s or bluffs composed
of rocks, stones and marine substances. They are from 100 to 400 feet
high. In many places there appear to be pillars or regular columns
supporting those wonderful heights, which in many places appear almost
ready to tumble on those below. In the body of this irregular mass I
entered three caves, two large enough to protect a considerable family
from the storm and the third sufficiently large to contain twenty men on
horseback. This cave is supported by a neat pillar in the center. In
several places I saw marks on the cliffs at a considerable height made
with the different colors that Indians use to paint themselves. From
their arrangement, it appears the men of the desert had tried their
agility to place the highest mark on the cliffs. Near those caves are
the names of a number of persons cut in the soft parts of the rocks. In
traveling along the shore I picked up several specimens of the most
beautiful pearl I ever beheld. It is so plentiful here that no person
thinks it worth picking up. After traveling forty-three miles through
the rain I arrived again at St. Louis on the 13th of December. In
approaching the Illinois and Mississippi near the mouth from Milton a
scene beautiful, grand and sublime presents itself. Immediately after
leaving a thick wood you find yourself on the point of a knob or small
mountain many hundred feet high. From this eminence you have a view of
three bold and beautiful streams--the Mississippi, Illinois and
Missouri. The country on one side is bordered with very high bluffs as
far as the eye can reach, and on the other is a meadow or plain prairie,
which extends for many miles in every direction, and occasionally is
interspersed with handsome forest trees. The shells and marine
substances which are found near those large rivers are similar to those
seen in the West Indies and on the seaboard, but I have no recollection
of ever having seen such near any stream remote from the sea. This, with
many other appearances, holds out a strong inducement to believe that
the sea once covered this country for many hundred miles; that the
cliffs were its borders, and that some violent convulsion of nature has
caused it to recede and expose to view the most fertile country on the
globe. Should accident place this memorandum in the hands of any person,
an apology will be necessary for expressions and opinions which it
contains. In speaking of particular states and people I have expressed