OUR STONE FOUNDATIONS. 3 



Then the ice-dam yielded a little more ; and so the pro- 

 cess was repeated, until finally the lake reached its 

 present level, the ice all having passed away. The suc- 

 cessive deltas that the many streams had formed, as the 

 lake lowered its level, now became terraces up the sides 

 of the various ravines.* 



So we see that all these ravines were given their curi- 

 ous and fantastic shaping, as the result of the great ice 

 flow, which not only straightened out and improved the 

 narrow and tortuous channel of some primeval creek 

 to be the fit bed of our beautiful Cayuga Lake, but also 

 in its tardy departure formed a great ice-loeked lake, in- 

 to which the young and inexperienced streams poured 

 their contributions, cutting down the rock as the level 

 of the iee-lake fell. 



Such is the true story of all the streams, save alone 

 Six Mile Creek, that lend their varied charms to make 

 the setting of Ithaca so royal in its beauty. Six Mile 

 is likely more nearly as it was in the days before the ice 

 came over the world. There are many details of the 

 story about which we should like to ask just one or two 

 questions, as for example, whether the height of the 

 various falls corresponds with successive breaks in the 



* This terrace formation is plainly shown on the sides of the 

 Fall Creek ravine. Professor Comstock's house stands on one 

 terrace, the next lower one is occupied by the Sibley Building 

 and Physical Laboratory ; the next by the McGraw-Fiske 

 House ; the next by the mills, while the great gravel bank at 

 the foot of the ravine is a very good example of the way in 

 which these terraces were formed. The process may be seen 

 going on at present, noticeably at Taughannock, where the 

 stream is building out a great peninsula. 



