THE BUFFALO. 399 



the wear of the water, undoubtedly, yet so perfect in form 

 that we could with difficulty be brought to believe that th 

 hand of man had not fashioned them. The rains of centuries, 

 falling upon an immense prairie, had here formed a reservoir, 

 and their workings upon the different veins of earth and stone 

 had formed these strange and fanciful shapes. 



Before reaching the chasm we had crossed numerous large 

 trails, leading a little more to the west than we were travel- 

 ling ; and the experience of the previous day had led us to 

 suppose that they all terminated at a common crossing near 

 by. In this conjecture we were not disappointed, for a trot 

 of half an hour brought us into a large road, the thoroughfare 

 along which millions of Indians, buffalos and mustangs had 

 evidently travelled for years. Perilous as the descent 

 appeared, we well knew that there was no other near. The 

 leading mule was again urged forward, the steadier and older 

 horses were next driven over the sides, and the more skittish 

 and intractable brought up the rear. Once in the narrow 

 path, which led circuitously down the descent, there was no 

 turning back, and our half-maddened animals finally reached 

 the bottom in safety. Several large stones were loosened 

 from their fastenings by our men, during this frightful 

 descent ; these would leap, dash and thunder down the 

 precipitous sides, and strike against the bottom far below 

 us with a terrific and reverberating crash. 



We found a running stream on reaching the lower level of 

 the chasm, on the opposite side of which was a romantic dell, 

 covered with short grass and a few scattered cotton-woods. 

 A large party of Indians had encamped on this very spot but 

 a few days previous, the wilted limbs of the trees and other 

 "signs," showing that they had made it a resting-place. 

 We, too, halted a couple of hours to give our horses an 

 opportunity to graze and rest themselves. The trail, which 

 led up on the opposite side, was discovered a short distance 



