, 1876-02-26
TIE "NADLANnS".
MARvE,B OF HAguREs AncHrrEerUEE---A
VAST scsULGHRE OF EXTINCT seEcIEs
or ANIMAL LlYE.

oP ANIMAL LIyE.
A correspondent Of the Chicago Tribune
VINO accompanied che Black Hills surv ying
party on It's rec, nj expedition. giVps an in.
,rrrs,ng account OF tho explorations OF that
wonderful locality known On the Bad Land"
Moving slong this high, l,vel prairie, says
IN" writer; VT came to n ru drn stop on the
rim of n dep basin, several miles in extent,
directly in our conrse,
t. reach the bOttom one must plunge
down an abrupt sterp, from 200 10 4OO feat
10 3 bottom composed at clay mounds ami
dom,s ranging in size fom Il largv haystack
10 great church building, and separated
from each other hy narnw walks made hy
water To attenptto descend into this por.
tion of the Bad Lands would bt folly, usd,
even ii once down there in safety. not even
g horse could travel. A few miles u the
east. ward strnd u row of'pire and minnr -,
slender as needles. daintily piercing the
Glands; and just beyond were great, mosque
like dOmrs, drcked out around their swell
ing roofs, with fringe of scrub cedar.
This row of spir1s seemed 10 he the ex
tremity Of Il partition between two different
parks of Bad Lande: and on this partition
We moved. until We were again brought 10
a compulsory standstill on the edge OF an
Other deep harin--no: So bad as the first
which We found it necessary to descend.
Joe. after scouting around for time, found
lace which he said mus. do. and prpara.
tions were made for the descent.
This WINS done Ivy first removing tho
snus ypuf,uuliti.a nfh hard flru fl.v upn
forming rocks with picks and shovels; and
putting on brakes. thirty men let them down,
one at u time. without tipping over one OF
the three that composed our train.
II was Il wonderful place to let down wag
ms; hut it had 10 lie done. and therefore i,
WAS done we'll. Once at the bottom, We
found ourselves walled in on every side but
pass to the eastward.
Therefore, proceeding over great ridges oi
ghss.like siliCious dcpost, broken into irug
mems and left in great piles ly the dissolving
Of the clals beneath, and then crossing and
re.crossing dry wntercours' 8, white us chnk,
and then strips of land growing buffalo grass
and cactus. that seem TO have taken root and
formed soil amidst this scene ot waste aud
Clcsoatiun, We made our way toward tie
eastern gap, composed of stand ny pillar,
and columns of gray and ash-O0rel clays
baked hard y the sun. They sto,d d in all
shap,s, sizes and attitudes; fashioned hy he
winds and rains into massive cHthc,ral+ with
hundred spires; mosques and ,urrcts; three
corn, red pillars, two hundred feet high, and
only twenty feet at the base; great cones sup
porting arches, on which grew the cactus
anil scrubcetlar
In fact. every shape that the creative gp.
Mus ot any human mind could c"njrre up,
was here. The ghost of the past WAS h. re-,
clothed in the clay and sediment ut long
gone, rolling. surging sea--the sole inhihi
tant of the cities who T. strange, harbarous
splend0rs dazzle US when seen by tie light
Of o setting sun, when all the fiery cloud.
pictures cast their reflections upon tower
and minaret, mosque and scuplur',l column.
Here was the dense solitude ot death; here
was grand home nf the dead; vast sep.
ulchre of species that, for size and shape,
puzzle the scientist of TO day--all gathered
here in one cOmmCn grave, marked, not ny
mar'ed ssls and pillars upreare'l ly the
puny hanh ut man, 10 he shattered by
the first rude breath of Mature, but Iy the
grandrst monuments Of clay, designed and
executed into the quaintest of lO'ms by the
hand Of Nature itself. Let the winds blow,
and the rain fall anti hat upon this cny,
und il changes in form only, Tor it dOcs not
dishpp ar. Let one column disappear, and
the nin has qmrried hundred moe.
Tnns has Nature. in her leSolate grandeur,
made provision for the constant LOn0r u.
her silent dead. Hundreds of centuries have
rolled their weary lengths since thu tOssiIlzed
homes found here were clothed in flesh and
seated in the mnrshy swampSof this tropical
tertiary sea, whose m', and clay have pre-
served them perfect and whole To this day.
No one can properly d, scribe the peculiar
sensations experienced when sarding for the
first time amidst this manifestations OF one
of Natures strung, 81 freaks. All is desola'
t'on-all is drad. Nothing grows. 1t is
the same ash-gray clay on the milk white
floor where glistrn in the sunlight silicious
fragments resembling glass. You Exp ence
sicktning sonse of dread and mprn'ng
evil. and long for the sight ut some living
creature. You look for bird, or even II
coyotp. WHO. you imagine, ought to inlaht
somp Of the holes in the vast wall that sur
round you hut you look in vain.
The birds do no, light here. where is no
food and water. and the scavCrg,r of the
DlhlHb. IUt NVNtlV. VIII NWNkC AlWN
.mong the tombs Of 40 long ago.
You wander along listlesy. breathing an
atmosphere new. strange anil uncanny.
You then climb to The top of the clay mon
mpnts. and gaze into the distance, upon
lilies and miles Of this reign of death, mark
4 by lis arch,d, Auted, and many column.
dOmes that stand in attestation of the ex
.lhnce of N Ntturrs handiwork.
Al t.,
Guild not choose this az the spot where you
ould make the exchange of your tenement
clay for one at doubtful and intangible |
nsistrncy; for it seems No IL. in this lonely |
ace. amid the distant solitude Of hygone
es, where the gho.t ofdeath re,gns su-
pme, the incomprehensble Ruler of all
tngs, would have the newly delivered snul
man shivering before Him at sad disad'