man's courage and
strength and urging him to be firm and
enduring as this austere and silent granite
mass. Just beyond El Capitan are the
Three Brothers, far more poetically called
by the Indians " Pom-pom-pa-sus " (the
Mountains playing Leap-frog).

About midway up the valley is the
greatest source of attraction of all, the
great Yosemite Falls. Seen in the spring,
when in the full flow of its early waters, it
is the highest waterfall in the world with
anything like the same body of water. It is
a stream thirty-five feet wide, which plunges
down sixteen hundred feet in one direct

l*/ioto bt/l

THE HANGING

This rock is situated on

from the Three Brothers. It

[7'A^ Detroit Photographic Co.
ROCK. GLACIER POINT,
the south side of the valley, two miles
tffords a magnificent view over the whole

valley to the distant snow-capped Sierra Nevada.

586

1 he Wonders of the World

vertical descent, then for six hundred feet it roars in a majestic series of cascades to the head
of the lower fall, where it makes another direct vertical leap of four hundred feet. Its roar and
crash are heard for miles, and when one stands still and listens there are times when the
ponderous weight of its fal' fairly shakes the floor of the valley. There is no doubt but that,

originally, it fell the sheer three thousand
feet of the north wall, but at some period,
the wall was shattered as it is now found.
Beauty and power are both personified in
this peerless fall. Its winter glory is even
more beautiful, in some respects, than its
spring freshness. Everything surrounding
it is robed in virgin purity ; the spray it
casts covers the very snow with a delicate
frosting that is indeed a " painting of the
lily." A cone of solid ice, five hundred and
more feet high, accumulates at the base
of the upper fall, and I have seen icicles
hang six times as high as the whole depth
of Niagara.

Directly opposite the Yosemite Falls is
Sentinel Dome, with its peculiar cap of
conoidal, or onion-like layers, towering four
thousand one hundred and forty-two feet
above the floor beneath.

A little further up and beyond Sentinel
Dome, the south wall thrusts out a rugged
shoulder, well named Glacier Point. At no
other point is the wall so bare and sheer,
and you look up, almost from its solid foot,
three thousand two hundred and thirty-four
feet. The flag which sometimes floats from
the brink of the precipice is eighteen feet
long, yet it is seen dimly and appears no
larger than a lady's handkerchief. This is a
favourite outlook point, and an iron railing
has been placed, so as to afford "sheer
down " views with security. It is easily
reached on horse- or mule-back by one of two
wonderfully engineered zigzag trails, one of which passes Union Point, two thousand three hundred
and fifty feet above the river. Just below is Agassiz Column, named after the great naturalist. It
is an imposing shaft of granite, eighty-five feet high, but its base is so eroded that it looks as if it
would give way and let the column above fall ere long. Yet it is doubtless stable for many centuries
yet to come.

The Royal Arches are near the head of the valley, in the vast vertical wall whose highest summit is
North Dome. The arches are recessed curves in the granite front, very impressive because of their
size, and made by the action of frost. Much of the rock here is formed in layers like the structure
of an onion, and the arches are the fractured edges of these layers. Washington's Column is the
angle of the wall at this point — a tower completing the massive wall at the very head of the
valley.

Phnto 6y] \The iiouthern Pacific Co.

LIBERTY CAP. YOSEMITE.

In the distance rises the mighty granite mass of Liberty Cap. while

nearer the spectator are the Vernal and Nevada Falls. These two cascades

are little inferior to the YoFemile Falls, and the forested waterway makes

a setting of exquisite beauty.

■N'T?*

From Stereo copyright by'] {['ndervood d' Utiderieood.

RED MOUNTAIN CRATER, ARIZONA
At one time an active volcano, this mountain is to-day only a picturesque height o( red volcanic ash. rising from the great
Painted Desert in ths north-west of Arizona, The activities of a bygone age have rent its mass into these great fissures and
caverns and corridors.

588

The Wonders of the World

Over against it, but looking down the valley, stands the highest rock. of all the region — the
great South Dome, or Half Dome, as it is often called. It is eight thousand nine hundred and twenty-
seven feet above sea-level, or nearly live thousand feet above the valley. Its massive front is cleft
straight down for about two thousand feet, and the fractured face turned outward is polished by
wind and storm. The side of the Half Dome turned toward the south-west has the curve of a great
helmet and is so smooth and precipitous as to almost defy the most adventurous mountain climber.
Milton wrote of

" A rock piled up to the clouds,
Conspicuous afar,"

and this certainly describes the Half Dome. After one has passed El Capitan this is the dominant
feature of the Valley. For the Half Dome has no counterpart as far as is known, either in these
mountains or elsewhere. Its name suggests what its appearance indicates, viz., that in some giant
convulsion it has been split directly through its vertical axis. Where has the other half gone ?
As the Spaniards say, Quien sabe ? — who knows ? The Indian name for it is Tissayac, or the Goddess
of the Valley. /

Even yet the wonders of the Yosemite are not exhausted, for returning to where we turned
to follow Tenaya Creek, we find the more attractive side or branch gorge on the south, and take
the beautiful bridle-path. It leads us along the rushing Merced River, past the Happy Isles
and along the bottom of a wild canyon and beside titanic walls. Panorama Rock is four
thousand feet above the river, almost perpendicular, and at once the highest and most continuous
wall of the Yosemite. From here the Vernal Falls can be seen, and the river, nearly eighty feet
wide, drops sheer down three hundred and fifty feet. The spray is driven outward like smoke.

Photo by permission of]

IThe Sovlhern Pacific Co.
MARIPOSA: BIG TREE GROVE. CALIFORNIA.
"The Fallen Monarch." as this tree is named, is one of the largest specimens in this forest of giant trees. It is computed

to be about 8,000 years old.

North America

589

and everything of plant and grass, moss and fern, is kept
vividly green by the incessant baptism. The trail leads
directly to the top of the fall.

A little beyond — less than a mile — is Nevada Falls,
where the same stream plunges downward seven hundred
feet. The great snowy torrent glances from sloping rock
about midway just enough to make a compound curve.
The setting of the fall is impressive — Great Liberty Cap,
a granite pile, rises more than two thousand feet above
the pool, with Mount Broderick just back of it and the
Half Dome near at hand.

The Red Crater, Arizona. — In Northern Arizona, the
Santa Fe railway passes on the edge of one of the most
wonderful lava regions of the world. Indeed, there are
three lava flows here, known to but few scientists, all of
which are vast in extent and wondrous in their varied
manifestations. Here, twenty miles to the north-east, is
Sunset Crater, a volcanic cone, the scoricC of which are of
a brilliant peach-bloom colour.

Near by is O'Leary Peak, another volcanic cone,
several thousand feet high, made of completely black
rock, without a blade of grass even to relieve its sombre-
ness. The rock of which the crater is composed has
become disintegrated with the weathering of the years,
and is now exactly like gunpowder of large-sized grains.
Furthermore, there are the lava beds with a variety of
forms ; in one place the half-solid lava has been rent in
such peculiar fashion that now it has cooled it suggests
gigantic black cauliflowers. No wonder that the cowboys
who first saw it called this portion of it " the devil's
cauliflower patch." This lava region is on the very edge
of the Painted Desert.

Another most interesting feature of this desert is the
Red Mountain Crater, to the north of the San Francisco
peaks. The Grand Canyon is forty miles to the north
of it, and the province of Tusayan (where live the Hopi
Indians) is seventy miles to the north-east. Forty or
fifty miles to the north-west is Havasu (or cataract) Can-
yon (one of the tributaries of the Grand Canyon), where
dwell the Havasupai Indians, to which tribe I was duly inducted as a member twenty-five years
ago. In one of my hunts with the leaders of the tribe we came to this rugged red mound, or hillock,
several hundred feet high, with clumps of juniper and pinion scattered here and there. Our canteens
were empty, our tongues parched, our faces scorched with the heat of the afternoon sun. I knew
that every water-hole or pocket, as well as every hidden spring, was known to my Havasupai
brothers, so I did not question that we were going to where water was to be found. Yet as we
climbed the rugged slopes of blood-red rock, shattered and broken by the storms and weatherings
of centuries, and pictured what was evidently the history of the mound, it seemed impossible
that we could find water here. I saw how that in the period of the volcanic activity of the region
this very mound was slowly built up by the flowing lava which cast its lurid flames and weird

Phofo 1)y permission of] {The Sonfhern Pacijic Co.

MARIPOSA: BIG TREE GROVE.

This, ihe Grizzly Giant, is the finest specimen of
Sequoia Oigantea. It is situated in the Lower Grove
of Mariposa and has a girth of ninety-four feet.

590

The Wonders of the World

smoke shadows over the surrounding country. This was followed by the slow cooling of the
volcano. And as the years sped by, the rocks were beaten upon by storms, chiselled by snow and
ice, and cracked and broken by atmospheric gases. More sand choked up the vent, and finally a
small pool was formed in the crater which the rays of the sun seldom reach. Here the snows and
rains of winter are stored and the supply lasts long into the year.

One peculiar effect of the geologic degradation of the cone is that the crater has become a tangled
maze of aisles and corridors. But it is an uncanny place ; the walls appear ready to crumble and
fall and all sound is swallowed up in their porous substance. Should one call to his friend a little

distance away, it is probable no sound
would reach him, so soon are the vibra-
tions absorbed in the rocks.

I have watched the wild animals of
the desert water here — coyotes, foxes,
skunks, antelopes, deer, bear, wild
turkeys, cottontails and jack-rabbits —
and they have shared its water with the
roaming Indian for centuries, until at last
the white man came, " filed " upon it,
fenced it in and appropriated every drop
of the water for his own use or that of
his flocks and herds.

The Big Trees of California. — All
the great poets of the world have sung of
trees and forests, and all peoples have
found delight in them. England has sung
for a thousand years of its oaks, and I
well remember going to see the monarch
of Cranbourne Lodge, in Windsor Forest,
the great oak that, if I remember aright,
measured thirty or more feet around
the base. The Norwegians have their
tomarachs, firs, spruces and pines, the
Australians their eucalyptus, the South
Americans their mahogany, the Japanese
their bamboo. But for majesty, age,
size of height and girth, the world must
pause in reverent adoration, all com-
petition eliminated, before the Sequoia
Gigantea — the big trees of California.

There are two varieties of these trees,
and they are found nowhere else in the world, and each has marked habits that clearly distinguish
them. The real big tree is the gigantea. It is found only on the western slopes of the Sierra
Nevada, generally never below four thousand feet and seldom above six thousand five hundred
feet above sea level.

The smaller variety of the big tree is the sequoia sempervirens, or everlasting redwood. This tree
never wanders far from the coast. It is found in seven counties only, and never more than twenty
to thirty miles from the sea. One reason for its name — and its brother the sequoia gigantea partakes
of this same quality — is that it may be burned until every limb is severely scarred with fire — nay,
until not a single limb remains upon it ; yet such is the thickness and imperviousness of its bark.

From Sterfo t-opyrujht hy'] lUnderwood & UncUncood.

THE FAITHFUL COUPLE. CALIFORNIA.

A view of twin trees, looking up their shaft. This giant and giantess

of California are two distinct trees although united in trunk.

;^i^-:i^i:

From Stereo cupufi'ih! >•<, ] [II. C. White Co.

" Vermont " and " ^^'awona."

i'livliiti hi/ j>f/'niissin>l "/j

"Lincoln" and "Washington." " Wawona '

BIG TREES IN THE MARIPOSA GROVE. CALIFORNIA

[Thr Sjulltrrn J'tu-ijic Co.

592

The Wonders of the World

that in a year or two it will
send out new shoots and thus,
though apparently dead, spring
back into newness of life.

The name Sequoia is from
Sequoyah, who was a Cherokee
Indian of mixed blood, better
known by his English name
of George Guess. He is sup-
posed to have been born about
1770 in Will's Valley, in the
north-eastern corner of Ala-
bama, then occupied by the
Cherokees. He was a man of
great abihty and invented an
alphabet for his tribe and
taught them to write it. When
his tribe was driven beyond
the Mississippi he went with
his people, and died, in 1843,
in New Mexico.

Out of the eight or nine
groves of the gigantea visited
by travellers, the ones easiest
reached are the Mariposa
and Calaveras Groves. The
former is generally visited in
conjunction with the trip to
the Yosemite Valley, being in reality an easy side trip of one day from the Valley. Tiie most
attractive tree of all is the Grizzly Giant, the only sohtary tree of any great age in the grove. It
stands straight, solemn, unique, alone, without a branch for quite a height, then giving out a
number, the diameter of some of which is fully six feet. It is ninety-three feet seven inches in
circumference at the ground, and sixty-four feet three inches at eleven feet above. Its two
diameters at the base are about thirty and thirty-one feet, while the estimated diameter at eleven
feet high is twenty feet. It is much decreased from its original size by burning, and no allowance
for this has been given in these measurements. While it seems to be hoary with old age, John Muir
contends that it is merely a mature tree, for it ripens its cones with great regularity.

These cones are exceedingly beautiful, and very small for so large a tree, and the remarkable
fact about them is that the seed is about the same in size and appearance as the seed of the parsnip.
Of the age of the big trees the most recent scientific authorities have made statements that are
startling. We look upon the Pyramids and Sphinx as most ancient memorials, yet long before the
time of the Pharaohs who built these wonderful structures the big trees were growing and were
tall and strong. There are no known memorials of man so ancient as they, and nothing hving can
equal them in age. Indeed, David Starr Jordan, the President of the Leland Stanford, Jr., Univer-
sity of California, who is as learned a botanist and biologist as he is ichthyologist and college
president, affirms that some of them are fully seven and even eight thousand years old.

The trunk of the big tree is columnar, fluted perpendicularly, and in appearance and colour
varies from a very light brown to cinnamon. The older trees usually have little foliage for the first
hundred feet, save feathery sprays. The rule is not absolute, however, and some of the larger trees,

Photo hy-] [//. C.

A BURIAL VAULT. MANILA, PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.
Burial in many parts of Southern America that have been influenced by Spanish rule
is performed by placing the deceased in a numbered niche of a corridor or burial chamber.
When the annual fee for the niche is no longer paid, the bones are cast into the common
vault such as is seen here.

North America

593

especially those in exposed places, branch
near the earth. The Hmbs reach an enor-
mous size, one, eighty feet from the ground
on the Grizzly Giant in the Mariposa Grove,
having a diameter of nearly seven feet.

While the Mariposa Grove is the grove
most visited owing to its close proximity to
Yosemite, the other groves are well worth a
visit, especially the Calaveras Grove and
the recently discovered California Grove.
This latter is commonly known as Redwood
Mountain, and lies in a beautiful basin at
the foot of Little Baldy Mountain, on
gently sloping hillsides of easy access, and
where there are hundreds of fine camping
places near to the silvery streams where
trout live in abundance. The government
gangers have counted over eight thousand
sequoia gigantea in this grove alone.

The Calaveras Grove was long the prin-
cipal grove visited, and hence in the litera-
ture on the subject written by travellers
from other countries it is by far the oftenest
described and is the best known. Here one
certainly sees most wonderful trees, and the
methods used to demonstrate their gigantic
size make a deep impression upon the minds
of all. It contains ten trees thirty feet in
diameter and over seventy that are between
fifteen and thirty feet.

One of the most interesting specimens is
the fallen " Father of the Forest." Standing
near its uprooted base the scene is grand
beyond description. The "Father" has
long since bowed his head in the dust, yet
how stupendous he is even in his ruin ! He
measures one hundred and twelve feet in
circumference at the base, and can be
traced three hundred feet where the trunk
was broken by falling against another tree ;
it here measures sixteen feet in diameter,
and according to the average taper of the
other trees this venerable giant must have
been four hundred and fifty feet in height
when standing. A hollow chamber or burnt
cavity extends through the trunk two
hundred feet, large enough for a person to
ride through on a good-sized horse ; near its
base a never-failing spring of water is found.

»«»--

,,;„„„ ,,„-| irif IMnnt rUulu.iiaphic Co.

A TOTEM POLE IN SEATTLE. WASHINGTON.

This fine specimen was brought from Alaska and erected in

Pioneer Square

594

The Wonders of the World

Ninety yards east is a duster of three trees, one of them named after Thomas Starr King, the
preacher patriot of CaUfornia, and the two others after the eminent Enghshmen, Richard Cobden
and John Bright. The three nearest to the hotel were named after three noted Generals of the
United States Army during the Civil War. U. S. Grant, W. T. Sherman and J. B. McPherson.

The " Miners' Cabin " was blown down in a terrific gale in November, i860. It is three hundred
and nineteen feet long and twenty-one and a half feet in diameter. Two hundred feet away are

the " Three Graces," a group of three trees,
close together in a straight line, and by
many regarded as the most beautiful cluster
in the grove.

There are " Sir Joseph Hooker," " John
Lindley " — two noted English botanists,
and near by, " Humboldt."

To merely catalogue all the trees of
noticeable size and name would be to fill
up several pages.

Of the sequoia sempervirens there are
two groups constantly visited. One is a
small privately owned grove on the line of
the Southern Pacific to Santa Cruz, where
a small entrance fee is charged, and the
other is the " State Park," so called because
it was purchased a few years ago by the
State of California, so that a large number
of these trees might be kept in their original
condition for all time. It is located about
twenty miles from Boulder Creek, a small
town not far from Santa Cruz, and is under
the control of the State Board of Forestry,
which has advisory relations with the Sem-
pervirens Club — a club organized for its
public purchase and protection.

Burial in the Philippine Islands,— Many
a volume could be written on the burial
customs of the nations of the world, from
the Hindoo habit of placing the bodies on
the Towers of Silence, to the earth inter-
ment of the Christian and the cremation
of the North American Indian. In Spain
and Mexico and also in the Phihppine
Islands — doubtless introduced there by the
Spanish missionaries — the habit prevails of placing the bodies in compartments in walls or vaults,
each of which is numbered, the number corresponding to a register kept by the priest or sexton.
The friends of the deceased are required to pay an annual rental for this " resting-place for the
dead," and so long as this is done the body remains unmolested. But if, after a year or so, the
rent remains unpaid, the body, by now generally reduced to bones and dust, is removed and
incontinently thrown into a vault prepared for that purpose. To those of different custom, who
see these piles of skulls and bones for the first time, this method of displacing the dead seems both
heartless and sacrilegious, but to those who do it there is nothing strange or out of the way in it.

THE POLAR SUN.

This photograph, taken during the expedition of Dr. Cook, clearly
shows the iridescent halo that on certain occasions was observed to
surround the sun; it was especially noticed after emerging from a fog
or a bank of clouds.

Mount Hood from Elliot Glacier.

A dangerous snow-bridge over a crevasse.

Photos

The Kigantic ice-cliffs of the glacier.

ELLIOT GLACIER. MOUNT HOOD. OREGON

iff. C. White Co.
One of the glaciers that imperil the way of the mountain-climber.

596

The Wonders of the World

Photo 6y]

IT/ie Detroit I'holographic Co.

MOUNT HOOD. OREGON.

Mount Hood is the northernmost peak in Oregon of the Cascade Range. It possesses a lake of immense depth and of the purest
water, which is protected by the Canyon of the Sandy River from contamination by the muddy glacier streams.

Everything in life — and, in this case, even afterwards — depends upon the angle at which one
views things.

Totem Poles. — ^EarUer in this work was given a description of the origin and significance of the
Totem, but a few words may with advantage be added here with regard to the symbolism of their
elaborate carvings. As we have already seen, there were four kinds of totem : the clan, the family,
the sex and the individual. The first symbol denoted the supposed origin of a particular tribe ; for
instance, the Eagle Clan claim descent from the monarch of the air, and, therefore, a carved eagle
surmounts the tallest pole in their village. The second was the family symbol. Now, most of
the family names of the North-American aborigines are those of birds, beasts, fishes, reptiles,
or natural objects, so that the embodied name is usually not difficult to depict. The ThUnkits
are divided into four totems : the whale, the eagle, the raven and the wolf. Should you pass
through a village of the Thlinkits and be unaware of the exact family by whom it is inhabited,
the totem pole will tell you if you be learned in the Indian folk-lore, for upon it will be carved the
family emblem underneath that of the clan.

But perhaps the totem is a private coat-of-arms ; .then the third carving will show the sex of
the owner. The sign will vary according to his or her tribe. But let us take a special example.
The sex totems of the Thlinkits are, for a woman, the raven ; for a man, the wolf. Then one of
these two animals will figure on the private totem pole. Lastly, there is the individual totem.
This is chosen by every man when he has attained the age of puberty and has undergone the long
religious fasts demanded of him on his inclusion amongst the adult males of the tribe. These

North America

597

fasts are a test of his powers of endurance and are very severe. Exhaustion often occurs, and the
mind is then in the requisite state to see visions and dream dreams. If in these dreams a special
animal appears to the dreamer, he will take it as his own pecuHar emblem, and that will be carved
on the fourth position on the pole. That is the history of the evolution of a totem pole. Many
and varied are the devices to be met with, not only in North and West America, but in most
ethnological museums, for transportation has made this curious architecture familiar to the world.
In one instance a pole was adorned with a succession of bears ; in another, three halibuts ; and
yet another had as its topmost carving the figure of a man in a conical hat. But grotesque and
humorous though these carvings may appear, it ought to be remembered that a whole system of
primitive rehgion and morals underlies this strange sculpture, and that the totem pole is a
subject capable of affording vastly interesting study.

The Polar 5an.— All are famihar with the Polar Day and the long Polar Night, but the majority
of people assume that the sun, during the period of its constant shining, presents the same appearance
as that with which they are familiar. This is a great error. The pecuhar magnetic, electric and
meteorological combinations affect the atmosphere surrounding the earth, so that man's vision of
the sun is materially altered. When the thermometer ranges from twenty to forty, fifty and even
sixty degrees below zero, and the sky is overcast with
fog, or heavy falls of snow, or dense clouds, and the
heavens are constantly subjected to brill- ant electric
displays, the appearances of the sun can better be
imagined than described. Here are a few brief word-
pictures made by Commander Cagni, of the Duke of the
Abruzzi's expedition on the Polar Star to the Arctic Sea

(June, 1899, to September, 1900). On the evening of
Wednesday, April 11, "At four o'clock, the sky

became clear for a moment, and the sun appeared with

a splendid halo — blue, green, yellow and red; and a

secondary halo — green, yellow and red." On Monday,

April 2, another detachment of the expedition reported

that " At noon we set out in perfectly calm weather.

A fog completely envelops us and prevents us from

seeing far. Yesterday's fall of snow has effaced our

tracks and left a layer of soft snow, into which the

sledges sink. . . . The fog lifts at three, and the sun

appears for a moment, with a large and splendid

iridescent halo which has a luminous body on the top."

April 10 : " At one o'clock the star of day appeared,

surrounded by a magnificent halo, the most beautiful

I have ever seen. It is a circle of light, shining with

all the colours of the prism, divided by a horizontal

diameter, with two parhelions at its extremities,

making three suns on the same line. There is a large

luminous body in contact with the upper limb."

Mount Hood is eleven thousand two hundred feet

above sea level and forms one of a group of peaks all of

which can be clearly seen from Portland. In succession

there are Mount St. Helens, the Three Sisters, Mount

Jefferson and Mount Adams, while at a distance of about

one hundred and forty miles is Mount Tacoma-Ranier.

Pholo hy']

WEBER CANYON. UTAH.

The Devil's Slide in ihii canyon is composed of
two remarkable parallel strata o( sandstone ascending
the steep slope of the south wall for about 2.000 feet.

