44 Expedition to the 



borious march, they immediately laid themselves down to 

 rest, under the open sky, deferring their examinations for the 

 following morning. 



The sandstone near the springs is hard, though rather 

 coarse, and of a dark gray, or brownish-yellow colour. 



In ascending the A rkansa on the ensuing morning, we found 

 the rock to become more inclined, and of a redder colour; 

 as we approached the primitive, until at about half a mile 

 from the springs, it is succeeded by the almost perpendicular 

 gneiss rock, which appears here at the base of the first range 

 of the mountains. We have noticed, that this particular spot 

 IS designated in the language of hunters, " as the place where 

 the Arkansa comes out of the mountains," and it must be 

 acknowledged the expression is not entirely inapplicable. 

 The river pours with great impetuosity and violence through 

 a dtep and narrow fissure in the gneiss rock, which rises 

 abruptly on both sides to such a height, as to oppose an im- 

 passable barrier to all further progress. According to the 

 delineation of Pike's route on the map which accompanies 

 his work, he must have entered the mountains at this place, 

 but no corroboration can be derived from his journal. It ap- 

 pears almost incredible that he should have passed by this 

 route and neglected to mention the extreme difficulty which 

 must have attended the undertaking. Captain Bell and his 

 party returned to the encampment of the main body, on the 

 18th. 



The immediate valley of the Arkansa, near the mountains, 

 is bounded by high cliffs of inclined sandstone; at a short 

 distance below, these disappear, and a sloping margin of al- 

 luvial earth extends on each side to the distance of several 

 miles. Somewhat farther" down, horizontal sandstone ap- 

 pears, confining the valley to a very narrow space, and bound- 

 ing it within perpendicular precipices on each side. Seven 

 miles from the mountains, on the left bank of the Ar- 

 kansa, is a remarkable mass of sandstone rocks, resembling 



