520 



DESCRIPTION OF 



THE 



COUNTRY 



undermining a vast geological formation, of which these remarkable outliers remain 

 to tell their history, and record one of the wonderful revolutions which have so 

 frequently altered the configuration of the surface of our globe. 



These various peaks are distant from each other from one to eight miles. Some 

 are of an oval form, some rectangular, some conical, and most of them nearly of 

 the same elevation. All do not rise in rugged and massive walls, and cliffs of 

 rock, but present slopes, concealing more or less of the rocky beds, and even ex- 

 tending in some instances to their summits. 



The landscape is bounded in the distance by a range of bluffs, presenting perpen- 

 dicular faces where the rocks project from their flanks. 



A similar country to that above described extends to Point Boss, which may be 

 considered the limit, on the Wisconsin River, of this great sandstone formation, the 

 elements of stratification of which I have been tracing out in the preceding pages. 



Barraboo River. — My next examinations were directed to the Barraboo River, 

 a stream which flows into the Wisconsin. 



From Saukville, on the Wisconsin, I went by land to Adams, which I found 

 upon inquiries was in the vicinity of the locality on the Barraboo, where copper ore 

 was reported to have been found, to which place Dr. Owen's instructions particu- 

 larly directed my attention. 



On leaving the Wisconsin, we crossed a prairie of seven miles, the soil of which 

 is a dark sandy loam, very suitable for agricultural purposes. We then ascended 

 a ridge, and came upon massive cliffs of hard and compact quartzite, after ascending 

 about eighty feet. This rock was exposed to the height of about fifty feet. The 

 colour of the different beds varies from milk-white to reddish-gray. Some portions 

 contain fine scales of yellow mica, and then approaches to Aventurine quartz. 

 Veins of crystalline quartz, from one inch to several inches thick, traverse the 

 rocks in different directions. 



The whole height of the ridge is about three hundred feet above the level of the 

 prairie. Huge angular blocks of quartzite, with occasional masses of conglomerate, 

 can be traced to the summit, which rendered our route an exceedingly rough one. 

 A few erratics were also interspersed amongst them. 



In the midst of this great quartzite formation is a very picturesque lake, about 

 a mile and a half long, and a little over half a mile wide, the long diameter running 

 north and south. It is known by the name of Devil's Lake. The water is clear, 

 of considerable depth, and contains a variety of fine fish. 



The east and west shores are bounded, for a considerable distance, by rugged cliffs 

 of quartzite, running nearly parallel to each other. The range on the west is five 

 hundred feet above the lake, and six hundred and ninety feet above the Wisconsin 

 River, the upper two hundred and fifty feet presenting a nearly perpendicular 

 escarpment, from the base of which a very abrupt slope extends down to the 

 water's edge, covered with immense angular blocks of quartzite. Near the south- 

 east end is a descent by a succession of benches to the general level of the adjacent 

 country. The range on the east side has nearly the same elevation, but does not 



