Chap. XIII. THE DEVIL'S RIVER AGAIN. 421 
the plateau which brought us to the rocky valley of the 
Painted Cave, called by the Mexicans El Arroyo de la 
Cueva Pinta. This is a lateral branch of the Devil's 
River Valley, and one of the most gloomy localities I ever 
saw ; so barren and inhospitable as to produce the most 
painful impressions. Some excavations in the rocks were 
filled with water. The thousands of the gigantic flowering 
spikes of the dasylirium, a plant characteristic of the stony 
deserts of western Texas, tended to heighten rather than 
soften the wild character of the locality. Their gigantic 
proportions are quite overwhelming, and I felt as if I were 
lost. This dismal valley descends through a deep and 
narrow cleft between grotesquely shaped rocks, which rise 
in peaks and pinnacles and contain a number of round 
openings. These are the entrances into caves, some of 
which are said to contain numerous Indian paintings on 
their sides ; but I was unable to examine them. The 
cleft opens into the lower part of the Devil's River Valley, 
which has much the same gloomy character. The road, . 
after crossing a lateral valley, ascends again to the plateau, 
and then for the last time rejoins the principal trunk. 
Here, where the road again approaches the river, this 
valley displays the truly classic beauty of a wilderness. 
The river now a broad crystal stream, flowing over flat, 
polished, yellowish-white limestone slabs, is here surrounded 
by noble trees, wreathed by vines, above which the enclos- 
ing rocks lift their towering heights. The river-bed is very 
remarkable, and the transparency of the water such as to 
make every line and crevice in its marble floor visible. 
Here and there, where a flaw has occurred, mud has col- 
lected, in which high reeds have taken root. The con- 
trasts in these particulars are uncommon, and the harmony 
in which they are composed is equally rare. Luxuriant 
