In the Red Beds of Texas 263 



creek', over which I had just crossed dry-shod, and 

 rapidly rose to a height of eight feet, threatening to 

 submerge my camp. 



Looking for a good place to work on my side of 

 the creek, the west, I found the gulch which I have 

 referred to above. There was a level floor, formed 

 by the first stratum of the gray beds, extending 

 about five hundred yards to a ledge of red sandstone, 

 eight feet thick. The floor was covered with 

 debris washed from the red beds. To my astonish- 

 ment, although the surface was dry, a flood of water 

 was rushing out from under the upper deposits and 

 tumbling in a miniature waterfall over the gray 

 ledge, which was nearly five feet thick, into the 

 ravine below. 



The rock I found to be composed of four layers 

 of sandstone. The upper layer, eight inches thick, 

 is composed of fine-grained sand, which seems to 

 have been ground to an impalpable powder by the 

 beating of the waves. It is very compact and 

 heavy, and upon exposure, breaks into rectangular 

 blocks, so perfect in shape that they can be used for 

 building purposes without being touched by hammer 

 or chisel. The second layer breaks into large blocks 

 of many tons' weight. It is coarser grained than 

 No. i, and is about twenty inches thick. It contains 

 a few casts of invertebrate fossils. No. 3 is twelve 

 inches thick, and is of the same general character as 



