DESCENT OF THE TOEOWEAP. 
85 
this at first, for we saw in the upper valley only the siimmit of the palisade; 
but as the valley cuts deeper in the earth the plan and system begin to 
unfold. At the summit is a vertical ledge, next beneath a long Mansard 
slope, then a broad plinth, and last, and greater than all, a long, sweeping 
curve, gradually descending to the plain below. J ust opposite to us the 
]Dediments seem half buried, or rather half risen out of the valley alluvium. 
But beyond they rise higher and higher until in the far distance the profile 
is complete. In this escarpment are excavated alcoves with openings a 
mile wide. As soon as we reach the first one, new features appear. The 
upper ledge suddenly breaks out into a wealth of pinnacles and statues 
standing in thick ranks. They must be from 100 to 250 feet high, but now 
the height of the wall is more than a thousand feet, and they do not seem 
colossal. Indeed, they look like a mere band of intricate fretwork — a line 
of balustrade on the summit of a noble facade. Between the alcoves the 
projecting pediments present gable-ends towards the valley-plain. Yet 
whithersoever the curtain wall extends the same profile greets the eyes. 
The architect has adhered to his design as consistently and persistently as 
the builders of the Thebaid or of the Acropolis. As we pass alcove after 
alcove, and pediment after pediment, they grow loftier, wider, and deeper, 
and the decoration becomes more ornate. At length we pass one which is 
vast indeed. It is recessed back from the main front three-fourths of a mile, 
and shows three sides of an oblong room with walls 1,800 feet in height. 
The fourth side is obliterated and the space opens into the broad valley. 
Wonderfully rich and profuse are the pinnacles and statues along the upper 
friezes. The fancy is kindled as the eye wanders through the inclosure. 
We look across the valley, which is here three miles in width, and 
behold the other wall, which presents an aspect wholly different, but quite 
as interesting. The western wall of the Toroweap is here lower than the 
eastern, but still is more than a thousand feet high. The geologist soon sur- 
mises that along the valley bottom runs a fault which drops the country on 
the west several hundred feet, and the conjecture soon becomes cerfainty. 
Above and beyond the western escarpment is the platform of the Uinkaret 
Plateau. Upon its summit is a throng of large basaltic cones in perfect 
preservation. Streams of lava larger than any hitherto seen have poured 
