fishing was really just an excuse to get away from Boris. I brought you
here to tell you about what I found up there yesterday.' He pointed up
through the archway of pink stone above the bridge. She came up on her
elbow and watched him with her full attention.
'Of course, I have no way of telling if it has anything to do with our
search, but somebody has been working in there.' He described the niches
that he had found carved into the canyon wall. 'They reach from the lip
right down to the water's edge. Those below the high-water mark have
been severely eroded by the floods. I could not reach those higher up,
but from what I could see they have been protected from wind and rain by
the dished shape of the Cliff., it has formed a veranda roof over them.
They appear to be in pristine condition, very much in contrast to those
lower down.'
'What do we deduce from that?' she asked.
'That they are very old,' he answered. 'Certainly the basalt is pretty
hard. It has taken a long, long time for water to wear it down the way
it has.'
'What do you think was the purpose of those holes?'
am not sure he admitted.
'Could it be that they were the anchor points for some sort of
scaffolding? she asked, and he looked impressed.
'Good thinking. They could be, he agreed.
'What other ideas occur to you?'
'Ritual designs,' he suggested. 'A religious motif.' He smiled as he saw
her expression of doubt. 'Not very convincing, I agree.'
'All right, let's consider the idea of scaffolding. Why would anybody
want to erect scaffolding in a place like that?' She lay back in the
grass and picked a straw which she nibbled reflectively.
He shrugged. 'To anchor a1adder or a gantry, to gain access to the
bottom of the chasm?'
'What other reason?'
'I can't think of any other.'
After a while she shook her head. 'Nor can She spat out the piece of
grass. 'If that is the motive, then they were fairly committed to the
project. From your description it must have been a substantial
structure, designed to support the weight of a, lot of men or heavy
material.'
'In North America the Red Indians built fishing platforms over
waterfalls like that from which they netted the salmon.'
'Have there ever been great runs of fish through these waters?' she
asked, and he shrugged again.
'Nobody can answer that. Perhaps long ago who knows.'
'Was that all you saw down there?'
'High up the wall, aligned with mathematical precision between the two
lines of stone niches, there was something that looked like a has-relief
carving.'
She sat up with a jerk and stared at him avidly. 'Could it clearly? Was
it script, or was it a design? What you see was the style of the
carving?'
'No such luck. It was too high, and the light is very poor down there. I
