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pieces; gravity, the insatiable, is temporarily 

 satisfied, and the gulches feast on earthy mate- 

 rials, while the river-channel is glutted with 

 crushed cliffs, acres of earth, and the debris of 

 ruined forests. Here and there these are flung 

 together in fierce confusion. 



On this bit of the wild world's stage are the- 

 atrical lightning changes of scenes, changes 

 that on most mountains would require ten thou- 

 sand years or more. It is a place of strange and 

 fleeting landscapes; the earth is ever changing 

 like the sky. In wreathed clouds a great cliff is 

 born, stands out bold and new in the sunshine 

 and the blue. The Storm King comes, the thun- 

 ders echo among crags and canons, the broken 

 clouds clear away, and the beautiful bow bends 

 above a ruined cliff. 



Here and there strange, immature monsters 

 are struggling to rise, to free themselves from 

 the earth. Occasionally a crag is brought forth 

 full grown during one operation of gravity, ero- 

 sion, and storm, and left upon a foundation that 

 would raise corn but never sustain cliff or crag. 

 Scattered monoliths at times indulge in a con- 



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