174 J. EeConie on the great Lava-flood of the West, 
reached about three miles from the river. At this point, the 
lower and deeper gorge is blocked by a perpendicular wall of 
basalt, over which the stream precipitates itself as a fall 250- 
300 feet high The gorge, the cliffs with their summits tower- 
ing 3000 feet or more, the perpendicular basaltic wall, and the 
fall with its cloud of spray, the fresh greenness of ferns con- 
trasted with the rich purple of rocks, together form one of the 
loveliest scenes I have ever looked upon. From the top of the 
falls runs back a less deep gorge, formed wholly of basalt. The 
same is true of all the streams which run into the Columbia 
River in this axial region of the Cascade Range: they run in 
lava gorges in the upper portion of their course, then fall over 
a perpendicular basaltic cliff on to the conglomerate beneath, 
and then finish their course in this latter rock. The vertical- 
the river. Atlow water, i. e., pee gl TH 
in late summer, when we vis- HH i a ‘ 
ited it, about three feet of the oll} } i Henn 
cliff Sas the water is com- Hea 
of conglomerate, a a, APLAR @ 
fic. 6, and the long, slender, im LEN 2 
gently curved and very per: 
fect basaltic columns, 6 6, are n to rest directly on the con- 
glomerate. 
Everywhere the general character of the conglomerate was 
found the same. Everywhere it is composed of rounded por- 
phyritie pebbles and boulders of all sizes, in a more or less 
cemented earthy paste. In many places it was affected wit 
irregular stratification, and in such cases it nearly always con- 
