194 



GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERIST UNITED STATES. 



Although the river has been the principal agent in carving Ruby 

 Canj'on it has not done all the work, for the moisture in the atmos- 

 phere and the sand blown by the winds are very active in wearing 

 away the rocks. The results of the work of both of these agents may 

 be seen at many places. The moisture in the atmosphere dissolves 

 the cementing material that binds the grains of sand together, and 

 the wind mechanically removes the loosened' grains. These agencies 

 acting together eat out cavities in the canyon wall, most of them 

 small, though here and there one is excavated into an immense alcove 

 having an arched roof. Wind-driven sand cuts the hard rock like a 

 sand blast, and as the texture of the rocks differs from point to point 

 the cutting has produced grotesque, fantastic forms. At some places 

 the sand blast has cut the finest fretwork; at othei-s it has simply 

 rounded off projecting points of rock so that they stand out as great 

 domes or circular minarets. Many such features cap the solid canyon 

 wall, but they are so far above the track that the traveler can see them 

 only as he looks ahead at some projecting spur or back at the disap- 

 pearing view. At one place a group of columns on a salient point on 

 the canyon wall resembles a procession of Egj^ptian figures, as shown 

 in the ornamentation of their temples, and consequently these are 

 known as " The Egyptian Priests." 



Beyond the place where the granite appears in the river bed the 

 rocks dip gently downstream as far as milepost 479, where they are 

 again elevated in a fold similar to that which has exposed the red 

 sandstone just below Ruby. This fold is not so apparent from the 

 train as that just mentioned, but by looking ahead from a point near 

 milepost 479 the traveler may see it in the canyon wall on the right, 

 and he may note traces on the projecting point on the opposite side. 

 This fold raises the sandstone so high that the granite again appears 

 in the river bed, rising at least 20 feet above ordinary water level and 

 being visible from the train for about a mile. The river has had 

 much greater difficulty in cutting the granite than in cutting the 

 sandstone; the sandstone has been entirely removed, but the granite 

 forms a very effectual barrier in which the stream has been able to 

 cut only narrow channels, through which the water boils and tumbles, 

 so that the rock is scoured and polished by the sand that the water 

 carries over it. Pebbles accumulate in hollows of the rock and soon 

 grind out deep holes where they are given a rotary motion by the cur- 

 rent. Such holes, which are known as " potholes," are abundant in 

 the granite in this canyon. 



In places the massive sandstone overhangs the railroad, as shown 

 in Plate LXXX. A, and the beetling cliffs afford ideal sites for the 



down, although in other places only a 

 part of them were removed. Hence 



at different localities different forma- 

 tions rest on the granite. 



