The Permian of Texas 209 



stream one comes upon miniature mountains with 

 the strata turned up at all angles. The river valley 

 occupies a fault. 



Very beautiful indeed was the view when we got 

 in sight of the brakes of the Big Wichita. As far as 

 the eye could see stretched miniature Bad Lands, 

 with rounded knobs, deep canyons, bluffs, and 

 ravines. The prevailing color of the strata was In- 

 dian red, but beds of white gypsum and of greenish 

 sandstone relieved the sameness. Sometimes seams 

 of gypsum filled cracks in the strata, forming dikes a 

 few inches in thickness. 



Between the hills grew patches of grass, a wel- 

 come sight to our horses, for we had passed through 

 a country devoid of vegetation. The fall before, 

 the army worm had eaten the ground clean of every- 

 thing that was eatable. We pitched our camp near 

 a ditch that had been cut through the sediment 

 which overspread the flood-plain. 



The day after pitching camp, I heard George 

 Hamman calling me, and crossing the bridge, saw 

 him beckoning me to follow him. He gathered his 

 pockets full of cobblestones as he went along, and 

 when he reached the edge of the ditch a little way 

 below the crossing, he began to throw the stones at 

 something. I ran up to him, and heard the rattle of 

 snakes, but could not see any until, resting my hand 

 on his shoulder, I lifted myself on my toes and saw, 



