212 THE AMERICAN BEAVER. 



uniform surface. Out of this bank rises the "White 

 Walls" in perpendicular cliffs from fifty to seventy 

 feet high. In some places, masses of this rock abut 

 against the face of the bluff; in other places, detached 

 masses are exposed on two and sometimes on three 

 sides; and in still other places, solitary walls, in the 

 form of masonry, rise in stupendous magnitude. Ra- 

 vines here and there break through the formation at 

 right angles with the river, exposing two and some- 

 times three sides of a great square; while in other 

 places there are wide openings in the rock, more or 

 less parallel, which assume somewhat the appearance 

 of great streets. To complete the illusion, there are 

 rents in some of the narrow walls having the sem- 

 blance of gateways, doors, and windows. The effects 

 of atmospheric causes in disintegrating this unequally 

 cemented sandstone have been extremely curious, giv- 

 ing rise to every conceivable form. Buttresses, tur- 

 rets, pinnacles, and spires meet the eye on every side, 

 together with massive walls, rent and perforated, and 

 standing like piles of masonry. In the distance the 

 effect is truly imposing, suggesting very naturally the 

 presence of great cities in ruins. 



Some of the detached masses have been christened 

 by tourists, among which are the "Castle," the "Cathe- 

 dral," and the "Steamboat." The last is a huge pile 

 of whitish rock, exposed on three sides for about 

 five hundred or more feet, and, rising about sixty feet 

 in height, pre,:^ents the general form of a Missouri 

 steamer, with its saloon deck, smoke-stacks, and pilot- 

 house traced in dim outline. 



In addition to the white sandstone, of which nine- 

 tenths of this formation is composed, there is another 



