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DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY 



A quarter of a mile below the old clam, on the east side of the river, the sand- 

 stone forms a mural escarpment, of thirty-five feet in height, in strata of from two 

 to eight feet thick. On the west bank, opposite this section of sandstone, the most 

 southerly exposure of crystalline rocks on this river rises to the height of six feet 

 above the water, and is composed of a quartzose granite, containing magnetic oxide 

 of iron. 



October 13. At one o'clock we reached Pe ten well Peak, thirty-two miles below 

 Whitney's Rapids. The country between these two points resembles, in almost 

 every respect, that seen below the Dalles of the Chippewa River. The river winds 

 through sands, rising forty and sixty feet above its level, and presenting in its bends 

 extensive slides, from a quarter to half a mile in length. It is very crooked, and 

 the channel is rendered somewhat intricate by the great number of sandbars, which 

 change their position with every rise and fall of the river. Like the region alluded 

 to on the Chippewa, the country is a succession of sand-plains, rising in low terraces, 

 covered with a short, coarse grass, and having a few small pines and shrubby oaks 

 scattered over it. 



About half a mile before reaching Petenwell Peak, that huge mass of rock sud- 

 denly presented itself down a reach of the river, rising above the level sands to the 

 height of two hundred feet, or more, and presenting, in every respect, the semblance 

 of a work of human hands, now dilapidated and in ruins. It required no excited 

 imagination to see, in this extraordinary mass of rock, the remains of some ancient 

 stronghold. There were the massive walls, defined and regular in their outline, 

 battlements, towers, buttresses, surmounted by towering pinnacles, deep, dark win- 

 dows, and, in short, everything necessary to render the delusion perfect. 



The base of the peak is an oval, about three hundred yards in the long, and one 

 hundred yards in the short, diameter. On the east side, the rock is almost perpen- 

 dicular, and is washed at its base by the river. On the north side, a small creek 

 comes in from the west, close to the rock. On the south and west sides, there is a 

 very abrupt slope from two-thirds the height of the rock to the general level. This 

 slope is made up of sand and huge fragments of stone, with small pines scattered 

 among them. The upper third is a perpendicular wall of rock, split into towers 

 and turrets, and which I did not ascend. The prospect from the point which I 

 reached is very extensive, embracing an expanse of country probably from forty to 

 fifty miles in diameter. 



The general appearance of the country from this elevation is that of a level or 

 gently undulating plain, dotted here and there with groves of small oak and pine. 

 But on every side, as far as vision can reach, other isolated peaks are seen rising 

 from the plain. One towards the northeast, and distant probably twelve or fifteen 

 miles, is apparently higher than Petenwell ; and others, in different directions, from 

 their appearance in the distance, no doubt equal it in height. To the southwest, 

 on the verge of the horizon, there appears to be a connected chain of hills. In no 

 other direction, however, is there the slightest appearance of connexion between 

 the elevated masses, each one standing " solitary and alone," and miles from its 

 fellows. 



The rock is a light-coloured, coarse-grained sandstone, made up of perfectly 



