HISTORY OF DEKRVFIELD. 43 



distinctly marked by great semi-circular grooves worn into the 

 face of the wall ; of these not less than five are shown, each from 

 fifteen to twenty inches vertical diameter, and from three to five 

 feet apart. The section directly above the base, to a height of 

 more than twelve feet, is eaten in back of the vertical line for a 

 considerable distance, and high upon the front of the cliffs the 

 granite plainly shows the wear of the great churning movement 

 of the whirlpool. 



At the immediate left of the main plunge the action of the 

 water is even more remarkable. Here has been sculptured out 

 a huge stone chamber many feet in diameter; hanging midway 

 is an enormous hulk of rock detached from the cliff; the cavity 

 beneath this has been likewise eaten away, and an extending 

 flange of rock between the lower chamber and the main fall is 

 smoothly worn and polished, standing up edgewise like a stone 

 knife-blade. The hanging rock above described is the " Devil's 

 Pulpit," and its gloomy and mysterious origin must have seemed 

 a sufficient excuse for the name bestowed by some superstitious 

 godfather. The vertical height of the wall at the centre of the 

 cataract is a little less than fifty feet, but the out-crop of the 

 ledges above on either side is some feet higher; the width im- 

 mediately over the fall is thirty-six and at the base from thirty- 

 one to thirty-seven feet, with a forward elongation of fifty-three. 

 The whole mass of rock eroded and removed at this point will 

 be seen to have been enormous. With the exception of the 

 supply from melting snows or occasional heavy rainfalls no water 

 now flows over the cliff and for the greater part of the year there 

 is but an insignificant drizzle. 



At the left of the Pulpit there is a high, protruding mass of 

 rock, forming the south wall of the upper gorge, and at the foot 

 of the projection lie heavy masses of rock, thrown down from 

 the cliff above, the water having worn away the supporting ledge 

 beneath. These fallen rocks now have trees of considerable size 

 growing upon them. At various other points along the cafton 

 there are other great heaps of fallen rock ; some of these lie, 