598

The Wonders of the World

Mount Hood is the northernmost peak in Oregon of the Cascade Range. This range, which the
geologists generally regard as a continuation of the Sierra Nevada of California, is a broad volcanic
plateau, with an average height of six thousand feet, from which soar many peaks from nine
thousand to eleven thousand feet above the sea. It really divides Oregon and Washington into two
parts — the eastern and western divisions being chmatically very different from each other, and thus
having a marked influence upon the agriculture. The mountain itself is reached by stage of about
forty miles from Hood River station, and here are fields of exploration that even to-day invite the
adventurous. Glaciers, crevasses and moraines on Mount Hood are yet to be explored and mapped

out, and one may revel here in scenery
as untouched by the foot of man as any
known in the world.

The Devil's Slide, Weber Can^fon^
Utah. — The Union Pacific Railway,
reaching from Omaha to Ogden, where
it joins the Southern Pacific (once
known as the Central Pacific), for San
Francisco, passes through wonderfully
diversified scenery. After rolling over
the buffalo plains at about the same
level for hundreds of miles, it ascends
the Rockies, passes the summit and
slides down to the plateaus of the
Colorado and Utah country. These
plateaus are seamed here and there
with most picturesque and rugged can-
yons, one of the most interesting of
which is Weber Canyon. It is pre-
ceded by Echo Canyon, wild and fan-
tastic, whose walls are nearer together
than are those of Weber Canyon.
Here are pulpit rocks, fantastic carvings
and wild spires ascending into the
pure blue of the western sky, from
massive domes, cathedral rocks and
castellated towers. One of the most
imposing features is the Devil's Shde,
consisting of two parallel dykes or
strata of sandstone, about thirty feet
apart, and ascending the steep slope of
the south wall of the canyon for about
one thousand five hundred to two thousand feet. The name is somewhat fanciful, suggested by its
largeness and ruggedness, and that it does somewhat appear as if some weird and wild being had
used it as a passage-way from the cliffs above to the level beneath.

The Old Man of the Mountains, Franconia Notch, White Mountains, New Hampshire. — Until the
Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevadas were opened up to the tourist, the White Mountain region
of New Hampshire was by far the most popular of all America's wonder spots. For many years a
railway has conveyed passengers to the top of Mount Washington (six thousand six hundred feet)
during the summer months. Three distinct passes afford ingress and egress to certain valleys,
and those passes which in this range are known as " Notches." The easternmost of the passes

Photo by'!

{T/ie Dftroit I'hotogrfiphic Co.
"THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAINS."
This strange crag, which juts out from the side of Cannon or Profile
Mount in the " Franconia Notch " of the White Mountains, has been im-
mortalized by Hawthorne in his "Twice-told Tales."

6oo

The Wonders of the World

is the Franconia Notch, through which
the Pemigewasset river flows. One of
the mountains that borders this notch
is Mount Cannon, so called on account
of a group of rocks at its summit
wliich at a distance bear an exact re-
semblance to a mighty cannon.

On this mountain, about twelve
liundred to fifteen hundred feet above
the road, though far below the summit,
appears a " Great Stone Face," the
" Old Man of the Mountains," that
bears so striking a resemblance to a
human face that Hawthorne, in his
" Twice-told Tales," has not only given
us a vivid description of it, but has
woven a legend and moral around it.
He thus describes it : " It seemed as if
an enormous giant, or Titan, had sculp-
tured his own likeness on the precipice.
Tliere was the broad arch of the fore-
head, a hundred feet in height ; the
nose, with its long bridge ; and the
vast lips, which, if they could have
spoken, would have rolled their thunder
accents from one end of the valley to
the other." Thomas Starr King, com-
menting on this, said: " We must re-
duce the scale of the charming story-
teller's description. The whole profile
is about eighty feet in length ; and of the
three separate masses of rock which are
combined in its composition, one forms
the forehead, another the nose and upper lips, and the third the chin. Perhaps the best time to
see the profile is about four in the afternoon of a summer day."

The Congressional Library Baildingf Washington^ D. C. — While called the Library of Congress,
this is really the National Library of the United States. It is located close to the National Capitol,
for the use of the President, the Senators and Congressmen, judges and officials, and any American
citizen who may need to use its vast collection of books to aid him in his researches in any of the
multitude of subjects which interest mankind.

The new library was completed in 1897. It is an imposing building, situated on the eastern heights
of the city of Washington, directly opposite the east front of the Capitol, and surmounted by a
golden dome, reaching about one-third the height of the Wasliington Monument. This is second
in size only to St. Isaac's, of Russia — the largest gilded dome in the world.

It covers about four acres, is constructed of New Hampshire granite, and its foundation walls
are as soHd as the enduring rock on which they are placed. Dignity and use rather than ornateness
and show were the watchwords of the architects, though in the detail and ornamentation it must be
confessed the library goes far beyond any of the older public buildings of the National Capitol.
General Casey, the national architect, who, with his assistants, designed the building, was necessarily

Pholo by'i

[Undpftcood & Undencood.
THE MAMMOTH CAVE, KENTUCKY.
Stalactitic formations are not abundant in these caves, but such as are
found here are of great size and beauty. Thoje here shown are to be seer in
Pilgrim Avenue.

North America

60 1

handicapped in ihis plans at the start, for, 'whatever he did must be subordinate to the National
Capitol and in perfect harmony with it both in style and appearance.

The main entrance is by three arched doorways, side by side, leading into a magnificent
and spacious entrance hall, lined with highly-polished marble. Two flights of marble stairs lead
upwards to the right and left, guarded by balustrades carved in high relief, representing a succes-
sion of cherubs who symbolize science, art, industry, and the many professions and pursuits of
man.

Directly opposite the entrance doors and midway between the two flights of stairs is an impressive
portal of white marble, like a triumphal arch, leading to the rotunda, the floor space of which is
occupied as a reading-room.

This rotunda is practically the centre of the building, and it is flanked on the north and south
by two halls, each containing an enormous book-stack of iron and marble reaching up nine stories
and either capable of holding a million volumes. The windows of these book-chambers look into
four large courts, which are enclosed by the outer wall of the building. A lofty corridor, with
offices, small reading-rooms, etc., opening into it, runs around the vast square of the entire building,
its walls faced high with polished marble from the different States.

The reading room is octagonal in shape and a hundred feet in diameter. Its ceiling is one hundred
and twenty-five feet above the mosaic pavement. Each of the eight sides is guarded by a splendid
archway of Sienese marble, its incomparable mellow yellow tints veined in black. At each bend
of the octagon stand colossal polished columns of red African marble, as warm and glowing as a
Nile sunset. It is a gorgeous temple of learning, by far the most ornate building in America.

Fhoto by'\ [Underaood <k Uiideruood.

THE HEAD OF ECHO RIVER. MAMMOTH CAVE
This river flows along in the darkness of these caverns for an unknown distance, for the cave and its avenues can only be

etitimated to extend for at least one hundred miles.

6o2

The Wonders of the World

The Mammoth Ca-ve of Keniuckyi. — For over a century the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky has
been one of the wonders of the world. In Edmonson County, where the Mammoth Cave is
found, there are as many as five hundred well-known and exp'ored caverns.

The reason for this is that the plateau of this country is surfaced with a layer of homogeneous
limestone of the sub-carboniferous period, several hundred feet thick, with no intervening strata.
For over a hundred miles there are but three rivers — the Wolin, Green and Barren — and between
these rivers the whole of the surface drainage passes away through subterranean channels, giving
rise to a curious " sink-hole " topography, which has its counterpart on the north rim of the Grand
Canyon on the Kaibab Plateau. Much of the water gathered in these sink-holes escapes through
vents in the bottoms into caverns and underground rivers, cutting and carving on its way to join
the rivers beyond — one of which, the Green, is fully three hundred and twenty feet below the level
country above. Of this three hundred and twenty feet, seventy is sandstone, and two hundred

and fifty feet limestone,
and it is in this hmestone
that the caves are found.

Every vent hole of the
sinks aids in the making of
underground channels and
caverns, and there is no
estimating the thousands
of miles these extend. Nor
is it possible to more than
guess at the extent and
number of large caverns
yet undiscovered.

But a building-up action
is going on as well as a dis-
integrating action. In pass-
ing through the limestone
the water becomes charged
with lime, which it deposits
elsewhere in the form of
stalactites and stalagmites
of a hundred varied designs.
In the upper portion of the
hmestone, also, a quantity
of pyrites of iron is found, and through the agency of moisture and air upon tliese and the lime-
stone, sulphate of lime, or gypsum, is formed, and the gypsum crystals incrust the walls and ceihngs
in the upper and drier portions of the cave with beautiful and fantastic forms of sparkhng white.
These gypsum formations grow out of the rock as hoar-frost grows out of the ground.

Another strangely beautiful scene is exhibited in the Star Chamber, a hall seventy feet wide,
sixty feet high and five hundred feet long. The lofty ceihng is coated with black gypsum, studded
with thousands of white spots.

Passing through majestic avenues and chambers, we approach Chief City, so-called because there
are a number of rocks that appear like ruins, and also because of the vast dome where the Indians
used to congregate before the day of the whites. This stupendous dome is five hundred feet across
in one direction, two hundred and eighty feet in another, and its height is estimated at from ninety
to one hundred and twenty-five feet. Over this great area extends a solid arch of limestone.

Not far away is Flint Dome, where bands and nodules of flint project from the circular walls.

Photo hy]

THE PILLARS
One of the gi

OF HERCULES.

=knt stalactites to be

MAMMOTH
found in these caves

N'lerirooii A- Umierirood.
CAVE.

lUnderaood Jc Understood,

From Stereo KOfjynyhi oti\ ■ * ■

MONUMENT PARK. COLORADO.

The eroded-' sand&tone pillars of this diEtrict are remarkable .'fcr their dark capf, which are fcrrr.ed by a stratum of much

firmer sandstone capable of withstandins erosion better than the mcMV friable bat»e.

6o4

The Wonders of the World

••*-"^"**'**^*^^'''"^^

Photo ly']

[T/te Dftroi/ r/tofO'jraphir Co.

SUNRISE FROM PIKE'S PEAK.

The effects of the sunrise from this lofty peak of the Rocky Mountains are of extreme beauty, especially when a white
mountain fog hides away the lesser peaks and the valleys beneath.

The Indians used to gather flint from here, as in its moist condition it would " flake " much easier
than the dry flint outside.

Mammoth Dome is the largest of the three vast domes in this cave, and is about four hundred
feet in length and one hundred and fifty feet in height and as much in width. The walls are
curtained by alabaster drapery in vertical folds, varying in size from a pipe-stem to a saw-log, and
decorated by heavy fringes at intervals of about twenty feet. Six enormous columns, eighty feet
high and about twenty-five feet in diameter, support one of the circular sides of the roof. These
columns are fluted, and have well-marked capitals, and look like the ruins of some immense
Egyptian temple. The white limestone is here incrusted with an amber-coloured stalagmitic
coating, and curtains of the same material add greatly to the splendour of the place. The floor
is paved with stalagmitic blocks, stained by red and black oxides into a kind of mosaic.

Though the main passages are wide and impress the beholder with their grandeur and majesty,
there is one winding, narrow, water-worn passage whose three hundred feet or more change direction
eight times. The width of the passage is but eighteen inches, and it is called the Fat Man's Misery,
from which one emerges to the Great Relief, From this we enter one of the grandest avenues in
the cave, called River Hall, extending for several miles, and leading, with its ramifications, to the
wonderful subterranean lakes and rivers. Passing along the narrow ledge of the dark cliifs over-
hanging the Dead Sea, where the guide skilfully throws the lights on to projecting ledges of the
farther side, we still cannot see the clear pool of water below into which we can hear the near-by
cascade falling. We cross a stone archway forming for several hundred feet a natural bridge over
the River Styx. Then after passing the side of Lake Lethe, we enter the Great Walk, a spacious
avenue, ninety feet high, and extending twelve hundred feet to the shore of Echo River, We now
take to the boats, flat-bottomed and commodious, each one seating about twenty persons. The

North America

605

lamps are arranged at each end. It certainly is a most uncanny sensation to find oneself afloat under
the dark archway in this world of blackness and gloom. It is three-quarters of a mile to the other
side. The river is about twenty feet deep, but the water is so clear that one can easily see the
pebbles at the bottom.

Suddenly the guide asks for silence. Then lifting his heavy, broad paddle, he strikes with great
force the surface of the water. Instantaneously one is in the presence of a thunder-storm that he
cannot see. Waves of sound of immense volume are let loose and come rolling in from every
direction, receding, and again returning, lingering for many seconds, and finally dying away in
sweet, far-away melodies.

This underground river is the home of the eyeless fish and of an eyeless crayfish, both of which
have no colour, and are remarkably provided with sensitive tissue under the skin which answers
the purpose of eyes.

There are scores of other objects of interest which one should visit, but which this brief sketch
necessarily cannot include. One of the most remarkable features of the trip, however, is often
experienced at its close. On returning to the outer air, it seems so heavy, so mephitic with odours
of one kind or another, after the pure air of the cave, that many people struggle for breath for a
short time, returning again and yet again to the cave, before they become fully accustomed once
more to their normal air. This is one of the great charms of an exploration of the cave. The air
is so pure and exhilarating that one can walk miles and miles without fatigue.

ThU

l^TUe Detroit J'/wfoy/ttphic Co.
THE MESA ENCANTADA FROM THE PUEBLO OF ACOMA.
pueblo is one of the most modern, dating Irom 1699. The Acomas asgert that their ancestors lived 1
Tableland " (.as " Mesa Encantada " signifies), and investigation

. the * Enchanted

has verified their clattn.

4JtKi

North America

607

Monument Park, Colorado. — ^The descriptions already given of the Garden of the Gods are in
some measure appropriate to Monument Canyon, although striking differences are to be noticed
by the careful observer. Until travel was diverted to the Garden of the Gods this was the popular
locahty in Colorado.

Imagine a great number of gigantic sugar-loaves, quite irregular in shape, but all possessing the
tapering form, varying in height from six feet to fifty feet, with each loaf capped by a flat stone
of much darker colour than the loaf, and having a shape not unlike a college student's mortar-board
— such is Monument Park. The capping
stones are all that remain of a later de-
position of sandstone, which is somewhat
harder and more durable than the whiter
sandstone beneath. Consequently, as the
lower stratum has been eroded, these caps
have preserved the various columns from
extinction, though the beating rain, wind
and snow have continued to gnaw them
under the protecting shelter of the caps.
The monuments are for the most part
ranged along the low hills on each side of
the park, which is about a mile wide, but
liere and there one stands in the open
plain. There are two or three small knolls
apart from the hills; and on these several
clusters of the columns are found, present-
ing an appearance, at a slight distance,
very like that of the white marble columns
so often found in cemeteries.

Sunrise from Pike's Peak. — This peak is
amongst the best known heights of the
Rocky Mountains, and though many travel-
lers scale its steep flanks, few have watched
a sunrise from its lofty summit. It is a
sight of surpassing beauty, more especially
when a white fog spreads over lake and
valley below. These fogs are of frequent
occurrence, and as one looks down upon
the white mass it. is as though a limitless
sea, broken up into fleecy billows, were
lapping the mountain side with its noiseless
waters. The faint light of dawn gives tints
of pearl to the moving expanse, and as the
sun's strength each moment increases, the colouring changes and deepens ; the sky above is
charged with rose and crimson, and the ethereal lake reflects the glow. With the full warmth of
day the mountain fog is dispersed and soft illusion gives place to majestic reality.

Acoma. — Of all the picturesque sites for a people the Acomas seem to have chosen the best.
Their village is perched high on a wonderful " penyol " — an island of rock, isolated, however,
with sand instead of water — in the plain, some twenty miles south of Laguna. When they first
went there it is impossible to tell ; but, whenever it was, it was at a time when defence was
needed. So they chose this site because there was no way to reach it save up a dizzy trail which

A^yT^S

^Si^im^r^i

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IHE ROCK-PILLAR AT ACOMA.

6o8

The Wonders of the World

climbed part of the way up the face of the cHff. According to tradition, the Acomas came
from the far-away north, and their first recorded village was Kashka-chuti. Here they dwelt
for a long time, until " the urge " sent them further south to Washpashuka, where they remained
until another southward impulse brought them to Kuchtya. The sites of none of these towns
are known even to their oldest and wisest men. But finally they reached the land where
they dwell at the present time. They dot New Mexico all over, also parts of Arizona, and nowhere
are they more attractive and striking than in the region north and south of Laguna.

When the travelling ancestors of the Acomas reached this land, they reared the walls of Tsiama
at the gateway of a half-canyon, afterwards named by the Spaniards the Canyada de la Cruz.
But even here they did not linger long. A more attractive site was found at Tapitsiama, a great
mesa overlooking the Acoma valley from the north-east. Still another change was made, and this
was to Katzimo — the accursed — the mighty rock from which Those Above drove them in most

Photo by] [George WUarlon James.

A NATURAL BRIDGE AND TOWERS. ACOMA.

dramatic manner. Or, at least, they allowed them to leave and then forbade their return by making
re-ascent impossible. The mesa itself is passed on the way from Laguna to Acoma. It is in a valley
of cliffs, pink, grey, creamy, with occasionally a touch of orange, crimson and ohve, but here was
a detached mass, left soHtary, alone, dignified, in the heart of the valley. It towered majestically
above the tiny " pinions" at its base, though some masses of talus were piled more than thigh-high
at the foot of the cliffs. The walls are seamed and scarred with many a storm.

While Acoma was originally difficult of access, Katzimo was far more so, for there was but one
trail to the summit, and that for part of the way was up a huge section of rock that had been
separated from the main wall by the action of the weather during the centuries.

One day, when all the people, save three old sick women and two or three lads left to take care
of them, were away working in their fields, a fierce storm came and soon literally made the penyol
an island. The water made a second flood and ultimately washed away the sand that held the
rock-sliver in place. It fell with a crash and thus deprived the Acomas of any mode of access to
their former homes. This they discovered when they returned, and from that time forward the

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North America

609

place was accursed to them ; for not only were they kept from it, but their unfortunate kinswomen
were unable to descend, and ultimately starved to death there.

Acoma itself is three miles from the enchanted mesa, and its approach is equally impressive.
Many a time I have visited its fascinating heights, and each time with increasing pleasure. On one
occasion I and several friends went with Padre George J. Juillard, their priest, who three or four
times a year visits them, hears confession, says Mass, and generally consoles and advises with them.

At the foot of the trail our horses were unharnessed and unsaddled and taken away by some of
the Acomas. Our Indian friends went ahead of us, and we soon saw them scahng an absolutely
precipitous cliff — in the heart of a cleft — hke flies on a wall.

We soon found we had to follow, but it was so planned that there was some friendly hand to
help each of us at the critical places. First of all, the trail was a series of steps of rock and tree-
trunks until we were well up in the heart of the cleft ; then our fingers were guided into little hand-
holes and our feet put into foot-holes, and for about ten feet we had to climb up a sheer wall. We
were helped so handily and so surely that we all reached the top with no more than a few extra
heart-beats and a sharp sigh or two. Then we entered a rocky tunnel, and on emerging on the
other side we were actually on tlie top of tlie mesa on which stands Acoma.

The superficial area of this rocky table is seventy acres, and it is'~perched nearly three hundred
and sixty feet above the sur-
rounding sands. The walls are
carved into a thousand and
one forms, strange, fantastic,
top-heavy statues of rude
and grotesque outline. Narrow
clefts, ravines, chasms, in which
are hidden standing rocks,
balanced rocks, pillar rocks,
and some of which are spanned
by natural bridges of massive
outline, that dwarf the most
ponderous of man's efforts of
this kind. There are scores of
massive mural faces, the tops
of which are nature-shaped into
towers, pinnacles, columns,
domes, minarets and rude
spires. We saw sheep corrals
made by fencing in the en-
trance of a cul-de-sac, whose
walls towered hundreds of feet
into the blue sky. Near by was
one formed by surrounding a
standing rock-pillar with a fence,
which just at sunset cast a
shadow upon the sand, strangely
and starthngly, hke a sleeping
giant of unearthly proportion, ~~7Zi7i^i [f.von,,- w/mnou james.

Like all Indians, the Acomas the trail, acoma.

■ J , • J J The view looking from the tunnel. This immense mesa covers an area o( about

mdulge m many sacred dances. ,J„l^\m Z everywhere curious a„d fantastic rock, .ower above the surround-

Most of these dances are a im: Uvei.

6io

The Wonders of the World

strange commingling of their old pagan ceremonies — Nature worship — and those taught them by
the Christian padres. Let me describe this as I have several times seen it.

Leading the procession came a peculiar figure. It was a man riding a kind of " hobby-horse."
This represented St. James, the patron saint of Spain, a figure often seen in the ceremonies of the
New Mexico Indians. Then, more peculiar even than Saint James, was a tall Mexican, dressed
in cowboy fashion, wielding a large accordion and playing with earnestness and vigour. By his
side was another Mexican. This latter had evidently taken full charge of the ceremonies. His
wand of office was a vicious-looking blacksnake whip, with which every now and again he fiercely
beat the air. Then behind a large crowd of Mexican visitors came a stalwart Acoma Indian bearing
the processional cross ; then the Governor and his officers, followed by the priest in his robes of office.
Behind him. seated in a cabinet evidently made for the purpose and borne aloft over the heads of

Photo by] [The Detroit noloijrnpliic Co.

SANDSTONE CARVINGS. GREEN RIVER. WYOMING.

These red sandstone cliffs have lent themselves readily to the curious sculpture of the sand-laden blast. "The Old Maid's
Teapot" and "Thor's Club" are the titles of these two rock masses.

the bearers, was the wooden figure of St. Stephen, taken down from its place over the altar. Over
the figure of the saint a cloth canopy was held, the four corners of which were supported by staffs in
the hands of four men. Then came the band of singers and the whole of the population, men, women
and children. This procession solemnly wended its way up and down every street of the pueblo.

In one of the main streets a small ramada, or shelter, had been built, inside which the figure of
St. Stephen was placed, forming part of the rude altar which had already been prepared. Having
thus escorted the figure of the saint to his shrine for the day, the procession now disbanded.

During the rest of the morning all the devout members of the tribe, men and women, came to
pray at the little shrine, each one bringing some gift-offering of bread, baked meat, clothing, pottery,
corn, melons, jewellery, or other article, all of which are deposited around the foot of the altar and
left there.

Soon after the noon hour the dances began, and it required no explanation to see that these were

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6l2

The Wonders of the World

a remnant of the old heathen part of the ceremonies upon which the civilized and Christian part
had been grafted. The head-dresses of the women clearly symbolized the old-time Acoma worship
of the sun. The other symbols and the words of the songs which were sung showed that some of
the dances were the ancient thanksgiving dances for the good things tlie people had received at the
hands of Those Above, and also a prayer for rain. The men wore a kilt, or apron, reaching from the
loins to the knees, embroidered and fringed garters and moccasins. Dependent from the loins at the
back was the skin of the silver-grey fox, and around both arms above the elbow were tied twigs
of juniper or pine. In the left hand more twigs were held, while in the right was the whitewashed
gourd-rattle used in all ceremonial dances. Around each forehead was the inevitable handkerchief,
and nearly all wore a shell and turquoise necklace. Their bodies and legs were nude, painted with
an oxide of iron. The women, on the other hand, were bedecked with all the gorgeous finery they
could muster. To and fro they danced, the men, two together, giving the singular hippety-hop
movement peculiar to Indian dances, and shaking their rattles, the women, hkewise in twos,
following in alternate order, gently waving bunches of wild flowers, and shuffling forward with their
feet as the men hopped. On the other side of the street stood the tonibes (drums) and the chorus,
the leader occasionally making gestures, all of which were imitated by the singers, expressive of
their thankfulness to Those Above.

