PETRIFIED FORESTS OF ARIZONA. 301 



amount of it at this particular place argues for the existence of such a 

 condition as would arrest the process and cause the floating logs to 

 accumulate in masses, as often happens in great eddies or the deltas 

 of rivers. The character of the bed in which they occur further sup- 

 ports this view. The coarse sand and gravel, highly favorable to the 

 process of silicification, denotes the proximity of the land, and the 

 crossbedding bears witness to the existence of rapid and changing cur- 

 rents. As this stratum occupies the highest elevations in this region, 

 the nature of the overlying beds is not revealed, and the question 

 whether the period was followed by one of general subsidence can only 

 be settled by a study of the higher plains lying some distance to 

 the east and north, but it is probable that the bed sank and that finer 

 deposits ultimately buried it at the bottom of the Mesozoic sea, there 

 to remain until the Tertiary epeirogeuic movement raised the entire 

 country from 5,000 to 6,000 feet above sea level, 



PRESERVATION OF THE PETRIFIED FORESTS. 



It will be obvious from the above that the Petrified Forests of Ari- 

 zona constitute an object of interest to all people of culture from both 

 the assthetic and the scientific points of view, and that the immediate 

 region here considered embraces the most striking features that they 

 anywhere present. As stated in the memorial of the Territorial legis- 

 lature to Congress, and as confirmed by my inquiries and admitted by 

 all, these natural wonders are attracting thousands of visitors annually, 

 most of whom are drawn there by mere curiosity. This characteristic 

 of human nature, however aimless it may sometimes seem, and how- 

 ever destructive it may often be, forms, under a broader culture, the 

 true foundation of all discovery and progress. It needs encourage- 

 ment and direction rather than suppression, and the policy should be 

 to increase the attractions and to facilitate access to this as well as 

 other extraordinary natural objects; but at the same time the destruc- 

 tive effects, especially such as tend to reduce the interest, mar the 

 beauty, or lessen the instructiveness of the facts, should be prevented 

 by every proper means. 



No one denies that visitors to this region usually carry away with 

 them as much as their means of transportation will permit, but this 

 consists usually, of course, of the smaller objects that lie in such pro- 

 fusion on the ground. At first view it might seem that the immense 

 quantity of such objects makes it impossible that any apprecial)le 

 impression can ever be made upon the whole mass in this way. This 

 is the same kind of reasoning, or rather unreasoning, that has led to 

 the virtual extinction of the buffalo, and which threatens to exhaust 

 the sources of natural gas; but the class of persons known as "relic 

 hunters " is very large, and the number who will in future visit the 



