1 62 The Rocks of the John Day Valley. 



out wonder and admiration. In another ra- 

 vine are seen in great numbers the remains 

 of a yew, or yew-like tree, that sheds annually 

 not its leaflets, but its branchlets;-for in this 

 form they are found of almost uniform length 

 and structure imbedded in the rocks. This 

 tree was evidently abundant upon those an- 

 cient shores, for it can be found at almost 

 every spot where a little stream washed its 

 miniature delta into the lake. Oaks, too, and 

 occasionally a fine impression of an acorn, or 

 acorn-cup, are found at intervals from this 

 place to the Blue mountains. 



But the great geological importance of 

 that old lake depression does not arise from 

 the fossil remains of its forests, beautiful, 

 varied, and abundant as they are, but from 

 its finely preserved fossil bones. Two species 

 of rhinoceros lived their quiet, indolent lives 

 among the reeds that lined the old lake shore. 

 A little beyond the southern spur of that dis- 

 tant mountain there evidently emptied a 

 stream of some size, for its delta is strewn 

 with fragments of silicified bones. Among 