Altogether, as if they were controlled by machinery, each man-dancer raises his right foot with
a quick jerk to the height of eight or ten inches above the ground. The next moment, but all in

Photo hy}

Wharton James.

THE CAVE DWELLINGS. PAJARITO PARK.

The whole population o( a tribe sheltered in these curious dwellings, and there is evidence that the surrounding country

was covered with similar villages.

North America

613

Photo by']

THE TUFA ROCK DWELLINGS. PAJARITO PARK.

Near by these dwellings is one of the few carvings extant of these primitive people. It is the "Shrine of MaUatch,
with two carved lions : but this cave shows the highest stage in purely secular ornamentation.

Wharton James.

decorated

time, he gives a tiny hitch forward or hop with his left foot, while the right foot is suspended in
the air. Then bringing the right foot down, he Hfts his left foot with the same quick jerk, following
the movement with the tiny hop of the right foot. It is this httle and almost imperceptible hop,
following the main step, that gives the peculiar character to the Indian's dances. As the afternoon
progressed and the fervour of the dancers increased, the step became higher and more vigorous
and the little hitch of the other foot more marked.

Tlie dancing was kept up until near the time of the setting sun.

Sandstone and Concrete Carvings, Green River, Wyoming. — Sculpturing of the rocks is one of
Nature's great amusements. She works in a thousand different ways. The wind, charged with
sand, is often one of her powerful chisels, but the gases of the atmosphere are just as potent. On
the Green River in Wyoming the red sandstone formations have lent themselves to a wonderful
variety of shapes in this workshop of fantastic sculpturing. As it was deposited this sandstone
settled in irregular density and consequent varying degrees of hardness. When the strata were
uncovered and the process of degradation began, the harder masses resisted the encroachments of
the weather, and little by little assumed the amusing and fantastic forms in which they now appear.
Necessarily they look different at different angles, hence it depends upon the point from which
they are photographed as to what they are called. In the accompanying engravings are the " Old
Maid's Teapot," a gigantic representation of the source of the maiden lady's comfort, and the other
is a club which might have been used by the God Thor in one of his berserker rages when he sought
to slay his enemies. There are scores of these peculiar formations varying in size from a foot or so
to others which are a hundred or more feet high and many hundreds of feet in diameter.

6i4

The Wonders of the World

Ptrye Cliff LhveUings, New Mexico. — Just as the Mesa Verde and the Canyon de Chelly cover
large areas of diverse ruins of a prehistoric culture, so does the Jemez (pronounced " Hay-meth ")
Plateau in New Mexico. It is a name applied to the northern central part of New Mexico, on the
west side of the Rio Grande del Norte. It extends from a point almost directly west of Santa Fe
to the Colorado line, a distance of about ninety miles. It is limited on the west by the Rio Puerco,
and has an extreme breadth of about sixty miles.

One important section of the Jemez Plateau has been called the Pajarito Plateau, and in this
division the most interesting series of ruins are those of the settlement known as Puye. This
consisted of a large pueblo on the top of the Puye Mesa, and an extensive tributary cliff village. The

Photo hy\ , [ileorge Wharton Jaws.

CLIFF UWFLLIXUS Al PUVE.

The Puye Mesa is situated en the Pajarito division of the Jemez Plateau of New Mexico. The cliffs in which the dwellings

are situated are of greyish-yellow tufa, a rock that is easily excavated and therefore suitable for the cave dwellers.

pueblo was a huge quadrangular structure, the second largest in the region, and the most regular
and compact of all the greater ruins. It had but one entrance, this being in the eastern side, near
the south-eastern corner. The four sides are so connected as to form practically one structure.
In some rooms of this building there are evidences of occupancy after once having been abandoned.
Doors and windows previously used are found closed with masonry and plastered over. The last
floor is laid upon a foot or more of debris accumulated upon an original floor and not removed in
the process of remodelling. The cHff-village of Puye was an extensive one. The Puye Mesa, in
the cliffs of which the dwelhngs occur, is a mass of greyish-yellow tufa, about a mile long and
varying in width from ninety to seven hundred feet. This tufa has been much worn during the
ages by water and wind erosion, so that it especially lent itself to the making of the cliff-dwelhngs,
which are one of the distinctive features of these ancient settlements.

Photo hy] iThe Detroit Photographic Co,

THE GRAND CANYON. YELLOWSTONE PARK.

These are not simpls grey and hoary depths and reaches and pinnacles of sullen rock. The whole gorge flaTtes as if some glorious

sunset had stained the chfTs with its pageant of brilliant colour.

6i6

The Wonders of the World

I'holo (<!/] Idilfs.

THE GREAT FALLS. YELLOWSTONE PARK.

This torrent of water, one hundred feet wide, falls in an unbroken mass of
wave and foam t^ree hundred feet into the Cr^nd Canyon. On either side are
pinnacles cf sculptured rock, gorgeous with rainbow colourings.

The south face of the cliff is Uter-
ally honeycombed with dweUings. A
ledge midway up the face divides it
into two parts. In some places the
lower part contains three levels of
dwelhngs, the bottom series being, in
many instances, below the talus. The
dwellings above the ledge are more
scattered, but are also disposed in
three levels. In this cliff there are
three kinds of dwellings, namely : i.
Simple excavated caves. 2. Ex-
cavated caves with open rooms or
porches built on in front. 3. Houses
of stone, one to three stories high,
and terraced, that rest upon the
talus against the cliff.

At first glimpse the face of the
cliff in which these dwelhngs have
been excavated appears as if burrow-
ing animals had made large caves
for themselves beneath, while num-
berless holes and slots above suggest
the presence of birds' -nests to which
these were the entrances.

But after one has studied Puye,
he cannot fail to be amazed to learn
that this was but one of several
scores of such ruins, of greater or
lesser interest, all of which are con-
nected by a network of trails, clearly
indicating that at one time this
whole country was a mass of pueblo
Indian villages in which dwelt an
extensive population. One may walk
over trails that are so worn, in some
places, as to be hip-deep in the solid
rock, showing how many thousands
of feet have passed over them in
the time that has elapsed since they
were first laid out.

On the mesa the ruins of an
ancient reservoir were found. This was
oblong in form, its short diameter
being about seventy-five feet, and
the long diameter one hundred and
thirty feet. The embankment is
made of stone and earth, the open-
ing being on the west. It could

North America

617

not have been fed from any living source, and was undoubtedly used only for impounding such
surface water as was conducted to it through a small " draw " to the west.

Near by there is an irrigation ditch, with its laterals, used for conveying water from the streams
above the mesa to the level fields east and south of the village. But these were unquestionably of
a later date, and are supposed to have been constructed after the coming of the Spaniards to the
Rio Grande.

In another group of ruins of the Jemez Plateau, near the Rito de los Frijoles (" Re-to day loce
Free-ho-lais ") — the rivulet of the beans — is a painted cave, and a shrine in which are two carved
mountain lions which stand in high relief above the bed-rock of the mesa. This is the famous
" Shrine of Makatch." Here, among pinions and junipers, which have doubtless grown up since
the shrine was established, is a place that must be the American Stonehenge. Great slabs of rock
standing on end make a rude enclosure in which are found the stone lions. Figures of this character
are used to this day by the Zuni and other pueblo Indians of Arizona and New Mexico as hunting
fetiches, but many of the fetiches of the Zunis are tiny little things that could easily be carried
in a lady's purse, while these are hfe-size. They have suffered somewhat by the erosion of the
centuries, yet they are still strikingly life-like and real. The heads and shoulders have become
almost indistinguishable, but the
bodies and tails are still clear and
distinct. The lions are in the crouch-
ing position always taken by these
animals just before making their
deadly spring.

The Grand Canyon of the YeHoiv-
stone. — We have already seen some of
the marvels and wonders of the
Yellowstone National Park, but the
best wine has been left for the last. For,
however striking and novel the Geysers
are, they do not satisfy the imagination
and feed the spirit as does the Canyon
with its thrilling gamut of colour,
its expansiveness and its rushing
river.

Thousands of descriptions have
been written of the Canyon and the
Falls, but the following is both striking
and vivid. It is from the pen of Dr.
W. Hoyt : " Here is majesty of its
own kind, and beauty too. On either
side are vast pinnacles of sculptured
rock. There, where the rock opens
for the river, its waters are compressed
from a width of two hundred feet
between the Upper and Lower Falls
to one hundred feet where it takes
the plunge. The shelf of rock over
which it leaps is absolutely level. The
water seems to wait a moment on its
verge ; then it passes with a single

ule Co.

From Stereo copyright hyl l".

A DENDRITIC FOSSIL. YELLOWSTONE PARK.
How the forces of Nature combined to form this marvel can only be
conjectured. But to-day this giant fossil tree stands in Yellowstone Park,
a wonder amongst wonders

6i8

The Wonders of the World

bound of three hundred feet into the gorge below. It is a slieer, unbroken, compact, shining
mass of silvery foam. But your eyes are all the time distracted from the fall itself, great
and beautiful as it is, to its marvellous setting — to the surprising, overmastering canyon into
which the river leaps and through which it flows, dwindling to but a foamy ribbon there in
its appalling depths. As you cling here to this jutting rock, the falls are already many hundred
feet below you. They unroll their whiteness down amid the canyon glooms.

" Besides, you are fascinated by the magnificence and utter opulence of colour. Those are
not simply grey and hoary depths and reaches and domes and pinnacles of sullen rock.

The whole gorge flames. It is as
though rainbows had fallen out of the
sky and hung themselves there like
glorious banners, or the most glorious
sunset you ever saw had been caught
and held upon that resplendent, awful
£ \ gorge."

BjflK^ A There are many other wonders in

^^^^|k^L ^, » the Yellowstone which must not be

^^^^^^^T^.-f ^ '"•'V,. overlooked, and one of these is the

^^^^^K '^wlK^' ^.j^ttlt *** ", magnificent Obsidian Cliffs, or walls of

^^^^^B^l^^' W^^ ' T^ volcanic glass.

^fl^B/i\ .^flT^'A V^ " ^^^^^^ cliffs rise like basalt in

almost vertical columns, from the
eastern shores of Beaver Lake, and
are probably unequalled in the world.
They are from one hundred and fifty
to two hundred and fifty feet in
height and one thousand feet in
length, although there are croppings
of the same material to be traced as
far as the Lake of the Woods, two
miles beyond. This volcanic glass
glistens like jet, but is quite opaque.
Sometimes it is variegated with streaks
of red and yellow. Large blocks of
it have been, from time to time,
detached, forming a sloping barricade
at an angle of forty-five degrees to
the hot springs at the margin of
Beaver Lake." It was necessary to
build a carriage road over these blocks.
This was accomplished by Colonel Norris, the second superintendent of the Park, and, as far as is
known, is the only glass road in the world.

HsL'va.sa Canyon. — One of the most remarkable tributaries of that great and wonderful waterway,
the Grand Canyon of Arizona, is Havasu Canyon, often called Cataract Canyon, from the seven ex-
quisite and beautiful waterfalls that are found therein. The name Havasu is made up as follows :
Haha, water ; vasu, blue — the blue water, and the Indians who live in this canyon are the Pai, people ;
hence they are " the People of the Blue Water." For many miles the canyon winds its way down
deeper and deeper into the strata of the rock of which this whole plateau province is composed,
with scarcely any water, save here and there in a rain-pocket, until, suddenly, the roar and rush

Fj'om Stffeo coyyritjht by']

LONE STAR

One of thi

GEYSER,

most beautiful, in
geysers of

[//. C. While L'<j
YELLOWSTONE

of the many

formation and colouring.
Yellowstone Park.

620

The Wonders of the World

of^waters is heard. And there, about
five thousand feet below the surround-
ing plateau, a thousand springs bubble
forth from under the sohd rock, all
uniting to form one of the most beauti-
ful of streams, the Havasu — on the
banks of which the Havasupai have
their homes. The village extends for
about two miles, then the canyon de-
scends in a series of abrupt steps or
precipices, and at each step, necessarily,
a waterfall is made. The first is com-
paratively small and is named after the
former chief, Navaho Fall. The second
is about one hundred feet high, and is
called Havasupai Fall, while the third
is one of the most wonderfully beautiful
falls it has ever been my good fortune
to witness. It is over one hundred and
fifty feet high, about five hundred feet
wide, and is composed of over five hun-
dred separate bodies of falling water,
some large, some small, few of them
falling the whole height at one leap,
but arrested in their descent by a
peculiar formation. This formation is
a kind of limestone or sihca accretion
which solidifies about the twigs, roots,
stems, vines and the trees which hue
the edge of the fall and the face of the
cliff over which the water pours. The
result is a large number of stone half-umbrellas, each adorned with lace-like stalactites. These
" umbrellas " are at varying heights, and are affixed to the face of the cliff. The effect, then, may
easily be imagined. The water of the fall, being divided at the crest over an extent of about five
hundred feet, falls in bodies of varying amount upon these umbrella-like projections, some five, some
ten, some fifty, some seventy-five feet or more from the crest. In some places a stream falls upon
one of the " umbrellas " and is divided upon it, to fall upon two others a few feet below, and so
on. The whole effect is of entrancing beauty entirely unlike that of any other known waterfall in
the world.

A mile further a leap of between two hundred and three hundred feet is made. Here the
walls are almost two thousand feet high, and are of a rich red colour. Gigantic trees grow in
the canyon beneath, and the stream now flows through a wild tangle of underbrush, vines and
trees. The sediment which forms the limestone and other accretions before described here catches
upon the vines, etc., and builds up a series of walls containing deep pools, somewhat after the fashion
of the pools in the hot springs basin at the Yellowstone. These pools are of a rich blue water and
some of them are very deep.

A few miles below Mooney Falls there is another beautiful fall, called Beaver Falls, and then,
the canyon growing deeper at each step in its progression, the pure blue waters of the Havasu are
swallowed up in the madly-turbulent waters of the raging Colorado.

Photo 6t/] l(ieor<je W/iarfou Jai/if.s.

THE HAVASU CANYON.
A view of the Canyon near Mooney Falls. A tragic incident gives the
name to this spot, for here a prospector lost his life in his endeavours to
descend these precipitous heights.

North America

621

Bone Cabin Qaarr:^, Wyoming. — Wyoming has been noted for three vastly different kinds of
quarries, all practically unknown forty years ago. These are (i) the quarries near Sherman, on the
highest points of the Union Pacific Railway, where thousands of fossil fish have been removed. These
are embedded in a clay which has hardened, and the fish now have the appearance of skilfully executed
bas-reliefs. Many of them are large, and all are interesting and valuable. Thousands have been
removed in a perfect condition. (2) Then the paleontologists discovered great beds of the bones of
giant creatures of the earliest geological ages — of the monsters of the days when giant birds flew
through the air, mammoths walked through the forests, and, to our present day conception, hideous
monsters, half reptile and half fish or bird, lay in the marshes and muddy shores of prehistoric lakes
and inland seas. (3) The latest discoveries are of extensive quarries, where prehistoric peoples
found quartzite and jasper, out of which to make chipped implements ; some of these quarries cover
acres in extent, and thousands of tons must have been removed since they were first opened. Nearly
everywhere in Wyoming, also, but more especially in the eastern part, circles of stones have been
found. These are now known to have marked the sites of ancient tepees, or Indian " hide
wigwams," the stones having been employed for the purpose of holding the skins in place after they
were wrapped around the tipi [tepee) poles. The Blackfeet Indians of Montana still use rocks for
this same purpose.

The quarries are found in the spurs of the Rawhide Mountains in Eastern Wyoming, in great
patches of mesozoic rock, which have been exposed by the ravages of time. In these strata, mainly
of cretaceous age, occur remarkable beds of variously-coloured quartzite, jasper, flint and moss-agate.
On Lighten Creek, twenty miles west of the Rawhide Mountains, a large quarry is found near the
crest of a steep hill nearly five hundred feet above the plain. The slope is covered with spalls of
frosted-off talus, or slide rock, as it is commonly called. Near the summit, where quartzite was
exposed, the primitive artisan had conducted his labour. He had taken advantage of the edge of

BONE QUARRY. WYOMING.
There are al least three distinct species of quarry in this district. On the highest level are she remains of fish, lower dovi-n
are the bones of mammoths, and finally valuable proofs of extensive workshops for the making of flint weapons by prehistoric
man have been discovered

622

The Wonders of the World

the cliff, where quarrying was comparatively easy, and had worked along the natural fissures, which
had been widened more or less from year to year by the expansive force of freezing water making
cracks large enough for driving in stone wedges. A vast number of chips are scattered in and about
the quarry. Down the slope the spalls, too, had been worked over into small circular pits, where
the refuse rock had been carried to the edge and deposited. Throughout the entire workings there
are hundreds of wagon-loads of roughened-out quarry blocks shaped into some semblance of the
implements for which they were intended. Back from the works on the summit of the hill are a
score or more of boulders, around which are innumerable chips, plainly indicating that the aboriginal
artisan had used the rocks for seat and anvil while he flaked his implements into the desired shape.
Near these small workshop-sites many fine projectile points (arrow and spear heads, etc.),
scrapers, drills, punches, etc., were found, while lying on the refuse were hammer-stones of trap

BONE QUARRY, WYOMING.
The giant bones of a mammoth being unearthed from the Wyoming: quarry, the richest storehouse of prehistoric remains

the

orld.

very badly shattered, thus showing hard usage. On the plains below, scattered along the course
of the creek, were the tipi circles before described, indicating that a very large village at
one time was located here.

In 1906 an expedition from the University of Nebraska explored the region, spending two weeks
in the vicinity of the quarries and securing over two thousand implements in seven stages of
manufacture, from the rough block to the finished implement.

While clambering up the almost inaccessible slope of a rocky hill, the members of this
expedition discovered a remarkable figure laid out upon the hill — a gigantic representation of a
human figure made of spalls. It was fifty-five feet long and about eight feet wide, the body
looking not unhke a stone wall. The spalls forming the figure had been obtained near by, and
had been carefully selected and assorted in regard to conformity as well as size.

The Roosevelt Dam, Arizona. — The life of Theodore Roosevelt has been a remarkably fortunate
one. Things have seemed " to come his way " far more than in the lives of most men. But in

624

The Wonders of the World

Photo supplied hyi George Wharlon James.

THE ROOSEVELT DAM, ARIZONA.

A reservoir Has been formed by ihis dam that is one of the largest artificial lakes in the world. Enough water is stored
fiere to cover Chicago, a city extending 190 square miles, to a depth of ll-r feet

nothing has he been more fortunate than in the fact that the Reclamation Act was passed during
his administration. I venture the assertion that in a hundred years or so from now the signing of
the Irrigation or Reclamation Act on June 17, 1902, by President Roosevelt will be regarded as by
far the most important act of his whole career. It will also be noted as one of the proofs of his
popularity that one of the most gigantic masonry dams of the world, that this Act called into
existence, should be called the Roosevelt Dam.

The Salt River project of the Reclamation Service is one of the most important it has yet under-
taken. About three hundred and fifty thousand acres of land were to be reached. Here was a
vast area of desert, the major part of which was taken up or purchased by earnest home-seekers,
but was, however, practically useless without water. With water it was capable of making happy
and prosperous homes for many thousands.

A number of attempts had been made to supply needful water by independent companies
organized at different times to supply different sections, but the Reclamation Service took hold
of this matter in a large, broad way. It purchased all the rights of the old companies, including
their irrigation systems, and then proceeded to unite them in one new and complete system that
would stand all strains. The Roosevelt Dam is but one part of the great Salt River project ; but
it is the chief feature of the project. It is located just below the junction of the Tonto Creek with
the Salt River.

This dam has created a reservoir which is one of the largest artificial lakes in the world. Its
capacity is ten times greater than the great Croton Reservoir, which supplies New York City with
water. There is water enough stored there to cover the whole State of Delaware to a depth of
over a foot. The dam is of solid masonry, 235 feet long at the river bed ; 680 feet on top ;
thickness at the bottom measured up and down stream 168 feet ; and 284 feet above the lowest
foundations. It is an arched dam with the arch upstream, and the solid contents of the dam

North America

625

is 329,400 cubic yards and a height of 220 feet is actually covered by the water. The water-shed
supplying the water is about 6,260 square miles in extent. The lake is about four miles wide by
twenty-five miles long. Imagine water enough to fill a canal 300 feet wide and nineteen feet
deep extending from Chicago to San Francisco. Or, if its enemies wished to blot Chicago from
the map — Chicago, the great Western city which embraces 190 square miles — let them turn the
water of the Roosevelt Dam upon it and it will cover it to the depth of eleven and a half feet.

This dam is located seventy miles north-east of Phoenix. The first thing the Government
did was to undertake to build a road sixty miles long from Mesa, so that the machinery could be
hauled to the dam site. This road must be put through the heart of a rugged range of mountains
and for a large part of the way hterally carved from the sohd rock

In November, 1905, one of the largest floods known on the river occurred, the rise being
over thirty feet in fifteen hours, or from a flow of two thousand cubic feet per second to a
flow of one hundred and thirty thousand cubic feet per second. This flood destroyed all
work that had been done in the river and washed away some of the masonry, and the flood
conditions prevailed so that for five months practically nothing could be done. As soon as
the flood subsided, work began again and was kept up day and night, until, on the 20th of
September, 1906, the first stone was laid in the dam. When it is remembered that each stone
had to be thoroughly washed, turned over and about in every direction so that the inspectors
could see if there were any flaws or cracks in it before it was put into place, it will be seen
how carefully the work was done. From September 20th to December ist, the masons were

I-holo „li-\ {l!,:n:r Wh.irlon Jam,:.

IHE GATEWAY, THE BLUE CANYON,
These masses o( red sandstone, resembling the propylaea ot Egyptian temples, rise abruptly from the smooth floor of

the canyon and form a passage of majestic splendour.

626

The Wonders of the World

able to work without cessation ; then the winter rains began and drove out the workers and kept
them out until April, 1907. It was not until the middle of June, 1907, that the masonry was
uncovered, thoroughly cleaned and made ready for the resumption of work. Another flood
occurred in the summer of 1907, and from February ist to June ist, 1908, the entire flow
of the river was turned over the north end of the dam while the contractors worked on the
south two-thirds. This was done in order that the six iron gates of the sluice tunnel might
be put in position. These gates, with their operating accessories, weighed in all eight
hundred thousand pounds, and were constructed and erected by the Llewellyn Iron Works
of Los Angeles at a cost of two hundred thousand dollars.

Photo by'] IG'forge Wharton James.

THE BLUE CANYON. COLORADO.
Thsse curious rock formations are composed of many-coloured strata of sandstone, streaked witK white quartz, and carved

into fantastic shapes by the weather.

Blue Canyorif Arizona. — Arizona is pre-eminently a land of natural wonders. Much of the
country, however, is desert, dry, hot, inhospitable, with little water, no population save a few
nomad Indians, and no business or industries. Hence, as yet, many of these wonders are unknown
to all save the few adventurous explorers who have braved all its dangers in order to enjoy its
charms. In riding once across the country from the Hopi agricultural settlement of Moenkopi
to the mesa town of Oraibi, we crossed a portion of the Hopi and Navaho reservations over
which no wagon as yet had gone. I had engaged a Navaho Indian guide, and he informed
me of a wonderful and deep canyon that it might be difficult for us to enter, though there
would be no difficulty to our going out on the other side. He did well to hint at difficulties ; for
only the stoutest heart could encounter them unmoved. The first part of the trail was cut in the
sheer cliff, which developed into a steep slope of sand, so steep that the horses had difficulty in

TREE BURIAL IN ALERT BAY. BRITISH COLUMBIA.

