io8 Audubon's Western Journal 



took of their buoyant spirits, and cried out: "Three 

 cheers for these glorious hills," and such cheers!! 

 Echo after echo responded, and we gazed then in 

 silence at the superb cliffs, volcanic, basaltic, and 

 sandstone, all discolored with the iron prominent 

 on the surface, and below us the beauties of a little 

 torrent that dashed on to the west as fast as I could 

 have wished to go. 



Our course was downward now, and as we 

 descended the forest grew taller; laurel, pine, oak, 

 a wild cherry, a cedar, new to me, two feet six 

 inches in diameter, with balls and foliage like arbor 

 vitae, and bark furrowed like an ash, ornamented 

 the beautiful gorge ; besides there were the common 

 cedar and many splendid walnut trees. To de- 

 scribe the road would be rather difficult ; it was just 

 passable, that is to say could be passed; in many 

 places not easy work for our packs. Most of us 

 led our horses, either to save them or ourselves, for 

 a stumble might send us two or three hundred feet 

 down, and was not to be risked. 



Just as we reached the valley Maybury was 

 taken ill with what resembled cholera, and could 

 not ride on in the heat of the day, so Dr. Trask, 

 Simson, Mallory and Pennpacker remained 

 behind with him. The rest of us went on for ten 

 miles, and encamped on a beautiful, rolling prairie 

 under some post and narrow-leaved swamp oaks. 

 It rained most violently as usual, as it has done 



