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of small spots of ground from one to five feet above the level of this clay, 

 having grass on their tops like those on the prairies above ; their sides were 

 perpendicular, and having lallen down by the action of the weather, the 

 horizontal strata of sand and clay were exposed. We soon reached the 

 place where petrifactions most abound. I got out and looked around for 

 them ; I was shown a number of ugly dark red, unshapen masses — these, 

 my guide told me w^ere petrified turtles, their shells being destroyed by the 

 action of the sun, and they are crumbling to pieces. The ground in many 

 places is thickly covered with small lumps, the broken remains of turtles, 

 which a few years ago were perfect. I felt disappointed, for I had ex- 

 pected to see many fine specimens of petrifactions of different animals. I 

 started however, on a voyage of discovery around this pond-shaped basin, 

 and was shown a large turtle almost perfect, though broken in tw^o pieces, 

 its shell partly remained. This we secured as part of our treasure. 



There w^ere three of us and we took diiferent directions. I found every- 

 where the remains of turtles in diiferent stages of preservation, none per- 

 fect however. I picked up a number of pieces of bone, but found no teeth 

 nor any heads. This w-as discouraging, but on my return to the buggy, I 

 saw that one of the men had brought an excellently preserved head * of 

 about the size of that of a large bear ; he had found also several other gcod 

 specimens. When I ascertained the locality of these petrifactions to be so 

 circumscribed, I hastened to finish collecting in one day, and although the 

 sun was broiling hot, and w^e had no water except a very little brought 

 with us to cook, we "'vent, and by evening w^e had made quite a good ex- 

 amination of this immediate locality ; w^e had about half a buvshel of small 

 articles, a number of excellent teeth and jaw bones, several good heads and 

 a couple of pretty good small turtles, besides the large one before mentioned. 

 These I thought as many as my means of transportation w^ould allow. I 

 have since found them to be more, for they are very heavy. I then filled a 

 small bag with the clay, and the fragments of petrified turtle, and started 

 with M'Kenzie for the top of one of the highest hills. To gain this was 

 no small matter, as the path was very steep and mostly very narrow ; at 

 length we reached it, and a most magnificent landscape rewarded our labor. 

 The bute we ascended had on its top a level prairie of about twenty acres ; 

 it was covered with grass and as near as I could judge of the same level as 

 those beyond the Lands. 



These prairies on the butes, and tliey are on nearly every one, are the 

 ranges of the Big Horn (Ovis Americana) ; they love to roam around the 

 very brink and along the steep sides, and seem to think themselves secure 

 in their heights. We judged this bute to be about two hundred feet high, 

 and nearly all the others are the same. In every direction except towards 

 the prairie we could see these great hills towering above the plain below, 

 having their sides washed into picturesque shapes ; the lower elevations 

 looked beautiful with thejr carpet of grass and scattered about through the 

 hard white clay surlace, and this itself appeared almost like water at the 

 height where we stood. Away to the south appeared the hill on wdiich is 

 the Ash spring, and near it several high hills which looked like the old 

 towers that are perched on the hills of the Rhine ; in every direction this 

 same palace-like appearance was exhibited by the hills in the distance. 



But how shall I convey a correct idea of these lands ? this question has 



* A uew species of fossil Rhinoceros, — S. F- B. 



