3° 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



AUSABLE CHASM— ONE OF THE WONDERS 

 OF NATURE. 



From ten to fifty feet wide; from sixty to two hun- 

 dred feet deep. 



scenery, with a possible photograph in 

 mind. Even' step and every turn 

 ushers in a new and more marvelous 

 picture. And it is all so accessible. By 

 means of artificial stairways, bridges 

 and boats, the entire two miles may be 

 traversed. 



The walls that are now from ten to 

 sixty feet apart were no doubt at one 

 time united, as similar layers of rock 

 are to be seen on each side, and bear 

 many marks of the tooth of time. 



We pause for a moment and listen 

 to the orchestra of nature — the music 

 of the winds, the roar of the falls, and 

 the rushing of the river. High above 

 us the rugged rocks are blue with 

 graceful hairbells, growing in crevasses 

 where it seems that nothing so frail 

 could find a foothold, and where they 

 appear to have borrowed their color 

 from the strip of sky that stretches 

 like a narrow ribbon over all. 



Special points of interest occur 

 along the entire length of the Chasm. 

 The first after leaving the falls is 

 "Elephant's Head," one hundred feet 

 in length. At the right is the "Devil's 

 Oven," a dark hole thirty feet in depth. 



"Hell Gate" is close by, and next we 

 come to the "Devil's Punch Bowl" 

 where the water quietly whirls. We 

 pass "Jacob's Ladder" on the east. 

 Near by is "Mystic Gorge," a crevasse 

 whose walls are covered from top to 

 bottom with beautiful ferns. And now 

 we have reached "Table Rock" where 

 our tramp ends, and the most exciting 

 part of the trip, the boat ride, begins. 

 With many a gasp we are whirled 

 through the "Grand Flume" where the 

 Chasm narrows to scarcely ten feet in 

 width. The water is here very swift 

 and is said to be sixty feet deep. In 

 spite of our fears we are safely piloted 

 to the pool where our journey ends 

 and our carriage is waiting for us. As 

 this drive would end our sight-seeing 

 for the clay, we revelled in the sunshine, 

 the acceptable breezes, the beauty of 

 the blue sky and the wayside flowers 

 which our obliging Jehu often stopped 

 to gather at our exclamations of de- 

 light. 



"Study Nature; Not Books." 



If you propose to be a naturalist, get 

 as soon as you can at the objects them- 

 selves ; if you would be an artist, go 

 to your models ; if a writer, take your 

 authors at first hand and after you 

 have wrestled with the texts and 

 reached the full length of your own 

 fathom line, then take the fathom line 

 of the critic and reviewer. Do not 

 trust to mental peptones. Carry the 

 independent, inquisitive, sceptical and 

 even the rebellious spirit of the gradu- 

 ate school well down into undergraduate 

 life and even into school life. If you 

 are a student, force yourself to think 

 independently ; if a teacher compel 

 your youths to express their own 

 minds. In listening to a lecture, weigh 

 the evidence as presented, cultivate a 

 polite scepticism, not affected but 

 genuine, keep a running fire of interro- 

 gation points in your mind and you 

 will finally develop a mind of your 

 own. Do not climb that mountain of 

 learning in the hope that when you 

 reach the summit you will be able to 

 think for yourself; think for yourself 

 while you are climbing. — Dr. H. F. Os- 

 born in Science. 



