Journal of a Tour into the Interior of Missouri and Arkansaw | Page 7

of trees or
vegetation of any kind, unless it be of certain mosses and lichens which
flourish upon naked 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 ˆ 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