UNTRODDEN WAYS 195 



beneath, and in some places it overhangs the road. 

 It is a ticklish road, though perfectly safe, for, on 

 one side the cliff goes down sheer five hundred feet 

 to the river, and, on the other, the great cliff stands 

 imminent and threatening. But most curious of 

 all the Park formations, this vast cliff, three hun- 

 dred feet high (I should think) rests at the level 

 of the roadway on a bed of river gravel. It has 

 imposed itself on the silt and detritus of some old 

 river, or else upon glacial drift. Where did it 

 come from, and how did it get there? Of course, 

 this whole region shows glacial action of the great- 

 est, that has shaved and pared the whole Park, 

 so that Mt. Washburne is almost the only high 

 peak within its limits, and even that is hardly any- 

 where bold or abrupt, and a wagon road goes to its 

 top with little difficulty. 



Just above the Yellowstone Falls is a great 

 granite boulder, twenty feet high and as many 

 thick, brought there by a glacier and dropped; 

 for there is no granite within miles of this 

 detached fragment. 



