44 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE 



curiously enough, midway of the glen, showing conclusively, if 

 other evidence were needed, that the whole area between the 

 enclosing walls was carved out of a solid rock-bed by the action 

 of water. The upper gorge is sixty feet wide by ninety-four in 

 length. 



The foregoing, however, is but the beginning of a series of 

 wonders. Seventy-eight feet from the upper fall is " No-Bottom 

 Pool." Unlike some other so-called bottomless pits, this is well 

 named. We made an attempt to probe it in the autumn of i8g6, 

 reaching a depth of seventeen feet without difficulty with an iron 

 probing-rod of that length, but the bottom seemed as far off as 

 ever. Mr. French informed us that, in company with others, 

 he some years ago penetrated the pool, with birch poles spliced 

 together, to a depth of forty feet, without finding bottom. This 

 pool is fifteen feet in diameter, is nearly choked up with debris, 

 among which are several logs firmly wedged horizontally, and is 

 filled to the brim with water. If this excavation is a pothole it 

 is certainly the most remarkable example in New England and 

 fairly parallels the largest known anywhere. It is, however, 

 possible that the bed-rock at this point has been worn through, 

 affording an entrance into what geologists describe as a fault. 

 The question can only be determined by a thorough examina- 

 tion by a properly equipped scientific expedition. So far as ob- 

 served it appears to have all the characteristics of true pot-holes. 

 It is circular, vertical, and at the top fifteen feet in diameter. 



The same authority informed us of his discovery of another 

 excavation near the foot of the stairway, in which no bottom was 

 reached at a depth of twenty feet. Its existence would not now 

 be suspected, as it is entirely filled up and covered with earth 

 and stones ; and it is altogether likely there are others which 

 have similarly escaped observation. These instances are suffi- 

 ciently wonderful to invite scientific exploration. 



A few rods below, occupying a lower level, is a second gorge, 

 with a twenty-six foot wall, and a basin below thirty feet in diam- 



