FORKS OF THE RIVER. 53 



trees, except a species of red cedar, Juniperus Virginiana, and a few 

 lonely cotton-woods. 



The soil is sandy upon the ridges, with blue and red clay in the val- 

 leys, and gypsum rocks predominate throughout the formation. The 

 high bluffs to the south of us have gradually approached the river until, 

 near our encampment, they are only about two hundred yards distant. 



June 30.' — At daylight this morning we were in the saddle, and, 

 taking the bed of the river, set out at a brisk pace, hoping to find some 

 good water during the day. Our course was very circuitous, from 

 being obliged to follow the windings made by the numerous detours 

 in the river. The lofty escarpments which bounded the valley upon 

 each side, rose precipitously from the banks of the river to the enormous 

 height of from five to eight hundred feet ; and in many places there 

 was not room for a man to pass between the foot of the acclivities and 

 the river. It was altogether impossible to travel upon either side of the 

 river, so much broken and cut up was the ground ; and the only place 

 where a passage for a horse can be found is directly along the defile of 

 the river bed. We found frequent small rivulets flowing into the river 

 through the deep glens upon each side ; but, most unfortunately for us, 

 the water in them all was acid and nauseating. We made our noon halt 

 at one of these streams, after travelling fifteen miles over the burning 

 sands of the river bed. 



At this time we had become so much affected by the frequent and 

 irresistible use of the water, that most of us experienced a constant 

 burning pain in the stomach, attended with loss of appetite, and the 

 most vehement and feverish thirst. We endeavored to disguise the 

 taste of the water by making coffee with it, but it retained the same 

 disagreeable properties in that form that it had in the natural state. 



At four in the evening, we again pushed forward up the river, praying 

 most devoutly that we might reach the termination of the gypsum 

 formation before night, and that the river, which was still of very con- 

 siderable magnitude, would branch out and soon come to a termination. 

 Four miles from our halting-place we passed a large affluent coming 

 in from the north, above which there was a very perceptible diminution 

 in the main stream ; and in going a few miles further, we passed several 

 more, causing a still greater contraction in its dimensions. All these 

 affluents were similar in character to the parent stream, bordered with 

 lofty and precipitous bluffs, with gypsum veins running through them 

 similar to those upon the main river. 



Towards evening we arrived at a point where the river divided into 

 two forks, of about equal dimensions. We followed the left, which 



