ACROSS UNKNOWN SOUTH AMERICA 
upon another extraordinary sight: a quadrangular, rocky 
castle — a perfect cube of rock — which stood at a con¬ 
siderable elevation upon a conical base, some distance off 
the wall-like sides of the plateau. Strangely enough, a 
thin wall of rock, only a few feet thick, quite vertical, of 
great height and of great length, joined this quadrangular 
castle to the plateau. That wall had evidently remained 
standing when the plateau had subsided. The larger 
plateau along the foot of which we travelled ended in 
two great domes, one at each angle of its eastern terminus 
wall. The eastern part of that plateau was flat-topped, 
whereas the central portion rose into a double pyramid and 
looked not unlike a giant tent with a porch attachment. 
It was of a bright yellow colour, apparently sandstone 
and ashes. The work of erosion had been greater on the 
eastern face, owing, I think, to the prevalent wind on 
that side. 
On looking back upon the great range of rock which 
ended abruptly near 44 Church-rock ” (which, as we have 
seen, once formed part of it), a great, semicircular cavity 
was disclosed on its western face. The summit of the wall 
around the cavity rested on an inclined plane, which in 
its turn rested above a vertical concave wall. The latter 
wall of rock had conical buttresses at the terminal points. 
West-northwest of the great wall was an immense 
depression. Only a conical hill rose above its last undula¬ 
tions. The upper edge of that depression was at an 
altitude of 1,550 feet above the sea level, whereas the top 
of “ Church-rock ” was fully a thousand feet higher — 
viz. 2,550 feet. 
At the terminus of the first section of the cliff range, 
interrupted by a great fissure from the second section, 
another structure in course of formation not unlike 
“ Church-rock ” could be observed. It had a quad¬ 
rangular tower surmounting it. There was in the second 
section of the range a regular quadrangle of rock, with a 
386 
