for any man to add to the
mysterious volume we call life!

One might suppose by this time that all the marvels of our National
Park had been described; but, on the contrary, so far is it from
being true, that I have yet to mention the most stupendous of them
all,--the world-renowned canon of the Yellowstone. The introduction
to this is sublime. It is a waterfall, the height of which is more
than twice as great as that of Niagara. To understand the reason for
the presence of such a cataract, we should remember that the entire
region for miles was once a geyser basin. The river was then near the
surface; and has been cutting down the walls of the canon ever since.
The volcanic soil, decomposed by heat, could not resist the constant
action of the water. Only a granite bluff at the upper end of the
canon has held firm; and over that the baffled stream now leaps to
wreak its vengeance on the weaker foe beneath.

[Illustration: THE EXPEDITION OF 1887.]

[Illustration: F.J. HAYNES.]

[Illustration: THE CANON FROM A DISTANCE.]

Through a colossal gateway of vast height, yet only seventy feet in
breadth, falls the entire volume of the Yellowstone River. It
seems enraged at being suddenly compressed into that narrow space;
for, with a roar of anger and defiance and without an instant's
hesitation, it leaps into the yawning gulf in one great flood of
dazzling foam. When looked upon from a little distance, a clasp of
emerald apparently surmounts it, from which descends a spotless robe
of ermine, nearly four hundred feet in length. The lower portion is
concealed by clouds of mist, which vainly try to climb the
surrounding cliffs, like ghosts of submerged mountains striving to
escape from their eternal prison. We ask ourselves instinctively:
What gives this river its tremendous impetus, and causes it to fill
the air with diamond-tinted spray, and send up to the cliffs a
ceaseless roar which echoes and reechoes down the canon? How
awe-inspiring seems the answer to this question, when we think upon
it seriously! The subtle force which draws this torrent down is the
same power that holds the planets in their courses, retains the
comets in their fearful paths, and guides the movements of the
stellar universe. What is this power? We call it gravitation; but why
does it invariably act thus with mathematical precision? Who knows?
Behind all such phenomena there is a mystery that none can solve.
This cataract has a voice. If we could