Every Indian trib^ has a form of burial peculiar to itself. That of the Alert Bay Indians, who are a tribe of the Haidas, is to bum their
dead and then place the box containing the ashes on high platforms or in the trees.

628

The Wonders of the World

Photo by'i [George Wharton James.

HOMES OF THE PIMA INDIANS. BLUE CANYON. ARIZONA.

The house in the background is the Kan, or winter home of the owner: the willow structure is also used as a refuge from inclement

weather, but it is under the open shelter that the major portion of the year is spent by the household.

managing the descent. Finally there came a leap in a cloud of sand and dust, and we were safely
arrived in the wonderful gorge where a crowd of interested Navahoes intently regarded our
invasion of their hitherto unviolated precincts. While the horses were feeding on the cornstalks
gained from the Navahoes' cornfield I went up the canyon and found it all that it had been de-
scribed. Our guide had termed it "The Blue Canyon "^ — though the Indian word for blue is
the same as for green. Nor was this definition of the wonder-place incorrect. The formation
of the upper part of the canyon was in a richly-coloured sandstone, with reds, greens, blues,
greys, chocolates, carmines, etc., streaked with white quartz, and carved by the weather into
fantastic forms and shapes, mainly into rude cones or sugar- loaves, crowned with nipples of
varying sizes.

The gateway through which we emerged to the outer world again was a noble mass of homo-
geneous red sandstone, seamed in one place only. It would not have required much stretch of
the imagination to conceive of this as a gateway similar to the propylaea of the Egyptian temples,
leading one into a world of sculptured mysteries beyond. Yet, save for a few families of Navahoes,
this rocky marvel has stood since it was created, awaiting the time when those should discover it
who would fully know and appreciate it.

The Pima Indians of Southern Arizona are semi-nomads, who have always been friendly to
the white men. In the illustration above the three types of their dwellings are shown. The
oval structure in the rear — a winter kan, or hut, is made of willows covered with mud, and is
for use in the cold weather. When the doorway is securely closed all cold, light and air are
so perfectly excluded that I have often used one of them as a dark room, in the middle of a
glaring sunny day, for the changing of my photographic plates. By its side is another type of
dwelling, made of the willows placed upright and held together by rods placed horizontally across
them ; while the open structure is the living-place during a large part of the year.

Here, in the open, merely sheltered from the direct rays of the sun, the major portion of their
life is carried on. Cooking, eating, making basketry, pottery, sleeping — all takes place here, with
the result that they are a healthy, happy, vigorous race, appreciating to the full their free and
out-of-door existence.

North America

629

Disposal of the Dead in Trees, Alert Bayi, British Columbia.— A large volume might easily
be written on the burial or mortuary customs of the families of the human race. In Alaska there
is quite as large a diversity of methods of burial as there are tribes. For instance, the Alents fully
clothe and mask their dead and then swing them in boats or specially-constructed cradles from poles
in the open air. Their aim seems to be to keep the body as far from the ground as possible. The
Eskimo, on the other hand, doubles the body up, places it on the side in a plank box, which is
elevated three or four feet from the ground on four posts. This box is often covered with painted
figures of birds, fishes or animals, undoubtedly the totem of the departed. Sometimes the body is
wrapped in skins, placed upon an elevated frame, and covered with planks or trunks of trees so as
to protect it from wild beasts. The Thhnkets bum their dead and then place the ashes in a box
somewhat similar to that used by the Eskimos and elevate it in the same fashion. The Chepewayans,
who belong to the great Tinneh family, never bury their dead, but leave the bodies where they fall,
to be devoured by wild beasts or birds of prey. The Atnas of the Copper River burn their dead
and collect the ashes in a new reindeer-skin, enclose the skin in a box, and then place the box
on posts or in a tree.

In one of the smaller straits just below Queen Charlotte's Sound are two islands, the Cormorant
and Malcolm. In the former is a small inlet known as Alert Bay, where dwell a small tribe of the
great family of the Haidas. The custom of the Alert Bay Indians, when any member of their tribe
dies, is to burn the body, encase the larger bones and ashes in boxes, baskets or canoes, or wrap them
in mats or bark, and then place them on platforms or in trees, where they remain indefinitely. As
the Wootkas live near the Haidas in this region and the two tribes often come in contact with
each other, occasionally the custom of the former is observed in the disposal of the Haida dead.
Instead of burning the body, however, it is carefully wrapped in a mat made of cedar bark
and then deposited in the tree. Both these methods obtain at Alert Bay.

The Cliff Dwellings of Walnut Canyon, near Flagstaff, Arizona.— Flagsta.ii is a little town,

Photo by']

[George Wharton Jatnes.

THE CLIFF DWELLINGS OF WALNUT CANYON.

630

The Wonders of the World

perched high on the shoulders of the San Francisco Mountains in Northern Arizona. It is in the
centre of a region of wonders. The mountain itself is one of the sacred mountains of the Navaho
Indians. Within ten miles of the town, among the basaltic cliffs near the Lava Fields, is an
interesting series of caveate dwellings of the Indians. These are mainly good-sized holes of irregular
shape, found in the lava deposits on the tops of some of the smaller volcanic peaks east and south
of the main San Francisco range. There is quite a number of them, and near by there have been
picked up a number of pieces of pottery and several broken me-ta-tes, or grinding-stones, which
evidently have seen much service.

Ten miles from these cave-dwellings, to the south and east, is Walnut Canyon, another of those
deep gashes in the plateau region that gives its character to the Grand Canyon country. The trail
to the cliff-dweUings of this canyon is precipitous. The dwellings themselves are found on narrow

Photo b!i]

\_(ii'onie Wharton James.

THE CLIFF DWELLINGS. WALNUT CANYON.

shelves or ledges, which denote the changes in the hardness of the rocks. They are all of the same
tjTpe. The under portion of the thick stratum of rock, being much softer than the upper portion,
has eroded back to a depth of eight, ten and even twelve feet from the face of the cliff. These natural
excavations seem to have been perfectly prepared for the Indians who wished to use them. Building
up a wall in front and dividing walls at right angles, the excavations thus formed floor and ceiling
and the dwelling was complete. There are many of these dwellings in the canyon, and at Flagstaff
the visitor is shown a number of pieces of pottery, arrowheads, stone and flint hammers, axes, ears
of corn, etc., which have been excavated from them.

Fossil Footprints, Nevada State Prison, Carson City, Nevada. — One of the earliest things I heard
soon after I arrived in Nevada, over thirty years ago, was that some wonderful footprints had been
unearthed by the convicts in the stone quarry of the State Prison at Carson City. To fully under-
stand the significance of this find it is necessary to have a general idea of the " lay of the land "
where they occur. Carson City is the capital of Nevada, and is situated in Eagle Valley. The

Pho^*^ '^^] {aeovoe Wharton James.

WALNUT CANYON. ARIZONA.

The canyon stretches like a deep gash in the plateau of the San Francisco Mountains, and here, on narrow ledges of its

precipitous sides, the cave-dwellers have made themselves houses by walling up the hollows in the rock face.

632

The Wonders of the World

valley is about five miles long
east and west, and three miles
wide, and is almost entirely
surrounded by mountains. On
the west the Sierras rise
abruptly to the height of eight
thousand or nine thousand
feet above sea-level — three
thousand five hundred to four
thousand five hundred feet
above Carson — and separate it
from the waters of Lake Tahoe,
the largest lake of its altitude
(one thousand five hundred and
fifty feet), with but one excep-
tion, in the known world.

Dr. George Davis Loudes-
bach, one of the professors
of the State University of
California, thus writes of the
footprints :

" In the early sixties the
Nevada State Prison was
estabhshed on a small, low,
rounded hill at the north end
of Prison Ridge, from which
it is separated by somewhat
lower ground. The site is
about a mile and a half east of
the city of Carson. It was re-
cognized that this hill was made
up of a moderately soft, but not
friable, sandstone, which was
therefore desirable for building
purposes, and the State set its
wards to work at quarrying.
" As the excavation progressed casts of shells, fragments of bones and other animal remains
were frequently encountered. On raising the sandstone blocks from certain fine, thin layers that
allowed the blocks to be readily prised up from the quarry floor, several series of unmistakable
footprints were found distinctly preserved in the shaly bands.

" The tracks of large animals are not among the most commonly preserved relics of prehistoric
life. They are usually destroyed by the waves, or obliterated by the gradual flow of the wet mud
back into place. To preserve footprints we must generally have fine material, like mud or clay,
and it must be soft enough to receive distinct impressions and stiff enough to hold them.

" The material that carries the impressions in the Carson quarry is, then, the very fine products
of rock decay that were washed down some ancient river and settled in a layer a couple of inches
thick over the sand. It contains considerable clay and was evidently very soft and plastic when
it was wet, and on drying became rather stiff. After the impressions had been received sand
was washed in over the surface and gathered to the depth of a foot and a half to two feet. Then

Photo by permission of] [_T/ie tiout/ieni I'acijic Railway.

FOSSIL FOOTPRINTS, NEVADA.

These strange relics of a mammoth species have been unearthed by the convicts
of the Nevada State Prison in the sandstone quarries of Carson City. They are found in a
stratum of stiff clay silted over with sand and hardened by further deposits of sand
and clay.

North America 633

followed another period of more quiet deposition, and several inches of fine sandy clay were
produced which were marked with new series of footprints, and these again were covered over and
protected by more sand.

" In the Carson deposit mud cracks have not been noticed, but ripple marks, rainprints,
and the effect of wind action on the tracks can be definitely made out, and these, combined
with the necessary drpng to stiffen the soft clay layers, seem to definitely indicate an air-exposed
but still wet mud-flat across which the animals tramped, their feet, as we shall see, loaded with
mud.

" One series of tracks on whose nature there has always been agreement is made up of oval
impressions almost circular, a little longer than wide, and about twenty-two inches in greatest
diameter. These imprints are deep — two to six inches — the foot having frequently squeezed out
the mud at the edges and deformed the underlying sand. The step is about four and one-half feet,
or the footprints on the right- (or left-) hand side (that is the successive tracks made by the same
foot) are nine feet apart. These tracks were evidently made by some large elephant-like animal,
probably the mammoth.

" The greatest interest has centred about a peculiar type of track that has been found in several
series, and much more abundant than those already described. These imprints vary in size in
the different series, and correspond to larger and smaller individuals. They vary from eighteen to

1 - . " "

Pltolo dy] {/■'■ J- Tabor Frost.

RUINS IN YUCATAN.

The Palace, Sayil. Yucatan, an imtnenae building which has a frontage of 265 feet, with a depth of 120 feet. It is one of
the very rare examples of a three-storied Mayan building, and contains to-aay no less than eighty-seven rooms. The upper story, u
will be seen from the illustration, is supported by large monolithic stone columns.

634

The Wonders of the World

twenty-one inches in length and from six to eight or nine inches in width and are rounded at each
end, the forward end being broader than the back part, and they are curved about with the hollow
on the inside as in the imprint of a human foot. The longest series found had about forty-four
tracks, and there are four or five others with from five to fifteen each. The tracks form a single
series as if produced by a two-footed animal, the step varying from twenty-seven to thirty-eight
inches, and from side to side are from fifty-four to seventy-eight inches apart.

" These are the tracks that gave rise to considerable discussion in the early eighties, because
certain persons believed that they were human, and if so, giants' tracks ; but a few obvious
objections to the human theory present themselves.

I'holo bii'] [f. J. Tahoi- Pros!.

RUINS IN YUCATAN.

The Caracol or "Winding Staircase" of Chichen Itza stands on two rectangular terraces, and leads up to a turret, which it is

reasonable to suppose was an observatory, perhaps connected with the religion of sun worship,

" The most satisfactory explanation is, however, that the tracks were made by one of the
several types of gigantic ground sloths. These remarkable animals are known to have migrated
into North America from South America in late geological times (the Phocene period) and their
remains have been found in various parts of the United States.

" There are other tracks associated with these larger ones. The most easily recognized are the
many footprints of a large bird with four toes, cross-shaped, the longer toe often five or more inches
long, the step a foot to a foot and a half long. This undoubtedly represents some wading bird of
the crane or heron type^

" A few tracks now not well preserved appear to represent a horse, some animal of the deer
type, and some animal of the wolf type. Early observers reported tracks of some bovine, possibly
a bison, and of a large cat, a tiger perhaps, but these are not now distinguishable.'

North America

635

CHAPTER XIX.

By F. J. TABOR FROST.

Yucatan. — Of the, marvels of man in the New World the ancient cities of Central America are
the most wonderful. Throughout Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras they are found crumbling
to ruins on the sun-baked plateaux, or buried in the thick, dank, primeval forests. The finest
examples of these cities are found in that little-known peninsula, Yucatan, the easternmost
State of the Mexican Repubhc. At the coming of the Spaniards many of them were occupied by
the Maya tribe, whose descendants still inhabit the lands of their forbears. Whether the art of
building, carving, writing and painting was actually known at the time of the Conquest of Mexico
is uncertain, for all Maya records were carefully consigned to the flames by the early Spanish priests.
The honour of discovering America's early civilization fell to Hernandez de Cordoba, who, in 1517,
effected a landing on the northern coast of Yucatan. He was obliged to retreat, however, almost
immediately, and the next landing
did not take place until ten years
later, when Cortez appointed one
of his suite, Francisco de Montejo,
for its conquest. After severe
fighting, Francisco de Montejo was
the first European to reach Chichen
Itza, the stronghold and most
magnificent city of the Maya race.

In the choosing of a site for
their cities the first consideration
of the Mayas was water supply.
The soft limestone formation of
Yucatan is of such a nature that
it absorbs rain almost as soon as
it has fallen, hence there are no
rivers, and water is found only
in enormous potholes or wells
formed by Nature. There are two
of these at Chichen Itza, and from
them the city partially derives its
name^ — Chichen meaning " mouth
of wells," the Itza being added on
account of the city being the head-
quarters of the ruling cacique, or
chief, of Yucatan bearing that
name. Since the wells at Chichen
were amongst the largest in
Yucatan and the water supply
was abundant there, the Mayas
made it the site of their largest,
and certainly architecturally their
finest, city.

Pholo hyl

[/■■. J. Tnbor Frost.
RUINS IN YUCATAN.
At Cancun Island, in the Yucatan Channel, this colossal head was found.
It formed part of a mighty figure that was placed over the doorway of an
important building.

636

The Wonders of the World

ritoto i)j/]

[/•'. J. Tabor Frost.

RUINS IN YUCATAN.

Portion of a wall at Mayapan, an ancient city about thirty miles to the south of Merida, the present capital of Yucatan, The
decoration is not carved, but moulded plaster, which in some cities was more common than carving in stone.

The city, as it stands to-day, consists of a group of six stone buildings which are more or less
intact, and the remains of numerous other stone structures in various stages of ruin. All authorities
agree that these buildings were the palaces of chiefs and officials, temples for the worship of the
Maya gods and religious establishments for the housing of the priestly castes, the abodes of the
poorer classes being palm-leaf huts, which have long since disappeared, but which in all probability
were built in the same manner as the natives erect them to-day.

The building which is the most magnificent is, to give it its Spanish name, El Castillo. As
will be seen by our illustration, this is a truncated pyramid faced with solid slabs of stone with a
building on the top. An idea of the size of the pyramid may be gathered by the manner in which
it dwarfs the trees around. From the ground-level to the top of the building it is over one hundred
feet hij,h, while the base lines of the pyramid are about two hundred feet each. The four sides all
but face the four cardinal points, and on each of them is a gigantic stairway leading to the building on
the summit. The main entrance to this building is on the northern side, looking towards the sacred
cenote, which I shall refer to later. The doorway, which has now partly fallen, still bears traces of
its former magnificence. It is twenty feet wide and the lintel was supported by two pillars carved
in the pattern of snakes and ending at their bases with enormous, open-mouthed, flattened heads of
these reptiles, the now empty eye-sockets being at one time filled with eyes of polished jade. The
building was a temple, and inside the doorway is the Maya Holy of Holies which was used only
for the purpose of performing the most sacred rites. Whether the ghastly sacrificial acts celebrated
on the pyramids of Mexico, in honour of the God of War and the Sun Deity, were enacted in this
temple is not known, but it would seem probable that those flattened heads of serpents on the

z
<

<
O

S S

s -

North America

639

platform of the pyramid served another purpose than that of an ornamental base for the door-
pillars. If human sacrifices similar to those performed in Mexico were practised in Yucatan, then it
was on the flattened heads of these serpents that the ceremony of tearing the palpitating heart out
of the human sacrificial victim's body was performed by the Maya priests, and the body, scarcely
lifeless, was rolled down the side of the pyramid to be sacramentally eaten by the hundreds of wor-
shippers congregated on the plains below.

From the northern base of El Castillo a forest path, showing traces here and there of the
remains of a cemented roadway, leads to one of the grimmest pools in the world. It is one of the
wells, or cenotes, from which Chichen takes its name. An enormous circular basin, two hundred
feet in diameter, its sides drop sheer and perpendicular over one hundred feet to its hmestone bottom.
As you stand on the brink and, clutching the branch of a tree for safety, gaze over its precipitous
edge into the black water seventy feet below, you do not wonder that the ancient Mayas saw in its
sepia depths the home of their Rain God. In a report sent to Madrid from Yucatan, in 1579, the
sacrificial ceremony of throwing human victims into the cenote to appease the wrath of the Rain
God in times of drought was described, but for centuries there was nothing to verify this tale.
In 1906 the dredging of the bottom of the cenote was commenced, and during my visit to
Yucatan in that year several human skulls and bones were brought to the surface. On close
examination these human remains proved without exception to be those of females of immature
age, and this confirmed once and for all the truth of the early Spanish report.

To the south-west, one hundred and thirty yards from El Castillo, is what is now known as the
Tennis Court. Running north and south are two parallel walls twenty-five feet high, thirty feet
thick, two hundred and seventy-four feet long and one hundred and twenty feet apart. The court
was used for a ball game of which the ancient Mayas were very fond. It was played by teams whose
object it was to get a ball made of rubber through a hole in a stone disc jutting out from the upper

Pholo by-\ [.f. J. Tahor Fivst.

RUINS IN YUCATAN.

An Eurched gateway at Labua, Yucatan. whicK is remarkable as being the nearest approach, so far discovered in Central
America, to the classic archwajs. It is, however, distinctly Mayan, since the apex is formed with a fiat stone, common in alt
Mayan buildings.

640

The Wonders of the World

part of the wall on either side. One
of these stone discs, measuring all
but an inch of four feet in diameter,
pierced through its eleven and a
half inches of thickness with a hole
one foot seven inches in diameter,
is still in position. The Spanish
historian tells us that the ball was
bounced from the hips of the
players through the ring, and the
winning team had the right to take
as their prize all the clothes of the
spectators who ranged themselves
on the walls above. At each end
of the court stand the remains of a
small temple, and on the eastern
wall at the southern end is a build-
ing called the Temple of the Tigers,
which gets it name from an elabo-
rately-carved frieze design of these
animals around the wall coping. On
the walls of the interior of this build-
ing are the most remarkable Maya
paintings that have so far been dis-
covered. They depict the scenes of
every-day life as it was lived by the
Mayas before the coming of the
Spaniards, in greens, reds, blues and
yellows. The designs are crude and
out of proportion, but much can be
gleaned of the life of the past in-
habitants of Chichen.

To the south of El Castillo stands a ruined building, known as the Caracol, from a " winding
staircase " by which the top is reached from the interior. The building is turret-shaped and stands
on two terraces one above the other, the lower one measuring two hundred and twenty feet by one
hundred and fifty feet. The top of the building was about sixty feet from the ground-level and
on it was originally an observation platform, which was, it is believed, used for the study of the
heavens and was possibly connected with sun and star worship.

Only a short distance from the Caracol is another building which is a fine example of Mayan
architecture. It is known as the Casa de las Monjas (" Nuns' House "), probably on account
of its having been set apart for the housing of that body of young maidens who were known
to have performed special services in the temples, and whose ultimate fate was in all probability
the cenote. The photograph of the building here reproduced shows that it has well withstood
the elements for four centuries at least, and gives a good idea of Maya architectural ornamentation.
The other buildings standing to-day at Chichen Itza are: the Akad-zib (" House of Mysterious
Writing"), which gets its name from a series of Mayan hieroglyphics over the doorway; the
Chichanchob (" Red House"), in allusion to the remarkable, possibly symboUc, decorations on the
interior walls, which take the form of a hand painted in red, which design is, curiously enough, found
also in parts of Asia ; and a small building near the Casa de las Monjas.

Pholo i)j/]

[/■•. J. Tabor I'rost.

RUINS IN YUCATAN.

Pyramidal Temple known as
city of Chichen Itza, Yucatan,
discovered in Central America.

' El Castillo," which forms part of the ancient
me of the most wonderful ruined groups so far

*^ c

T3 <

•a «

•I E

u #

Central and South America

641

Outside Yucatan the Maya civilization extended to Tabasco, where Palenque, one of the largest
of the ancient cities, was discovered during the Conquest ; to Copan and Quirigua, on the border-
lands of Guatemala and Honduras, which are distinct from other ruined groups by the appearance
of monolithic stelae, varying from eight to thirteen feet in height and carved on all four sides. Our
illustration shows the elaborate manner in which the design was carried out on these monuments.
It is wonderful to think that such work was executed without the aid of metal tools, but it is
distressing that the art of carving, painting and the knowledge of their hieroglyphic writing has
been lost to the Mayas for ever.

CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA.

CHAPTER XX.

By LEWIS 8PENCE.

The Poas Crater. — Mount Los Votas, or, as it is sometimes called, the Poas Crater, is one
of the great chain of volcanoes which tower upwards from the sea and form the backbone of the
isthmian countries of Central America. It is eight thousand six hundred and seventy-five feet in
height. The division of Costa Rican volcanoes to which the Poas belongs was once entirely separate

[J. Uolchkiss, Esq., t'.ll.d.S.

Photo by perinunion of]

THE POAS CRATER.

Pom ia one ot the be.t-known of the "mud volcanoe. " ot Central America. The illustration depict, the boiling and

bubbling flood of mingled mud and lava on the point of bursting forth in eruption.

642

The Wonders of the World

from the more northerly group, and the depression which existed between them permitted a junction
of the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which, had it survived until the present time, would in
all probabiHty have rendered the Panama Canal a work of supererogation. Indeed, on the slopes
of some of the Costa Rican mountains deposits of fossil marine animals and plants are occasionally
found. The fissure between the two oceans was, however, gradually filled up by ashes from the
surrounding volcanoes, and by lava and other eruptive matter, which became gradually solidified
by the sediment from the running waters. The Poas almost overlooks the city of San Jose, the capital
of Costa Rica.

The Panama. Canal.— Tht construction of a canal through the Isthmus of Panama for the purpose
of ship traffic between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans may justly be regarded as one of the most
gigantic enterprises ever undertaken by humanity. Before the present site was agreed upon,
consideration was given to no less than nineteen possible routes ; and at least one great and tragic

/'/■ow stereo eopyrUjhl hy'\

IH. a. White Co.

