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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



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steaming like the ash fissures in the 

 ley. As one comes up the valley, 



* 



n% 



w ill give scant notice to thi: 



there tore 



mountain until his attention is forcibly 



drawn to it by the big fall of rocks which 

 is sure to occur within a few minutes. 

 Then he will turn away for a minute or 

 two, only to have his attention brought 



hack again by another rock fall. 



After one has spent some time near the 

 mountain and on repeated visits always 

 hears the same thunder of the continuous 

 rock falls, the realization gradually dawns 

 on him that here is a feature as remark- 

 able as any other in the valley ; for when 

 one's interest is aroused to inquire as 

 to the cause of the phenomenon he be- 

 gins to see that such a continuous series 

 of rock falls could not be produced by 

 any ordinary agency. 



To convey an adequate impression of 

 Falling Mountain, the record of the 

 phonograph rather than of the camera 

 would be necessary ; for in a period of 

 maximum activity there is a continuous 

 series of bangs, thuds, and rattles, as 

 masses of rock of all sizes are loosened 

 from their hold and roll down the two- 

 thousand-foot slopes of the mountain. 

 Always the sound rather than the sight 

 draws the attention, for one often has to 

 look very hard before he can find the 

 rocks that make the noise, so high up 

 on the broad cliff do they start. 



HUGE ROCKS SHOT FROM TllK MOUNTAIN 



The rocks which one is apt to see thus 

 in a casual visit vary in size from small 

 stones to boulders weighing several hun- 

 dred pounds, but the aggregate fall in 

 an hour reaches several tons. 



At the base of the mountain are much 

 larger masses of rock which have come 

 down from above like the smaller ones. 

 The largest of these is a steep-sided con- 

 ical pile, measuring 500 feet in circum- 

 ference, which stands out in the floor of 

 the valley a hundred yards beyond the 

 end of the talus slopes. There are sev- 

 eral others nearly as large and similarly 

 detached from the talus slopes, where 

 most of the material lodges. 



As one looks at these huge piles, made 

 up of fragments of loose rock, dropped 

 as though spilled from same aerial cable- 

 way in this great mine of the gods, he 



