84 GRAM) ('ANON DISTRICT. 



hausted. They will be weak anil vapid enough at best. Yet there are 

 portions of the Vermilion Cliffs which in some respeets lay hold of the 

 sensibilities with a force not much less overwhelming than the majesty 

 of the Grand Canon; not in the same way, not by virtue of the same 

 elements of power and impressiveness, but in a way of their own and by 

 attributes of their own. In mass and grandeur and in the extent of 

 the display there is no comparison; it would be like comparing a 

 private picture gallery containing a few priceless treasures with the 

 wealth of art in the Vatican or Louvre. All of the really superlative 

 portions of the Vermilion (Mill's could be comfortably displayed in any 

 one of half a dozen amphitheaters opening into the Kaibab division of 

 the Grand Canon. These portions occur in the beautiful valley of the 

 Virgen, and they, as well as the features which characterize the entire 

 front of the Vermilion Cliffs, merit some attempt at description. 



Each of the greater sedimentary groups of the terraces from the 

 Eocene to the Permian inclusive, has its own style of sculpture and 

 architecture; aud it is at first surprising and always pleasing to observe 

 how strongly the several styles contrast with each other. The elephan- 

 tine structures of the Nile, the Grecian temples, the pagodas of China, 

 the cathedrals of Western Europe, do not offer stronger contrasts than 

 those we successively encounter as we descend the great stairway which 

 leads down from the Sigh Plateaus. As we pass from one terrace to 

 another the scene is wholly changed; not only in the bolder and grander 

 masses which dominate the landscape, but in every detail and acces- 

 sory; in the tone of the color-masses, in the vegetation, aud in the spirit 

 and subjective influences of the scenery. Of these many and strong 

 antitheses, there is none stronger than that between the repose of the 

 Jura and the animation of the Trias. 



The profile of the Vermilion Cliffs is very complex, though conform- 

 ing to a definite type and made up of simple elements. Although it 

 varies much in different localities it never loses its typical character. 

 It consists of a series of vertical ledges rising tier above tier, story 

 above story, with intervening slopes covered with talus through which 

 the beds project their fretted edges. The stratification is always re- 

 vealed with perfect distinctness and is even emphasized by the peculiar 

 weathering. The beds are very numerous and mostly of small or mod- 

 erate thickness, and the partings of the sandstones include layers of 

 gypsum or gypsiferous sand and shale. The weathering attacks these 

 gypseous layers with great effect, dissolving them to a considerable 

 depth into the wall-face, producing a deeply engraved line between the 

 including sandstones. This line is always in deep shadow and throws 

 into strong relief the bright edges of the strata in the rock-face, sepa- 

 rating them from each other with uncommon distinctness. Where the 

 profiles are thrown well into view the vertical li.ies, which bound the 

 faces of the ledges, are quite perpendicular and straight, while the lines 

 of the intervening slopes are feebly concave, being, in fact, descending 