CULEBRA CUT. PANAMA CANAL.
A view at Bas Obispo.

attempt was made to pierce the narrow neck which divides the commerce of the West from the
markets of the East. At the present rate of progress the probable date of the opening of the Canal
to the commerce of the world will be January ist, 1915 ; but as Colonel Goethals, the chief engineer,
has wisely kept a year in reserve in case of unforeseen accidents, such as landslides, it is just possible,
if no such catastrophe occurs, that the Canal will be navigable in three years' time. At the present
juncture the eyes of the entire world of commerce are directed to the Canal zone. Here is gathered
an army of forty thousand men and the greatest collection of machinery ever brought together for
the accomplishment of any single undertaking.

When the Canal is completed, it will be capable of floating the largest ships now built or building.
Its inception as a waterway will shorten the distance by sea from New York to San Francisco by
five thousand miles, and that from Liverpool to Western American ports by two thousand six hundred
miles. Japan and Australia will be brought nearer to New York than to London or Hamburg.

The Canal was, in the first instance, a dream of the French Government. De Lesseps, the gifted
engineer who had so successfully carried through the construction of the Suez Canal, was entrusted

f ?^

From Stereos copyright by'\

[//. C, White Co.

THE PANAMA CANAL.
Views of operations in the famous Culebra Cut.

644

The Wonders of the World

with its direction. Into the cir-
cumstances which hastened the
downfall of the scheme there is
now no necessity to enter. For
half a generation the rotting
machinery used in the French
venture lay between Panama and
San Pablo, a sad reminder of the
failure of a mighty people. Then
the United States of America
stepped into the breach. Failure
as disastrous as that of France
was confidently predicted. But
with characteristic energy the
American people set about their
task in an undaunted spirit, and
the best men in the engineering
corps of the United States army
threw themselves into the breach,
and formulated a system of organi-
zation which good authorities state
has had few parallels in the history
of great enterprises.

After much controversy as to
the respective merits of a lock
and a sea-level canal, the former
was definitely decided upon in
1904, and work was commenced.
Six locks, all identical, will be
located at suitable points, three at Gatun, one at Pedro Miguel, and two at Miraflores. The total
length will be forty-six miles, and the depth forty feet. Of this length thirty-nine miles will be
carried through hilly country, the soil of which is being rapidly displaced by seventy steam shovels,
at a rate of eighty-four thousand cubic yards of earth per eight-hours' day. The estimated cost of
the engineering and construction work alone is £59,553,200, and the total cost, including purchase
price of the Canal, £75,040,200.

At the present time the first impression conveyed to the mind of a spectator is that of noiseless,
relentless activity and thorough-going organization.

The Atlantic and Pacific approaches to the Canal have practically been completed for several
miles, and powerful dredgers of modern type are working incessantly night and day deepening
the channels. One is particularly struck by the absence of human labour in the zone of the Canal
proper. Here all is effected by the giant arms of modern machines. It is in the locks at Miraflores,
at the great " cut " at Culebra, and at the Gatun dam and locks that the majority of the forty
thousand toilers are located. For example, but few men are to be seen at work upon the mighty
monoliths which will form the walls of locks capable of containing ships one thousand feet in length
with one hundred feet of beam. The enormous quantity of rock and earth excavated is being
removed by railway trucks to be employed in the construction of the great dams and breakwaters,
and to level up the surrounding swamps. The subdivision of labour has been most cunningly
devised, and the various departments work with a smoothness which cannot fail to strike the
observer as remarkable.

From Stereo copyy'ight &y] [//. ''. ^Vhile I'o.

CULEBRA CUT, PANAMA.

This photograph of the famous Culebra " Cut " shows the effect of a
recent landslide. The earth in the vicinity of the " Cut " moves at a terrific
rate, and will have to be dredged out of the canal when filled.

Central and South America

645

At various points the difficulties experienced by the engineers can only be described as gigantic.
The Chagres River was one of these. It has a total drainage area of one thousand three hundred
and twenty miles, and when in flood carries down vast quantities of silt and boulders, forming an
almost insurmountable obstacle to the construction of a canal through its valley. Then for a
distance of nine miles runs another obstacle, almost as formidable, the celebrated Culebra " cut."
In this tract the rock, which was soft, was easily removed, but its superimposition upon beds of
slippery clay caused numerous landslides, which cannot be stopped — one, the Cucharaca, being a
movement of soil half a mile in length, with an area of twenty-seven acres and containing twenty-
seven thousand cubic yards of soil ! This mass moved in 1907 at the rate of fourteen feet in
twenty-four hours. To the American engineers these stupendous difficulties appeared by no means
insuperable. By the erection of a huge dam at Gatun and a smaller one at Pedro Miguel, thirty-two
miles away, they flooded the whole Chagres valley to a height of eighty-five feet above sea-level, thus
transforming a roaring torrent into a serene lake, with an area of one hundred and sixty-four square
miles. The landslides resulting from the Culebra cut have been minimized by raising the cut
eighty-five feet higher, and making it three hundred feet wide at the bottom, so that the dredging of
loose earth can be easily effected.

The Gatun dam presented another serious problem to the indefatigable engineers who had
embraced this gigantic undertaking. The site adopted for it was found to possess a base so soft
as to be incapable of supporting a heavy load such as the great barrier would present. Moreover,
the material to hand for constructing the dam, consisting as it did of soft sand and clay, was not of
the most desirable character. This difficulty was met by giving the dam a base so extended as to
ensure stability, and its dimensions
at sea-level are no less than nineteen
hundred feet, with a slope in the sides
of about ten to one. Its height is only
one hundred and fifteen feet, and its .

breadth nine thousand feet. The out-
cry among engineers in the United
States as to the impossibility of forming
a dam at Gatun was so great, that the
Canal authorities, " for sentimental
reasons," constructed it enormously
greater in width and flatter in slope
than was necessary.

Near one end of this dam are
the Gatun locks — three lifts, the total
height of which is eighty-five feet.
One of these will be used for north-
bound and the others for south-bound
vessels. Near the other end of the dam
is a spillway, three hundred feet wide,
through which the surplus water of the
lake win be discharged. At the top of
this will be a series of gates capable of
being opened in time of flood for the
regulation of the height of the lake.
This spiUway is capable of discharging
water at the rate of one hundred and
forty thousand cubic feet per second.

Fimn Stereo i-opjiru/hl by}

CULEBRA CUT. PANAMA.

[//, r, ]VMIe Co.

The clever banking at the side of the " Cut ** is well indicated in

this photograph. This especial tract has cost the United States tnore

treasure and her engineers more anxiety than would have resulted from a
minor war.

646

The Wonders of the World

At the southern end of Gatun
Lake there is a twin lock, and
at Miraflores Lake two locks,
and at the latter place a spill-
way will also be constructed.
The general plan of the Canal
occupied years of study by
eminent engineers, and is now
universally acknowledged to
be the best possible scheme
that could have been arrived
at.

Not only did the projectors
of this gigantic task have to
combat the unruly obstacles
placed in their way by nature,
but they had, moreover, to
face the problems presented by
tropical diseases. The district
in which the Canal was situated
was a veritable hot-bed of
malaria and yellow fever. The
climate of the Isthmus was
favourable to the dreaded
fever-carrying mosquito, and
the extermination of these
pests had to be faced. This
was effected by draining and
destroying every pool of stag-
nant water in which their
larvae might accumulate, and
covering with oil every swamp,
drain and pool within reason-
able radius of a human habitation. The isolation of fever patients was also strictly enforced. In con-
sequence of these precautions the death-rate among the labourers employed in the canal construction is
only 11.95 per thousand, a figure which will compare favourably with that of most European com-
munities. Hospital and living accommodation has been brought as near perfection as it is possible
to make it. Indeed, the keynote of the entire scheme, down to the smallest detail, is " efficiency."
Quite recently plans for large harbours at the Atlantic and Pacific ends of the waterway have
been approved, and the work is being put in hand at once. At Colon there are to be five docks,
capable of accommodating ten of the largest-sized vessels, and here also the Royal Mail Steam Packet
Company has acquired a large tract of ground in view of eventualities. It is, however, on the Bay
of Panama that the greatest activity is being displayed, as it is intended to construct there the
great transhipping harbour of the Canal. The docks are to have an area in the turning basin alone
of two hundred and seventy-one acres. It is calculated that the crossing of the Canal will occupy
ten hours at least, as ships will not be permitted to pass in and out of the waterway under their
own power.

The Volcano of Izalco. — That Nature had not completed the manufacture of volcanoes some
hundred and forty years ago was proved by the sudden formation of the volcano of Izalco, in the

From Stereo copyriijht hy'\

CULEBRA
Rock work £

CUT. PANAMA.

t Contractor's Hill.

648

The Wonders of the World

Photo by'\

[J. Hotchkiss, Esq., F.R.G.S.

THE CRATER OF IZALCO.

Filled with red hot volcanic rock which ii^nites the gaseous vapour hanging over the mountain, this brilliantly illutninated
crater has caused Izalco to be nicknatned "The Lighthouse of Salvador."

Republic of San Salvador, where it arose in the year 1770. The place upon which it now stands
was previously covered by numerous hot springs and volcanic vents, from which at intervals natural
gas arose, and in the proximity was a large cattle-ranche, the inhabitants of which grew seriously
alarmed at underground rumblings and other disturbances, which grew more threatening until the
23rd of February, 1770, when the soil was upthrown in the vicinity of the hacienda, casting forth
lava, fire and smoke. From day to day the condition of the neighbourhood grew steadily worse,
and showers of sand and stones were interspersed with the lava which continued to flow without
intermission. From that time to this the disturbances have continued, and the matter ejected
has formed a mountain some six thousand feet high, from which every quarter of an hour cinders,
ashes and smoke are discharged in dense volumes. Frequent terrific explosions occur, and at night
the surrounding country is illuminated at intervals by the blaze from the glowing mass within. From
the depths of this veritable inferno great masses of red-hot rock are ejected, and these setting fire
to the gaseous vapours which hang over the volcano create an effect like lightning-flashes. This
display has caused Izalco to be nicknamed " The I^ighthouse of Salvador."

In 1817 Izalco had a brief period of repose, but in 1844 and 1856 terrible eruptions ensued after
the seventeen years of calm. Again in 1859, i860, 1864, 1868 and 1869, and again in September,
1902, enormous streams of lava were ejected, which turned the surrounding country for leagues
around into a temporary wilderness. Izalco is the principal volcanic outlet of the third division of
the seismic chain which stretches from Panama to Oaxaca, in Mexico ; and as a volcano which has been

Central and South America

649

formed within the last century and a half, is regarded by geologists with much the same sort of
interest that a new heavenly body would awake in the breast of an astronomer. It is a peculiarity
of the range to which Izalco belongs that all earthquakes which take place in its vicinity occur at
close quarters to the volcanic peaks of the series, and not at a distance of from four to five miles
from them, as is generally the case in most European and Asiatic seismic centres. The association
of the earthquakes with the volcanoes is so intimate that there can be no question that one is
interdependent upon the other.

The Volcano of CotopaxL — The volcano of Cotopaxi, in Ecuador, has been called the " ideal
volcano." Its shape is one of peculiar symmetry, and it is in constant action. The history of
Ecuador is full of these eruptions. The flames of Cotopaxi ht the first battle in the country between
the white man and the red. This mass, of an altitude of six thousand feet, presents the peculiar
spectacle of a mountain, the eastern side of which is snow-clad, while the western side is almost
bare. This phenomenon is due to the Atlantic trade-winds, which deposit their moisture on the
eastern slope. Although always in eruption, Cotopaxi has caused at prolonged intervals the most
frightful catastrophes. In 1877 a perfect deluge of boiling water, containing huge rocks and stones,
was ejected from its depths upon the plains beneath, razing all human habitations, and levelling all
obstructions in its path. Its passage resembled an enormous column of cinders, which the volcano
hurled to a distance of nearly three miles, and many of which were actually carried to the shores
of the Pacific.

Cotopaxi towers to a height of six thousand feet, and its crater measures two thousand three
hundred feet from north to south, and sixteen hundred and fifty feet from east to west. Many
travellers have scaled the volcano since the ascent of Reiss in 1872, and Whymper spent an entire
night on the very verge of the crater for the purpose of observing the physiological effects of the

From ttereo copyH^ ht hy]

l^Undei'itood tt- Undervood

MOUNT COTOPAXI.

Mount Cotopaxi. in Ecuador, is one of the most dreaded of the active volcanoes ot South America. It is often called the
"ideal volcano" because of its perfect shape. It has on several occasions devastated the surrounding country.

650

The Wonders of the World

rarity of the air upon the human system. Occasionally Cotopaxi discharges single masses of rock
to an immense distance. Colonel Church says of one of these colossal fragments : "I noticed a
single fragment of rock, weighing perhaps forty tons, which must have been thrown from Cotopaxi,
twenty miles distant. On a subsequent occasion I observed that certain of the Andean peaks must
have magnetic attraction for each other, for riding on the Quinto Plateau, I watched two storms
arise simultaneously, one of which centred round the dome of Chimborazo, while the other, fifty
miles distant, crowned the summit of Cotopaxi. Blacker and denser grew the frowning clouds,
until their artillery opened fire, and echo after echo pealed along the line of the Andes. The two
angry monarchs had challenged each other to a duel. Suddenly through the highly-electrified
atmosphere Chimborazo shot a hissing bolt straight for Cotopaxi, which, in turn, launched one at

Photo hy pefmiision 0/]

HOUSE OF THE VIRGIN OF THE SUN,

[.St/- CietnfniJS Markham.
IN CUZCO. SHOWING TWELVE-ANGLED STONES.

The ' Cyclopean" character of the Incan masonry is well depicted in this photograph, which shows how the stones were
fitted one into the other. The large stone near the middle of the photograph has no less than twelve different angles.

Chimborazo. Then for perhaps twenty minutes, with a mighty and ceaseless roar, they hurled their
well-aimed lightnings at each other until the battle-clouds dispersed, and peace smiled again upon
their magnificent loneliness."

The Incan Rains of Peru, Cuzco. — Scattered over the western slope of the Peruvian Andean range
are the architectural remains of a civilization which must be regarded as one of the most remarkable
produced by the aboriginal American race. For many centuries mankind had gradually been
advancing in this area to the condition in which they were discovered by the invading Spaniards
in 1534. and many of the architectural remains which still exist in Peru are of an antiquity far
greater than the foundation of the Incan dynasty which flourished at the coming of Pizarro. Ruined
edifices, built of gigantic blocks of stone, and often described as " Cyclopean," must undoubtedly
be referred to a period in Peruvian development of which we have not even any legendary knowledge.

652

The Wonders of the World

-i.'ift. —

Photo by pfftnission of]

l.sir Clements Afarlham.

FORTRESS. CUZCO.

Another of the enormous corner-stones which formed an outwork or bartizan of the ancient fortress of Cuzco.

These are met with throughout the length and breadth of the country, and are known as the remains
of the megahthic period.

Legends relate that when the founders of Peruvian civilization left the island of Titicaca, the
Sun-god delivered into their keeping a golden branch which would take root in the earth at the
spot where they were destined to dwell and found a centre of enlightenment for the human race.
This marvel occurred at Cuzco, afterwards the capital of the Incan dominions. Situated at an
altitude of over eleven thousand feet above the level of the sea, the ancient city rose imposingly
upon a series of artificial terraces, constructed of immense masses of earth held together by Cyclopean
walls, built of extremely hard rocks of great size carried by main force from the quarries of
Anduhaylillas, twenty-two miles distant. The Peruvians possessed no draught animals, and the
blocks must have been dragged from the quarry to the plateau of Cuzco by gangs of labourers.
Authorities are agreed that all modern masonry is inferior when compared with that seen in the
edifices of Cuzco. The great blocks were first carefully squared and then joined together by means
of a mortise about one foot deep by one and a-half in diameter into which a tenon of nearly the same
size, hewn out of the upper block, fitted securely. The walls required no mortar to keep them
together, for their weight was so great that specific gravity took the place of cement.

Over all towered the mighty Sacsahuaman, or fortress, built on an airy rock which cleaves the
meeting rivers of Huatenay and Rodadero. From the town side one might not ascend it, and the
sole mode of access was a little path cut in the living rock which overhangs the banks of the Rodadero.
The total length of the walls which enclose it is one thousand eight hundred feet, disposed in three
great circles, and its bastions and angles of projection and re-entrance resemble those of a modern
fortress. It was absolutely impregnable to a force not provided with artillery, and the early
Spaniards implicitly believed that the Peruvians had been assisted in its construction by the Father
of Evil.

Three entrances gave access to the outer enclosure, and immense blocks of stone were held ever
ready to close these up at the first hint of danger. In a round tower in the centre of the citadel

Central and South America

653

were placed the treasures of the Incas, and it was from this that the last descendant of that ill-
fated line hurled himself upon the failure of the last native insurrection against the cavaliers of
Spain, in which Juan Pizarro lost his life. The hill near this gigantic fortress, the interior works of
which are now a heap of ruins, is covered with richly-carved blocks of granite which evidently served
the purpose of seats, and long galleries ornamented with descending terraces and broken by
sculptured niches run round its slopes.

The Temple of the Sun, now converted into a Dominican convent, was situated on a hill eighty
feet above the river Huatenay, and was reached by a series of enchanting garden-terraces, filled
with the most marvellous designs wrought in solid silver and gold. The very garden implements — •
hoes, spades and mattocks — were of solid silver. These facts are vouched for by numerous eye-
witnesses, among them Pedro Pizarro himself, and subsequent historians have seen no reason to
regard their descriptions as in any way untrustworthy. Model? of animals and insects of gold
and silver adorned the spacious
grounds, and such was the splen-
dour of the surroundings that the
entire quarter was known as Cori-
cancha, or the City of Gold. The
temple occupies one side of a
vast court, called Intipampa, or
Field of the Sun. The inner
and outer walls, it is said, were
covered with sheets of gold, and
as evidence of this the celebrated
Peruvian archaeologist Squier states
that he himself saw in various
houses in Cuzco sheets of gold
which had been stripped from the
gleaming walls of the Temple of
the Sun. These, he says, were of
the thickness of paper.

The exterior of this famous
temple gave an impression of
massiveness rather than of grace,
and the immense pylons or mono-
liths which supported the door-
way remind one somewhat of the
Egyptian type of masonry. The
interior was profusely ornamented
with plates of gold, and in a
suitably exalted position was
placed a huge plaque of the
same precious metal upon which
was depicted the features of the
deity to whom the fane was
dedicated. This was so placed
that the beams of the rising
sun fell upon it and bathed it
in a flood of radiant hght. The
scintillation of the hundreds of

Photo hy jt*>nmx.<ion fiQ

[Sir Clements Markham.
FORTRESS. CUZCO.
One of the mighty corner-stones of the Fortress at Cuzco
wonder to antiquarians how the Ancient Peruvians

enormous masses of stone to such
principles of modern engineering.

ght.

It is a standing

ere able to raise such

ignorant as they were of the

654

The Wonders of the World

precious stones with which its surface was enriched according to an eye-witness, made its brilliance
almost insupportable, and the atmosphere of mysterious splendour was heightened by the presence
of the magnificently-attired mummies of the dead Incas, which were grouped around this dazzUng
object. The roof was made from choice woods, but was covered only by a thatching of maize

straw.

The utensils in this temple were all of the most precious metals. Twelve large vases of silver
held the sacred grain, and even the pipes which conducted the water-supply through the earth
were of silver. The splendid altarpiece representing the Sun-god fell as booty to one Mancio
Serra de Leguicano, a reckless gambler, who lost it on a single throw of the dice. The walls of the
Aclahuasi, or House of the Virgins of the Sun, are still standing close at hand, for a length of seven
hundred and fifty feet. Here the daughters of the Incas were subjected for many years to a rigorous

discipline.

Throughout the city of Cuzco extend long reaches of walls of stone cut with a nicety and fitting

together with a preci-
iHfllll lllMy|ii||| sion unequalled in any of

■■■ . ■ ■iiMUlt r the ancient structures of

Europe or Asia. Many of
these have been used as
quarries from which to
erect more modern build-
ings, but a large number
form the bases upon which
later dwellings have arisen,
and it is no uncommon
thing to see a mansion, the
lower courses of which are
composed of the original
Incan stone walls on which
has been superimposed
the rubble walls faced with
stucco of the modern Peru-
vian abode. The centre
of the aboriginal city was
the Huacapata, or great
square, now occupied in
part by the modern
plaza, from which most
of the princips.1 streets
radiated. Cuzco, like
Rome, was built in a series
of hills, so that the early architects were obliged to level the declivities and to form terraces upon
which their buildings might rest. These terraces were confined by walls of the " Cyclopean " type,
that is, built of stones of irregular sizes, but all fitting into one another with the greatest nicety.
To relieve the monotony of these long stretches of masonry the Peruvian builders introduced niches
at regular intervals, not unlike the Egyptian pylon doorway in shape — that is, narrower at the top
than at the base. The precision with which these stones are fitted is beyond all praise. Those
which bear up the terrace of the palace of Rocca weigh, many of them, several tons each, and are
as hard as granite. Yet so finely are they fitted that it is said a penknife-blade cannot be introduced
between them. One of them, the famous " Stone of Twelve Angles," is met on each of its dozen

Photo by pfiT'mission of]
LOWER

COURSES OF INCA PALACE IN

{^fiir CUinpiitif Markham.
CUZCO.

This photograph beautifully exemplifies the wonderful masonry of the Inca builders
of Peru. The stones shown in the illustration are fitted so accurately together that it
is impossible to insert even a needle between them, and no mortar enters into the com-
position of the wall.

Photo hy permission of'\ {.Sir Clements Alarkham.

WALL OF AN INCA PALACE. CUZCO.
The blocks of solid masonry to the riRht of the picture stand out in sharp contradistinction to the somewhat

flimsy -look ins Spanish gallery above.

656

The Wonders of the World

fill,

ill

J'/wto bt/]

[JV. P. Edicards.

RECEPTACLES FOR THE DEAD. LIMA. PERU.

This burial-place of the Ancient Peruvians was discovered during the construction of a railway between Ancon and Lima.

sides by another stone, into all of which it fits exactly. In all of these massive walls there is
absolutely no cement, the stones holding together by reason of the marvellous accuracy with which
their superficies meet one another. Some authorities give it as their opinion that the Peruvian
masonry is unequalled on the face of the globe for finish, and that the finest needle could not be
introduced between the stones which compose some of the walls of Cuzco.

The general design of the ancient Peruvian building was that of a block built round a court,
upon which most of the apartments opened. Many of these were large, and a native historian
describes some, of which the remains exist to bear out his statements, as being capable of containing
sixty horsemen with room enough to exercise with their lances. The Huacapata, or great square,
was surrounded on three sides by great public buildings for the shelter of the inhabitants in bad
weather, each of which was capable of containing several thousand people.

The Aclahuasi, or Convent of the Virgins of the Sun, still exists in the convent of Santa
CataUna. In this edifice dwelt those maidens who were set apart for the service of the Sun God,
and from whose ranks the brides of the Incas were taken. If any of these maidens were detected
in a love-affair, death instantly followed, and the youth who had rashly disturbed the sanctity of the
convent was also doomed to the dreadful death of being cast from the beetUng crags of the " Gate
of Death," described in the article on Ollantay-Tampu. Nor did priestly vengeance cease
here, for the very village whence the Lothario originated was levelled with the ground as being
a nest whence similar vipers might emanate. This conventual establishment is now seven hundred
and fifty feet long by from twenty to twenty-five feet high, and its masonic and architectural
finish closely resembles that of the Temple of the Sun. The existing walls show no entrance or
opening.

