SOME SOUTH AMERICAN RULERS 



During the days when elephants were the mon- 

 archs of the world, there was a pool in Nevada 

 where some of them and many other kinds of ani- 

 mals used to go to drink. At times the ground 

 around the edge of this pool was so soft that the 

 feet of the animals sank into it. Sometimes the 

 footprints thus made in the mud were quickly 

 covered up by other mud. Slowly, through the 

 action of the water, all the mud around the pool 

 was turned into stone. And while this stone was 

 being formed the pool disappeared and so did the 

 animals which drank from it. 



At Carson City, Nevada, a prison is now stand- 

 ing where once was this pool. Some years ago it 

 was discovered that the stones in the prison yard 

 were dented with impressions of foot tracks. Many 

 persons who looked at these tracks thought they 

 had been made by gigantic men who wore mocca- 

 sins. But now we know that these are the foot- 



131 



