MayunsooK Valley 227 



The stream, as it approaches the arch of the Bridge, 

 is deep and of a dark green color. The chasm, from 

 the top of the ledge, is about sixty feet deep, and the 

 ravine three hundred feet in length. Geologists say 

 that the ravine was formerly spanned by two ledges of 

 rock, one of which is now in ruins. The piles of rocks 

 in the chasm south of the southern portal of the arch 

 are dazzling white, seen in the noonday sunshine. The 

 fall of water, in its descent through the ravine, is about 

 forty feet to the three hundred feet, so that the eddies 

 play and whirl rapidly through the irregular bed. A 

 wooden tile, or raceway, was hung high over the 

 chasm, across a leaning crag of the original ledge, — 

 conveying water power thereby to mills below. This 

 old structure leaked, and as I descended the banks 

 below, I saw some of the most gorgeous miniature 

 rainbows spanning the depths, as the sunshine fell 

 upon the mist near the arch. 



A lad once made a wager with his comrades that he 

 could cross over the ravine upon this wooden tile. 

 The old weather-worn log was slippery with mould and 

 mosses. In making his daring and perilous trip, the 

 youth lost his footing, and fell headlong into the heart 

 of the chasm. Following the fall, a terrific thunder- 

 storm passed through the Hoosac, and night closed 

 over the chasm. The next morning the boy's lifeless 

 body was recovered. The wooden structure is now re- 

 placed with an iron tiling. 



I passed on down the path on the west bank, until I 

 reached an immense marble boulder, which was draped 



