rocks. And that when this soil was deposited, the cave in which we now sit, a pre-existing cavity in the rock, was also filled, partly or entirely, with the alluvion now found in it. The greater part of this alluvion has been subsequently washed out, and the cavity thus re-opened by water filtering through its calcareous roof, leaving certain parts on the bottom, and huge piles in several places, not situated in the current of the stream, remaining.ê This operation has not, indeed, wholly ceased at the present time, for the water is continually carrying down small particles of earth into the valley below, and the effect must be more perceptible after violent or long-continued rain, when the earth becomes soaked, and the infiltration of water is consequently greatly increased.
This opinion is further corroborated by observing that the sides and the roof of the cave, and the several passages leading from it, are water-worn, and full of smooth circular cavities like the rocky margin of the sea, or the calcareous banks of a river, and evince the force of a more powerful action than would probably be excited from any springs or streams which issue, or have ever issued from the cave. It is highly probable, therefore, that these impressions are oceanic, and existed previous to the cave's being filled with alluvial earth, and were made by that deluge of water which geologists teach us has repeatedly inundated the earth in its primeval ages, and which we have the authority ofê Moses for declaring did inundate the earth as late as the days of Noah.
The geological character of the country in this vicinity is secondary; the rock formations, far and wide, being secondary limestone, stratum super-stratum. This has, indeed, characterized our route from Potosi to this place, with the exception of a vein of sand-stone, which alternates with it near the Fourche ? Courtois. Its mineralogical character has consequently presented a corresponding uniformity, and the actual number of species and varieties of minerals found is small. Ores of iron and manganese, pyrites, quartz, horn-stone, and jasper, are the principal substances noticed. The last-mentioned mineral is found in the west bank of Cave Creek, about a mile below our present encampment. It occurs as a stratum below secondary limestone, by which it is overlayed to the thickness of at least 100 feet. It is the striped variety, the colours being blue and white, of various shades.
Saturday, Nov. 14th
A rain-storm which commenced during the night, has continued with little intermission, all day, so that we have been confined to the cave. Thus situated, beyond the boundaries of the civilized world, shut up in a dreary cavern, without books to amuse the mind, or labour to occupy the body, we have had ample leisure to reflect upon the solitude of our condition, and in reverting to the scenes of polished life, to contrast its comforts, attractions, and enjoyments, with the privations and danger by which we are surrounded. There springs, however, a pleasure from our very regrets; we are pleased in reflecting on scenes of former gratification; of lands that are distant, and of times that are past; and the mind is insensibly led to hope for their repetition. We expect much of the future time; we please ourselves with fond anticipations of joy, and with proud hopes of wealth, power, or renown. Thus it is that the mind is never in a state of satisfied repose, and the whole sum of human bliss is made up by the recollections we borrow from the past, and the expectations we entertain of the future. The present is never a season of happiness, which is a relative enjoyment, and can only be estimated by its absence. Neither are our ideas of this grand pursuit of our lives at all definite. Nothing can be more discordant and contradictory than the different notions which different persons or people have attached to the term happiness. One places it in wealth, another in power, a third in splendour, and a fourth in the contempt of all. Perhaps the sum of human bliss was as correctly estimated by the South Sea Indian, as it is frequently done by his more enlightened European brethren.ê A South Sea Indian becoming tired of life, put an end to it, by stabbing himself to the heart. The deed excited universal horror, and the grief of his family was uncontrolable.ê "Alas," cried a relative, "what evil spirit could have prompted him to this deed! He was blessed beyond many of his countrymen. Had he not always plenty of train-oil for his subsistence? Had he not a smooth white fish-bone, twelve inches long, run through his nose? What more could be wanting to complete his happiness?" We have been in the expectation, for several days, of
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