Yet  in  the  middle  of  this  mighty  plain  there  were
still  lakes  of  great  size,  though  insignificant  as  com-
pared to  what  they  had  been.  Into  these  many
rivers  still  poured  their  waters,  sadly  shrunken  it  is
true,  and  the  mountains,  which  had  been  high,  had
been  brushed  away  by  the  wind,  until  they  were  but
little  hills.  Then  with  all  these  changes  the  climate
became  different  altogether.  The  rainfall  became
very  small,  for  there  were  no  mountains  to  attract
the  moisture  from  the  sea.
So  the  rivers  became  smaller  and  yet  more  small,
until  at  length,  a  feeble  trickle,  they  ran  out  into
the  waste  of  land.  The  hills  were  levelled  to  the
plain,  but  every  here  and  there  you  will  still  come
upon  the  more  durable  part,  the  core,  as  it  were,  of
a  mountain  standing  unconquered,  a  mighty  pillar,
but  only  a  pillar,  in  the  wilderness.  There  is  one
such  remnant  in  the  very  heart  of  the  land,  and  it  is
called  the  Central  Pillar.  The  winds  still  blow
round  it,  and  the  sun  still  pours  upon  it  his  fierce
rays.  And  still,  in  winter-time,  the  nights  are  cold.