A very fine remnant of Inca architecture is the wall looking on to the square called Pampa
Maroni. It has been pierced here and there by modern doorways in its length of three hundred
and eighty feet, and its joints are so smooth that if the faces of the stones were dressed down fiat
they could hardly be seen at all. In the street of San Agustin a portion of this wall runs for a

Central and South America

657

length of eight hundred feet, but it is broken at intervals by modern structures. It formed the
north-east side of the palaces of the Yupanqui Incas.

Near the remains of the palace of the Inca Rocca were the Yachahuasi, or schools, founded by
that ruler. They were plain, unadorned seminaries, and led down to the terraces of the little river
Rodadero. Here the amantes, or wise men, taught the infant mind how to read the language of
quipus, or knotted cords, the tales of gods and heroes, music and native engineering and astrology.

In the vicinity of Cuzco, and especially in that of the Rodadero Hill, an eminence more than half
a mile in circumference, and at least eighty feet high, several notable terraces exist. Here is to
be seen the immense Piedra Causada, or Tired Stone, of which the native historian, Garcilasso,
speaks as having required twenty thousand men to move it, and which, rolling over, killed three
hundred workmen. This statement is of a piece with much else in the chronicler's rather mendacious
" history." The stone weighs probably over a thousand tons, and was certainly never moved
by human power. Its upper surface is cut into seats, water reservoirs, niches and staircases, the
object of elaborating which will always remain a mystery. The Rodadero Hill itself was shored up
into terraces, and its grooved centre, or sunk pathway, was a favourite resort of the Incan youth,
who chased each other through the depression on high days and holidays. Most of the stones which
faced this eminence have, however, been carried to the town for modern building purposes. But
on the summit of this hill are a number of broad stone seats cut into the rock, and rising one above
the other with the precision of the benches in a Roman amphitheatre. These are known as the
Seat of the Inca, and tradition recounts that the three Incas in whose reigns the mighty fortress
of Sacsalmaman was constructed came to these thrones carved in the rocky hillside and from that

THE FALLS OF IGUAZU.
As the traveller in Brazil emerEes from the depths of a vast forest he is presented with the spectacle of these magnificent falls.

658

The Wonders of the World

point of vantage were enabled to watch and superintend the construction of the great work of
fortification which was gradually rising up on the mountain-side beyond.

The rocks all over the plateau which stretches beyond the fortress of Sacsalmaman are carved
into a myriad shapes. Seats and couches — veritable divans some of these — in stone, niches, flights
of steps, basins for catching rain-water, cut with the precision and accuracy of a sculptor, abound.
It would seem as if these Cyclopean masons, their vigour unabated upon the completion of the great
mountain citadel, had rioted in their art, and had revelled in the execution of countless tasks which
might have appalled an army of skilled European artificers equipped with the best and most modern
tools. There are traces of many small shrines on this expanse, which probably served as oracles.

Receptacles for the Dead at Lima. — Whilst progressing with construction of a railway at
Ancon, Peru, to fink that town with Lima, the capital, a cutting in the dunes revealed an ancient
burial-place of great extent and interest, from which were obtained an enormous number of objects

THE FALLS OF IGUAZU.
The Alto Parana Falls, which are situated ahovc those of Iguazu.

which have thrown much light upon the antiquities of the country and the habits of life of the
ancient Peruvians. They include examples of the textile arts, pottery, utensils, implements and
arms, and had all been deposited with the dead. Owing to the dry nature of the climate they were
recovered in excellent condition. With them were found many mummified bodies wrapped in
sackcloth, one bundle containing in several instances more than one body, and even a whole family,
a rough presentment of a human head surmounting the package, which was generally squeezed into
something resembling the human form. Within these wraps were discovered the various imple-
ments which were placed with the dead for the purpose of proving useful to them in their future
lives. ■ -

Falls of the Iguazu, — The famous Falls of the Iguazu, partly in Brazilian and partly in
Argentine territory, are almost equal in awe-inspiring magnificence to the Falls of Niagara and
Victoria Nyanza, and are caused by the rapid descent of the River Iguazu, an affluent of the Parana,
into a gulf some four hundred feet deep. This is known as the Victoria Falls. Above this point
the Parana sweeps onwards with terrible rapidity, and forms several cascades of from thirty to forty

FALLS OF IGUAZU.
Only about a score of Europeans have seen these wonderful falls, which are situated partly in Brazil, and partly in Argentina.
It is difficult to obtain their exact dimensions, but it is probable that they are next in magnitude to the Niagara and Victoria
Nyanza falls.

66o

The Wonders of the World

feet high, known as the " Seven Falls."
This, however, is scarcely a precise
enumeration, as a number of smaller
cascades occur from point to point ere
the Falls of Iguazu are reached. Count-
less currents form miniature maelstroms
at the foot of these stupendous rapids,
and from the descent of this enormous
mass of water arises a constant haze of
spray. In the torrent beneath great
tree-trunks spin and whirl like straws
in a gutter, while above the river flows
-^o rapidly that it is extremely difficult
lor craft of any size to make headway
against it. The incessant thunder of
the falls can be heard at a distance of
at least two miles. A body of water
of almost a thousand cubic feet per
second is precipitated adown the rocky
gorge of the Iguazu, and the sublime
spectacle presented by its descent can
hardly be equalled by that of Niagara
itself. Indeed, some authorities place
Iguazu before Niagara. But very little
is known concerning these vast water
falls, and only some twenty odd
Europeans have ever set eyes upon
them. Issuing from the depths of
the primeval forest, the traveller is
suddenly stunned by the sight of the
vast panorama of boiling and tumbhng
waters which presents itself to his gaze. He emerges from the forest upon an open grassy space,
overlooking a great rocky channel cleft in twain by the mighty descent of multitudinous waters.
Above this direct fall is a long, gentle curve of foaming white waters, known as the Argentine Horse-
shoe. As showing the vast compression of the water that finds its way down the cataract, the
river above has a breadth of three thousand feet, and the gorge into which it falls is but four hundred
feet in width. The Falls of Iguazu are of most unusual shape when compared with similar cataracts.
There is first the great Argentine Horseshoe Fall, a double fall of some one hundred and eighty-nine
feet. The Brazilian Fall is estimated by some at two hundred and ten feet, though this is almost
certainly an exaggeration. The lightness and airy elegance of the falls is said to distinguish them
from all other similar bodies of water in the world. The " loop " on the BraziUan side is locally
known as " Boca del Diablo " or " Mouth of the Devil," from which rises up eternally a pillar of
white spray which is visible for a considerable distance.

The Piedra Parade in the Rio Alia Chabat.—This huge block of granite, situated near the River
Chubut, in the Argentine RepubUc, well exemplifies the tectonic and glacial origin of the surrounding
country. It has undoubtedly been carried to its present position some hundreds of yards from
the hills which encircle it by the action of a glacial moraine, which, latterly unable to move the mass
it carried down from the slopes above, flowed around it, and thus wore away the under sides, giving
it the appearance of a huge mushroom. It is about seventeen feet high by twenty at its broadest

THE PIEDRA PARADE.

This peculiar frealt of glacial action is situated in the Argentine
Republic, and has been carried to its present position from the sur-
rounding mountains by the action of prehistoric ice, which has worn
away its under sides.

Central and South America

66 1

point. It is called the " Walking Stone," probably because the natives believed that by no other
agency than its own could it have been brought to the spot where it now stands.

The Avenue of Palms at Rio.— The famous Avenue of Palm-trees in the Botanical Gardens
at Botafogo, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro, the capital of Brazil, lies in a recess of the mountains at
the foot of Corcovado, and thus is screened from winds in all directions — a necessity for the existence
of such tall trees in Rio, where the winds are sometimes very boisterous. The avenue is fully two
hundred feet in height, and is so symmetrical that, standing a few yards behind the end, the first
tree hides the entire row of seventy or more which stand behind it. This wonderful avenue is
without doubt unequalled anywhere in the world.

This magnificent alley extends from the main entrance of the gardens for a distance of nearly
half a mile. It is composed of one hundred and fifty palms of the species invariably alluded to in
Brazil as real, or royal, all of which are of uniform height. It is this wonderful uniformity,
indeed, which makes the avenue such a marvel of arboriculture. It is crossed at right angles by
what is known as the " Alley of Palms," which extends to nearly two thousand feet, and numbers
one hundred and forty-two trees of an average height of seventy-five feet. The tropical brilliance
of the surroundings is unsurpassed, and the airy play of numerous fountains and jets neutralizes
greatly the dank heat engendered by the proximity of such a mass of southern vegetation. Alas !
that this magnificent garden, the most
remarkable horticultural enclosure in f J

the world, should be practically neg-
lected by the inhabitants of Rio, who
seem to prefer the crowded thorough-
fares of the city and the amenities of
the boulevard and the cafe to this
stately pleasance, to enrich which the
rarest treasures of nature have been
culled from all lands.

TTie ** Inca Bridge " in the Andes.
— The Rumichaca arch, still popularly
known as the " Inca's Bridge," al-
though the Incas had no hand in its
construction, is a natural curiosity
which spans the rushing torrent of
the River Carchi, the name given
to the upper course of the River
Guaitara, which flows from the Pasto
volcano in Colombia, and forms for
some distance the political frontier
between Colombia and Ecuador.

There is a similar arch, also a
freak of nature, on the road between
Santiago and Mendoza, in Chili, and,
curiously enough, it is also known as
the " Inca Bridge." The road on
which it occurs was probably a

colonial way made by the Peruvian From .stereo mpynqM by-\ [//. c. wiaie co.

Incas, who took advantage of the the avenue of palms, rio de Janeiro.

phenomenon by leading their road , T''" "'°"'^"'"' /"""= °' ","'■" '""• '^^'"^ T" °"'" ^°? '"' '"

height, is unrivalled in the world, and is perhaps the most notable signt
over this natural viaduct. in the Brazilian Republic.

662

The Wonders of the World

_^^^^ ^ ^_^^^^^^-^^_-_ - _ ^■^Kr-*.^ '^^^ name " Chaca " sig-

^^Qr I B^^^^Awii^Hlv't I ^H^Hfll niaes " bridge '' in the Ouichua

r^lKll' H H^^^^BLi^^r vM^^I^^^H contiguous volcano of Cumbal

flows the Rio Blanco, which
traverses a series of trachytic
rocks, of which the Rumi-
chaca is part. The Bridge
passes over the road between
Ipiales, in Colombia, to Tul-
can, in Ecuador, and has been
for generations connected with
the name of the Peruvian
Incas by the people of the
district. Underneath it the
river flows swiftly at a depth
of about ninety feet. The
trachytic rock of which the
Bridge is composed is a
mixture of calcareous sedi-
ment and volcanic debris,
the first-mentioned ingredient
forming a very hard cement.
Near the Bridge has been
discovered an entire house
built from blocks of this calca-
reous cement dried in the sun,
but its history is unknown.
In the neighbourhood is found the celebrated " Ucamancha," a white carbonate, much in demand
for use in setting fractured bones.

Mount Misti. — Mount Misti is by far the best known and most conspicuous summit of the
Western Cordillera of Peru. There is great discrepancy in the various estimates of its altitude,
which range between seventeen thousand nine hundred and twenty thousand two hundred and sixty
feet. This soaring peak directly overshadows the town of Arequipa, a centre notable for the frequency
and severity of its earthquakes, which in 1600 and 1868 nearly levelled it with the ground. The
native designation of Mount Misti is Sucahuaya. The situation of such a famous volcano directly
above one of the most thriving commercial centres in Peru is even more anomalous than the presence
of Vesuvius near a modern European city Hke Naples. From time immemorial the crater of this
famous earthquake-maker has been a veritable cauldron of unrest for the unfortunate city which
lies beneath its snow-topped mass. Misti has been ascended on several occasions, notably by
Weddell, who first climbed it in 1847, and by Ryder and Bothwell, who unfortunately lost their
Hves in one of its frightful crevasses.

The Misti is flanked by the peak of Pichu-pichu on the east, and that of Chacchani on the north,
but its white-crested cone dominates the landscape. A weird legend hangs about its virgin
whiteness. In the long ago, when the red breath from its bowels devastated the surrounding
country and made life well-nigh impossible for the trembling peasants who dwelt beneath its
shadow, the Children of the Sun besought their celestial Father to slay the monster who dwelt
within, and whose wrath found such terrible expression. The Sun, the benevolent deity,
exasperated at the wickedness of the evil genius who made the volcano his home, drowned him in

From Stereo copyright 6j/] [//. C. White Co.

THE AVENUE OF PALMS. RIO DE JANEIRO.

The avenue is composed of 150 splendid specinnens of the "Royal" palms.

From .Stereo copyright &j/] \_Uiidericood A Under uiood.

THE INCA BRIDGE. ARGENTINA.
The Rio Mendoza flows beneath this wonderful structure, which is the work of Nature, not, as was popularly

supposed, of the Incas.

664

The Wonders of the World

the depths of his own lava, and
sealed up the crater of Misti with
snow more impenetrable than
adamant, so that the dead Titan
might never more be brought
to life by any other evil agency.
Another legend says that St.
Thomas, often associated with the
traditional pre-Columbian dis-
covery of America, was preach-
ing in the neighbourhood, and
became so irritated at the de-
structive tendency of the volcano,
that he cast his sandal into its
depths, thus rendering it in-
capable of further mischief.
Pizarro, the conqueror of Peru,
found the neighbourhood of the
Misti so healthy, that none of his
troops died during the ten months
they were stationed there, and
this fact weighed heavily with
the colonial Spaniards in the
selection and settlement of the
site of the city of Arequipa.

The Indian Village of Mara-
caibo. — The Indian village of
Maracaibo, situated at the mouth
of the lagoon of the same name,
affords in one of its vicinities the
prospect of native dwelhngs built
upon piles. The community which preserves this archaic style of dwelling is called Santa Rosa,
and is built on the plan which prompted the early discoverers of the country to denominate it
Venezuela (or Little Venice). When Vespucci and Hojeda discovered it in 1499, they observed
this aquatic community, and the waterways between the houses, with the canoes tied to the posts,
so strongly reminded them of Venice, that they at once decided to name the new country after the
picturesque water-city of the Adriatic. Like the habitations of the prehistoric lake-dwellers of
Switzerland or the huts of certain tribes of Borneo, the houses of the Goajiros Indians who live in
Santa Rosa are built upon high piles driven into the bed of the lagoon. This custom probably
originated through the fear of wild beasts or the visitations of hostile tribes. The dwelhngs are raised
some fifteen feet above the level of the lake, and are merely low huts roofed with sedge or grass thatch,
the eaves of which overlap the piles on which the hut stands. From a doorway a ladder leads down
to the water, and communication with the various parts of the village is made by canoe. Larger
and more ornate huts serve as churches to the Indians, who for the most part live by the chase
of waterfowl.

Inca Ruins, Ollantay-Tampa. — The great Incan fortress of Ollantay-Tampu, situated some forty-
five miles north of Cuzco, was built to defend the Valley of the Yucay from the inroads of the ferocious
Chinchos Indians, who dwelt in the impenetrable forests watered by the Amazon and its tributaries.
The immensity of the walls, which are built for the most part of red porphyry and average twenty-five

Irotn mereo copyright hy~\ [II. C. WIdte Co.

MOUNT MISTI. AREQUIPA.

The volcano of Misti overlooks the city of Arequipa. in Peru, much as
Vesuvius overlooks Naples, and has on several occasions reduced it to ruins
by terrific outbursts.

Central and South America

665

feet in height, render this ancient fortress comparable to the mightiest structures of antiquity in the
Old World. Squier compared Ollantay-Tampu to the castles of the Rhine. The comparison holds
good only inasmuch as the Peruvian fortress, like the more graceful strongholds of Germany, is
perched upon a dizzy height, which on one side overhangs a deep and rapid river. Stupendous
walls zig-zag from point to point, from angle to angle, of a huge cliff, and seem more like the work
of some modern master of the art of fortification than the cyclopean labour of the countless throngs
of dark-skinned toilers who reared it long ago at the behest of their celestial ruler, the Inca. The
fortress proper is a long, low building of two stories in height, loopholed and turreted. Above this
tower the walls of another fortress, or rather outwork, and at points above, below, at every possible
elevation, are placed round towers of stone of varying sizes, all of which are provided with many
portholes, so that a heavy flight of arrows might be brought to bear upon an approaching enemy.
This salient outwork embraces a series of terraces, which, because of their peculiar and gigantic
structure, are world-famous. The road to these leads through an ancient gateway grooved for a
portcullis. The terraces are ascended on one side by steps, and on the other by an inclined plane
over half a mile in length, over which the gigantic stones of which the fortress is composed were
dragged by sweating bands of con-
quered provincials. Many of the
immense stones used in the con-
struction of the fortress still remain
upon this road, abandoned, perhaps,
by reason of flaws or other unfitness.
This plane is guarded at intervals
by square stone buildings, like block-
houses, and is supported by an em-
bankment of stone inclining inwards,
and more than sixty feet high.

The first line of defence climbs
the mountain-side, zig-zagging from
point to point, until it meets a
precipice with a sheer fall of a
thousand feet. This wall, about
twenty-five feet in height, is built
of unfaced stone, cemented on each
side, and provided with an inner
shelf, upon which the defenders
might stand. Within this wall is a
concretion of huddled buildings.
doorways, isolated blocks of por-
phyry, terraces of vast design, and
several fine stairways, the stone for
all of which was quarried some
seven miles away, in a spot up-
wards of three thousand feet above
the valley, and dragged up the steep
slopes of OUantay by sheer human
force. A number of the stones
which lie scattered about are hewn
into shape and ready to be fitted,
and many are morticed and clamped

fhotu bs\

[//. V. While Co.

INDIAN VILLAGE. MARACAIBO.

It was from the pile-built abodes o( this community of lake-dwellers that
the discoverers of Venezuela received the sugeestion for the name of the new
colony, which signifies " Little Venice." Lacustrine dwellines are now excep-
tionally rare, the only other known instances of their occurrence being in some
of the lesser-known parts of Borneo.

666

The Wonders of the World

to pennit them to be joined to others. Some of these blocks approach twenty feet in length, by
five feet broad and four feet deep, and are perfectly squared and admirably pohshed, and the joints
where they meet one another are scarcely perceptible. Six of these mighty blocks, which seem as
if quarried by Titans, support a terrace, placed at an inclination against it. The faces of. these are
imperfectly poUshed, and some are not even properly hewn, showing that the work of facing them
was never completed, and probably hurriedly abandoned. But the greatest of the monolithic
marvels which Ollantay has to show are the " Tired Stones," enormous blocks lying on the inclined
plane leading to the fortress, as if abandoned by the masons, who found it impossible to drag such
monstrous burdens up the face of the hill. One of them is twenty-one feet five inches long, by fifteen

Fhoto by permission of] [.Si;' Clements Maj-kham.

OLLANTAY-TAMPU.

This illustration gives a good idea of the massive blocks which were employed in the construction of the fortress of Ollantay-

Tampu. The stones were fitted with great nicety, and were held together by their own \veight.

feet broad, and is partially embedded in the soil, into which it must have sunk by reason of its own
weight.

The picturesque splendour of the view from the heights of Ollantay is unsurpassed. Terrace
on terrace slopes down to the brawling torrent beneath, each a garden in itself, and level as champaign
country. Opposing the dechvity on which the fortress is built, the bare, bleak mountains rise in
solemn majesty, swelling with their snow-fed rivulets the turbulent stream beneath. Looking down
the valley, the view of green terraces is barred by the snow-capped immensity of Mount Chicon,
and in the near distance the mountain of Pinculluna, or " Hill of Flutes," a sheer mass of broken
rock, several thousand feet in height, stands black against the sky. To its sides adhere several
buildings, some of which appear almost inaccessible. Of these, perhaps the most remarkable is the
" School of the Virgins," a nunnery where the Peruvian maidens set apart for sacred offices dwelt
in seclusion. It consists of five long buildings, rising one above the other, each upon a separate

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668

The Wonders of the World

terrace. On a ledge with a sheer
drop of nearly a thousand feet,
stands the Horca del Hombre, a
small building, the doorway of which
looks down upon the dizzy abyss
beneath. From this grim portal
male criminals were hurled in ex-
piation of their misdeeds. A ledge
higher up holds the prison buildings,
where the unfortunate malefactors
awaited their doom. A chasm in
the mountain-side separates these
structures from the Horca de Mujir,
from which female criminals were
cast, and where those virgins of the
sun who had proved false to their
vows were hurled upon the rocks a
thousand feet below.

In Ollantay-Tampu itself the
Manay-Racay, or " Court of Peti-
tions," remains in almost perfect
condition, as is another Inca build-
ing, two stories in height. It is
built of large stones laid in cement,
and was originally stuccoed both
inside and out. A central wall runs
from gable to gable, and divides it
into two apartments of equal dimen-
sions. There was no access to the
upper story from the interior, but
one of the gables has two entrances
to it, one for each half of the build-
ing, to which ascent was made prob-
ably by ladders.

The ancient town was'^laid out with great precision and regularity, the streets running parallel
with the river, and averaging about fourteen feet in width. Each block was surrounded by a high
wall, and two central and three smaller courts lent space to the interior, but only one doorway gave
access to the whole.

Tradition has it that in Ollantay-Tampu the chieftain Ollantay, to whom the Inca had refused his
daughter Curi-Coyllur (" Joyful Star"), raised the standard of rebelhon, and held out against the
royal power for ten years. Surprised by a stratagem, he was captured and taken to Cuzco, the
capital, but the unfriendly Inca had died, and his successor, touched by the prisoner's sad story, set
him at liberty, and gave him Curi-Coyllur — who during this period had been confined in the Convent
of the Vestals — to wife. Such is the story as related in the great Incan drama of Ollantay, the most
perfect specimen of aboriginal American theatric art that has come down to us.

The Andes Mountains. — The vast range of the Andes Mountains has been well described as
" the backbone of the South American Continent." They constitute the most regular mountain
range on the globe, and some of their peaks are among the loftiest. From the continent's most
southerly point to Tacna, in Peru, the Andes run almost due north and south, and from the latter

Photo iifj j>''rini.^sioii of]
DOORWAY AT
Th

FOOT OF SLOPE

illustration depicts one of these double doorways wh
of tfie later Incan arcfiitecture of Peru.

[.StV- Clements Markham.
OLLANTAY-TAMPU.

h are typical

Central and South America

669

point to the Isthmus of Panama they describe a vast semi-circle. But for their entire course they
adhere closely to the coast-line, and so regular is their march with it, that the Spaniards bestowed
upon the range the name " Cordillera," or " rope," to signify the regularity with which it has been
drawn in a line with the coast. From the sea this great barrier has the appearance of a vast wall,
surmounted here and there by lofty towers, wherever a peak of unusual height looms upwards from
among the surrounding mountains. This wall-Uke appearance is due to the great uniformity of the
range, which averages fourteen thousand feet. So uniform, too, is the geological formation of the
Andes, that specimens of its rocks brought from points widely distant have been found to display
the same features.

Of this wonderfully symmetrical mountain chain, the highest peak is Aconcagua (23,080 feet),
unless the claims of Sorata, in Bolivia, to a height of 23,500 feet be. allowed. Other giants of the
range are Illimani, 22,500 feet ; Tupungato, 22,000 feet and Chimborazo, 20,498 feet.

