Rocky 31ountains, 87 



and, in the course of the morning, they killed a small fawn 

 and a heron. At one o'clock, we arrived at the confluence 

 of a creek, tributary from the east to the stream we were 

 following, and descending into its valley, by a precipitous 

 declivity of about four hundred feet, encamped for the 

 remainder of the day. This valley is bounded by perpen- 

 dicular cliffs of sandstone, surmounted by extensive beds 

 of greenstone. The fragments of the latter have fallen 

 down into the valley, and, being less perishable than the 

 sandstone, they constitute the greater part of the debris 

 accumulated along the base of the cliff's. 



The sand-rock, which in some places is exposed in per- 

 pendicular precipices, is soft and friable, being very rea- 

 dily scratched with the point of a knife, and has been 

 rudely inscribed, propably by the Indians, with emblema- 

 tical figures commemorative of some past event. Several 

 of the figures, intended to represent men, are distinguished 

 by the sign of the cross inscribed near the head; some are 

 represented smoking, and some leading horses, from which 

 we infer, that the inscriptions are intended to commemo- 

 rate some peaceful meeting of the Indians with the Spa- 

 niards of New Mexico, for the purposes of trade, where 

 horses were either given as presents or bartered for other 

 articles. Some meeting of this kind has, probably, happen- 

 ed here at no very distant period, as corn-cobs were found 

 near our encampment : from this circumstance, it would 

 appear that the distance to the Spanish settlements cannot 

 be very great. 



Mr. Peale, who had been unwell since the cold storm 

 of the 28th, now found some little relief in the opening of 

 an abscess which had formed on his jaw. 



As several of our horses had been lamed in descending 

 into the valley, and by the rough journey of the preceding 

 day, it was thought necessary to allow ourselves a day of 

 rest. Since arriving in the country inhabited by the hitherto 



