TOPOGRAPHY OF NEBRASKA. 5 



A good example of this character are the slopes on the bottoms be- 

 tween Crete and Beatrice, and between Ashland and Lincoln. The 

 bottoms with their bordering lines of bluffs wind and vary in direc- 

 tion as much as the serpentine movements of the streams them- 

 selves. The bluffs are steepest and roughest on the Missouri, es- 

 pecially towards the north line of the State. On the middle Nio- 

 brara they frequently assume the exceptional character of borders to 

 deep canyons. Even on the Missouri there are very few that cannot 

 be successfully cultivated. Occasionally it is hard to tell where the 

 bottom ceases and the bluffs begin. This is owing betimes to the ter- 

 races that ascend the bluffs, and sometimes to the lowness of the 

 bluffs whose rounded outlines like the sides of a shallow basin merge 

 gradually into the bottom. Sometimes the wind has worn the 

 sides of a bluff into stair like forms. The observer not infrequent- 

 ly meets portions of a bluff standing out in isolated, perpendicular 

 walls like huge battlements. The innumerable tributaries that 

 creep quietly and unexpectedly into the main bottoms compli- 

 cate still further these forms of landscape. The traveler with poe- 

 try and art in his composition is often tempted to ascend a bluff adjoin- 

 ing a valley, which lying at his feet, enables him to trace it as far as the 

 eye can reach. The upland plain on the other side, whose inequal- 

 ities are wavelike, gives a sharply outlined background to the pic- 

 ture of the valley. He is at a loss to which to assign the palm of 

 greatest beauty. The effect is intensified when upland and valley 

 are dotted with homesteads and cultivated grounds. The quiet 

 beauty that comes from human industry then blends with the sub- 

 limity of nature. 



The dominant geometrical form observed in the forms of the sur- 

 face is the curve. The observer never gets outside of curves. 

 They intrude themselves everywhere. They are not uniform mo- 

 notonous curves, but curves infinitely varied. Rarely is a straight 

 line needed to relieve from sameness, but when it is needed it is 

 there. The streams, the terraces, the bluffs, the valleys themselves 

 all follow curves. There are short curves and long curves; regu- 

 lar and irregular curves; infinitely varied, seemingly in confusion, 

 but all full of profound expression — the expression of matchless 

 beauty. " The curve is the line of beauty.' 1 Here nature has put 

 forth her best efforts to exemplify this law. No artist has yet suc- 

 cessfully painted Nebraska scenery. It still awaits the master 

 mind who can catch with his artist's eye these superb forms of 



