193 REMARKS ON SANDSTONE AND 



It is remarked by Maclure and others, who have made 

 the requisite comparisons, that the rocky formations of North 

 America appear less disturbed and confused than those of 

 Europe. If this be the case with that part of the country 

 which has been examined by the above mentioned philo- 

 sopher, it is perhaps more so with a large and interesting 

 portion of it hitherto little known to the g(olo2;ists of Eu- 

 rope or America. I refer to that extensive plain, a part of 

 which contains the bed of the Mississippi and its tributaries, 

 and to the stupendous range of mountains which constitute 

 its western boundary. 



T hese mountains have by some been considered as a con- 

 tinuation of the great chain of tlie Andes ; and in conformity 

 to this opinion, the name has been extended to them. It is 

 to be regretted, that common consent has not as yet esta- 

 lished a distinctive appellation for this important range. 

 Snowy, Rocky, Shining, Chippewan, Sandy, Missouri, Caous, 

 and Mexican, are a few among the attributives hithei to be- 

 stowed upon it. It is to be hoped that one of these, or some 

 other, may finally gain the ascendancy, and it is of little im- 

 portance which it shall be. 



The general direction of the range is from north west to 

 south east. It extends from near the Gulf of Mexico on tlie 

 south east to the Northern Ocean at the mouth of Macken- 

 zies River on the north west. 



It will be proper first to direct our attention to the great 

 plain, or, as it lias been called, the Valley, of the Mississippi, 

 which must be considered as commencing near the sumnn't 

 of the Alleghany Mountains, and stretching westward to the 

 feet of the northern ^ndes. In this region, the observer dis- 

 covers few traces of those tremendous upturnings and com- 

 motions whose history is so plainly written on tlie rocky 

 strata in the eastern part of the continent. Tntil he arrives 

 within a few leagues of the Rocky Mountains, he finds all 

 the materials constituting the surface resting undisturbed in 

 their original position. The rocks are almost universally 

 stratified, and their stratifications commonly maintain a pa- 



