188& 



GEKANINGS IN BEE CPLTl'KE. 



315 



For as 1 passed by, and beheld your devotions, I 

 found an altar with this inscription. To the un- 

 known god. Whom therefore ye ignorantly wor- 

 ship, him declare I unto you.— Acts 17:215. 



THE GARDEN OF THE GODS. 



TT seems to me that the peculiar surround- 

 M ings at Manitou strongly tempt one to 

 W think that he is in many respects in an 

 "*• enchanted land. The strange, grotesque 

 rocks which I have already described, 

 the springs that bubble forth delicious, 

 sparkling, pungent, effervescing beverages ; 

 the sight of winter all around and a little 

 above you, while you stand in a valley of 

 perpetual summer, rather encourages the 

 idea. Wheu I started off on my walk that 

 morning I was watching anxiously every 

 foot of the way, to see glimpses indicating 

 my approach to the Garden of the Gods. I 

 do not quite like the name, for it sounds to 

 me a little irreverent ; but I can readily im- 

 agine that the discoverers of this strange 



Arizona, of the work of the winds and water 

 in wearing away rock. Some convulsion of 

 nature during former ages had tipped the 

 stratified rock up edgewise; then the whole 

 had been covered with a debris of sand or 

 soil, until the rocks standing edgewise were 

 submerged. Now, if it were possible that 

 some spring or other agency should cause a 

 deposit of iron on the surface of this raised 

 soil, so as to form a capstone of a yellow 

 stratum, which became hard, and, after all 

 this had taken place, the winds and floods 

 should then wash away the soil so as to 

 leave these rocks, that were originally turn- 

 ed edgewise, standing up above the soil, 

 with the iron-ore deposit resting on their 

 points, 1 can readily imagine how Monu- 

 mental Park and the Garden of the Gods, 

 should be produced by Nature's workings. 



The road is well traveled along here, for 

 excursions from Manitou go out to the Gar- 

 den of the Gods almost hourly, and there- 

 fore my road was an easy and pleasant one, 

 although it was a good deal up hill and 

 down. In turning abruptly through the ev- 

 ergreen-trees, which lined the road almost 



"the happy family," monumental park. 



locality felt as though they must have some 

 name for the strange objects that began to 

 meet my view. One of the first things that 

 attracted my attention was some queer rocks 

 sticking out of the ground, looking more or 

 less like monuments of some rude sort, or 

 tombstones of some former age. Pretty 

 soon, on the summit of a little knoll among 

 the bushes, I caught a glimpse of some of 

 these queer monuments actually capped. 

 See cut above. 



As I came around a curve in the road, so 

 as to get a better view, I could hardly be- 

 lieve my eyes when I saw three of these 

 pedestals united by a cap that formed a 

 bridge from one to the other, as seen above. 

 The three seemed to be supporting on their 

 apex this piece of rock as if it were a log, or 

 may be a human body, suspended aloft. I 

 noticed at once that this log, and, in fact, 

 all of the cappings, were of a different-col- 

 ored stone, indicating that they were hard- 

 er ; and then I remembered my studies in 



its whole length, I came suddenly upon 

 what is called the Balanced Rock, as seen 

 on next page. 



As one lifts his eyes and gazes upon this 

 ponderous stone, as big as a small meeting- 

 house, he involuntarily starts back for feat- 

 it will tip over on him ; and it took me quite 

 a little time to gain assurance enough to 

 walk boldly up and take hold of the rock to 

 see if I could not tip it out of its place. 

 Perhaps I should remind our readers that 

 these pictures are true to life, for they were 

 all made from photographs, by the new Ives 

 process. As one sees the fleecy clouds float 

 along the sky above the tree-tops, and above 

 this rock, he is almost sure to imagine that 

 the rock is swaying one way and the other, 

 ready to roll on him and crush him to atoms. 

 In fact, those who are familiar with the ob- 

 jects here have a sly trick of telling people, 

 especially ladies, that this great rock sways 

 to and fro, as the wind blows light or strong. 

 After they have made many exclamations 



