At 4 o'clock we arrived at the head of the stream which we had hitherto ascended; as we were conscious that after leaving this, and emerging into the open country, we could not expect to meet with water again in a distance of several miles, it was resolved to halt here for the night, and the hunters were sent out. Soon afterwards it began to rain. At sun-set the hunters returned, having killed a female of the black-tailed or mule deer. The flesh of this we found in tolerable condition, and extremely grateful to our hungry party.
On the morning of the 27th, we rose at 3 o'clock, and hastened our preparations for an early start. The morning was clear and calm, and the copious dew which was beginning to exhale from the scanty herbage of the valley, gave to the air a delightful [263] freshness. The mercury, as on several of the preceding mornings, stood at about 55°. At sun-rise we resumed our toilsome march, and before 10 o'clock, had arrived at a part of the valley beyond which it was found impossible to penetrate. The distance we had travelled would have been, in a direct line, about three miles; in passing it we had followed no less than ten different courses, running in all possible directions. This fatiguing march had brought us to a point where the valley was so narrow, and so obstructed with large detached rocks, as to be entirely impassable on horseback. We were therefore under the necessity of halting, and as the place afforded some grass, our horses were turned loose to feed, while several persons were sent to discover, if possible, some passage by which we might extricate ourselves from the ravine. One of them at length returned, having found at the distance of a mile and a half below, a pass where it was thought our horses could be led up the cliff.
On the preceding day we had commenced our accustomed march in a valley bounded by perpendicular cliffs of red sandstone, having an elevation of at least two hundred feet. As we ascended gradually along the bed of the stream, we could perceive we were arriving near the surface of this vast horizontal bed of sandrock, and at night we pitched our tent at the very point where the red sandstone began to be overlaid in the bed of the creek by a different variety. This second variety, the gray sandstone, is a horizontal stratum, evidently of more than two hundred feet in thickness. It is usually more compact and imperishable than the red, its fragments remaining longer entire, and retaining the angles and asperities of the surface, which in the other variety are soon softened down by the rapid progress of disintegration.
It is easy to perceive that the sandstone formation, including the two varieties above mentioned, [264] must be at this point of immense thickness. Fifteen hundred feet is probably a very moderate estimate for the aggregate elevation of some insulated, but extensive portions of the gray sandstone, above that part of the valley at which the red sandstone first appears. From this point downwards, the extent of the latter variety may be very great, but no estimate can be formed which would be in any measure entitled to confidence.
After we had dined we retraced our two last courses, and succeeded in ascending the cliff at the place which one of the hunters had pointed out, taking, without the least regret, our final leave of the "valley of the souls in purgatory."[47]
From the brow of the perpendicular precipice, an ascending slope of a few rods conducted us through scattering groves of junipers, to the border of the open plain. Here the interminable expanse of the grassy desert burst suddenly upon our view. The change was truly grateful. Instead of a narrow crooked avenue, hedged in by impending cliffs and frightful precipices, a boundless and varied landscape lay spread before us. The broad valley of the Arkansa, studded with little groves of timber, and terminated in the back ground by the shining summit of James's Peak, and numerous spurs of the Rocky Mountains, with the snowy pinnacles of the more distant ranges, limited our view on the right; on our left, and before us, lay the extended plain, diversified with vast conic mounds, and insulated table-like hills, while herds of bisons, antelopes, and wild horses, gave life and cheerfulness to the scene.
A large undescribed species of the gaura is common [265] about the banks of all the creeks we had seen since leaving the Arkansa. It attains, ordinarily, the size of G. biennis, but is clearly distinct both from that and all other North American species. It has a broader leaf than any other of the genus met with in this country. The flowers are small, of a purple colour, and incline to form a terminal spike. The whole plant is covered with a dense silky pubescence, and is remarkably soft to the touch. We propose to call it gaura mollis.
After travelling one mile and a half into the plain in a due south course, we halted to take the bearings of several remarkable points. Due east was a solitary and almost naked pile of rocks towering to a great elevation above the surface of the plain. James's Peak bore north 71° west; the west Spanish Peak, south 87°. West magnetic variation, 13½ deg. east. As we proceeded, we were surprised to witness an aspect of unwonted verdure and freshness in the grasses and other plants of the plains, and in searching for the cause of this change, we discovered we had arrived at a region differing both in point of soil and geological features from any portion of the country we had before seen. Several circumstances had induced us to conjecture that rocks of the newest fletz trap formation, existed in some portions of the secondary region along the eastern declivity of the Rocky Mountains; but until this time we had met with no positive confirmation of the opinion. We are glad to be at length relieved from the tiresome sameness of the sand formation, and promised ourselves in the treasures of a new and more fertile variety of soil, the acquisition of many important plants.
At five P. M. we met with a little stagnant water, near which we encamped, having travelled about ten miles nearly due south from the point where we had left the valley of the creek. The hunters went out on foot in pursuit of bisons, several herds being [266] in sight; but returned at dark, having effected no more than to break the shoulder of a young bull, who ran off, pursued by a gang of wolves. Several of the party understanding the route the animal had taken, and instigated in common with the wolves by the powerful incitement of hunger, resolved to join the chase, and to dispute with their canine competitors the possession of the prey. When they had nearly overtaken the bison, they saw him several times thrown to the ground by the wolves, and afterwards regaining his feet. They soon came near enough to do execution with their pistols, and frightened away the wolves only to make a speedier end of the harassed animal. It was now past nine o'clock, but the starlight was sufficient to enable them to dress the meat, with which they returned loaded to camp, and spent the greater part of the night in regaling on the choice pieces.
Friday, July 28th. From an elevated point, about eight miles south of our encampment of last evening, the high peak at the head of the Arkansa was still visible when we passed this morning. From a computation of our courses and distances we find we cannot, according to our estimate, be less than one hundred and thirty miles distant from its base; but the air at this time happened to be remarkably clear, and our elevation above the common level of the plain considerable. By referring to Pike's "Journal of a Voyage to the Sources of the Arkansa," it will be seen that this peak is the most prominent and conspicuous feature in a great extent of the surrounding country. "It is indeed so remarkable as to be known to all the savage nations for hundreds of miles around, and to be spoken of with admiration by the Spaniards of New Mexico, and was the bounds of their travels north-west. Indeed, in our wanderings in the mountains, it was never out of sight, except when in a valley, from the 14th of November to the 27th of January."[48]