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At Noon it fell little Wind, and veer'd to North-East by North, we being then in the Latitude of 34 degrees 10 minutes and Longitude 208 degrees 27 minutes West, and about 5 Leagues from the land, which extended from South 37 degrees West to North 1/2 East. In this Latitude are some White Clifts, which rise perpendicular from the Sea to a moderate height. Friday, 27th.
Durrien our Scones intptr. says "navagable to the falls 70 or 80 Leagues and above these falls" Still further, those falls are 200 feet or there abouts & has two princapal pitches, and heads with the St. peters passing the head of the Demoien, on the right below the falls a Creek Coms in which passes thro Clifts of red rock which the Indians make pipes of, and when the different nations Meet at those queries all is piece, passed a place in a Prarie on the L. S. where the Mahars had a Village formerly. the Countrey above the Platt R has a great Similarity.
At 2 P.M. we made sail with the wind at South-West, and at daylight saw the land extending as far as North 3/4 East. The land within this point is of a moderate and pretty equal height, but the point itself is of such an unequal Height that it looks like 2 Small Islands laying under the land; it likewise may be known by the white Clifts on the North side of it.
The land near the Sea coast still continues of a moderate height, forming alternately rocky points and Sandy beaches; but inland, between Mount Dromedary and the Pigeon house, are several pretty high Mountains, 2 only of which we saw but what were covered with Trees, and these lay inland behind the Pigeon House, and are remarkably flat a Top, with Steep rocky clifts all round them.
Those walls pass the river in Several places rising from the waters edge much above the Sand Stone Bluffs, which they Seam to penetrate; thence Continueing their course on a Streight line on either Side of the river thorough the gradually ascending plains over which they tower to the hight of from ten to 90 feet untill they reach the hills which they finally enter and Conceal themselves. these walls Sometimes run parallel to each other, with Several ranges near each other, and at other times intersecting each other at right angles, haveing the appearance of the walls of ancient houses or gardins. both Capt Lewis and My self walked on Shore this evening and examined those walls minutely and preserved a Specimine of the Stone. I found many clifts of very excellent free Stone of a light yellowish brown Colour.
The heavy mists from the mountain slip down the granite clifts and spread over the city, melting all sharp outlines, enfeebling the gas-lamps, and changing the moon, if there happens to be one, into something less than a moon and something more than a pewter disk. And so it was this night.
The water in the course of time in decending from those hills and plains on either side of the river has trickled down the soft sand clifts and woarn it into a thousand grotesque figures, which with the help of a little immagination and an oblique view at a distance, are made to represent eligant ranges of lofty freestone buildings, having their parapets well stocked with statuary; collumns of various sculpture both grooved and plain, are also seen supporting long galleries in front of those buildings; in other places on a much nearer approach and with the help of less immagination we see the remains or ruins of eligant buildings; some collumns standing and almost entire with their pedestals and capitals; others retaining their pedestals but deprived by time or accident of their capitals, some lying prostrate an broken othes in the form of vast pyramids of connic structure bearing a sereis of other pyramids on their tops becoming less as they ascend and finally terminating in a sharp point. nitches and alcoves of various forms and sizes are seen at different hights as we pass. a number of the small martin which build their nests with clay in a globular form attatched to the wall within those nitches, and which were seen hovering about the tops of the collumns did not the less remind us of some of those large stone buildings in the U States. the thin stratas of hard freestone intermixed with the soft sandstone seems to have aided the water in forming this curious scenery.
Capt C. who walked on shore today informed me that the river hills were much lower than usual and that from the tops of those hills he had a delightfull view of rich level and extensive plains on both sides of the river; in those plains, which in many places reach the river clifts, he observed large banks of pure sand which appeared to have been driven by the S W. winds from the river bluffs and there deposited. the plains are more fertile at some distance from the river than near the bluffs where the surface of the earth is very generally covered with small smothe pebbles which have the appearance of having been woarn by the agitation of the waters in which they were no doubt once immerced.
A mule train of heavily laden burros laden with gold from the mines was to be seen wondering among the highest clifts and gorgs of the Rocky Mts and a tall man with a long silken mustash and a cartigde belt could be heard cursin vile oaths because he well knew this was the lair of Harold Ramorez Why you you mules you sneered he because the poor mules were not able to go any quicker you I will show you Why it sneered he his oaths growing viler and viler I will whip you you sos you will not be able to walk for a week you you mean old mules you
Pryor returned late in the evening and informed us that he had been down the river eight miles and that the clifts set in so abruptly to the river he could get no further without returning several miles back and ascending the hills and that he had thought it best to return and ride down tomorrow on the high plain as he believed the mouth of the creek was a considerable distance.
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