A DINOSAUR BURIED IN THE ROCK 35 



so life on this earth continued, one generation of 

 animals succeeding another, until thousands upon 

 thousands of centuries had passed. And all this time, 

 the bones of the Dinosaur lay sealed in their tomb 

 at the bottom of the lake. 



But a change had taken place in that tomb, a 

 change so wonderful it may well be described as one 

 of Nature's most beautiful miracles. Day after day, 

 during all the tens of thousands of years the bones 

 had been lying buried, the earth along the shores of 

 the lake was being washed into the water in tiny 

 particles and, in times of storm, the streams flowing 

 into it were brown with mud. Large quantities of 

 this mud from the shores and the streams settled 

 to the bottom of the lake, and, in this way, the cover- 

 ing over the Dinosaur's bones became deeper with 

 each succeeding year. Occasionally, also, the bones 

 of other animals, which had died in the lake or had 

 been washed into it after they had died on shore, 

 settled into the muddy bottom. Even when twigs 

 and leaves from the vegetation growing along the 

 banks fell into the water some of them found their 

 way, slowly and gently, to this same tomb of mud. 



