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DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY 



observed strata of precisely the same character in the sandstone of Chippewa River, 

 and occupj-ing, apparently, the same position in the series. 



At two o'clock, we reached the chain of hills descried from Petenwell Peak. 

 They consist of sandstone, of the same character with that seen yesterday and to- 

 day, with the exception of the upper layers, which, for the thickness of twenty-five 

 or thirty feet, are white and sugar-like, and when struck with the hammer crumble 

 into sand, rendering it somewhat difficult to procure and transport specimens. 

 These cliffs differ from those seen yesterday, in presenting on one side a nearly per- 

 pendicular face, from two hundred to three hundred feet high, while on the oppo- 

 site side they descend, by long and very gradual slopes, to the general level. They 

 rise at long intervals, being separated by wide ravines, sparsely wooded, and are 

 distributed along the country like a cordon of forts. Many, indeed most of them, 

 resemble, when seen from a distance, artificial works ; and one who has seen them 

 feels no surprise that the superstitious Indian should consider them dwelling-places 

 of superior intelligences, and look upon them with awe and reverence. Although 

 the materials of which they are composed possess little coherence, and are separable 

 by a slight force, they will resist the siege of the elements for centuries yet, and re- 

 main to mark the boundaries of cultivation, which can never encroach upon the 

 sterile wastes encircled by them. 



Two miles further brought us to the Dalles of the Wisconsin. The walls of sand- 

 stone forming the Dalles are from twenty-five to eighty feet in height, and from 

 fifty to one hundred feet apart. Between these perpendicular walls the river flows 

 for some five or six miles, its average width being about one hundred feet. 



Although it was quite as low as it was ever known to be, scarcely affording, in 

 many places, sufficient water to float a canoe, in the Dalles it was deep, and the 

 shadows of the rocks gave the water an almost black appearance. The current was 

 gentle, and often almost imperceptible, and the bed, so far as I could judge, free 

 from loose masses of rock. When the river is high, and especially during freshets, 

 it is a passage of great dread to the " raftsmen," in consequence of the many short 

 turns and projecting points around which the raft is swiftly hurried by the current, 

 which then forces its way through the long defile with the speed of an arrow, being 

 greatly accelerated by the great head of waters which accumulate above the en- 

 trance, forming quite a lake, and pressing to enter the narrow gorge. 



The weathering of the laminated strata, before alluded to, with their exposure to 

 the action of the current in different directions, and the cutting of the joints in 

 varying lines, are productive of singular and beautiful effects. Architraves, sculp- 

 tured cornices, moulded capitals, scrolls, and fluted columns are seen on every 

 hand ; presenting, altogether, a mixture of the grand, the beautiful, and the fan- 

 tastic. 



The dip of the rocks here is 3° to the southeast. The country is rolling, and the 

 sands are covered by a thin soil, supporting a growth of small oaks. 



October 15. Eighteen miles below the Dalles, we passed " Winnebago Portage," 

 which leads to Fox River of Green Bay, and was, for many years, the route by 

 which all the goods intended for the trading-posts at Prairie du Chien, and other 

 points on the Mississippi, passed, in their transportation from Mackinaw. It may 



