Arizona silver belt., 1891-02-07
 Natural Bridge in CEsa County.

One of the greatest natural curiosi- ties of the world is embraced within the section of mountain country lately set aside from Yayapai. The Natural Bridge of Pine creek, an arch carved by the forces of nature in their grandest play, will yet be the Mecca of the tour ist from every portion of the Union. It is situated about seven miles from the little settlement of Mazatzal City and about the same distance from the lumber camp of Pine. The bridge, though upon the grandest scale, is well hidden from view from nearly all points upon the hills above, and not until the stranger arrives at the lip of the deep gorge that lies concealed at the bottom of the valley does the vast cavern come to sight, with the stream ripping in it's bed. The top of the bridge, about ten acres in extent, meets the hills on either side, and is being utilized by the owner of the property as a garden and orchard. The cavern below is in the shape of bow, apparently supported by two grand arches that join in mighty column on the convex side. From tie bed of the boulder-strewn stream to the roof is about 160 feet; the arch will average 50 feet in width, and the length of the great tunnel IS nearly 300 feet.
 The material of the bridge is lime- stone, which has been fiuted and carven by the action of water into many grand and beautiful shapes Nor is the gro- tesque missing, for the imaginative may see at every turn projections that are oddly suggestive of many forms of ani- nal and vegetable life.
 Far mp under the roof, reached by means of ladders, IS lengthy cave, leading far back under the western hill There Is, opening upon the lower canon, almost below the upper wing of the bridge, a labyrinth of caves, which are almost as interesting as the bridge itself. The caves have not been thor oughly explored, but extend back thousands of feet. Gowan, the owner of this 'two-storied ranch, has spent weeks in underground travel, and there /! yet remains number of caves which he has not yet visited.
 One especial peculiarity of this mys- | terious and uncanny neighborhood is i the fact that the waters of several springs above have the property of pet rifying all objects with which they come into contact. Over the brink of the cliff the waters drip, gradually turning to silicate of lime the vegetation be- low. Moss grows in luxuriance upon ! the cliff in long festoons, the outermost being green and thrifty, the second yellowed with coating of lime, and the third and inner line completely pgtrified, the delicate lace-like tracery of the moss showing beautifully dis tinct in its mineral counterfeit. And thus the cliff creeps forward and the cayerns are heightened. Mir Gowan states that these petrifactions extend to the farthest depths of the caves he has explored.
 One remarkable petrifaction is a cedar tree, broken off about sixteen feet from the ground It Is but few feet from the cliff ana the falling spray has not as yet done it's full work The exposed roots and few short limbs have been turned to stone, and the vegetable matter of the stump has nearly disappeared
 These, briefly sketched, are the at fractions offered by the Natural Bridge to the curious and to the lovers of Ma tures sublimest beauties. The path way may be rough and the journey arduous, but none will ever regret q brief visit to this spot. John 4. Black, Con'r Immigration.