Beginning at the northern extremity of the continent, the Colombian Andes spread out into
three distinct ranges — the Eastern, Central and Western Cordilleras. Of the first-mentioned, the
Sierra de Summa Paz, or " Mountain of Highest Peace " (14,146 feet), is the most remarkable, owing
its denomination, as it does, to the serene splendour of its aspect and surroundings. The Central
Colombian Cordillera is volcanic in character, and one of its eminences, Pasto (14,000 feet), discharges
from its enormous crater a copious stream impregnated with sulphuric acid. Another volcanic
peak of this chain is Purace (16,000 feet), from the sides of which the Rio Pasambria, or " Vinegar
River," a stream highly charged with sulphuric and other acids, falls into a gorge two hundred and

Photo by permission o/]

ISif Clements Markham.
IMMENSE CORNERSTONE. OLLANTAY-TAMPU.
AnotKer of the immense corner-stonM of the great Incan fortre.. of Ollantay-T.mpu. Note the turrets behind, which
are said to give the fortress a resemblance to the picturesque castles of the Rhine.

From Stereo coppfijht by}

[finder-wood ^' Underwood.

IN THE HEART OF THE ANDES.
The view looking down from Oroya into the Rimac River Gorec

Central and South America

671

sixty feet deep. Tolima, the chief peak of this sub-range (18,400 feet), is not active as a volcano,
but several smaller cones have lately formed on its slopes. The twin-crested Yarumal (7,470 feet
and 7,230 feet) completes the range. The Western Colombian Cordillera is also known as the Choco
range, from the name of the Indian tribe who formerly dwelt under its shadow. Beneath it in a
rocky valley, several thousand feet in depth, flows the River Canea. On the slopes of the Cerro
Torra (12,600 feet) gold has been discovered.

Within the borders of Peru the Andes uplands broaden out into a vast tableland, which spreads
into Bolivian territory, and ap-
proaches in extent and height
the great plateau of Tibet. The
Peruvian system, however, de-
velops its greatest elevation in
the lofty crests of the Cordillera
Negra and the Cordillera Nevada,
the first of which has an average
altitude of 16,000 feet and the
latter of 18,000 feet. The loftiest
pinnacle of the Nevada range is
the mighty twin-peaked Huas-
can, which towers to a height of
22,000 feet. In the neighbour-
ing Cerro de Pasco the alpine
grandeur of the scenery is well-
nigh overpowering in its stern
magnificence. A very chaos of
irregular mountain peaks fronts
the eye, their snow-covered sum-
mits seeming like giant billows
capped with foam. The sub-
limity of this grand and rugged
expanse is well-nigh terrifying in
its bleak and awesome majesty.
In the lands which lie at the
base of these mountains a sin-
gular variety of scenery is notice-
able. This has been remarked
by Mr. E. G. Squier, who says,
concerning this strange diver-
sity : " Deserts as bare and re-
pulsive as those of the Sahara al-
ternate with valleys as luxuriant "p°" «°'' '°<^^-

as those of Italy. Lofty mountains, crowned with eternal snow, lift high their rugged sides over
bleak, black paramos, or table-lands, themselves more elevated than the summits of the Alleghanies.
Rivers taking their rise among melting snow, precipitate themselves through deep and rocky gorges
into the Pacific, or meander with gentle current among the majestic Andes, to swell the flood of
the Amazon."

It was among these lofty solitudes that the ancient Incan Peruvians believed their Thunder-god
to dwell. Among the dense clouds that overhung the mountain peaks his red limbs could be seen
swiftly moving, and his giant voice could be heard in god-like wrath. And even to-day the Peruvian

t*hvto from the CO. Ifclion of]

iJ. H. Dauber, Esq., f.lt.O.S.
THE VENTANA.
Tlie Ventana, or window, is a peculiarity of the mountain range of ifie same
name. Tfie mountain peak fias been hollowed out by the action of the elements

672

The Wonders of the World

hillmen pour libations of native spirit
into the mountain tarns above the^
snow-line for the purpose of placating
the dreaded being who dwells on the
peaks above. For his sacred bird, the
condor which inhabits these wastes, they
have a superstitious veneration. This
bird is a species of vulture, and its head
and form may be seen traced on the
objects recovered from ancient Peruvian
graves. It was one of the chief symbols
in the Incan insignia of royalty, and
its likeness is carved upon the great
monolithic doorway at Tiahuanaco.

It is in Chilian territory that the
Cordillera begins its magnificent march
of three thousand miles to the Straits
of Magellan, and here it is that the
highest peaks, the largest extinct volca-
noes and the most enormous glaciers are
to be discovered. Here are Aconcagua,
and the as yet unconquered Cerro del
Mercedario, which has never yielded
to the foot of the explorer. At such
heights as the summits of these extinct
volcanoes attain — an average of nearly
23,000 feet — protracted existence is im-
possible, and the dreaded "gruna," or
mountain sickness, menaces the traveller
who is sufficiently rash to attempt the
escalade of these dizzy heights. At
such an altitude movement is terribly
burdensome, and the rate of progress may be stated on the confession of a traveller as about a
yard a minute.

Many of the Chilian Andes are still uncharted on any map. Hundreds of miles of these
mountains are untrodden and unknown, and many lofty peaks of over twenty thousand feet in
height have never been measured or even visited by scientists. The Fitz-Gerald expedition, for
example, sighted from the peak of Tupungato a great burning mountain, of which absolutely nothing
was known. It seems strange, in these days of exploration, that a single yard of the earth's surface
should remain unknown ; and it cannot be long before these isolated summits yield themselves to
the all-conquering foot of man.

The Veniana. — The Sierra Ventana, or Window Mountain range, south of the Plate estuary,
in Argentina, derives its name from an opening in the summit of the range which measures four
metres in width and ten in height, and is surmounted by a dome twelve metres in thickness. The
opening is twenty metres in length. It is most likely that this phenomenon has been caused by
what is known as sub-aerial denudation, a process whereby all mountains are slowly reduced in
height by atmospheric action, and by llie same process the softer portions of the soil or rock would
be slowly but surely worn away by the action of wind and rain. The Ventana range has been sub-
jected to a very great amount of weathering, and at one time must have been among the most lofty

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Photo from the collection 0/] \_J. 11. Dauber, Esq., F.li.U.S.

THE VENTANA.

A comparison of this orifice with the seated figure to the right of
the picture will give a rough idea of its size.

iiy int t-'/uttacurun

ALHAMBRA.

The wonderful mosaics and glazed tile-work contribute considerable charm to this the most beautiful of Moorish Palaces. The
decorations here shewn of the Sala de Las Camas are splendid examples of Moorish art.

Central and South America

673

The great river is arrested in the middle

ranges on the globe. Their present average height of three thousand eight hundred feet shows
how far the process of denudation has gone.

The range is situated at a distance of sixty miles north-north-east of Bahia Blanca, and runs
parallel with the Tandil Mountains. It was explored by Hauthal in 1892, and he corroborated the
opinion of Reclus regarding the extreme antiquity of these mountains. It is possible that the
" window," or aperture, which is so striking a feature of this range, has been caused by violent
glacial action, which actually tunnelled the peak from side to side, and formed the opening which
gives the system its name, and which stands as a marvel unique in the history of geology.

Kaieiear Falls. — The great falls of Kaieteur in British Guiana are formed by the descent of
the Potaro River into a gulf some two hundred and thirty feet in depth. Until the year 1868 they
were practically unknown to Europeans. They present a wonderful picture to the traveller as he
emerges from the forest by which they are surrounded
of its course and hurled into
the abyss beneath, where a
steam as from a boiling
cauldron arises from the strife
of waters. Five hundred
cubic feet of water plunge
every minute into the fearful
depths below, wliere numer-
ous jagged rocks and ledges
churn it into rapids and send
it sweeping onwards at a
fearful pace. Further down
the Potaro descends again
and again by a succession of
cascades. Altogether, with
the grand fall, the river de-
scends for over three hundred
feet and in its fall gradually
increases to a speed of nearly
twenty-five miles an hour.
There is reason to believe,
however, that the constant
wearing of the rocks down
which it rushes has consider-
ably minimized the original
height of the fall, and this
within comparatively recent
times, as the rocks over which
it thunders are soft and very
friable in composition. For
the same reason the gulf
below is being gradually
deepened, and this to some
extent compensates for the

1 /-I'll Photo hv^ C^. H*t7(//'fjfj( Anderson.

loss of height when measured kaieteur falls. British guiana.

from the summit of the Unknown to the traveller till they were ai.covered in 1868, the.e («11. are formed

falls. by the descent of the Potaro River into a gulf of over 200 feet in depth.

674

The Wonders of the World

Rio Harbour ana the Sagar-ioaf Mountain. — The entrance to the harbour of Rio de Janeiro,
the capital of the United States of Brazil, affords a panorama of unsurpassed beauty to the voyager
who views it from the deck of an incoming liner, or from any of the numerous vantage-points which
surround the city. The peculiar effect of the view is contributed to as much by the unique nature
of the surroundings as by their intrinsic beauty. From a vast sea-basin surrounded by lofty
mountains and laving the promenades of a city of dazzling whiteness arise strange islands, resembhng
nothing so much as the peaks of a submerged Alpine range. Of these many are quite bare, but
others, covered by luxuriant tropical fohage, seem as floating forests. After passing the islands
situated at the mouth of the estuary, the full splendour of the Gulf of Botafogo bursts upon the
view. On the left rises the fantastic peak of Gavea, the summit of which consists of a mass of highly-
polished rock. Beyond is the truncated summit of Andarahy, of a sombre blue colour. Further
from the shore the Corcovado needle, a stony Une of naked rock, runs parallel with the coast.

The shores which slope from these heights present a spectacle of fairy-like loveliness which

THE HARBOUR, RIO DE JANEIRO.

Brazil has been favoured with one of the most wonderful natural harbours in the world: for the bay of Rio has a mouth

less than a mile wide, but is deep enough for the largest vessels, and can easily be defended.

would tax the descriptive powers of a Shelley. Beholding them, one is irresistibly reminded of the
strange beaches sung by him in " Alastor " :

Lo, where the pass expands
Its stony jaws, the abrupt mountain breaks, *

And seems with its accumulated crags,
To overhang the world : for wide expand
Beneath the wan stars and descending moon
Islanded seas, blue mountains, mighty .streams,
Dim tracks and vast, robed in the lustrous gloom
Of leaden-coloured even, and fiery hills
Mingling their flames with twilight, on the verge
Of the remote horizon.

The silver of sand and the sapphire of sea, the long ridges of snowy foam, the myriad tints oi
rock and weed softening into the haze where the white city lies, afford a scene of loveliness to tired
eyes unequalled even by the dazzling lagoons of the islands of the Pacific. Beyond rises the gigantic
monohth of the Pao do Assucar, or the Sugar-loaf Mount, conical, isolated, colossal. This unique
mountain rises from a peninsula which fronts the Gulf of Botafogo.

The Sugar-loaf Mountain is nine hundred and ten feet high, and with the surrounding mountains-
is supposed to make up a resemblance to the human form, called the " Stone Man." of which it
constitutes the feet, and Mount Gavea the head, or face in profile. Within this vast oval basin of
sea, some thirty miles long by twenty broad, the horizon is everywiiere bounded by lofty mountaini

676

The Wonders of the World

Photo by permission o/l

{Sir elements Markham.

THE INCA FORTRESS OF PISSAC.

For the protection of their empire the Incas were forced to erect extensive fortifications at the points most open to
assault. One of these was in the Valley of Yucay, which gave access to a headland of the Andes, but which was pro-
tected by these mighty forts.

ranges of the most bizarre shape and outUne. The numerous islands and surrounding declivities
appear as natural fortresses, and the enormous headlands which guard the very entrance to the
" harbour " are sufficient guarantee against the passage of hostile war-vessels so long as guns can
be mounted upon their summits.

The Tandil Rocking-Stone. — In the Tandil range of mountains south of the River Plate, in
Argentina, stands the famous Tandil Rocking-Stone, by far the largest example of the kind in the
world, weighing as it does seven hundred tons. It is composed of granite, and contains one hundred
and thirty cubic metres. It is in the shape of a paraboloid, four metres high and five metres in
diameter at the base. The stone rocks upon a knob of rock beneath, which fits closely into a socket-
like hollow in the stone itself. The action of the elements through countless centuries has succeeded
in wearing away the softer parts of the stone, and leaving behind the harder-gritted core. The
stone is so perfectly balanced that it can be vigorously rocked without any fear of its falling.

The Tandil Stone is so delicately poised that it could crack a nut, yet so firmly fixed that it
could not be displaced by a team of a thousand horses which were yoked to it. It is the stone of
which this is a " sample" that is employed in the paving of the streets of Buenos Ayres, the
municipality of which, before the opening up of the Tandil quarries, had perforce to import some
five hundred tons of paving-stone from Genoa.

The Inca Fortress of Pissac. — For the proper protection of their empire and culture the Incas
found it necessary to erect extensive fortifications at those points where they were threatened by
barbarous peoples, much as the Romans were led to build the walls of Antonine and Hadrian to
guard against the incursions of the Picts and Scots, or the civilized Chinese their Great Wall against
the furious Tartar inroads.

Central and South America

677

One of the most wonderful of these mountain fastnesses was that of Pissac, commanding the
approach to the valley of Yucay. From the background of the snow-covered Andes juts an oval
headland some three miles long, and, at its most elevated point, nearly four thousand feet high. This
projection is of the wildest and most rugged description, and from its surface great beetling cliffs start
at irregular intervals, alternating with level spaces and gentle slopes. At three points only is it
accessible. There is, however, a picturesque stairway from the adjacent town, cut in the living
rock, which winds and turns along its face, past dizzy precipices, and projections of rock on which
towers were erected whence the garrison could discharge showers of stones upon the invaders.

When the ascent has been made to the higher slopes a number of artificial terraces are encountered
which exhibit great skill and a fine sense of regularity. They run down to the very edge of the sheer
precipices below and are ascended by flights of steps, by the side of which are narrow aqueducts
to supply the water-tanks for the use of the defenders in the fortifications below. As a second line
of defence, every possible loophole of entrance is here battlemented and escarped in such a manner
as to render access impossible, and round towers crowned with battlements guard every pass.

With regard to the temple group of buildings, the most original and remarkable of these is seen
to be the Inti-huatana, or apparatus by which the Incan Peruvians were enabled to discover the
seasonal periods of the year. The name signifies " Place where the sun is haltered," or " tied up."

The buildings which surround the Inti-huatana are nearly all oblong in shape and similar to
each other in area and construction. That they were dwellings or temples for the priestly class is
certain. From the site on which they stand the great central peak of the fortress can be reached.
The steep and dizzy path skirts cliffs a thousand feet in height, and upon it it is impossible for two
men to walk abreast. Some four hundred yards up the cliff-side the artificial shelf or roadway
widens a little, and a flight of steps ascends for one hundred and fifty feet to a little tower perched
upon an aery crag. Beyond the tower which commands it, the pathway is excavated through the

-*»

mmM3M *

jf'/ioto vy /yi

The
merited
pass.

„-,«,. 0/]

THE INCA FORTRESS OF PISSAC.
maze of fortifications inside the surroundine wall is extremely elaborate. Every possible loopKole of entrance is battle-
and escarped in such a manner as to render access impossible, and round towers crowned with battlements guard every

678

The Wonders of the World

rock, so that only one person at a time may pass, and that in a crouching position, and by this means
only can access be had to the eastern peak of the stronghold, which is much less elaborately fortified-
On its summit an area of perhaps a quarter of an acre has been levelled and banked up by cut
stones, and this at a height of four thousand two hundred and fifty feet above the valley ! From
this point signal-fires were lit to warn the inhabitants of Cuzco, the Inca capital, against the
approach of the barbarian tribes to the eastward. In the ravine behind the fortress, and between
the eminence upon which it is built and the spur of the Andes, are numerous niches and crevices
in which the defenders of the fortress slept. These stretch for upwards of a mile, and the place is
known as Tantana Marca, " The Steeps of Lamentation." The name might well apply to-day to
the empty fortress itself, the mighty monument of a vanished but unforgotten empire.

The Ruins of TVa^aanaco.— Scattered over the Andean slope of Peru are groups of ruins
attributed to a prehistoric people who dwelt in the country before the coming of the Incas, and

Photo hy permission of] IVerlag vun V. J'. WisioU.

TIAHUANACO.

Scattered over the Andean slope of Peru are groups of ruins attributed to a prehistoric people anterior to the Incas.

Chief amongst these ruins is the meealithic doorway of Tiahuanaco carved out of a single block of stone.

consisting principally of buildings of cyclopean type — edifices, temples and doorways constructed
from vast stones, in many cases considerably larger than the analogous buildings of the early peoples
of Greece or Egypt contain. To this race scientists have given the name " Andean," and although
little is known concerning it, it is generally agreed that it has left examples of masonry which it
would be diificult to excel for boldness of design and massiveness of execution.

The outstanding characteristics of this masonry are that the stones composing it are fitted into
each other with a skill which all the resources of modern workmanship could not improve upon,
and that no mortar or cement is employed, bronze clamps taking the place of this in the majority
of instances.

Chief among these remarkable ruins are the groups at Tiahuanaco, which is situated on the
southern side of Lake Titicaca, thirteen thousand feet above the level of the sea. They cover an
area of nearly an acre, and are chiefly famous for the wonderful megalithic doorway, seven feet
high and thirteen and a half feet in length, carved out of a single block of trachytic stone. The

;i>v-<'

•/ VHi

m's

mnmf

/'^'j^o 6^ permission of\

m \y.

e>r ^ '■

TIAHUANACO.
Details of the sculpture on the " Andean " doorway.

IVfrlag ion C. T. Wisiolt.

68o

The Wonders of the World

Photo by permission of}

TIAHUANACO.

Tialiuanaco is situated on the southern side of Lake Titicaca, 13,000 feet above sea-level:

historic masons of Peru builded here must remain a mystery.

upper portion of this doorway is covered with sculpture of a most curious type, the central idea
representing the sun surrounded by rays, and clasping a sceptre in both hands. These sceptres
end in the heads of condors, a species of vulture which is common to the vicinity. On either side
of this design rise three tiers of figures, each in a kneeling position, and facing the central figure.
All of these are winged and have the heads of condors, except some which obviously represent kings^
and who wear the insignia of royalty and sceptres similar to that of the central figure. It is thought
that this sculpture was raised to commemorate some remarkable event in the reign of one of the
unknown monarchs of a forgotten pre-Incan dynasty, or else was undertaken as an act of homage
to some deity. For what reason the prehistoric masons of Peru builded here will probably for
ever remain a mystery. The surroundings are perhaps the most unsuitable for the construction
of large edifices that could have well been selected, and the region in which they stand is desolate
and difficult of access. The tableland upon which they are built is so high above the level of the
sea that even breathing is difficult and the line of perpetual snow is near at hand.

On Lake Titicaca, hard by, is an island of the same name, on which are many ruins of surpassing
interest. This was the sacred island of the ancient Peruvians, and here the corn was kept in the
sacred granaries to be later distributed throughout the land for sowing. Here, too, the Peruvians
believed the founders of their civilization to have started upon their pilgrimage of enlightenment.
Chief among the buildings are the Palace of the Sun, the abode of the priests who worshipped the
luminary, and the Palace of the Incas, The Palace of the Sun was reached by steps cut in the rock,
and its fa9ade of one hundred and sixty-five feet was pierced by five doors. On the contiguous island
of Coati many important ruins are likewise to be found. It was consecrated to the moon, and its
edifices included the Palace of the Virgins of the Sun, a plain and almost unsculptured building, on
the first story of which two large halls opened upon the principal facade. In the first of these was
placed a golden statue of the sun and in the second a silver statue of the moon. The lake was reached
by a series of terraces and steps, from which marvellous views of the surrounding lacustrine
scenery can be obtained.

EUROPE.

CHAPTER XXL

• By CHARLES RUDY.

Prehistoric Sardinia. — The richest field of research for the archaeologist is the Mediterranean,
its shores and islands, for prehistoric man roamed through the forests that skirt the Great Inland
Sea from far Syria to the coast of Spain, joined in those days to the African continent. When the
islands, such as Malta, Corsica, Sicily, the Balearic Isles and Sardinia broke off from the mainland,
they were inhabited by tribes who rapidly increased in numbers until they formed the native popu-
lation of their new home. Practically safe from attack from without — nav.'gation on a big scale
being unknown — they were able to create a civilization of their own. and develop it on lines
peculiar to their surroundings.
When, in subsequent centuries,
foreigners approached the shores
of these islands, and colonized
a fringe of land around the
sea, the native element, savage
and unreasonable, was driven
into the interior, where their
civilization lingered until it
was completely forgotten, and
monuments crumbled and were
covered with earth, only to
be excavated within the past
fifty years. Such is the his-
tory of the majority of the
Mediterranean Isles, and fore-
most among these must be
placed Malta and Sardinia,
the latter the proud possessor
of the most perfect, and at
the same time the most
numerous dwellings of the
Neolithic Age. The island
must have been densely popu-
lated, especially in the centre
and north, where huts, villages,
tombs and temples have been
unearthed, and mounds still
to be investigated dot the
landscape.

The most frequent remains

^ . This island is the proud possessor of the most perfect, and at the same time

are those known as the nuraghl, ,|,^ ^„„ numerous dwellings of the Neolithic Age. The illustration show, the

oversix thousand in number and mouth of a sacred well.

Photo bi/'i

[Underwood tt Underwood.
PREHISTORIC REMAINS. SARDINIA.

682

The Wonders of the World

generally located on a platform or elevated point of vantage, such as the head of a ravine, tableland,
or in the vicinity of a ford. They were the huts of primitive man, and though the upper stories
have in most cases fallen, it seems that the original form was that of a truncated cone : in other
words, the walls were circular, the diameter growing smaller as the structure rose in height.
Among the peculiarities of these huts is the fact that the doors always faced the south,
the inmates thus escaping the north winds. In the interior the crevices between the
rough blocks of stone which form the wall were daubed with clay. Inside the door, on
the right, a niche was cut into the wall, presumably to be occupied by a sentry, who could
easily attack an enemy coming into the liall. Should he, however, pass the sentinel, and,
crossing the semi-circular hall, attempt to reach the inner room, he would be balked by a stair-
case, the steps of which were irregular, some only a foot high, others varying from three to four.
In many cases security was enhanced by a buttress tower in advance of the liut. In a more com-
plicated form, such as the Nuragho Losa near Abbasanta. a large hut contained another within its

precincts, or was surrounded
by smaller dwellings, the whole
being enclosed in a bastioned
wall of primitive structure.
Broken bits of pottery, of a
black, porous clay, have been
found in some of these nuraghi,
as well as small bronze statues
of simple design, and angular,
in the nature of Egyptian art.
These are, however, of pos-
terior date, belonging to the
Bronze Age. Nothing is known
of the religion of these primi-
tive men, though several un-
derground excavations seem to
indicate the existence of a
temple. Close to it is a well,
supposed to have been sacred,
and it is possible that springs
and wells, being of primary
importance, should have been
worshipped in some way or
other. Interesting, also, are
the tombs which have been
discovered. They are of two
kinds : the domus de gianas,
which closely resemble the
rock-hewn cemeteries to be
found along the Nile, and the
iombe dei giganti. These latter
were built within sight of a hut,
and consist of one chamber,
ten to twelve yards long, by a
REMAINS. SARDINIA. yard high and wide, and lined

the Underground Temple. witll llUge slabs of stoUe.

Photo by]

PREHISTORIC
The

entrance

Photo 6yl ll/nderuood tC- Undervood.

THE ST. GOTHARD TUNNEL.

