95 [ 1 ] 



octrurred to me often to-day ; my own conception of them were very dif- 

 ferent from the general desciiptions I had heard, and 1 fear that I must 

 likewise fail in describing them to others. If you imagine an extensive 

 tract of peifectly level land, and suppose that the whole sinks about two 

 hundred feet except some large lots, every few hundred feet apart, you w^ill 

 Iiave some idea of what was probably the original ap])earance of these 

 lands; you must suppose also a number, some very small and some very 

 large, to sink not so much as two hunched feet, but near it ; on all these the 

 highest and the lowest, the level prairie soil remains, but below these lowest 

 a few^ feet, a yellowish clay soil takes its place. In the course of time the 

 rains wash the original perpendicular sides into various shapes still steep, 

 and partaking of the spirit of the Gothic style of architecture. From some 

 the original soil is washed entirely away, and they stand at intervals with 

 whitened sides and rounding top amongst their higher and more fortunate 

 neighbors. Fancy yourself on the hottest day in sununer, in the hottest 

 spot of such a place without water, without an animal, and scarcely an 

 insect astir, without a single flower to speak pleasant things to the "eye, 

 and you will have some idea of the utter loneliness of the Bad Lands. ' It 

 appears to me quite certain that slight excavations in some of these hills 

 would develope many very perfect specimens ; many of those now disco- 

 vered on and near the surface, most probably have been washed out by 

 the rains and when exposed for some time they crumble to pieces, at least 

 the petrified turtles do so. 



I was much surprised to see, running through ditlerent parts of the clay 

 surface, vertical strata of a singular looking substance, something like melted 

 glass and almost transparent ; the strata is about one fourth of an inch in 

 thickness and do not lie in a series of strata, but between each stratum 

 there are several inches of the clay and they protrude several inches above 

 the clay, while in many places the surface is covered with small pieces, as 

 though injected strata had been broken up. Specimens of these strata were 

 secured. [ What is the substance ? ] 



Another singular fact is the layers of a peculiarly formed sand stone found 

 in nearly every hill: they are generally of a rounded shape, weighing pro- 

 bably ten or fifteen pounds, and they are placed as stone in a wall arountl 

 the whole hill, and between each layer there are from eight to ten feet of 

 clay. They ai-e not confined to this small size, but are also found very 

 large and of the most singular shapes, At a hasty glance they seem as if 

 put there by the hand of man ; in some places they appear as if they had 

 run into these irregular shapes in a melted state. 



There was no water to be found there, nor grass, except on the prairie 

 spots; the water when found is scarcely drinkable. 



Wednesday, May lo. — Darkness interrupted my narrative last evening, 

 and I resume it at our noon encampment at the head of the Little Missouri 

 or ]5ad river. 



On our return to camp on Monday evening, we found all the baggage 

 safe. On thinking over the matter, I determined to start for home in iho 

 morning ;_ I had seen enough of the Lands to give a general description of 

 that portion of them and had secured a few good specimens. To do more 

 than than this would have required good saddle horses, and I had only a 

 pair of inditlerent mules; the weather was intensely hot, and no water to 

 be had in the Lands, so that it would have been a great labor to have ex- 

 amined them more thoroughly, and besides this, I felt that a more general 



