GENERAL VIEW OF THE TERRACES. 
17 
and cross-bedded from top to bottom in a most intricate and profuse man- 
ner. The weathering has given to these rocks a filagree tracery as beauti- 
ful as fi’ostwork. The Jurassic sandstone terminates in grand cliffs of sin- 
gular boldness and great simplicity of form. Next below reaches out the 
Triassic series, ending in that wonderful escarpment which Powell has 
described under the name of Vermilion Cliffs. The terminal wall is from 
1,000 to 2,000 feet in height, and presents a great number of layers of 
sandstone and sandy shales with gypsiferous partings. These are very 
evenly stratified, and the cliffs which are carved out of them present many 
ledges and slopes which have a very ornate and architectural effect. The 
color is throughout a bright rich red, which at sunset takes a strong ver- 
milion hue and fully justifies the name given by Powell. Altogether it is 
the greatest cliff-forming series of the Plateau country. The Vermilion 
Cliffs stretch from the southwestern border of the Markdgunt in a great 
curve as far as the Paria Valley, a distance of more than a hundred miles in 
which sinuosities are not computed. 
There is yet another terrace. Beneath the Trias the Permian is seen, 
reaching still further southward. It is everywhere capped with a light 
brown, coarse sandstone, here and there passing into a conglomerate, to 
which Powell gave the local name of Shinarump conglomerate. Mr. Wal- 
cott, for reasons which will hereafter be presented, has placed this particu- 
lar stratum provisionally at the base of the Trias, and while I admit the 
validity of his reasons, it makes some awkward difficulties of discussion ; 
for in all its topographical relations it is associated with the Permian. The 
true Permian lies beneath it, presenting in its upper members those densely 
colored shales — chocolate, dark red, brown, purple, slate, and lavender, in 
numberless tones and shades. Lower down, dull Indian red, and still lower, 
white or pale grey bands appear. Wonderful indeed is the coloring of the 
Permian, yet not more so than the sculptnre. The series forms cliffs of 
rather small or moderate altitude, ranging from 400 to 1,000 feet in height, 
and sometimes interrupted through notable intervals where they are beveled 
off. Having passed the Permian, we find ourselves upon the immense plat- 
form of the Carboniferous, which covei’s the entire expanse of country as 
2 G C 