A photograph c«n only show the entrance of the tunnel, which is one ot the greatest engineering feats ever undertaken.

It is a maze of loops and spirals, and in one part the line takes the curves of a figure 8.

684

The Wonders of the World

Photo dy] iThe Photochrom Co. Ltd.

THE GROTTO, LOURDES.
Sixty years ago the village of Lourdes was practically unknown, but to-day it is become a Mecca of the Roman Catlialics,
fiundreds of thousands of pilgrims journeying yearly to the miraculous spring,

Tke St. Gothard. — One of the greatest of engineering feats ever undertaken was the construction
of the St. Gothard Railway between Switzerland and Italy. It is not its length — in a bee-line the
total distance covered between the Lake of Lucerne and Airola would not exceed fifty miles — that
is significant, but the difficulties that had to be overcome in threading gorges, crossing rivers and
building tunnels, the latter being the most marvellous mole-holes that the world has ever seen.
The writer remembers when he first travelled between Lucerne and Lugano. Opposite him in
the corridor car sat an old gentleman armed with a compass, an aneroid barometer and a ther-
mometer. It was a study in facial expression to watch the gleam of satisfaction on the old man's
face when, in a tunnel, the compass danced a jig from south to east, to north, to west, and south
again, and the aneroid barometer rose from two thousand to three thousand feet, and the
thermometer climbed from fifty-five to sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit. But it was in the big tunnel
that the excitement in the master scientist's face reached its climax. During the eighteen minutes
it took us to cover the nine and a half miles, my vix-d-vis had ample leisure to feed his eyes on his
instruments. The compass made a circuit from left to right, followed by another from right to
left, for the tunnel is built in the figure 8 ; the thermometer showed seventy-three degrees Fahrenheit
and the aneroid climbed steadily to three thousand seven hundred and eighty-six feet above the
sea, and then began to descend, until when we emerged from this, the second largest tunnel in the
world, the needle stood in the vicinity of three thousand feet. For it is a curious fact that the
highest point on the line is reached in the very heart of the big tunnel, from which point the line
descends in both directions, towards Goschenen in the north and Airola in the south. Until a few
years ago the St. Gothard was the largest tunnel in the world, but this honour has now fallen to

Europe

685

the Simplon, which is five thousand three hundred and sixty yards longer. The Simplon, however, is
built in a straight line ; at a given moment it is seven thousand feet below the crest of the mountains
through the base of which it bores its way, and the temperature rises to ninety degrees, which,
even on a hot summer's day, is considered a high reading in the shade. Otherwise, the St.
Gothard's rival need not be feared; in point of beauty, and the rushing from one scene to
another, the older line stands alone among the railways of Europe. It is a veritable study in loops
and spirals — three such tunnels being on the northern, and four on the southern incline. In all,
there are eighty tunnels, aggregating twenty-eight and a half miles, and there are three hundred
and twenty-four bridges of a span over thirty-two feet. The wildest scenery is to the north of
Goschenen, where the line endeavours to follow, with more or less success, the roaring Reuss on its
way to the Lake of Lucerne. But more impressive is the descent on the Tessin, or Swiss-Italian
side. For the winds of the south and its sunshine burst upon the traveller as slowly, creeping snake-
Hke with many a coil, the train loops its way into the fertile plains that lead through Piamonte and
the Lombardy to the Eternal City and the basking languor of the bay of Naples. As for the
mountain chain of the St. Gothard, only glimpses of it can be obtained from the car, and yet it is
one of the many picturesque groups of massive snow-clad granite for which Switzerland is noted.
A pass leads over the top of a ridge between two high peaks, and a carriage-road connects the north
with the south. A famous hospice stood at the summit of the pass, but it was totally destroyed
in a recent fire, and has been rebuilt on more modest and modern lines. The railway has naturally
taken the traffic for which the St. Gothard Pass was known, and to-day the tourists who come this
way in order to enjoy the view and a bird's-eye glance over the railway lines below them are few
and far between.

The Grotio a.t Loardes. — In a charming spot, nestling among the northern spurs of the
Pyrenees, and not far distant from Pau, stands the Castle of Lourdes, with the village of the same
name at its feet, and opposite, on a peninsula formed by a sudden turn in the course of the river
Gave de Pau, Mount Calvary rises gradually to an insignificant height. Sixty years ago the village
was practically unknown. But a strange thing happened. One, Bernadette Soubirous, a mystic

ALHAMBRA. GRANADA.

The exterior of the Alhambra belies the interior; it is severe, forbidding-looking and massive.

of Arab architecture.

\(!en. Bertram hfxilford.
It is nevertheless the masterpiece

686

The Wonders of the World

maiden in her teens, saw the Virgin, dressed in white and wearing a blue scarf, appear to her in a
grotto situate at the foot of Mount Calvary, and speak to her, telling her that if a shrine were erected
on the spot, the waters in the grotto would acquire heahng properties, and thousands of cripples
would come from afar and be cured of their ills. Bernadette told the village clergy what she had
seen and heard, and then retired into a convent, where she died twenty-one years later. In the
meantime the miracle had been noised abroad ; the supposed instructions were carried out as they

had been given to the
mystic, and sufferers began
arriving in ever-increasing
numbers. Faith is in
many cases — as doctors
will tell us — a powerful
cure, and it is not surpris-
ing, therefore, that some
of the lame and disabled
pilgrims should, after bath-
ing in the waters of the
marvellous grotto, drop
their crutches and walk
away. The fame of the
village grew by leaps
and bounds, until to-day
Lourdes is without a
parallel in the contem-
porary history of the
Roman Catholic Church.
It is a modern St. James
of Campostella, with this
difference, that whereas
the journey to Galicia in
the Middle Ages was both
arduous and hazardous,
a generous service of
special trains brings the
pilgrims rapidly to the
Grotto at Lourdes, and
in such numbers that,
from August 15 th to
September 15th of eacli
year, no fewer than one
hundred thousand visitors arrive at the shrine. Of these many are naturally only tourists and
sightseers, who take advantage of the excursion tickets to visit some of the beauties of the
Pyrenees, stopping a night on their way at the old village at the foot of the castle, now turned
into a prison. The fervent pilgrims have, however, little or nothing to do with the right bank of
the Gave de Pau. Crossing the new bridge, they huddle together at the foot of Mount Calvary ;
they gaze at the statue of the Virgin, make their votive offerings, with which the basilica on the
hillside is covered ; bathe in the ice-cold waters of the spring— no longer visible, but walled in. the
crystal-clear waters being led through taps into a basin— and pray that their sufferings may be
ended. What a medley of peoples and races is to be seen among the pilgrims on the Esplanade

P'<^"' ''y] [N. 1>. Edwards.

THE COURT OF LIONS. ALHAMBRA.

The use of animals in decorative work is forbidden by tlie Koran; but here the laxity
that often accompanies luxury has allowed the beautifully sculptured fountain that gives
its name to the. court.

THE COURT OF LIONS. ALHAMBRA.
The efFecl of the slender columns, now standing singly, now in groups of two or three, is one of exquisite grace and dazzling

sunshine and shadow.

688

The Wonders of the World

Photo hy'\

THE COURT OF THE MYRTLES, ALHAMBRA.

{The Photoehrom Co. Ltd.

So named from the green myrtles that are planted by the side of the water-basin, which extends throughout the length

of the court.

and among the rows of shops where knick-knacks and souvenirs are to be bought ! And what
misery ! Even Jerusalem at Easter is not a more piteous sight, nor does it offer a more varied
cacophony of sounds and languages.

The Grotto itself has very little to recommend it beyond its sway as a psychic force in modern
Catholicism. The grottos of Betharram, two miles distant, are both greater and grander. It is
a recess fifteen feet deep by fifteen wide, similar to many in the vicinity, where prehistoric remains
have been unearthed. Above it, on a projecting rock, stands the effigy of the Virgin, in a white robe
and a blue scarf. The Basilica, which has been erected on the hill above the Grotto, was consecrated
in 1876, and no fewer than thirty-five princes of the Church were present, headed by the Cardinal-
Archbishop of Paris and the Papal Nuncio, who in a solemn moment crowned the statue of Our
Lady of Lourdes,

The Athambra. — The intense poetry of a romantic, oriental race clad Spain in a garb of beauty
which still clings to her, in spite of her many vicissitudes. Desertion and desolation have harassed
her, but many of the jewels which the Moors — to use a general term — bestowed upon her during
their stay in the land of orange-blossoms and olive-trees still shine in her tiara, and of these jewels
none can compare with the Alhambra in brilhancy and lustre. It is the " CuUinan " of her regalia,
the last and the highest expression of a marvellous art movement which, finding its origin in a
white tent on the bank of an oasis pool, passed through Egypt, Sicily and Morocco, and finally
reached a climax of voluptuous light and colour in Andalusia. Saracenic art has produced no
more perfect specimen of intricate workmanship and rich fantasy than the lone halls of feerique
beauty and fading colours crowning the hillside overlooking Granada, the lost city of the Moors.

The exterior view of the Alhambra belies the interior ; it is severe, forbidding-looking and
massive. Once within the walls the impression is totally different ; extreme lightness blends with

Europe

689

a myriad colours, in which the reds and blues predominate, against a background of immaculate
white. Fairy-like pillars and columns, surmounted by flimsy arches, delicate as lacework, seem to
raise the walls instead of to support them, whilst between them intricate vistas are to be obtained of
desolate halls and courts, each apparently more superbly decorated than the preceding. In the
height of its fame, just before the fall of Granada in 1492, it must have been a magnificent pleasaunce,
of which the few remains, the most elaborate of their kind, are but a tithe of the many rich apart-
ments contained in the Red Castle, when Bobadilla, the 'ast King of Granada, " unable to defend
like a man what he wept over like a woman," was compelled to pass over to Africa. At that time
flashing fountains of water sparkled in the sunshine and were intermingled with palms and orange-
trees planted in the courtyards, which, with their fragile colonnades and variegated colours, were
like a tangle of rare flowers ; while, in recesses under arcades, the white-robed Saracens lounged on
rich oriental rugs, sipping their cooling drinks, and in the hareem the favourite sultana sat in that
most wonderful of alcoves, known as the Lindaraja, gazing out across an orange-grove to the fertile
fields of the vega. To-day most of the fountains are silent, and the colours are paling. The fall of
noisy feet is heard on the pavement instead of the sandals of old. But even to-day the halls are
beautiful, unique. With a little care and money spent on its maintenance by a sparing govern-
ment, the life of the stucco ornamentation — consisting for the most part of wonderful stalactites
and an ever-changing wall and arch ornamentation — could be prolonged for years to come.

The most perfect in detail and execution of the few remaining halls and courtyards is that part
of the building leading off from the Court of Lions, and known as the Hall of the Two Sisters.
An elaborately wrought dome crowns the central fountain, and its circular contour is continued to
the level of the eye by means of huge stalactites which hang like rainbow-coloured combs dripping
with honey. The decorative motives on the walls are richer than elsewhere, the coloured tiles more

Pholo iy-]

IThe Photochrom Co. Ltd.
THE HALL OF THE AMBASSADORS, ALHAMBRA.
This hall was the throne-room of the Sultans of Granada. Its ornamentation in stucco and glazed tiles was very

rich, gold being the predominant colour.

690

The Wonders of the World

vivid, the filigree stucco work more varied, and the Arabic inscriptions, which are numerous
throughout, are more poetic and of more exquisite workmanship.. Doubtless, this was the central
hall of the private apartments of the Sultan. Here he sat with liis womenfolk, or, if he was engaged
in conversation with strangers, the " soft-eyed gazelles " of his hareem could either peep down
from behind trellis-work on the delicate upper gallery, or else lounge in some other apartment
behind the heavy curtain — now no longer existing — which hid the Lindaraja Alcove from the
impertinent gaze of the visitor.

One hundred and twenty-four columns surround the famous Court of the Lions, which dates,
as do most of the existing remains of the Alhambra, back to the end of the fourteenth century.

An oblong of one hundred
and sixteen feet by sixty-
six feet, the court is named
after the conventional lions
of the central fountain. The
use of animals and human
beings as decorative motives
is regarded by strict Moslems
as being forbidden by the
Koran ; but in the Alhambra
these motives frequently
occur, showing that Christian
influence had brought laxity
to one at least of the pre-
cepts of Islam. The filigree
work in the Court of the
Lions is less rich in its
fantasy than that of the
Hall of the Two Sisters ;
but the effect of the aerial
columns, now standing singly,
and now in groups of two
or three, where they support
the two dome-shaped por-
ticoes which protrude from
the colonnade, one at each
end of the court, is one of
dazzling beauty and bewilder-
ment. A companion court,
still existing, is that of the Myrtles, or of the Fishpond. Throughout its whole length a basin of
water glistens in the sunshine, flanked by two rows of green myrtles ; at one end rises a two-storied
building supported by the traditional columns, and possessing a running balcony of exquisite
lightness. The other end, flanked by richly-tiled alcoves, leads into the Hall of the Ambassadors,
seventy-five feet by thirty-seven feet, and surmounted by a graceful dome of painted larch- wood.
As in the case of the Hall of the Two Sisters, the dome is encased in a square, strong tower, which, seen
from the outside, gives no indication of the extreme fragility and beauty of the interior. The angular
effect of the wall has been avoided by drooping stalactites in the corners. Eight horizontal bands
of further stucco (or plaster) work run around the hall, followed by a rich ornamentation of glazed
tiles, which reach from the floor to the level of the eye. This hafll was the throne-room of the
Sultans of Granada, and gold was the predominant colour. It wks here that, in 1492, the last

From titereo copyright byl

THE COURT OF JUSTICE.

[//. C. While Co.

ALHAMBRA.

Pfwto hy\

THE HALL OF THE TWO SISTERS. ALHAMBRA.

yrhe Pholochiom Co. Lid.

This is the most perfect of the halls leading from the Court of Lions, and was probably the centra! hall of the

private apartments of the Sultans.

692

The Wonders of the World

sorrowful council meeting of
the kingdom was held, and a
few hours later Granada had
surrendered to the Spanish
conqueror. Thus the immacu-
late Alhambra passed into the
hands of the victorious enemy,
who forthwith destroyed part
in order to build a still un-
finished palace, and left part,
after having despoiled it, to
die a lingering death.

The Hypogeum, Malta. —
Though the nuraghi remains in
Sardinia eclipse those found
elsewhere, the most important
monument belonging to the
Neolithic Epoch — supposed by
many scientists to date back
three thousand years before
the dawn of history — is the
huge Hypogeum of Malta,
composed of a series of irre-
gular monolithic rooms, sub-
terranean and inter-communi-
cating. It was discovered in
1902 by a workman digging for
a water-tank, and a year later
the authorities proclaimed it
public property and excava-
tions were begun. Houses
surround the place, and at the
time of the discovery of the
Hypogeum their water-tanks
had been leaking for ages. Part of the Hypogeum was found to be under water, which had to
be removed. Refuse also filled many of the rooms, for in the course of centuries the entrance
shaft had been used as a convenient place for refuse matter, until it had been filled and forgotten
and a house built upon the site. The 1902 discovery was on the opposite side, and reached a room
several yards below the surface ; so that before excavations on a systematic scale could be under-
taken, and the real entrance located and cleared, a winding staircase had to be built.

The excavated and cleared portion of the astounding honeycomb of galleries and rooms covers
an approximate area of fifty-four thousand square feet. The real entrance is on the summit of a
hill, and the general trend of the Hypogeum from this spot is towards the north, west and south in
the form of a fan. The ground under which it extends is known as Hal-Saflieni and Ues just beyond
the jurisdiction of the village, Casa Paula, and it is by either of these two names that the monument
is known. The size of the rooms varies considerably, the largest, known as the Hall, measuring
twenty-one feet by fifteen feet, with a height of about nine feet ; the smallest, merely a recess, is
less than a yard in its side dimensions. The shape of these chambers varies as much as the size,
from an irregular outline hewn ad libitum to that of a perfect semicircle. Noteworthy, also, is the

Pholo by]

MIRADOR DE LINDARAJA.

IThe Photochrom Co. Lid.
ALHAMBRA.

Europe

693

irregularity of the floors, for practically no two rooms are built on the same level. Sometimes steps
hewn in the rock lead from one room to another ; or again, there is a drop either with or without
a monolithic step to break the fall. Two stories have been discovered, joined by a flight of stairs
broadening as it descends, the first step being six feet, and the last, or eleventh, nine feet long.
The height of each step varies also considerably, the average being about six inches.

The most noteworthy features in connection with the Hypogeum are the doors, ceilings, and
the thickness of the walls, which in some places, between two adjoining rooms, has been cut down
almost to a wafer. The ceilings of some of the rooms were painted red ; in one case, the patches
of colour still to be seen seem to indicate that the whole room was painted, but in the innermost,
and at the same time the most perfected, part of the monument the paint has been applied
with more art, in the form of dainty scroll-work interspersed with circular patches. The doors,
however, awaken the greatest admiration. As will be seen by the photographs, most of the doors
can boast of jambs and lintel, hewn out of the solid rock, a passage in the lower story enjoying even
a double ornamentation of this kind. But the photograph showing the innermost room is the most
remarkable, for in this chamber art has been achieved. The inner jambs and lintel have been
added, either from purely ornamental motives, or else with a view to make the doorway smaller.
The outer lintel has a decoration in the form of a rounded groove at the top and bottom, thus ridding
it of its angular edges, whereas the door is flanked by two recesses or niches. Some attempt at
beauty has been attained, moreover, in the semicircular ceiling. In another photograph a view is
shown of a vaulted arch in the ceiling which terminates in a monolithic pilaster flanking a gallery ;
and in yet another illustration we have a door, above the lintel of which three shts of varying width
have been cut through the
wall — hardly for the sake
of ventilation, because, if

so, this feature would be

more frequently met with
in the Hypogeum. And,

finally, in another room,

the floor has been cut

around a central orifice,

which doubtless served as

a receptacle for water

in connection with some

religious rite.

The question now

arises : why was this

Hypogeum cut out of the

living rock ? The answer

of the archaeologists is,

that it served the purpose

of a huge ossuary for the

deposition of bones after

they had been dried and

scraped in the open air.

Human bones, either per-
fect, in fragments, or else

in mouldered dust, are

the remains which have

been found in the greatest

Pholo by] C*- ^"*'-

THE HYPOGEUM. MALTA.

This huge •cries o( subterranean monolithic rooms was discovered by a workman in 1902.

Some authorities date their formation to a period 3,000 years before the dawn of history.

694

The Wonders of the World

number witliin the rooms. The supposition is that this ossuary was the common burial-ground for
the inhabitants of the whole island. The theory that the bones were placed within the rooms in a
dry state was suggested after a calculation had been made of the probable number of skeletons repre-
sented by the bones and deposits found in one of the rooms ; this was found to be about two
hundred, while in reality there could only have been room for twelve bodies in the recess. On the
other hand, the lack of thorough ventilation, and of traces either of food or ashes, must necessarily
lead to the conclusion that the Hypogeum was not a habitation. The discovery, moreover, of
pecuHar discs, spheres, and other strange utensils seems to indicate that they were of use in some
rehgious ceremony. Among other objects found which give a clue to the customs of the builders
may be mentioned the bones of fowl, dogs and pigs, pottery of an ornamental kind (not for

household use), decorated
with feather, scale and
other motives, and painted
red on black, with one
plate ornamented with the
picture of a spotted animal
with horns and a long tail ;
and last, but not least,
several small statues, one
of which, in alabaster,
is the figure of a nude,
doubtless the oldest Venus
in existence. Nothing of
bronze, or even flint, was
discovered in the Hypo-
geum, which is hewn in
a white calcareous rock.
How the workmen went
about their work is not
known ; but from holes
drilled into the rock in
the unfinished part of the
ossuary, it is supposed that
the method of procedure
THE HYPOGEUM. MALTA. Consisted in drilhng holes

in the surface of a rock,
and then widening them
by means of flint chisels and stone hammers — some of the latter having been found in the Hypogeum.
The excavations are by no means completed, nor have bone and cranium measurements taken
place. Judging by the Venus found, however, the hair of the tribe was short and curly, and the
people fat rather than wiry. These characteristics show that there is a great affinity between the
builders of the ossuary and the later inhabitants of Malta, whose bronze statuettes have been
found at Hagiar Kim. Hundreds of years must have separated the two peoples, for there can
hardly be a doubt that the Hypogeum at Hal-Saflieni belongs to the Neolithic, and not to the
Bronze, Age.

Gibraltar, — Even in the days when military science was in its infancy, the rock of Gibraltar,
rising to a height of fourteen hundred feet sheer out of the waves of the Mediterranean, appealed to
the imagination of the ancients, who called it, together with its companion Gebel Musa on the African
coast, the Pillars of Hercules. But in all other respects they left the solitary giant alone to his

Photo hy']

[li. Ellis.

The already excavated portion of the astounding honeycomb of galleries and rooms
covers an approximate area of 600 square yards.

Photoa i>v]

[«. Ellis.

THE HYPOGEUM, MALTA.

Not only was this subterranean wonder-burrow excavated, but the ceilings of some of the rooms were decorated with a scroll-
work in a red paint. The above illustrations afford the best examples of this decoration.

696

The Wonders of the World

in. Ellis.

THE HYPOGEUM, MALTA.
Mo8t of the doorways of the Hypogeum can boast of iambs and lintel which have
been hewn out of the solid rock ; but in the doorway depicted a second series of jambs
and lintel has been added for decorative purposes.

meditations, and left it
to the founders of a new
empire, the Arabs, to be
the first to recognize its
strategic value. As Moors
they crossed the Straits in
711, christened the Rock
" Gebel-el-Tarik," or the
Mountain of Tarik, their
leader's name, constructed
a castle, which is still
standing overlooking the
bay, and conquered the
whole peninsula. Nine
hundred years later the
last Moor was exiled from
Spain, and he left it where
he had landed, in the Bay
of Gibraltar. From that
moment the future of the
Peiion, as the Spaniards
call our possession, was
assured. It was fortified
by Charles V., and on the
decline of the Spanish
Empire passed into our
hands. Napoleon tried to
wrench it from us when he
was building his empire,
and at no great distance
Trafalgar was fought and
won. In one respect, there-
fore, the Rock is unique ;
it is the key not only to

Mediterranean supremacy, but also, and in a more general way, to the mastery of the sea. In
the words of Thackeray, it is " the very image of an enormous lion, crouched between the
Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and set there to guard the passage for its British mistress."

" Gib " is said to be impregnable, and it is to be hoped that we are not over-confident when we
claim it as such. A German mihtary authority was once asked his opinion. " It is hollow," was
the laconic reply. There is certainly some truth in the statement, for since the Rock has been in
our possession, we have, to a large extent, honeycombed it with galleries winding from the base
upwards around the northern and eastern sides. From these galleries — of which only the lower is
shown to visitors — platforms have been hewn in the hving stone, and here portholes peep out
across the Mediterranean, and across the narrow tongue of land, flat as a billiard-table, which
connects the fortress with tlie mainland. The position of the modern guns and batteries is naturally
one of the most jealously guarded secrets of our War Department, and only very few living men
are acquainted with the formidable mysteries of Sugar Loaf Hill and Highest Point. From the
town side on the west, where a grass-grown slope replaces the sheer plunge of the cliffs on the
east, a straggling wire fence can be seen stretched along. It looks innocent enough, and so does

Europe

697

the hill above it, with its few inquisitive wild monkeys — the only ones in Europe — partridges
and rabbits. Nevertheless, should necessity arise that hill-side can spit shot and shell in a manner
unpleasan