ing of a vein of petrified clay. If from these two facts it would be inferred that at a certain height the substance of which the horizontal and perpendicular strata are formed is susceptible of being hardened so as to approach the nature of stone, then we might perhaps account in some manner for the wonderful formation of this curious ornament. Yet the main difficulty would still remain, and we would at last be compelled to have recourse to the system of occult qualities. The existence of the chimney is therefore a problem, and if any scientific person should wish to solve it, I would advise him to repair to this monument without delay, as a cleft which is seen at the top, and which in all probability will soon extend to the base, threatens to leave nothing of it but the remembrance of its existence.
The Chimney is not the only remarkable mound to be met with in this vast solitude. There are many others of various forms. One is called " the [Court] House," an other " the Castle," a third " the Fort," etc. And, in fact, if a traveler were not convinced that he is journeying through a desert where no other dwellings exist but the tents put up at night and removed in the morning, he would be induced to believe them so many ancient fortresses or Gothic castles, and with a little imagination, based upon some historical knowledge, he might think himself transported amid the ancient mansions of knight errantry. On one side are seen large ditches and high walls; on the other, avenues, gardens and orchards; farther on, parks, ponds and lofty trees. Sometimes the fancy presents a castle of the middle ages and even conjures up the lord of the manor; but instead of all these magnificent remains of antiquity we find only barren mounds on all sides, filled with cliffs formed by the falling of the waters and serving as dens to an infinite number of rattlesnakes and other venomous reptiles.
After the Missouri, which in the Far West is what the Mississippi is in the North, the finest rivers are the Kansas, the Platte, the Yellowstone and the Sweetwater. The