Show ZIONS SCENERY the virgin river section grand beyond description will become most admired in the world the follow ing is taken from tho report of captain 0 E dutton of the united states geological survey speaking of alie grand cannon bac tion and the tributaries tributa ries of tho colorado he sas in pirt it w ill be w ell to bestow a glance at alie distribution of lie more important drainage channels alie western portions of the terraces are drained b brancher of the virgin nver upon alie calob lie ids alie fork of the virgin sometimes called mu kun tu deap sometimes little zion river it flow s due south E of tins is the eastern fork called alie pa ru nu deap both branches have their sources at the base of alie pink cliffs eocene and at lengths unite to form alip virgin channels arc surely very wonderful freaks of nature the after collecting its several filaments on alie slopes of the cretaceous terrace at length begin to burrow into the jurassic cutting a very deep and remarkably gap in the white sandstone and then into and through alie for many miles it flows in a mere cleft barely fifty feet wide at the bottom and sometimes narrower and attaining a depth of more than 2 TOO acot in scouring down its cl iannel into alie alie stream did not cut ah a but swaged from side to side so that now grait bulges of the will overhang alie bottom of the ab ss and in some alices eliut out the sky overhead alie malcun ducap or little zion fork is even more remarkable distance tins stream alo runs in a profound and exceptionally banow chasm but it at length widens out and just where it joins the whip is a scene w hichi must ultimately become when the knowledge of it is one of alie most admired in alio world of this hereafter below the junction of alie forks the virgin flows westward and passes out of the terraces and out of alio plateau province the colorado speaking of the vermillion Vcr million cliffs captain dutton davs to tins great wall terminating tho terrace and stretching from alip hurricane ledge to alio pana powell lias given the name of llie vcr nillion cliffs their great altitude alie acm length of their line of frontage alio with which their proportions arc bustam cd throughout tho entire interval ornate and nali coloring might justify very languages langua geb description but to the southward jut chiro the surface dips downward beneath alio hanzon are those supreme walls of alie grind canyon we must hereafter and annly atme to and however worthy of admiration alio vermillion Vcr million cliffs ma be w c must be frugal of cs in alie clup tiry to be written wo find their force and meaning exhausted alic will be weak and vapid enough at att there aro portions of the vermillion Vcr million cliffs in boac lay leold of alie sensibilities with a force not much overwhelming than alie majesty of alie grand can on not in alie camu w i not 1 verturo of alie same of im but in u way of their i own in mass and grandeur and in the extent of the display there is no it would be like comparing a ate picture gallery containing a few priceless treasures with the wealth of art in the vatican or lorn re all of the really superlative portions of the Ver cliffs could bo comfortably dippl ly ed in any one of half a dozen amphitheaters opening into the division of the grand canyon these portions occur in the beautiful valley of alie virgin and they as well as the features which characterize the entire front of the Ver cliffs mant some at coplion eacle of the greater sedimentary groups of alio terraced from the eocene to alie permian e has its own stile of and architecture and it is at first surprising and always pleasing to observe how strongly the several styles contrast with each other the elephantine ph antine structures of the nile the grecian temples alie pagodas of lima alie cathedrals of western europe do not offer con krasts than encounter as we descend the great stairway which loads down from alie high plateaus As we pass from one terrace to another alie scene is not only in the and grander masics which dominate alie landscape but in ev cry detail and accessory in alie tone of lie color masses in alie vegetation and in alie and m of the scenery of many and strong antitheses there is none stronger than that between lie repose of alio jura and the animation of the the profile of the Ver cliffs is very complex though con to a definite type and made up of simple elements although it varies much in different localities it never loses its typical character t consists of a series of vertical edges rising tier above tier story above story with intervening elopes with talus through winch ahe beds project their fretted edges the stratification is always revealed ettli perfect distinctness and is even emphasized by alie peculiar weathering the beds are very numerous and mostly of small or moderate thickness and the partings of the sandstones include lav ars of gypsum or sand and shale alie attacks lavers great effect dis solvig them to a considerable in alie wall face producing a deeply engraved line between alie including this line is always in deep shadow and throws into strong relief the bright edges of alie strata in tiie rock face separating them from cich other with uncommon distinctness where alie profiles arc well into ic alie vertical winch bound the faces of alie ledges are quite perpendicular and straight stia ight while alio lines of alie intervening slopes are feebly concave being in fact descending branches of 1 arc graceful in form and indeed genuine lines of beauty alio angles where alie straight and curved linca meet at alie bases and of alie arc very keen and well cut alie composite effect thua given by the multiple cliffs and sloping water tables rising atory above story by alie acute definition of alie profiles and horizontal moldings mol dings and by the refined though unobtrusive details is highly architectural and ornate and contracts in alie extreme with the rough craggy beetling aspect of the cliffs of regions tins effect is much b the manner in which alio wall advance in promontories or alcoves and bv alie wings and gabled sharp comers and mansard roofs jutting out from every lateral fica where there is alie icae danger of blankner blan kneA or monotony jn in kiy camons hae cut the terrace platform deeply and open ill mag g upon alio broad dasi rt iliin front vc look into klicin frum afar and a finc to follow their windings until sudden turns carry them into distant |